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A
COMMENT AET
ON THE
HOLY SCRIPTFEES:
CRITICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS
JOHN" PETER LAI^GE, D. D.,
OBDINART PE0FB8S0R OS THEOLOGY IN THE XTNIVERSITT OF BONN,
□i coiraECTioir ■wtth a numbbk of EsnuEHT bckopeas divikeb.
TRANSLATED, ENLARGED, AND EDITED
PHILIP SOHAFF, D. D.,
PROFESSOK OP THEOLOGY IN THE XINION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK,
Ul CONNBCTIOS WITH AMEEIOAJC SCHOLAEg OP VARIOUS EVAlfGELICAIj DENOMUtATIOlTi.
FOLUME XIV. OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: CONTAINING THE MINOR PEOPIIETa
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SORIBNER'S SONS,
1887.
THE
MINOR PROPHETS.
KXEGETICALLT, THEOLOGICALLY, AND HOMILETICALLT
EXPOUin)ED
PAUL KLEINERT, OTTO SCHMQLLER,
GEORGE R. BLISS, TALBOT "W. CHAMBERS, CHARLES ELLIOTT.
JOHN FORSYTH, J. FREDERICK McCURDY, AND
JOSEPH PACKARD.
EDITED BY
PHILIP SOHAFF, D. D.
NEW YORK:
CHAELES SCEIBNER'S SONS,
1887.
fiatered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
SCRIBNEB, ArIHSTRONG, AND COMPANY,
Id the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washinf^toa.
Trow's
Printing and BooKBiNmNG Company,
205-213 /•:asi \zth St,,
new YORK.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
TO TEtE CRITICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL COMMEN-
TARY ON THE BIBLE.
GENERAL EDITORS:
Rev. JOHANN PETEE LANGE, D.D.,
OoTisiatoriai Oownsdor and Professor of Theology in the Univenity of Bonn.
Eer. PHILIP SCHAFP, D.D., LL.D.,
Professor of Sacred Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, Neu> York,
I. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE GERMAN EDITION.
Rev. C. A. ATTBERLBN, Ph.D., D.D.,
ProfeiBor of Theology in the UniverBlty of Basle,
Switzerland.
KeT. KARL CHR. W. F. BAHH, D.D.,
Uinisterial Counselor at Carlsruhe.
Eev. KARL BRAITNB, D.D.,
General Superintendent at Altenhurg, Saxony.
Eev. PAULUa CASSBL, Ph.D.,
Professor in Berlin.
Est. OHR. FH. DAVID EnDMAMT, D.D.,
Gon. Superintendent of Silesia, and Prof. Honorarins of
Theology in the University of Breslau.
Rev. P. R. FAT,
Pastor in Crefeld, Pmssia.
Rev. G. P. 0. FRONMlfLLER, Ph.D.,
Pastor at Kemnath, Wiirtemborg.
Rev. KARL OEROK, D.D.,
fTelate and Chief Chaplain of the Court, Stuttgart.
Rev. PAUL KLEINBRT, Ph.D., B.D.,
Profeaaoi of Old Testament Exegesis in the University
of Berlin.
Rev. CHRIST. PR. KLING, D.D.,
Dean of ^arbach on the Neckar, Wttrtemberg.
Rev. GOTTHARD VICTOR LECHLER, D.D.,
Professor of Theology, and Superintendent at Leipsdfr
Hev. OARL BBRKHARD MOLL, D.D.,
General Superintendent in Kiinigsberg.
Eev. C. W. EDWARD NABQELSBAOH, Ph.D.,
Dean at Bayreuth, Bavaria.
Eev. J. J. VAN OOSTBRZEE, D.D.,
Professor of Theology in the University of UtMoh^
Eev. O. J. RIGGENBAOH, D.D.,
Professor of Theology in the University of Boala.
Eev. OTTO SCHMOLLER, Ph.D., B.D.,
Urach, Wilrtemberg.
Eev. FK. JULIUS SCHROEDBR, D.D.,
Pastor at Elberfeld, Prussia.
Rev. FB. W. SCntFLTZ, D.D.,
Professor of Theology in Breslau.
Rev. OTTO ZOECKLER, D.D.,
Professor of Theology in the University at Grelfswal^
II. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EDITION.
Rev. CHARLES A. AIKEN, Ph.D., D.D.,
Professor of Christian Ethics and Apologetics at
Princeton, N. J.
Bev. SAMUEL RALPH ASBUEY, M.A.,
Philadelphia.
EDWIN CONE BISSELL, D.D.
Professor in the Theol, Seminary at Hartford, Ct.
Eev. GEORGE R. BLISS, D.D.,
Professor in Crozor Theological Seminary, Upland, Pa.
Eev. CHAS. A. BRIGGS, D.D.,
Professor of Oriental Languages in the Union Theological
Seminary, Nevf Xorfc,
Bev. JOHN A. BROADUS, D.D.,
Professor of New Testament Exegesis at Louisville, Ky,
Eev. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D.D.,
Foator of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Chnrch,
New York.
Eev. THOMAS J. CONANT, D.D.,
Brooklyn, N. T.
Eev. E. E. CRAVEN, D.D.,
Newark, N. J.
Eev. HOWARD OROSBY, D.D., LL.D.,
Chancellor of the University of New York.
LIST OF 00NTRIBUT0B8.
Eer. GEO. B. DAY, D.D.,
111 Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Oaim.
Hev. CHAS. ELLIOTT, D.D.,
ftotctaat at Biblical Literature and BzeEesis, Chicago, TO.
Rev. L. J. EVAUS, D.D.,
Vrofessor ol New Teet, Exegesis in Lane TheoL Seminary,
CincinnatL
Eev. PATBICK FAIRBAIEN, D.D.,
Principal and Profeesor ol Divinity in the Free Ohnrch
Coll«|;e, Gliisgow.
Bev. WILLIAM FINDLAY, M.A.,
Pastor of the Free Choich, Larkhall, Scotland,
Bev. JOHN FOBSYTH, D.D., LL.D.,
Chaplain and Prof, of Ethics and Law in V. S. Militaiy
Academy, West Point, N. Y.
B8T. FBBDBBIC QARDINEB, D.D.,
Prot at the Llteratore of the O. T. in Berkeley Divinity
School, Middletown, Ct.
Eev. ABBAHAM GOSMAN, D.D.,
Lawrenceville, N. J.
Bev. W. HENRY GBEBN, D.D., LL.D.,
ProfeSKr of Oriental Literature in the Theol. Seminary at
Princeton, N. J.
Eev. JAMES B. HAMMOND, M.A.,
New York.
Eev. HORATIO B. HACKETT, D.D ,
PzofesBorof Biblical Exegesis in the Theological Seminary,
Eochester, N. Y.
Eev. BDWIN HAHWOOD, D.D.,
Eector of Trinity Church, New Haven, Conn.
Eev. W. H. HORNBLOWEB, D.D.,
PzoteasoT of Sacred Bhetoric, etc., in the TheoL Seminary
at Alleghany, Pa.
Eev. JOHN P. HTEST, D.D.,
President of the Drew Theological Seminary,
Madison, N. J.
Eev. A. C. KENDBICK, D.D., LL.D.,
Profesaor of Greek in the University of Eochester, N. Y.
TAYLEB LEWIS, LL.D.,
ProfasBDT of Oriental Languages in Union Collegv,
Schenectady, N. Y.
Eev. JOHN LILLIE, D.D,
Kingston, N. Y.
E8V. BAMTJBL T. LOTTEIB, D.D.,
Philadelphia, Fa.
Eev. J. FEED. MoCUEDY, M.A.,
he Hebrew Langua]
at Princeton, N. «
B*t Proteseorof the Hebrew Lan^age in the TheoL Bern.
Eev. CHABLES M. MEAD, Ph.D.,
of Uio Hebrew Langnage and Lltoratore in (he
XhsoL Sem., Andovw, Hut,
Eev. J. ISADOB MOMBBBT, H D,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Eev. DOTTLOP MOORB, D.D., ,
New Brighton, Pa.
Uias KVBLINA MOOBB;
Newark, N. 3.
JAMES G. MURPHY, IX. D.,
Professor in the General Assembly's and th« Qneen>
College at Belfast.
Bev. HOWABD OSGOOD, D.D.,
Profeanor of the Interpretation of the Old Test In tb*
Theol. Sem., Rochester, N. Y.
Eev. JOSEPH PACKAED, D.D.
Professor of Biblical Literature in the Theological
Seminary at Alexandria, Ya.
Eev. DANIEL W. POOR, D.D.,
Professor of Church History in the Theologloal Seminal]
at San Francisco, Cal.
Eev. MATTHEW B. EIDDLE, D.D.,
Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the TheoL
Seminary at Hartford, Conn.
Eev. CHAS. F. SCHAEFFEB, D.D.,
Professor of Theology in the Evangelical Lntheran
Seminary at Philadelphia.
Eev. WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD, D.D., LI1.D.,
Professor of Systematic Theology in the Union Xheolo^ca]
Seminary, New York,
Eev. CHAS. C. STAEBUCK, M.A.,
Formerly Tutor In the Theologloal Seminary at Alldovo%
Mass.
Bev. P. H. STEENSTEA,
Professor of Biblical Literature at Cambridge, Mass.
Bev. JAMES STRONG, D.D.,
Professor of Exegetical Theology in the Drew Theologloil
Seminary, Madison, N. J.
Eev. W. G. SUMNER, M.A.,
Professor in Yale College, New Haven, Cona.
Bev. C. H. TOY, D.D.,
Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegeaia,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Eev. B. A. WASHBURN, D.D., LL.D.,
Eector of Calvary Church, Now York.
WILLIAM WELLS, M.A., LL.D.,
Professor of Modem Languages in Union OoBeaa.
New York. ^"
Eev. C. P. WING, D.D.,
Carlisle, Pa.
Bev. B. D. YEOMANB, D.D,,
Orange, K, 1.
PEEFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR
The volume on the Minor Prophets is partly in advance of the German original,
which has not yet reached the three post-exilian Prophets. The commentaries on the nine
earlier Prophets by Professors Kleinert and Schmollbr appeared in separate numbers
some time ago * ; but for Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, Dr. Lange has not, to this date,
been able to secure a suitable co-laborer.** With his cordial approval I deem it better to
complete the volume by original commentaries than indefinitely to postpone the publication.
They were prepared by sound and able scholars, in conformity with the plan of the whole
work.
The volume accordingly contains the following parts, each one being paged separately : —
1. A General Introduction to the Prophets, especially the Minor Prophets, by
Rev. Charles Elliott, D. D., Professor of Biblical Exegesis in Chicago, Illinois. The
general introductions of Kleinert and SohmoUer are too brief and incomplete for our purpose,
and therefore I requested Dr. Elliott to prepare an independent essay on the subject.
2. HosEA. By Kev. Dr. Otto Schmoller. Translated from the German and en-
larged by James Frederick McCurdy, M. A., of Princeton, N. J.
8. Joel. By Otto Schmoller. Translated and enlarged by Rev. John Forstth,
D. D., LL. D., Chaplain and Professor of Ethics and Law in the United States Military
Academy, West Point, N. Y.
4. Amos. By Otto Schmoller. Translated and enlarged by Rev. Talbot W
Chambers, D. D., Pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, New York.
6. Obadiah. By Rev. Paul Kleinert, Professor of Old Testament Theology in the
University of Berlin. Translated and enlarged by Rev. George R. Bliss, D. D., Professor
in the University of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
6. Jonah. By Prof. Paul Kleinert, of the University of Berlin. Translated and en-
larged by Rev. Charles Elliott, Professor of Biblical Exegesis in Chicago.'
7. MicAH. By Prof. Paul Elleinert, of Berlin, and Prof. George R. Bliss, of Lewis-
burg.
8. Nahum. By Prof. Paul Kleinert, of Berlin, and Prof. Charles Elliott, ol
Chicago.
9. Habakkuk. By Professors Kleinert and Elliott.
1 ObadjaAf JoTiah, Micha, Nahum^ Habakuk, Zephanja/l. Wissenshaftlich undfUr den Gebrauch der Kirche ausgelegt von
Paul Kleinert, Pfarrer zu Se. GertroMd und a. Professor an der Vniversitdt zu Berlin. Bielefeld u. Leipzig, 1868. — Die
Tropketen Hosea^ Joel und Amos. Theologiseh-hojniletisch bearbeitet von Orro Soqholleb, Licent. der Theologies Diaconus
m Vrach. Bielef. und Leipzig, 1872.
3 The commentary of Rev. W. Fbebsel on these three Prophets (Die nachexiliseken Propheten, Gotha, 1870) WM
originally prepared for Lange's Bible-work^ but was rejected by Dr. Lange mainly on account of Presael's views on thf
genuineness and integrity of Zechariah. It was, howerer, independently published, and wad made use of, like othex
eouunentaries, by the authors of the respectire sections in this volume.
8 Dr. Elliott desires to render his acknowledgments to the Rev. Reuben Dederick, of Chicago, and the Rev. Jacob
Lotke, of Faribault, Minnesota, tbr valuable assistance in translating some difficult passages In Kleineit's CommentarlM
in Jonah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.
n PBEFACB BY THE GENERAL EDITOR.
10. Zephaniah. By Professors Kleinert and Elliott.
11. Haggai. By James Fredeeick McCurdt, M. A., Princeton, N. J.
12. Zechariah. By Eev. Talbot W. Chambers, D. D., New York. (See special
preface.)
13. Malachi. By Eev. Joseph Packard, D. D., Professor of Biblical Literature in
the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia.
The contributors to this volume were directed carefully to consult the entire ancient and
modern literature on the Minor Prophets and to enrich it with the latest results of Grerman
and Anglo-American scholarship.
The remaining parts of the Old Testament are all under way, and will be published aa
fast as the nature of the work will permit.
PHILIP SCHAFF.
DiaoK iHHttoaiQU SofWAEr, Niw Yom, January, 1874.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
(O TBS
PROPHETIC WRITINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT*
AITD ESFECIALLT TO TBB
MINOR PROPHETS.
BT
CHARLES ELLIOTT, D. D.
nonssoK 07 biblical literatuke and exeoesis, in the fresbytebian ehsolooioak
BUONABT 07 THE NOBIHWESI, CHIOAQO, ILLINOIS.
NEW TOEK:
CHAELES SCEIBNEE'S SONS,
btcnd according to Act of Congress, In the year 1874| bf
I SoEiBNER, Armstrong, and Compajtt,
■ the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washingfaf.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
TO THB
MINOR PROPHETS.*
Meaning of the Words Prophet and Prophecy.
The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is Nabi (Heb. N^33), derived from the verb N3j
which is connected by Gesenius with 1?33. The former of these verbs is used in , .„,.
y 1, Nubtt
the Niphal and Hithpael species in the sense of speaking under a divine influence :
the latter signifies in the Kal, to boil forth, to gush out, to flow, as a fountain. If this etymology
is correct, the noun will designate a person, who bursts forth with spiritual utterances under
the divine impulse, or simply one who pours forth words. Freytag defines the correspond-
ing word in Arabic \ Lo A editus, elatus fuit, annuntiavit, renuntiavit alter alteri, se prophetam
dixit, propheticum munus mndicavit sibi.
The form S''33 is like that of b"'tOp, and is taken by some in a passive sense, literally, one
who is divinely in-spired. This is the opinion of Bunsen and Davidson. But Ewald, Haver-
nick, Oehler, Hengstenberg, Bleek, Lee, Pusey, McCaul, and the great majority of Biblical
critics, prefer the active sense of announcing, pouring forth the declarations of God, as more
in accordance with the usage of the word.
Two other Hebrew words are used to designate a prophet, namely, HNT and i^}n. Both
these words signify one who sees, and are usually rendered in the LXX. by 2. Roth and
pXiiTdiv, or opSiv, sometimes by Trpo^ip-iys (1 Chron. xxvi. 28 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 7, chozeh.
10). The three words occur in 1 Chron. xxix. 29, where they seem to be contrasted with
each other : " Now the acts of David the King, first and last, behold they are written in
the book of Samuel the seer (Roeh), and in the book of Nahum the prophet {Ndbi), and in
the book of Gad the seer (Chozeh). Roeh is used twelve times in the Bible (1 Sam. ix. 9,
11, 18, 19 ; 2 Sam. xv. 27 ; 1 Chron. ix. 22; xxvi. 28; xxix. 29; 2 Chron. xvi. 7, 10; Is.
XXX. 10), and in seven of these it is applied to Samuel. It was superseded in general use
by the word Ndbi, by which Samuel himself was <lesignated as well as by Roeh (1 Sam. iii.
20 ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 18), and which seems to have revived after a period of desuetude (1
Sam. ix. 9), and to have been applied to the company of prophets mentioned in 1 Sam. x.
5, 10, 11, 12, and in xix. 20, 24. The verb nSI, from which it is derived, is the common
word in piose signifying " to see ; " HTn — whence comes the substantive il* n — is more poet.
ical. ^itn, another derivative, is the word constantly used for the prophetical vision. It is
found in Samuel, Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, and in most of the prophets.
li has been much debated whether there is any difierence in the usage of these words,
1 The books used most in preparing this Introduction are Hengstenberg^s Christology, Bean Stanley's Hvitory of the
JeufKh Church, Auberlen On Daniel, Fairbairn On Prophecy, Davisotl On Prophecy, Stuart's Hints on Prophecy, Bleek'B
Introduction to the Old Testament, Eeil's Introduction to the Old Testament, Alexander's Introduction to his Commen-
tary on Isaiah, Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and Kitto's Biblical Cyclopadta. See also the list of Commentariefl
on the Prophets at the close of the Introduction, No. IX. ; and Knobel's Prophetismus der Hebraer (1837, 2 Tols.) ; D«l>
'tzsch's Biblisch-prophet. Theologie (1846); Gust. Baur's Gesck. der alt. test. Weissa^ng (1861 fiCLq.).
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
and if any, what that difference is. Some consider NaU to express the official prophet, that
\s one who beloncred to the prophetic order, while Roeh and Chozeh denote those who re-
ceived a propheti°cal revelation. The case of Gad is supposed to afford a clue to the diffi-
culty. In 2 Sam. xxiv. 11, this prophet is described as the " Nabi; " in 1 Chron. xxi. 9, as
David's " Chozeli;" and in 2 Chron. xxix. 25, as the King's" CAozeA," while Nathan is styled
in the same place " the Nabi." Hence it has been suggested that Chozeh was the special
designation of the prophet attached to the royal household ; and that this individual might,
at the same time, be a NaU. Perhaps it is safe to say that the same persons were desig-
nated by the three words NdU, Maeh, and Chozeh, the last two titles being derived from the
mode of receiving the divine communications ; the first, from the utterance of them to others.
In any view of the case there can be httle doubt that Nabi was employed to designate one
who belonged to the prophetic order. When Gregory Nazianzen (Or., 28) calls Ezekiel o
,wv fjLeydxZv iiriiTT-,]-; Kal £i^y7,T^9 fMvaTTjplwv, he gives a sufficiently exact translation of tie
two titles Chozeh or Roeh, and Ndbi.^ ^ _ i tr -w
The word Nabi is uniformly translated in the LXX. by Trpot^T/TJ/s, and in the A.^ V. by
The word " prophet." The proper sense of Trpb is before, in front, as opposed to^ oiriaOe,
cropiiet does JjeUnd. Hence, according to the best lexicographers, the idea of priority in
°i°nif""one ti™<^ ^^ ^"'^^ ^^ secondary to that of antecedence and priority in place. This
^ho'prediiS view would give to Tvpi in Trpo^i-qpi and 7rpc^>iTr?s, a local instead of a temporal
future sicniflcation. Hpoi^Tiri;; would, in that case, denote an authoritative speaker in
rt£'te°rm tli^e name of God; and it is applied m this sense, in the Classics, to the_ official
prophecy re- expounders of the oracles, and to poets, as the prophets of the Muses, i. e., as
Etricted to gpgaking in theu- name, at their suggestion, or by their inspiration,
tfon orsuoh The classical passage as to the meaning of the word Nabi is Exodus iv. 14-16 :
cTents. 11 j^nd t]ie anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said. Is not
Aaron the Levite thy brother ? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he
cometh forth to meet thee : and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou
shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with
his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the
people ; and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to
bim instead of God." Take in connection with this Ex. vii. 1 : " I have made tliee a god
to Pharaoh ; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet " (Ndbi) ; and the meaning of
the word becomes plain. It means, one who speaks for another ; who utters the words that
another has put into his mouth. His communications may have reference to the past, to the
present, or to the future ; and may also extend to absolute and universal truth. These com-
munications constitute prophecy.
The restriction, in modern usage, of the term prophet to one who predicts future events,
Restriction and prophecy to the prediction of these events, has arisen firom the fact that a
of the terms j^rge portion of the prophetic writings, and precisely that very portion which ig
WOT Am/ in oiost likely to impress the reader, is of this description. But these words do not
modern admit of any such restriction in the Scriptures of both the Old and the New
usage. Testament. In these they admit of the sense of declaration and interpretation.
In the latter sense it was used by Lord Bacon, who speaks of an exercise called proph-
esying. " The ministers within a precinct," says Lord Bacon, " did meet upon a week day
in some principal town, where there was some ancient grave minister that was president, and
an auditory of gentlemen, or other persons of leisure. Then every minister successively,
beginning with the youngest, did handle one and the same part of Scripture, spending sever-
ally some quarter of an hour or better, and in the whole some two hours. And so the exer-
cise being begun and concluded with prayer, and the president giving a text for the next
meeting, the assembly was dissolved." Jeremy Taylor uses the word, in the same sense, in
his treatise On Liberty of Prophesying. A book was published at Oxford, in 1838, bearing
the title. On the Prophetical Office of the Church, in which the adjective " prophetical " has
evidently no reference to prediction.
1 See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, s. y. " Prophet ; " Kitto's Bib. Ojclopmdia, s. t. " Prophecy | " tee On tlu Im
ipiraiioH o/ the Holy Scriptures, Appendix J ; and Aids to Faith, Essay iil., " Prophecy."
GENERAL INTKODUCTION.
n.
Prophetical Institution and Order}
The L^iW provides for the Prophetical Institution (Deut. xviii.) ; hence it was no expe-
dieat resorted to on special emergencies. Though the prediction (Deut. xviii.) The Pro-
spccially relates, as the gospel history shows, to the one distinguished Prophet, Ptetioai Ih-
"of whom Moses in the Law did write," yet the context (vers. 20, 21, 22) clearly provided foi
shows that a succession of inferior prophets was included. The gift of prophecy io the Law.
was closely connected with the general design of the Old Economy, the foundation of which
was the Law recorded in the Pentateuch. In the Law, as an epitome, the rest of the Old
Testament is contained, as to its seminal principles. The later hooks are virtually a devel-
opment and application of what is comprised in the Pentateuch. To make this develop-
ment and application the prophetical order was instituted.
The Scriptures do not represent an unbroken series of prophets, each inducted into office
by his predecessor. At least, they are silent on this point, except in the cases ihe Scrip-
of Joshua and Elisha, the former of whom was inducted into office by Moses, and 'ires do not
the latter by Elijah. The prophets are described as deriving their prophetical J^J'^u"' *°
character immediately from God, and do not seem to have attached much inipor- series ot
tance to a series of incumbents, each receiving his commission from another, or prophets,
from others. It was different with the priesthood, whose succession and indue- g^ j^to ^jj^g
tion into office were strictly prescribed. by his pred-
From the days of Joshua to Eli "there was no open vision" (1 Sam. iii. 1). ''^ssor.
TJnder the judges the original constitution remained unchanged, though the nation was
subjected to many vicissitudes of fortune. But in the time of Samuel marked changes passed
over the state, and others were imminent. Kingly government was established ; the priest-
hood was to be transferred, the kingdom to be dismembered, and the nation to be led into
captivity. Changes so serious needed special interposition. Hence the revival and enlarge-
ment of prophetic revelation. From Samuel to Malachi prophet followed prophet, in un-
broken continuity, predicting the great changes that were coming upon the nation, and de-
nouncing the sins that provoked the justice of heaven.
Many portions of the prophetical writings are of such a character, that the writers could
not have recorded them withou.' a special communication from heaven. They Nature of
are, strictly speaking, Revelations. Other portions are not of this nature. They prophetic in-
are such as must have been familiar to the sacred writers. Historical incidents **""■ '™'
were continually occurring around them of which they were cognizant. While it is evident
that a supernatural knowledge was necessary in the former case, it is not so evident in the
latter. They might have recorded historical events, as other historians have done, without
any special divine aid. They might have done so, but they did not. In the former case
they spoke by revelation, and in the latter by the inspiration ^ of the Holy Spirit. This
they claim, and the writers of the New Testament accord it to them (2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 2 Pet.
i. 21). They preface their announcements with " Thus saith the Lord'."
In regard to the nature of prophetic inspiration, it is sufficient to state that it was plen-
ary, or fully adequate to the attainment of the end. It is vain and needless to attempt any
description of its mode. So far as anything can be inferred from incidental or explicit
statements of the Scripture, the most usual method of communication would appear to have
been that of immediate vision. Micaiah saw (1 Kings xxii. 17) ; Isaiah saw (Is. vi. 1);
Seer and Vision are used for prophet and prophecy.
Some have supposed that the prophets, under the influence of inspiration, were in a con-
dition expressed by the Greek word cKorao-is, «'■ e., in a state of subjection to a higher
power. Their own faculties, according to this view, were held in complete abeyance. Such
1 See Alexander's Introduction to the Prophecies of haiah.
2 A diatinction is made between revelation and inspiration. By revelation is meant a direct communication from God
to man, either of such Icnowledge as man could not of himself attain to, or which was not, in point of fact, from what.,
ever cause, known to the person who received the revelation. Inspiration, on the other hand, is that actuating energy
of the Holy Spirit, guided by which the human agents chosen by God have oiBcially declared his will by word of moutb
or hare committed to writing the several portions of the Bible. — Lee on Inspiration^ pp. 40, 41.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION'.
a condition of mind was regarded as a natural and necessary sign of inspiration, on the part
of the pretended prophets and diviners of the heathen. They exhibited the outward signs
of violent excitement, resembling insanity. Hence the etymological affinity of the Greek
words juavTts, /iavta, and /xatVoyuat. The early fathers uniformly speak of this maniacal ex-
citement as characteristic of the inspiration claimed by the heathen diviners ; and describe
the inspiration of the Hebrew prophets as distinguished by the opposite peculiarities of calm-
ness, self-possession, and active intelligence. Their minds may have been, on certain occa-
sions, in a highly elevated state ; but we have no reason to think that their mental condition
was a morbid one. The action of the Holy Spirit did not supersede the exercise of their
own intelligence : He spoke in them, not by them as mere instruments ; and they, while
uttering or recording his communications, preserved each his distinct individuality.
It is the general opinion that Samuel instituted companies, or colleges of prophets ; and
Had th *'^**' " *^® ^°°^ "^ ^^^ prophets " mentioned in Scripture, were young men in a
prophets any couTse of preparation for the prophetic ministry. We find one of these com-
trainingfor panics. Or colleges, during Samuel^s life-time, at Ramah (1 Sam. xix. 19, 20) ,
their work? ^^^^^ afterwards at Bethel (2 Kings ii. 3) ; Jericho (2 Kings ii. 5) ; Gilgal (2
Kings iv. 38) ; and elsewhere (2 Kings vi. 1). These colleges were probably, in their con-
stitution and object, similar to our theological seminaries, which are sometimes called
" Schools of the Prophets." Into them were gathered promising students, and there they
were trained for the office which they were destined to fill. So successful were these institu-
tions, that from the time of Samuel to the completion of the Canon of the Old Testament,
there seems never to have been wanting a due supply of men to keep up the line of official
prophets.
To this it may be objected that the ministry of the prophets depended on the gift of in-
spiration, for which no human training could compensate, or prepare them. But although
they could not act as prophets without inspiration, they might be prepared for those parts of
their work which depended upon Kterary culture.
The prophets, though inspired, were not omniscient. They were the spokesmen of God,
Had the the mouth of God to communicate his messages to men. They had visions ; they
prophets a jqj^, _. pictures were presented to their spiritual intuition ; but their understand-
edgeofwhat ^"S^ were not SO miraculously enlarged as to grasp the whole of the divine coun-
they pre- sels, which they were commissioned to enunciate. We have the testimony of the
dieted. prophets themselves (Dan. xii. 8 ; Zech. iv. 5 ; 1 Pet. i. 10, 11) that they did
not comprehend them. These passages, however, have been pushed so far by some as to
make it appear that the prophets were only speaking machines. This extreme must be
avoided as well as the other, which would make them omniscient. The writer of the article
on Prophecy, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, commenting on 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, says, that
the prophets " after having uttered predictions on those subjects occupied themselves in
searching into the full meaning of the words that they had uttered." This statement is per-
haps not sufficiently guarded. The Apostle writes : epcDvuvres ^k rtva ^ ttoIov Kaipov,
in which riva is interrogative and agrees with Kaipov, and not with irpdyfxa.Ta understood.
If the Apostle had designed to say, that the prophets searched into wJiat things they had ut-
tered, he would have written : ci? rtVa, koI ttoZov Kaipov- The expression should, therefore,
be rendered, searching what time, or what manner of time. This conveys a, very diiFerent
idea, and makes the object of the prophets' search, not the meaning of the words which they
had uttered, hut some additional knowledge concerning the subjects of which they had spoken.
Zech. iv. 5 may mean no more than that the prophet did not understand the symbols men-
tioned in the preceding verses.
In Dan. xii. 8, the prophet declares that he " heard, but understood not." This evidently
relates to what was suggested to his mind by the declarations of ver. 7, where it is said that
the end of the wonders shall be after " a time, times, and a half." Daniel does not inquire
like the angel, in ver 6, " how long " (^na-^3J) " shall it be to the end of these wonders ? "
but " what shall be the end " (ninn.N) " of these things." If nnnK {end, latter state, final
lot) means the same as Vf? {end) in ver. 6, the interrogative TTQ (what) used by Daniel is
inappropriate- His question, therefore, must have respect to the state of things at the close
of the " time, times, and a half," ver. 7.'
' Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecr/. By M. S*nart. Second Edition. Andorer, 1842 Pages 64-67
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
A full discussion of this point is not necessary to the present purpose. The prophets, in
many cases, saw " through a glass darkly ; " but they did not, like mere automata, utter wordl
which they did not understand. They were inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, whose
will they revealed. " Unto them it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they
did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven " (1 Pet. i. 12).
The prophets had a practical ofBce to discharge. It was part of their commission to
show the people of God " their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." neiation of
— (Is. Iviii. 1 ; Ezek. xxii. 2 ; xliii. 10 ; Micah iii. 8.) They were, therefore, pas- the propheta
tors and ministerial monitors of the people of God. It was their duty to admon- ^ "" •*"'
ish and reprove, to denounce prevailing sins, to threaten the people with the ^ "'
terrors of divine judgment and call them to repentance. They also brought the message of
consolation and pardon (Is. xl. 1, 2). They were watchmen set upon the walls of Zion to
blow the trumpet and give timely warning of approaching danger (Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 7,
8, 9 ; Jer. vi. 17 ; Is. Ixii. 6).
The relation of the prophets to the people bore a greater resemblance to that of the Chris-
tian ministry than to that of the priests. The latter approached God in behalf of men, by
means of sacrifice ; the former approached men in behalf of God. They were his ambassa-
dors, beseeching men to turn from their evil ways and live. The functions of the prophetical
office were, therefore, not identical with those of the priesthood. The prophets were not
priests, with the exception of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. i. 1 ; Ezek. 1. 3).
They do not seem to have sustained any definite or fixed relation to the government.
They were not officers of state, though they exerted an influence upon rulers and state
affairs. This they did not by official formal action, but as special messengers from God,
whose divine legation even the apostate kings of Israel acknowledged. Sometimes the kings
refused to hear the prophet's message ; but such obstinacy was the sealing of their doom.
It is not easy to determine the mode of life which the prophets led. It was probably
subject to no uniform and rigid law. Some have inferred from Elijah's hairy Mode of life
dress and John the Baptist's imitation of it, that they were distinguished by a oftheproph.
peculiar dress and an ascetic mode of life. But the conclusion is too hasty. Their *'''
dress sometimes may have been a " sermo propheticus realis," to teach the people what they
ought to do, and not a piece of asceticism. They do not seem to have been anxious of at-
tracting notice by ostentatious display ; nor did they seek wealth, but some of them, and
probably the most of them, lived in poverty and want (1 Kings xiv. 3 ; 2 Kings iv. 1, 38,
42; vi. 5). It is probable that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 37, 38) alludes
to the sufferings and privations of the prophets especially, in their temporal humiliation, a
vivid representation of which we have in the lives of Elijah and Elisha, in the books of the
Kings ; and in the case of Jeremiah, who concludes the description of his sufferings (chap.
XX.) by cursing the day of his birth. Repudiated by the world in which they were aliens,
they typified the life of Him, whose appearance they announced, and whose spirit dwelt in
them. Their persecution and suffering did not arise from opposition to them as a distinct
class, leading an unsociable, ascetic mode of life, but from opposition to their faithful ministry.
From the very nature of that ministry, it was exempted from the rules of outward uniform-
ity. Eichhorn has justly mentioned as a characteristic difference between the heathen and
the Jewish prophets, that whereas the former tried to enhance their authority by darkness
and seclusion, and mysterious accompaniments, the latter moved among the people without
any such factitious advantages.
Other topics, concerning the prophetical office, the functions and mode of life of the
prophets, will readily occur to the careful reader of the Holy Scriptures. The mere men-
tion of some of these must suffice. The prophets were the national poets of Israel. Music,
poetry, and hymns were a part of the studies of the class from which, generally speaking,
they were derived. They were annafists and historians. A great portion of their writings
b direct or indirect history. According to the testimony of Josephus the whole of the Old
Testament was written by them. They were preachers of patriotism. Their patriotism, as
Bubjects of the theocracy, was founded on motives of religion. The enemy of the nation
was the enemy of God. Hence their denunciation of an enemy was a denunciation of a
representative of evil ; their exhortations in behalf of Jerusalem were exhortations in bebalf
of God's kingdom on earth.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
m.
Contents and Sphere of the Prophetical Writings.
As the function of the prophet was not limited to the disclosure of the foture, but in
The contents eluded in it the expounding and application of the Law, the declaration of God's
are doctrinal will in regard to present duty and of absolute and universal truth, so the pro-
und pre- phetic volume is not confined to prediction. In accordance with this twofold
dictiTB. character of the prophetic oiEce, it contains two elements, which may be called
the moral or doctrinal, and the predictive.
These two parts are not disjoined in the prophetical writings, neither were they disjoined
These two i" the design and communication of prophecy ; but it will conduce to a better
parts not understanding of the subject to view them separately. The sequel, therefore,
diigoined. ^jjj exhibit a brief summary of the principal doctrines of the former, and the
scheme of the latter.
By the sphere of prophecy are meant the parties for whom it was given, and the objects
Sphere of which it more immediately contemplated. Prophecy, in its stricter se&oc of con-
prophecy, taining pre-intimations of good things to come, is for the benefit of the church.
The church, consequently, is its proper sphere. Only in an incidental and remote manner
could it have been intended to bear upon those without ; for it was the revelation of the
L(/rd's secret in regard to the future movements of his providence, which belongs peculiarly
to them that fear him (Ps. xxv. 14). It was not a revelation, however, for such as might
needlessly seek to pry into the future, but for the higher purpose, especially in times of dark-
ness and perplexity, of furnishing the light that might be required for present faith and duty
It is not God's common method to lay open his hidden counsel respecting things destined to
come to pass, even to the children of his covenant ; for such knowledge, if imparted with
any measure of fullness and precision, would be a dangerous possession, and would tend to
destroy the simplicity of their trust in God, and beget an unhealthy craving after human cal-
culations and worldly expedients. It is only, therefore, within certain limits, or in cases that
may be deemed somewhat exceptional, that God can grant, even to his chosen, a prophetical
insight into future events. In so far as it may be needful to awaken or sustain hope in times
of darkness and discouragement, to inspire confidence in the midst of general backsliding and
rebuke, at the approach of imminent danger to the life of faith, to give due intimation of the
brooding evil, — at such times and for such purposes, God's merciful regard to the safety and
well-being of his people may fitly lead Him to provide them with an occasional and partial
disclosure of the future ; but the same regard would equally constrain Him to withhold it
when not necessary for the moral ends of his government.
The cases of Balaam and Daniel, both of whom primarily disclosed to the enemies of
Apparent ex- God's kingdom the things destined to come to pass, may seem to conflict with
ceptionstothis the view that the church is the sphere of prophecy. Both these men, however,
^"^' occupied a kind of exceptional position. They stood apart, not only from the
prophetical order of men in Israel, but also from the common affairs of the church. Hence
the writings of Daniel, notwithstanding their high prophetical character, have had a place
assigned them in the Jewish Canon distinct from the writings of strictly prophetical men . But
in regard to the point immediately before us, the gi-ounds of exception are more apparent
than real. For in the case of both Balaam and Daniel it was mainly for the light and
encouragement of the church that the word of prophecy came by them ; only the circum-
stances of the times were such as to render the camp of the enemy the most appropriate
-watch-tower, where it should be received and primarily made known. At both periods Israel
Ehad come into direct collision with the kingdoms of the world ; in the one case as a new, in
ihe other as a small and shattered power, standing over against others of mighty prowess,
iBud, as might seem, of all-prevailing energy.^
( There are prophecies against Babylon, Tyre, Egypt, and other kingdoms, which, as being
SMdictions delivered to the people of God to comfort them by revealing to them the fate of
«g^"' their enemies, cannot be considered as exceptions to the view taken. Tho proph-
1 Falrbairn On Prophecy, chapter ill.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 9
ecy of Jonah, however, against Nineveh, is of a different character and seems to Babylon,
be exceptional. The prophet was sent to a heathen power to denounce the judg- NineWh '
ments of God against it. He did not, in his own land and among his own and other
people, preach against Nineveh, but he entered the Great City itself and de- ^^"Bioms
nounced the judgment of God against it. Jonah was a typical character and his mission
to Nineveh may have been typical of the mission of Israel to be "a light of the Gentiles,'
and intended to awaken the nation to a consciousness of its mission ; for not only the Mes-
siah but the Israel of God was sent to be a mediator or connecting link between Jehovah
and the nations.^ The prophecy of Jonah, therefore, may not be really exceptional, as it
may have been intended as a type to the ancient church of the mission, which it had
neglected and forgotten. It had acted like Jonah, but with greater success, when he
attempted to flee to Tarshish, in a merchant vessel, to evade the commission, which God had
given him to discharge.
IV,
Doctrinal Prophecy.
It does not fall in with the aim of this introductory treatise to exhibit, in detail, all the
doctrines taught in the prophetic writings. It is sufficient to notice briefly the principal
ones, and to state their relation to the Law and the Gospel.
The prophetical Scriptures speak of God as an eternal, self-existent, and spiritual Being.
They speak of Him as a person, — a self-conscious, intelligent, moral and volun- DocWno of
tary agent, doing all things according to the purpose of his own will. They '
ascribe to Him all the attributes of such a Being in infinite perfection.
No doctrine is more plainly taught than the unity of God. " I am the first, and I am the
last ; and besides me there is no God " (Is. xliv. 6). At the same time the Unity and
doctrine of a trinity of persons — a doctrine more fully developed in the New ''"•"'y-
Testament — is clearly intimated. In Is. vii. 14 and ix. 6, 7, we read of the birth of a
child, whose mother was a Virgin. That this child was the eternal son of God, equal with
the Father, is proved — (1) fi-om his name Immanuel, which means God with us, i. e., God in
our nature ; (2) from his titles. Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, Father of Eternity,
and Prince of Peace ; (3) from the character of his Kingdom : it is everlasting and univer-
sal. The prophet Micah predicted (chap. v. 1, 5) that one was to be born in Bethlehem,
who was to be the Ruler of Israel, i. e., of all the people of God. Although he was to be
born in time and made of a woman, his goings forth were from of old, from everlasting. He
was to manifest, in his government, the possession of divine attributes and glory. His
dominion was to be universal and its effects peace.
We also read of the Spirit of Jehovah, to whom are ascribed intelligence and will. The
possession of these implies personality. In Ezekiel (i. 4-28) it is the Spirit that animates-
the fourfold cherubim and their mystic wheels. It is the Spirit, who entered into the prophet
and set him on his feet, and lifted him up between the earth and heaven, and brought himi
in a vision to Chaldsea, and said to him, " Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel.
. . . . Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord " (Ezek. ii. 2-9). It was the Spirit that
breathed life into the dry bones (Ezek. xxxvii. 9-14). Micah asks : " Is the Spirit of the
Lord straightened " ? (ii. 7). " I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord " (Micah
iii. 8). Joel foretells the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit (chap. ii. 28, 29). Many
other passages might be adduced from the prophets, containing distinct notices of the pres-
ence and power of the Spirit. These passages, as parts of a progressive revelation per-
fected in the New Testament, cannot be made, by any process of criticism, to mean a mere
divine influence.
The God of the prophets is the Creator of all things (Is. xlii. 5) ; and the upholder of
all things (Jer. x. 23 ; xviii. 6 ; Dan. v. 23). They do not deify the laws of Creation —
nature: these are only his ordinances and servants. They are the modes of b™""^*"*'
his operation. He sits behind the elements that He has formed, giving birth proyidenoe.
»nd movement to all things. " When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of
1 Alexander on Isaiah xlli. 6.
10 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
water* in the heavens, and he causeth vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he
maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures ' (Jer. x,
13), " Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and
all deep places " (Ps. cxxxv. 6). He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and lierb
for the service of man. " The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from
God. These all wait upon thee ; that *ou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That thou givest them, they gather : thou openost thy hand, they are filled with good " (Ps.
civ. 14, 21, 27, 28). " O Lord, thou preservest man and beast " (Ps. xxxvi. 6). " Thy
right hand upholdeth me." (Ps. Ixiii. 8). Tliese passages teach a universal, particular, and
present Providence, controlling all things and. directing their issues. It is not restricted to
man, but extends to the beasts of the field. It is not confined to the Jewish theocracy,
where it is displayed by more palpable manifestations ; but it embraces Egypt and Babylon,
Assyria and Persia, Moab and Ammon, the isles of the Gentiles, in a word, all the nations
of the earth.
Tliis Providence is asserted, when the event in question is brought about with no sensible
disturbance of the ordinary influence of human motives ; with no derangement of what is
commonly called the natural course of things. Cyrus, for instance, whom the Greek histo-
rian describes, no doubt truly, as pursuing his career of conquest, in his own proper charac-
ter, was only an instrument appointed for purposes of the divine government, which purposes
the prophet Isaiah unfolds to us. Moses was a deliverer from Egypt, and Cyrus from Baby-
lon ! the former acted under an express legation, and was clothed with the power of work-
ing miracles ; the latter had no such extraordinary power given to him. Yet divine Provi-
dence wrought by both ; and so that Providence, in its ordinary course, is certain, active, and
universal. Such is the account of the present constitution of things, which the tenor of
prophecy affirms. In conformity with this account, the prophets deliver their predictions of
future events, not as if they were announcing the bare truth of the future facts, but b pur
pose and design. They indulge a strain of prediction, which carries in itself the seed of
its accomplishment, and sometimes declare themselves to have been constituted the agents of
the divine counsels. " I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it " (Ezek. xxxvi. 3t ., is
subjoined to the event declared. " Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done
it " ? (Amos iii. 6). " See," saith the Lord to Jeremiah, " I have this day set thee over
the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to
throw down, and to build, and to plant " (Jer. i. 10). This language is figurative, for the
prophet himself was not to do these things ; but it is plain who was to do them. Again,
" Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed
1 it ? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into
; ruinous heaps " (Is. xxxvii. 26). The Assyrian desolator, in his grasping ambition, was the
I unconscious servant of an unseen Power, the instrument of that unerring wisdom that rules
I the world.
Prophecy is more or less a commentary upon the doctrine of divine providence. It
iijiepresents the future event, which it brings to view, as a part of that system of things in
\vAich the Creator is present by the direction of his power, and the counsels of his wisdom,
:a^pointing the issues of futurity as well as foreseeing them ; acting with " his mighty hand
and outstretched arm " seen or unseen ; ruling in the kingdoms of men, ordering all things
in heaven and earth.
The anthropology of the prophets is aa full and complete as their theology. Man was
created by God (Mai. ii. 10) ; he has a common origin (ibidem) ; he has the
power of reason (Ezek. xii. 2 ; Is. i. 18) ; a capacity for holiness (Is. i. 18)
for knowledge and progress (Is. ii. 3, 4, 5) ; he is ruined and cannot save himself (Hos.
xiii. 9 ; Jer. ii. 22 ; xiii. 23) ; he is a subject of God's moral government and owes entire
obedience to his law (Dan. iv. 34, 35 ; Ezek. xviii. 4, 5, 9 ; xxxiii. 11-16 ; Is. i. 19, 20)
worship and homage must be rendered to God (Mai. i. 11 ; iii. 10; Is. Ix. 6, 7). The rela-
tions of men to one another are clearly stated, and the duties arising out of these relations
enforced ; in a word all the duties of the decalogue are strictly enjoined.
Uader the old dispensation, as well as under the new, the favor of God was secured by
faith. The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans (i. 17), quotes, in confir-
mation of the doctrine of justification by faith, Habakkuk ii. 4. Throughout tha
pirpi^tic writings we find exhortations to trust in Jehovah and the result of confidence in
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 11
Him. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee : because ha
trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever : for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength " (Is. xxvi. 3, 4). This confidence, in its ground and object, is not necessarilj
identical with evangelical faith, yet it is the same in principle. The writer of the Epistle tc
the Hebrews enumerates its effects ; but it some of his instances, we are hardly warranted
in assuming the existence of that faith, which justifies the sinner. Yet the doctrine of a
justifying faith is clearly taught, and in some passages necessarily implied, in the law, and
in the prophets, as the Apostle Paul asserts and proves, in his Epistle to the Romans (Rom.
iii. 21 ; chap. iv. 3 ; compare Gen. xv. 6; Is. liii. 11 ; Jer. xxxiii. 16, 16).
The prophets inculcate with remarkable clearness and decision the doctrine of repent-
ance. " Let the Wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ;
atd let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him ; and to
our God, for He will abundantly pardon " (Is. 1 v. 7) . " Then shall ye remember your evil
ways, and your doitigs that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for
your iniquities, and for your abominations " (Ezek. xxxvi. 31 ; xx. 43). They preach the
necessity of it, in order to escape ruin (Ezek. xiv. 6 ; xviii. 30). They invest it with a
high moral dignity (Is. Ivii. 15). They encourage it by promises (Hos. vi. 1, 2, 3; Joel
li. 12, 13).
The doctrinal teaching of the prophets is intermediate between the Law and the Gospel.
It is a step in advance of the Law and preparatory to the Christian dispensa-
tion. It goes beyond the Law, in respect to the greater distinctness and fullness trinal teash
of some of its doctrines and precepts ; it is a more perfect exposition of the i°g of the
pliaciples of personal holiness and virtue ; its sanctions have less of an exclusive ?^°^njg%at,
reference to temporal promises and incline more to evangelical ; the mere ritual between th*
of the Law begins to be discountenanced by it ; and the superior value of a ^'^ """' "'"
Spiritual service is enforced. The Law had said : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might " (Deut. vi. 5).
Nothing could go beyond this commandment, in its extent ; but where nothing can be added
to extend a law, much may be added to expound it, animate its spirit, and direct its prac-
tice. It is precisely this that the prophets do. They everywhere recognize the authority of
the Law of Moses, exalt its practical force, and improve its obligations. Thus like Him, to
whom they all bear witness, they do not destroy the law, but fulfill it. In them we have the
unfolding of those germinal principles, which attain to their full development in the teaching
of Christ, the Head and Crown of the prophetic order.
Predictive Prophecy. — Its Structure.
A twofold view may be taken of predictive prophecy, — its structure and verification
The former constitutes the present theme of Consideration. Twofold
A question may arise in regard to the personal liberty of men, who are the ^''''•
subjects of prophecy. If God has determined an event by prophecy and the preaktiTO
agents to accomplish it, how can these agents be considered as acting freely ? prophecy
This question has difiiculties, the solution of which does not fall in with the scope agency.'
of this dissertation. All who receive, in sincerity, the statements of Scripture,
tnust admit that the foreknowledge, or certain determination of the future actions of men, is
cSmpatible with theii* moral freedom. " Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain "
(Acts ii. 23). No greater difficulty lies against prophecy in regard to man's free agency
than against preordination generally. Pharoah acted freely, though God raised him up to
Show in him his power, and to declare his name throughout all the earth (Ex. ix. 16).
So also did Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar, though they were the chosen agents of God in
icfeoinplishing his purposes. It never once Occurred to these men that they were mew
blind Instruments ; for they were conscious ot their freedonu
12 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Another question may arise ag to the absolute certainty of the fulfillment of a predicted
Does the pre- future event. The question here is not whether any fixed purpose and determi-
diction of a nation of God is liable to be changed by the contingent actions of men ; for in
render i'l^- 'I'^t respect, the truth, founded in God's nature, must stand fast forever. " God
Bolnte ml is not a man, that He should lie ; neither the son of man, that He should repent :
certait t j^^^^j^ jjg ^^^^^ ^^^^ gj,j^Q g^ ^^j ^^ j^ ^ ^^ y^^^-^ j£g spoken, and shall He not make
it good ? " (Num. xxiii. 19.) The question is, whether prophecy ought to be regarded, in
every instance, as announcing what is fixed and conclusively determined by God ; or
whether it should not to some extent, and if to some, then to what extent, be viewed as the
proclamation of God's mind respecting his future dealings, on the supposition of the pirties
interested standing in a certain relationship to his character and government. In the latter
case the prediction might assuredly be expected to take eifect, in so far as the relatioi s con-
templated in it continued ; but in the event of a change in these relations, then a correspond-
ing change in regard to the prediction may reasonably be expected. This is the reil ques-
tion at issue among those who concur in holding prophecy to be a supernatural disclosure of
God's mind and will.
" As everything future," says Olshausen on Matthew chap, xxiv., " even that which pro-
Olshauaen's ceeds from the freedom of the creature, when viewed in relation to the divine
^'^^' knowledge, can only be regarded as necessary ; so everything future, as far as it
concerns man, can only be regarded as conditional upon the use of his freedom. As
obstinate perseverance in sin hastens destruction, so genuine repentance may avert it ; this
is illustrated in the Old Testament, in the prophet Jonah, by the history of Nineveh, and
intimated in the New Testament by Paul, when (like Abraham praying for Sodom) he
describes the elements of good existing in the world as exercising a restraint upon the judg-
ments of God (2 Thess. ii. 7) ; and 2 Pet. iii. 9, the delay of the Lord is viewed as an act
of divine long-suffering, designed to afford men space for repentance. Accordingly when
the Redeemer promises the near approach of his coming, this announcement is to be taken
with the restriction (to be understood in connection with all predictions of judgments), ' AU
this will come to pass, unless men avert the wrath of God by sincere repentance.' None of
the predictions of divine judgments are bare, historical proclamations of that which will take
place ; they are alarms calling men to repentance, — of which it may be said that they
announce something for the very purpose that what they announce may not come to pass."
Hengstenberg (art. " Prophecy," Kitto's Cyclopcedia) says : " Some interpreters, mis-
Hengsten- understanding passages like Jer. xviii. 8 ; xxvi. 13, have asserted with Dr. Kdster
bergs Tiew. ^p_ 226 ff.), that all prophecies were conditional, and have even maintained that
their revocability distinguished the true predictions ( WSissagung) from soothsaying ( Walir-
sagung). But beyond all doubt, when the prophet denounces the divine judgments, he pro-
ceeds on the assumption that the people will not repent, an assumption, which he knows
from God to be true. Were the people to repent, the prediction would fail ; but because
they will not, it is uttered absolutely. It does not follow, however, that the prophet's warn-
ings and exhortations are useless. These serve ' for a witness against them ' ; and besides,
amid the ruins of the mass, individuals might be saved. Viewing prophecies as conditional
predictions nullifies them. The Mosaic criterion (Deut. xviii. 22), that he was a false
prophet who predicted ' things which followed not nor came to pass,' would then be of no
value, since recourse might always be had to the excuse, that the case had been altered by
the fulfilling of the condition. The fear of introducing fatalism, if the prophecies are not
taken in a conditional sense, is unfounded ; for God's omniscience, his foreknowledge, does
not establish fatalism, and from divine omniscience simply is the prescience of the prophets
to be derived."
" These two forms of representation," Dr. Pairbairn remarks (Fairbairn On Prophecy.
Pairbalm's '^^'^ ^°'^^ ' Carlton & Porter, 1866), " may both be characterized as somewhat
.^„_ extreme, and neither of them can be applied to the actual interpretation of the
prophetic Scriptures, without coming at many points into conflict with the un
doubted facts of the case."
Dr. F., considering an exact classification impossible, on account of the concrete character
of the prospective delineations of prophecy, and the readiness with which these in theil
diverse aspects run into each other, traces out a few broad and easily recognized distinctions,
«rhich, for all practical purposes, may be held to be sufficient.
GENEEAL INTRODUCTION. 13
1. " There is, first, a class of prophecies, the direct and proper object of which is to dis-
close God's purposes of grace to men, and indicate in its grander outlines their appointed
course of development. As the ultimate ground of these purposes is plainly in God him-
self, and the bringing of them into accomplishment is emphatically his work, it is evident
that, in respect to this line of things, there can be no room for the operation of any condi-
tional element except in regard to the subordinate relations of place and time. Whether to be
sooner or later in effecting the results aimed at, whether to be effected in this particular mode, ol
in some other that might be conceived, in such things, as the plan of God necessarily comeJ
into contact with earthly relations and human agencies, it must presuppose a certain adapta
tion in the state of the world and the conduct of individual men. Hence, in these respects,
announcements might be made at one time, which, as seen from a human point of view, ap-
peared to have undergone a relative change at another ; but the things themselves and all
that essentially concerns their history and progressive operation in the world, being entirely
and absolutely of God, must proceed in strict accordance with the intimations he gives of
his mind respecting them.
•' As examples of this great class of prophecies," Dr. Fairbairn points " to the original
announcement of salvation by the triumph of the woman's seed over that of the tempter ; to
the promise given to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth should be
blessed ; to the successive limitations made as to the fulfillment of this promise in its main
provisions, by its special connection with the tribe of Judah, the house of David, and a
virgin-born son of that house ; to the representations made of this glorious Being himself,
of the constitution of his person, the place of his birth, the nature and circumstances of his
career on earth, the character of his government, the final results and glories of his king-
dom, with the opposite destinies of those who might set themselves in array against it, In
regard to all that in this respect was purposed in the divine mind, and announced irom time
to time in the prophetic Word, there could be no room for any such conditional element as
might in the least affect the question whether they should actually come to pass or not ; for
they were matters entering into the very core of the diane administration, and indissolubly
linked to the great principles on which from the first all was destined to proceed. As con-
cerns them, we have simply to do with the omniscience of God in foreseeing, his veracity in
declaring, and his overruling providence in directing what should come to pass.
2. " Another class of prophecies, in their ostensible character and design widely different
from the preceding, yet much akin as regards the point now unde'r consideration, consists of
those which, from time to time, were uttered concerning the powers and kingdoms that stood
in a rival or antagonistic position to the Kingdom of God. It is not such prophecies gener-
ally, as respected those powers and kingdoms, that are now referred to, but those which were
given forth concerning them, addressed not so properly to them as to the people of God, and
for the purpose of allaying what naturally awoke fear and anxiety in the minds of believers.
Predictions like that of Jonah to the Ninevites belong to an entirely different class ; for in
this there was a direct dealing with the people of a heathen city in respect to their sin and
liability to punishment ; a preaching more than a prediction ; and both preaching and pre-
diction entering into the sphere of human responsibility, and intended to operate as means
of moral suasion. Nineveh was npt at that time viewed as occupying a hostile position to
the interests of God's kingdom in Israel, but as itself a hopeful field for spiritual agency ;
more hopeful indeed than Israel itself, and fitted to tell with a wholesome influence even on
the people of the Covenant. The mass of prophecies, however, uttered respecting worldly
powers and states, had an entu-ely different object. Contemplating these as rival, and for
the most part directly antagonistic forces, they were mainly intended to assure the hearts of
God's people that whatever earthly resources and glory might for the time belong to those
kingdoms, all was destined to pass away ; that their dominion, however arrogant and pow-
erful, should come to an end ; while that kingdom which was more peculiarly the Lord's,
and was identified with his covenant of grace and blessing, should survive all changes and
attain to an everlasting as well as universal supremacy. Prophecies of this description,
therefore, stood in a very close relation to those already considered ; they but exhibited the
reverse side of God's covenant love and faithfulness. If the purposes of grace and holiness
tonnected with his covenant were to stand, all counter authority and rival dominion must
de put down ; the safety and well-being of the one of necessity involved the destruction of
the other. And to certify believers that such would be the result, was the more immediate
14 GENERAL INTKODUCTION.
design of the prophecies in question ; of the later prophecy, for example, uttered respecting
Nineveh by Nahum, when the city had become the centre of a God-opposing monarchy ; and
of the many similar predictions scattered through the prophetic writings concerning Egypt,
Babylon, Assyria, Edom, and the surrounding heathen states.
" It holds of this class of prophecies as a whole, that in their grand aim they disclose tht
settled purposes of God : purposes that grow out of the essential principles of his charactei
and government ; and that the results they announce are consequently to be regarded as of
an absolute character. As concerned the kingdoms themselves whose destinies they un-
folded, they could scarcely be said to become, through the prophecies in question, except in
a very limited degree, the subjects of moral treatment ; for the prophecies were communi-
cated to the covenant people rather than to them, and comparatively few of the heathen
concerned might ever have come to any distinct knowledge of what had been spoken.
3. " Leaving now the two classes of prophecies which from their very nature can possess
little or nothing of a conditional element, we proceed to notice those which purposely and
directly bore upon men's responsibilities ; those which by means of promise or threatening
placed the subjects of divine revelation under the peculiar training of heaven. Here we
find from the sacred records that the conditional element has often, as a matter of fact, been
strikingly exhibited ; and it must always, we conceive, be virtually if not formally and ex-
pressly found intermingling itself with prophetic intimations of the kind in question. This
conditionality rests upon two great and fundamental principles. The first of these is, that
in God's prophetical revelation of his dealing with men as in the revelations of his mind
generally, all is based on an ethical foundation and directed to an ethical aim ; so that the
prediction should never be viewed apart from the moral considerations on account of or in
connection with which it was uttered. And the other principle is, that in giving intimations
to men or communities of approaching good or evil, God speaks as in other parts of Scrip-
ture in an anthropomorphic manner ; He addresses the subjects of his threatening or promise
more from a human than from a divine point of view ; in other words, He adopts that mode of
representation which is most natural to men, and which is best adapted for impressing and
influencing their minds.
" Let us take, as an illustration of the proper working of these principles, the striking case
of Nineveh already referred to. After having sent his prophet to announce the destruction
of Nineveh in a specified time, the Lord suffered the prophecy to fall into abeyance, re-
frained from executing the "threatened doom, or in the language of Scripture, He repented of
the evil He said He would do to the city, because of the moral change that had meanwhile
taken place among its inhabitants, as manifested in their turning from their evil ways '' God
acts on the principles of righteousness, and, in accordance with these. He must change his
dealings toward men, when their relation to Him has become changed. Shall not the Judge
of all the earth do right? (Gen. xviii. 25). "Hear now, O Israel, is not my way equal?
Are not your ways unequal ? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness
and committeth iniquities, and dieth in them ; for the iniquity that he hath done shall he
die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath commit-
ted, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive " (Ezek. xviii.
25-27).
After these preliminary observations, we now proceed to trace the stream of prophecy
from its beginning down to the close of the Old Testament Canon, when, as if expectant of
the advent of its great subject, it comes to a sudden pause. A like cessation occurs between
Joshua and Samuel, the reasons of which will be noticed in the proper place. With the
exception of these two periods of cessation, and perhaps of some others, either not men-
tioned or not so distinctly marked, prophecy flows on with widening channel, until it reaches
its appointed limits. In the time of Abraham it takes a double, though not a divergent
course. This was necessary, as in him we have the first point of union, in prophecy, of the
Jewish and Christian dispensations ; and from this era it takes up and preserves a twofold
character related to them both.
The date and origin of the predictions of prophecy are coeval with the earliest history
Pate of of man. This history is that of his creation, sin, and fall. No sooner had he
propiieoy. fallen than prophecy intimated a way of recovery. The first prediction was
given in mercy : it contained a promise adapted to man's forfeited condition. This was the
gromise of a Redeemer, who was appointed to bruise the serpent's head, that is, to spoil tbs
GENERAL INIEUDUCTION. 1&
tempter of his triumph, wliich could only be done by repairing the loss suflfered by trans-
gression, This original promise is the dawn of prophecy. Man was not driven from Par*
dise, until prophecy had given him some pledge of hope and consolation.
It is not our intention to enter into an exposition of this first prophecy. Its general
meaning is that a redemption will succeed the fall. The person of the Redeemer, The Prote-
who is to bruise the serpent's head, is not clearly revealed in the terms of the ™ngeiium,i
prediction. "We are not, however, to infer that our first parents had no more prophLy.
instruction on the subject than that contained in the terms of the promise. God Oea. m. 16.
may have communicated much to them, which the sacred historian has not recorded,
Their faith may have been directed to One, whose sacrifice was typified by the sacri
fices that they offered.
This first prediction may serve to point out something of the general aim and design
of all the rest. At the least, it opens to us one comprehensive subject, in which the
whole human race is concerned. And since this subject was the first that introduced
the revelations of prophecy, we may reasonably suppose that it was a principal one
always in view, and that other predictions, when they did not specifically relate, might
yet be subservient, to it, by promoting other purposes, which purposes, however, centered in
the chief design. For prophecy having begun with the prospect of man's redemption, could
be directed, in its subsequent course, to nothing greater. And such the fact appears, when
we draw to a point the multiplied predictions of the Old Testament.
The limits and range of prophecy were as extensive at the first as they were afterward.
The promise of the redemption of our race was given to Adam. This was
the first promise, and the last of the prophets could not go beyond it. For and ranee oj
man's redemption begun in the present world, and completed in heaven, is a prophecy
work which extends itself to the whole duration of his existence, and runs out T'^™. ^ '""
into the infinitude of the divine mercy. The scope of prophecy was, therefore, first as they
as large at the first as it was in later ages. No prophet, as has been intimated, were after-
ever went beyond redemption, though more precise discoveries of it were made '"^'^ "
through every subsequent age of revelation.
During the antediluvian period, there is no intimation, in the Mosaic narrative, of the
prophetic gift. But in the New Testament, we have two distinct references to Q^j^gj ^^jg.
such an exercise. The first is 2 Pet. ii. 5, which speaks of Noah as a preacher diluTian
of righteousness. He is not called a prophet in this passage, but merely a P'op'»«'=ies-
preacher of righteousness. The act, however, of building the ark, was clearly prophetic of
the approaching deluge ; and Noah doubtless accompanied his action by words, when
preaching righteousness he called upon the people to repent, so that they might avert the
impending wrath. The second is Jude 14, 15 : " And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints,
to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches
which ungodly sinners hav6 spoken against him." This was the warning, uttered by
prophecy, of the coming catastrophe, which swept the sinners of the antediluvian world
from the earth ; and it is a warning against all the ungodly that a similar doom awaits them,
unless they repent.
The first general execution of God's general judgment upon sin was the Flood, which
formed an epoch dividing the old world and the new. So great a crisis of the world's his-
tory was not permitted to pass without the intervening warnings of prophecy. To the one
righteous man and his family the deluge was foretold. The ark itself was a visible prophetic
warning to a wicked world.
The prophecy delivered to Noah, after the Flood, had reference to that overwhelming
satastrophe. The occurrence of a heavy rain would naturally produce in the
minds of men the fear pf a second Deluge. To relieve them from any such a^^ejeTto
apprehension, and to assure them of an orderly succession and return of the Noah, unme-
seasons, God graciously promised to Noah, that " While the earth remaineth, l^^°^l ^^
leedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease."
With this promise is connected a second grant to man of dominion over the creatures and
3ver the earth. To confirm this promise God set his " bow in the cloud," that it should
1 Hengstenberg's Oiristology of the Old Teatammt, The FioteTangelium , vol. I. p. 4. Edinburgh : T. & T. Olark, 1868.
16 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
" be a token of a covenant," that " neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters
of a flood I neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." Thus prophecy
reflected its light from the bow that spanned the earth, after the waters had retired from its
surface, and gave to man the assurance of natural mercies and blessings (Gen. viii. 22 ;
Lx. 2, 9-17).
" And he said, Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Prediction of And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his ser-
Noah con- yant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and
mn^^^Gti' Canaan shall be his servant." This passage contains a curse upon Canaan, anr
Ix. 25, 26, a blessing upon Shem and Japheth. Both the curse and the blessing, as thi
^^- tenor of the prophecy clearly shows, arc not to be restricted to the individuals
named, but extend to their posterity. Just as in the subsequent prophecies concerning Ish-
mael, Jacob, Esau, and the twelve patriarchs, we look for the fulfillment among their de-
scendants, so in the present instance we must look for it among the tribes and nations that
sprang from these three sons of Noah.
This prophecy announces a high degree of prosperity to Shem and Japheth. The na-
ture of this prosperity is indicated, in regard to Shem, in two ways : (1.) God is not
called by the name Elohim, expressive of his general relation to the world, but by the name
Jehovah, which refers to his revelation and to his institutions for man's redemption. (2.)
Jehovah is styled the " God of Shem." Both imply that God would sustain to the posterity
of Shem a relation entirely peculiar, favor them with revelations of his will, and make them
partakers of his temporal and spiritual blessings.^
The blessing pronounced upon Japheth (ver. 27), is differently understood by interpreters.
The verb rendered "enlarge," forms a paronomasia with the proper name Japheth, and
means : to persuade, to entice, to allure. Hence some interpreters (see Calvin on the pas-
sage) translate it thus : " AUiciat Deus Japhetum, ut habitet in tentoriis Semi." Other in-
terpreters give to the word ni~IS the meaning, to be broad, and understand it in the sense
that God shall give Japheth a numerous posterity, who shall possess widely extended ter-
ritories. This is the interpretation of most of the ancient versions, and is the one most
generally received. The accomplishment of this prediction has been pointed out in the
fact, that the descendants of Japheth have not only gained possession of all Europe, but also
of a large portion of Asia.
Another difference of opinion has arisen in regard to the subject of the verb ]bl!J''\
According to a very ancient interpretation CnVw is to be supplied. The verse will fien
read : " God shall enlarge Japheth and shall dwell in the tents of Shem." This would in-
timate that, while God would enlarge Japheth, He would manifest himself in a peculiar
manner to Shem. Taking this view of it, the prediction would be fulfilled, when the She-
kinah (derived from the verb, in this verse, rendered " shall dwell"), the visible symbol of
the divine glory, dwelt in the Tabernacle, afterward in the Temple, and finally in the highest
sense, when " the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth '' (John i. 14). This
view, however, for exegetical reasons, has been rejected by the ablest critics, and Japheth is
made the subject of the verb " shall dwell." °
Some, who take Japheth to be the subject, regard DttJ not as a proper name, but as an
appellation — name, illustrious najfte, renown. " May God give to Japheth an extended
country, may he dwell in renowned habitations." Gesenius adopts this view in his Hebrew
Lexicon. (See Ges., Heb. Lex., s. v. Dt?-) But, Hengstenberg remarks, " It is in the
highest degree unnatural to suppose that DEJ is here suddenly employed in a totally different
meaning from that which it has in the verse before, and no one would resort to such an in-
terpretation except from extreme necessity." '
Abraham came originally from Ur of the Chaldees. When he was seventy-five years old,
CaUofAbra- the Lord said unto him : " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
''™'°'' and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee : and I will auaka
1 IIengfltenberg'9 ChrisMogy on Gen. ix. 18-27, vol. 1. pp. 20-28. EtUnbUTKh : T. & T. Clark 18B8.
a Ibid, TOl. i. pp. 31-33. '
« Ibid, vol. i. p. 32.
GENEEAL INTBODUCl ION 17
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou propheoy
shalt be a blessing : and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that <=°^';='«*
° with it.
curseth thee ; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed
And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said. Unto thy seed will I give this land " (Gen.
xii. 1-7).
In these promises, prophecy begins to make its larger revelations of the objects of faith.
Two predictions are here made to him and repeated in Gen. xiii. 14-17 ; xv. 1-7, 13-16;
xvii. 1—8 ; xxii. 15—18. One of these relates to the possession of the land of Canaan by
bis posterity ; and the other, to the universal blessing of mankind in him, and (xxii. 18) in
his seed.
This mixed subject requires distinct notice, since we have here the first point of union in
prophecy of the Jewish and Christian dispensations ; and since from this era prophecy takes
up and preserves a twofold character related to both. The possession of the land of Canaan
by Abraham's descendants identifies itself with the organization of the Hebrew people into
a nation. It therefore leads us into that dispensation which includes the Law of Moses and
the Theocracy, under which were transmitted the divine promises and revelations down to
the era of the Gospel. This is the part of the divine economy resting on the promise of
the land of Canaan. The universal blessing of the human race is the original promise made
to our first parents.. It is repeated and confirmed to Abraham, with the provision that the
blessing of " all the nations of the earth " should spring firom his seed. Through the me-
dium of this promise, and perhaps in other ways, Abraham saw the Saviour's day and was
glad (John viii. 56).
Ishmael and Esau were the subjects of prophecy ; but as they are not in the line of the
inheritance, and of " the seed," it is unnecessary to say anything more than The promiM
barely to mention the fact. The case of Isaac and Jacob is different. They are ™^*'' '<>
in the line of the promise, and form distinct links in the chain of its fulfillment, conflrmed to
The promises made to Abraham were repeated and confirmed to them (Gen. Isaac and
xxvi. 2-5; xxviii. 13-15; xlvi. 2-4). The prophecy (xlvi. 2-4) in part repeats, •'^°^-
in part fills up the one given to Abraham (xv. 13, 14). The addition made in the prophecy
to Jacob is to show that Egypt was to be the land of the last intermediate abode and
increase of his race, — a particular, which had not been specified before, but was now sup-
phed at the time, when Jacob was invited by Joseph to go down to Egypt, during the
famine. This was an important crisis in the history of his family, and required the inter-
position of prophecy to calm his fears and explain to him the end that God had in view in
the circumstances that induced him to remove from Canaan to the land of the Nile.
Omitting the prophecy of Jacob respecting the sons of Joseph, we enter upon the consid-
eration of that, delivered on his death-bed, concerning his own sons. He pre- propheoy of
dieted to them distinctly some striking points in the future condition of the twelve J"™*" o" ^^
tribes, which were to spring from them. These points were very unlike in their
kind, and comprised a variety of determinate particulars. The general scope of this prophecy,
however, is that it is directed to the land of Canaan, and that it distributes the tribes in
that country with a particularity of lot, under a geographical restriction, which makes
it clear that Canaan is the field of the prophecy, even if the explanation were not sub-
ioined : " Behold, I die ; but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of
your fathers " (Gen. xlviii. 21).
A very remarkable feature of this prophecy is, that it foretold that his twelve sons should
be the founders of the same number of tribes, by a perpetuation of descendants to each. It
was with reference to this fact that the inheritance of the land of Canaan was apportioned
to them. That such a disposition of the inheritance should take effect, in all its particulars,
would seem very improbable to any one viewing the matter from the contingency of a con-
tinued male offspring to each of the sons, in a numerous and distant issue. But the grant
was from Him, who divided to the nations their inheritance, and who, when He separated
the sons of Adam, set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children
of Israel (Deut. xxxii. 8). Prophecy declared his purpose.
The time of this prophecy is worthy of notice. The aged patriarch, under the divine
command, had settled, with his family, in Egypt. The land of Goshen had been given
to them for their use. The "new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph," had not
jet appeared. Joseph was still governor of the land, and the prospects of his brethren
8
18 GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
were more flattering than they could have been in the land of Canaan. Lest, therefore, the
antecedent predictions in regard to Canaan should be forgotten by their abode and domesti-
cation in a foreign country, the most specific disclosure is made to them as to their subse-
quent enjoyment and partition of their inheritance, which had been originally assured to
their fathers. This was the third time that the promise of their return from Egypt
was given ; and their minds were now turned more distinctly and forcibly to the object of
God's promise, by the distribution of Canaan among the twelve tribes, that were to spring
from the twelve sons of Israel.
Much has been written concerning that portion of this prophecy, which relates to Judah.
The critical investigation of it does not fall in with our present purpose. It contains a
prominent revelation of two things : first, the prolonged duration of power in the tribe of
Judah, as distinguished from the rest ; second, the cessation of that power on the coming of
Shiloh, to whom the gathering of the people should be. The meaning of the prophecy,
iays Hengstenberg, "is, that the tribe of Judah should not lose the dominion until he attain
to its highest realization by Shiloh who should be descended from him, and lo whom all the
nations of the earth should render obedience." '
There is a singular fitness in the union of this Messianic prediction with the other branches
of the dying patriarch's prophecy. For his prophecy is the first place in Scripture, which
exhibits or implies the constitution of the twelve tribes, under which their state was after-
ward to be moulded and governed. As soon as prophecy recognized this division and
arrangement of the ti-ibes, it set its mark upon that tribe, which was destined to have the
preeminence over the others, and the privilege of a nearer union with the advent of Christ.
When the form of tribes began to be seen, the Chi-istian subject, in relation to those
tribes, is immediately introduced. It was joined with the first general promise of Canaan ;
it was joined with the partition of that land, and specifically with the tribal constitution.
Patriarchal prophecy was a preparation for the covenant of Canaan. And because it
Patriarchal was SO, there is on that account a great analogy seen to subsist in the distribu-
prophecy a Hqj^ of the light of prophecy, and the succession of the Mosaic and Christian
for the cove- Covenants. Patriarchal prophecy sustains very much the same relation to the
nant of former, that later prophecy does to the latter. Not only is the promise of Canaan
Canaan. jjj patriarchal prophecy most expUcit ; but the years are numbered to the begin-
ning of the possession of it. Four hundred years were foretold to Abraham (Gen. xv. 13),
A definite time was likewise foretold to Daniel (Dan. ix. 24, 25, 26, 27), The varied pre-
dictions of patriarchal prophecy tend to Canaan, as the predictions of later prophecy centre
in the Gospel. This general analogy, which obtains in the structure of prophecy, in its two
principal periods, — the one preceding the Law, the other subsequent to it, — - may contribute
to fix our judgment, in each case, of its use, and to illustrate the accordance and harmony
in its most essential features.
There is, however, a, great difference in the prophecies of these two periods. Before the
Law prophecy says nothing of Moses, the Jewish legislator, and the mediator of
the covenant of Canaan. After the Law, when the people of Israel were in
possession of the land promised to their fathers, prophecy abounds with predictions, not only
of the Gospel covenant, but also of the Messiah. His person, his nature, his work, and
his character. This distinction is due to Him, who is Lord of all. " Moses verily was
faithful in all his house as a servant ; but Christ as a Son over his own house " (Heb. iii.
6, ey
The deliverance from Egypt was the step, in God's providence, preparatory to the
Prophecy institution of the Law, and to the possession of Canaan connected with it ;
contemporary and this deliverance itself was the accomplishment of one principal part of ante-
with the cedent prophecv.
promulgation y . ^^ .
Df the Law I" "s relation to the past the Law depended upon the Abrahamic covenant
Ihe Law (Gal. iii. 17-24). That covenant, as we have already seen, had a twofold char-
^ • acter. It contained the spiritual promise of the Messiah, which was given to the
a^^the J^"'^' ^^ representatives of the whole human race, and as guardians of a treas-jre,
in which all families of the earth should be blessed. This would prepare the
1 Christology on Gen. xllx. 8-10, vol. i. p. 62. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1868.
2 Dayison On Frophec]/, p. 70. Sixth Edition. Oxford, 1866.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 19
Jewish nation to be the centre of the unity of all mankind. But it contained Abrahamlo
also the temporal promises subsidiary to the former, and needed in order to Covenant.
preserve intact the nation, through which the race of man should be educated and prepared
for the coming of the Redeemer. These promises were special, given distinctly to the Jews
as a nation, and, so far as they were considered in themselves, calculated to separate them
^om other nations of the earth. It follows that there should be in the law a corresponding
duality of nature. There would be much in it that is peculiar to the Jews, local, special,
and transitory ; but the fundamental principles, on which it is based, must be universal,
because it expresses the will of an unchanging God, and springs from relations to Him,
inherent in human nature, and, therefore, perpetual and universal in their application.
The nature of this relation of the Law to the promise is clearly pointed out. The beliel
In God as the Redeemer of man, and the hope of his manifestation as such in Relation of
the person of the Messiah, involved the belief that the spiritual power must be '■^^ i^" ^
superior to all carnal obstructions, and that there was in man a spiritual element, " '°
which could rule his life by communion with a spirit from above. But it involved also the
idea of an antagonistic power of evil, from which man was to be redeemed, existing in each
individual, and existing also in the world at large. The Promise was the witness of the one
truth, the Law was the declaration of the other. It was added because of transgressions.
In the individual it stood between his better and his worse self; in the world, between the
Jewish nation, as the witness of the spiritual promise, and the heathendom, which groaned
under the power of the flesh.^
The relation of the Law to the future might be viewed under various aspects. But oui
object is to view it in its bearing upon the coming of our Lord and the dispensa- Kelation of
tion of the Gospel. In doing this we are guided by the general principle laid 'be Law to
down in Heb. vii. 19 : " the law made nothing perfect." In its moral aspect it
bore the stamp of insufBciency. It declared the authority of truth and goodness over man's
will, and it took for granted the existence of a spii-it in man, which could recognize that
authority ; but it did no more. Its presence detected the existence and the sinfulness of sin,
as alien alike to God's will and man's true nature ; but, at the same time, it brought out
with more vehement and desperate antagonism the power of sin dwelling in man as fallen
(Rom. vii. 7-25). It only showed, therefore, the need of a Saviour from sin, and of an
indwelling power, which would enable man to conquer the power of evil. Hence it bore
witness of its own insufficiency and led men to Christ (Gal. iii. 24).
The Law had relation to Christ in its sacrificial and ceremonial aspect also. The whole
system of sacrifices was typical ; and on their typical character their virtue depended. The
priesthood was typical. Sacrifices declared the need of atonement ; the priesthood, the
possibility of mediation ; and yet in themselves they did nothing to realize either. Thus
again the Law led to Him, who is at once the only Mediator and true sacrifice. In this way
the Law, especially in its sacrificial and ceremonial aspect, was a standing prophecy of Christ.
It trained and guided men to the acceptance of the Messiah, in his threefold character of
Prophet, Priest, and King ; and then its work being done, it became, in the minds of all
those who trusted in it, not only an incumbrance but a snare. To resist its claim to allegi-
unce was, therefore, a matter of life and death in the days of the Apostle Paul, and, in a
less degree, in subsequent ages of the church. " Christ is the end of the law for righteous-
ness to every one that believeth " (Rom. x. 4).
The first prediction concerning Christ after the promulgation of the Law, was that of
Balaam, which was coincident with the approach of the Israelites to Canaan.
This diviner was summoned by the King of Moab to interrupt, by his curse, the concerning
progress of God's chosen people. His will to that effect was not wanting ; but Christ short,
t was overruled. A word of true prophecy was put into his mouth, and he was ^Z.^^^"
tonstrained to bless those, whom he wished to curse. " I shall see him, but not tion of the
now : I shall behold him, but not nigh ; there shall come a star out of Jacob, l^^- Nnm-
XXIT 17
and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall snyte the corners of Moab, and
destroy all the children of Sheth."
Some have sought the star and sceptre of Balaam's prophecy and professed to have
found them in David. A sceptre may be found in him ; but the sceptre and the star of the
prophecy are probably to be found in Him, who is " the root and the offspring of David, and
1 Smith's Dictionary of the Bate, art. " law of Moses."
20 GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
the bright and morning star" (Rev. xxii. 16). The vision of the prophet's mind carried him
into futurity, and perhaps the expression, " I shall see him, but not now," is expressive of
something more than an ideal vision : it may be the mysterious foreboding of that real sight,
which all shall have, when " He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him " (Rev.
Though some deny the application of this prophecy to Christ, and thmk that it is com-
pletely fulfilled in David, it is only, we think, in those points, wherein the kingdom of David
is typical of that of the Messiah. Men in the age of David would not be likely to find its
fulfillment in him ; for they found in his time other predictions opening the designs of God
to a greater extent. It was a principle of ancient prophecy that it was constantly advan-
cing, m some or other of its prospects, until the point of rest was given to so many of them,
in the advent and religion of Christ.
" The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
bretliren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken."
Hke untr^' Tlie scope of this prophecy is decided by its origin and occasion. The Israel-
Moses, ites could not endure the voice and fire of Mount Sinai. They asked for an in-
Deut. xTiu. termediate messenger between God and them, who should temper the awfulness
^^' of his voice, and impart to them his will in a milder way. In answer to their
prayer, God declares that they had well spoken, and that He would accordingly raise up
unto them a Prophet such as they desired (Deut. xviii. 16, 17, 18).
Three general views of this passage have found their separate advocates. The first is that
S''D3 is used in a collective sense, and that it includes the prophets of all periods ; the
• T
second, that it has exclusive reference to Christ ; the third, that S''33 is used in a collective
sense ; but at the same time the promise is completely fulfilled only by the mission of Christ,
in whom the idea of the prophetic order was eompletely realized.
The context (vers. 20-22) would seem to indicate that an order and succession of prophets
were contemplated ; but that is not inconsistent with the view, that the Prophet like unto
Moses was to be some one Person, whose mission should be to reveal the divine will in a way
diSering from the terrors of the Law given from Mount Sinai. In this sense it is understood
in the Gospel history (John v. 46, and i. 45 ; X^uke xxiv. 44 ; Acts iii. 22, 23 ; Acts vii.
37 ; Matth. xvii. 5),^ So it has been understood from the earliest times by most interpreters
in the Christian Church and by the older Jews.
To justify its appUoation to Christ the resemblance between Him and Moses has been
drawn out into a variety of particulars, some of which may be regarded as fanciful. The
great and essential characters of similitude between them are in the fullness and luminous
intuition of their communications with God, the magnitude of the revelations made by them,
and the institution of a religion founded upon these revelations.
There is another resemblance included in the scope of the prediction, resting in a quality
which began with Moses. Before his time the greater part of prophecy had been communi-
cated in oracles and visions from God to individuals. When the patriarchs were inspired to
prophesy, it was only upon the occasion ; they had no constant recognized office of that
nature. " A prophet raised up from among his brethren," and set forth as the declared in-
terpreter of God's will, a living oracle of divine communication, was unknown until the
mission of Moses. In this particular he resembled Christ, the Prophet of the New Tes-
tament.
The circumstances, under which the children of Israel were organized into a nation in the
Temporal wilderness, are without a parallel in the history of any other nation. They were
prophecy placed under the regimen of their law, obedience to which was strictly enjoined
with the pro- "poii them. In case of disobedience, Moses, their prophet, denounced upon them,
muigation of along with the dissolution of their polity, captivity, and dispersion, sufierings of
the Law. unexampled severity (Deut. xxviii., xxix).
It is a striking fact in the delivery of this prophecy, that it comes from the legislator of
the commonwealth. It is concurrent with the foundation of that commonwealth. It is not
like man's wisdom to anticipate the downfall of his own works, at the moment when they
3ome fi-esh from his hands. But it is like the wisdom of God to predict the fall of things
1 Some ot these references affirm only that Moses wrote of Christ. The pertinency of Matthew XTil. 6 lias la th< la4
«mu£0, " hear yo him," compared with the last clause of Deut. xviii. 15.
GENERAL mXEODTJCTION. 21
which, are appointed to a great change, at a time when appearances are most remote from
it, and when the state of things dictates other feelings and opposite anticipations. The ap-
proaching settlement of the chosen people in Canaan, is the time when their ruin and thei?
expulsion from that land are introduced to view. In the land of Canaan they found a dorai
cile for their Law, and an investiture of their covenant ; and then prophecy ceased for a
season.
From Moses to Samuel there is an interval without prophecy ; from Samuel to Malachi
there is continuity of prophecy ; from Malachi to Christ there is another interval
without prophecy. _ _ ^Xy^l^
That there was an intermission of the prophetic gift may be proved by the fol- twcen Mosm
owing arguments : — ™'* Samuel
(l.) The silence of the sacred record. Proofs of the
(2.) By the union of Samuel with Moses, when the prophets of God are men- tatermissioa
tioned together (Jer. xv. 1 ; compare Ps. xcix. 6). phetiogift
(3.) By the implication of Paul, who reckons the government of the judges from Moses
to Samuel, the prophet, as distinguished from them (Acts xiii. 20 ; compare '° Samuel.
iii. 24).
(4. ) By the express statement of the historic text, which informs us that " the word of
the Lord was precious in those days : there was no open vision " (l Sam. iii. 1).
During the period of intermission, we read of Deborah, the prophetess ; but her title to
that name was probably due to her inspiration and to a call to government, or to her gift of
composing sacred hymns. In the latter sense, Miriam, the sister of Moses, is styled a proph-
etess (Ex. XV. 20). The prophetic power showed itself in her under the form of poetry, ac-
companied with music and processions.
There was a reason for this intermission of prophecy in the condition and circumstances
of the people. During the period of cessation there was no change seriously or ^^ .
permanently affecting the constitution of the government. The people, it is true, this Inter-
were subject to many vicissitudes of fortune. When they sinned, God gave them mission of
into the hands of their enemies ; when they repented. He delivered them. But ^™^
these vicissitudes did sot shake the frame of their polity, their priesthood, or their law.
They were merely the exemplifications of the issue of obedience, or disobedience. They
gave no destructive shock to their institutions. No change occurred of magnitude sufficient
to demand the prophetic interposition.
In the time of Samuel a different state of things arose. The commonwealth wore not only
a disturbed appearance, but also approached the time of great innovations. A regal gov-
ernment was to be set up ; the priesthood was to be transferred ; the kingdom was to be
divided ; after which idolatry was established among the ten tribes ; then followed a series
of calamities ending in subjugation and captivity. In the midst of these calamities the
Covenant was placed under such dubious and questionable circumstances as to render proph-
ecy highly expedient to the elucidation of passing events, and to the instruction of men in
regq,rd to the future course and result of the divine proceedings. For it was one office of
prophecy to give adequate information concerning the special institutions of God's covenant,
ind to predict the changes to which these institutions were from time to time subjected. No
ordinance of any importance was allowed to pass away without the express and definite an-
nouncement of prophecy. This is verified in regard to the gift of Canaan, the Mosaic
Covenant and worship, the Hebrew people as the peculiar people of God, the temporal
kingdom of David, and the Temple. All these appointments have passed away, but none
of them was abolished without the distinct announcement of prophecy.
Corresponding to the disturbed state of the commonwealth of Israel and to the changes
that were awaiting it, were the revival and subsequent enlargement of the pro- The proper
phetic revelation. Prophecy took its stand at the commencement of these changes ''Be of the
and innovations. As Moses was the prophet of the age of the Law, so was tij^ j.^^^^ „f
Samuel the prophet of the first age of the monarchy of Israel. prediotiTe
From the time of Samuel, prophecy is continuous and progressive. It proceeds, Y°^^T^
without any material chasm, or suspension of its revelations, through the succeed- the time of
Uig line of complex history, down to the days of Malachi, the last of the Old Samuel.
Testament prophets, when it came to a close again for a long season, and interposed its otheL
{reat cessation prior to the Gospel advent. This, then, is the reign of predictive revelation,
22 GENEEAL INTRODtJCTION.
r«m the and the proper age of the prophets. It is the middle period of the first dispen
Hmeof Sam- eation, standing equally removed, in time and in some of its characters, from th€
ohe/Ts Law and from the Gospel ; and the service of prophecy, during this period,
piogfesLe forms a connecting link of information between the two. It was a period that
and en- j^^d its succession of inspired messengers following each othei* in order from first to
''"'^^'^' last ; and it had its predictions embracing every remarkable change affecting the
chosen people, as well as a continuation 6f predictive prophecy carried forward and reaching
to the Gospel a^-e. Its communications are also enlarged. It branches out in different di-
rections. It enters into the Jewish, Christian, and Pagan subjects. The restricted Jewish
subject comes first, as in the predictions of Samuel. The Jewish and the Christian are next
combined, as in the prophecies of David and Isaiah. Afterward the Christian and Pagan
are clearly and formally connected in the prophecies of Daniel. All these subjects, either
apart or in union, are filled Up from time to time with various accessions of prediction, ex-
tending on every side the range of the revelation.
In this series of predictions, one subject is prominent. It is the Christian. It is, of all
others, the most frequently introduced and the most copiously treated. " To
One subject Q^^jgt gjye all the prophets witness." Whatever matters they may treat of, to
prominent ^.^ ^^^ ^^ religion they direct our attention with a remarkable concurrence
and agreement. The consummation of the designs of God in his particular covenant with
the house of Israel, is referred to the days of the Messiah. The succession of the kingdoms
of the earth is equally deduced to the Messiah's Kingdom. It may, therefore, be truly said
of prophecy and of its scope, that it presents the Redeemer and his everlasting Kingdom as
its centre, and the end of the revelations of God.
It has been already stated that, during the time of the Judges, the people of Israel wer«f
,w ,. ■ subiect to many vicissitudes of fortune : and that, at the close of that period, the
Propnecy in J ^ , ^ . j.. t ai," • • f
the time of commonwealth was approaching a time of great innovations. In tms crisis oi
Samuel. jj^g Chosen People, second only in importance to the Exodus, there appeared a
leader, second only to Moses.^ This was Samuel, to whom the Lord especially revealed
Himself He was the subject of divine communications when he was a child ; and when h6
grew up, " all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a
prophet of the Lord " (1 Sam. iii. 20). The two books which give an account of the first
establishment of the monarchy are called by his name, as fitly as the books which give an
account of the establishment of the theocracy are called by the name of Moses.
Samuel was not a founder of a new state of things, like Moses ; but he was appointed to
regulate the great change, which ensued in tlie choice of a king to rule over Israel. At
first he remonstrated against the wishes of the people, but afterwards yielded by divine di-
rection, and anointed Saul of the tribe of Benjamin. When Saul, for his transgression, was
rejected, David, of the tribe of Judah, was anointed by the same hand to succeed to the
throne.
Samuel, as judge, was the representative of the past ; ^ as prophet, he was the representst-
tive of the new epoch, which was now dawning on his country. He is explicitly described
as " Samuel the Prophet." " All the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after."
" He gave them judges until Samuel the Prophet." The line of prophets, who followed in
unbroken succession until the time of Malachi, begins with him. The prophetic institution,
in its outward form, may be traced back to him. In his time we first read of a " company
of prophets," corresponding to what, in modern phraseology, are called " Schools of the
Prophets."
Tlie characteristic of Samuel's prophecy was almost exclusively of a civil nature, being
directed to the public state of the Commonwealth of Israel. Its chief mission was to watch
over the change introduced by the establishment of the kingly government. This Samuel,
in his official character as prophet, did with diligence. He anointed, counseled, and di-
rected Saul ; and then by divine authority he appointed the sceptre to David. The trans-
ference of the priestlaood from the house of Eli, the other chief subject of his prophecy, is
of a like kind ; for it made no change in the religion of the Israelites, but only in the public
ecclesiastical order of it. The distinctive character of prophecy, at this period, is, there-
1 Dean Stanley's Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church. Part I. p. 431. New Tort : Charles Sciibner k
Oompany. 1870.
2 Some intimations, in the history of his times, would lead us to infer that he did not entirely relinquish the ofiBof
of jadge after the accession of Saul to the throne (1 Sam. xi. 7 ; xiii. 8-14; xT. 1^-35).
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 23
fore, its civil nature. As such it was adapted to its time, but it was something different
from the prophecy of almost every other period. The predictions of Samuel, considered in
their adaptation to the circumstances of the time, could not be said to have been framed
under favor of these circumstances. For his predictions concerning Eli and Saul, the priest-
hood and the throne, were delivered in the face of their power ; his favorable prediction
respecting David seemed to be beyond the range of human probability. His first prophecies
challenged a jealous scrutiny ; his last was placed beyond the command of his influence and
direction. In each case his authority, as a prophet, was strictly tried.
Now the predictions of prophecy begin to take a wider range, and to present a greatei
variety of matter. Prophecy in
After the experience of so many changes and calamities, anxiety and doubt the time of
might take possession of the mind of the Israelite, on the occasion of another ^'''''*-
change, — the accession of David to the throne. This anxiety and doubt, did they exist, were
removed by the interposition of prophecy. Having foreshown the exaltation of David, and
the preeminence of his tribe, it proceeded to establish his house, and complete his greatness
by a promise of the kingdom in his family. The predictions to this effect are literal and
clear : " Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they
may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; neither shall the children of wicked-
ness afflict them any more, as beforetime, and as since thfe time that I commanded judges to
be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the
Lord tcUeth thee that he will make thee a house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou
shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will esta,blish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will
stablish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the
children of men : But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul,
whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for-
ever before thee : thy throne shall be established forever " (2 Sam. vii. 10-16). The
eighty-ninth Psalm dilates the same prediction.
David's life and reign were not peaceful. They were full of warfare and danger. He
was persecuted by Saul and obliged to seek an asylum in an enemy's land. His
own son rebelled against him, and his subjects rose in insurrection. He was en- prophecy
gaged in frequent wars with the surrounding nations. These troubles continued contained in
until he was advanced in" life. He closed his career, however, in peace. But ^["j^"'
troublous as his own reign was, he had the prediction that his tlirone should be
established, and that the reign of his son should be one of security and peace. " Behold a
son shall be born unto thee, who shall be a man of rest ; and I will give him rest from all
his enemies round about ; for his name shall be called Solomon, and I will give peace and
quietness unto Israel in his days '' (1 Chron. xxii. 9). This son the Lord chose to build a
house for his name (1 Chron. xxviii. 3-6). We have here the stipulation of peace in the
reign of Solomon, and of a long stability in his succession. These were the promises made
to this chosen King of Israel, and, in him, to his people.
But the temporal is only one of its subjects. In the person of David, prophecy makes some
of its greatest revelations. In him, as in Abraham, the temporal and evangelical j^ pn^ij^ ^
predictions are united. His reign is a cardinal point of their union, and of the in Abraham,
entire scheme of prophecy in what has been called its double sense. He was a ^^o° *{ '"'
prophet himself, inspired to reveal many of the Christian promises. In the pro- temporal
phetic psalms, the most of which are ascribed to David, the attributes of the "n" spiritual
reign and religion of the Messiah are foreshown to us. We have set before us, '''"^ '"'^'
by the royal prophet, a King set upon the holy hill of Zion, his law, the opposition made
to Him by the kings of the earth, their rage defeated, his sceptre of righteousness, his un-
changeable priesthood, his divine Sonship, his death and resurrection, liis dominion embra-
3ing the whole world (Psalms ii., xvi., xlv., Ixxii., Ixxxix., ex).
As there is a great increase of prophetic light, during this period, subsequent prophecy
aften reverts to it. There is no individual, one only excepted, of whom more is said by the
prophets, than of David. " The throne of David," " the sure mercies of David," are fre-
quently mentioned in the progress of prophetic revelation ; and the single person, who formed
Ike principal theme of the divine oraeles, was He, who was both the Son of David and hi«
24 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. ^^^^
lord, to whom the glory of David's kingdom and the prophecies relating to it preeminently'
belong.
As the Messiah was to be born of the seed of David, according to the flesh, there was a
Jongruity in originating some of the clearest and most remarkable prophecies concerninj^
Him, at the time of the exaltation of the house of David ; for the Messiah was to be the
heir of David's throne, the King of Israel, the Ruler of the people of God. We observe the
same order in the call of Abraham, and in the constitution of the tribes. When God first
separated the family in which the Messiah was to be born, the seed of blessing was revea.td
to the founder and patriarch of that family. When the family began to divide and branch
into tribes, the tribe of Judah was designated by prophecy as that from which Shiloh was to
spring. When the kingdom of David is set up, the reign and power of the Messiah are
brought into view. The congruity is not limited to the time of David's exaltation, for he
was a typical king. The evangelical end is not only foreshown with the temporal appoint-
ment, but it is stamped upon it. In the house of David is founded a kingdom ; but Christ
has his kingdom, his protecting power and rule over the people of God, as truly as Solo-
mon and other heirs of the house of David had theirs. The temporal kingdom bears some
image to the other : they are two analogous subjects and fit to be combined together, as
prophecy has combined them. This analogy and combination bring before us the double
sense, as it has been called, of some prophecies, which is best explained by the principles
of typology.
The prophecies of this period, relating to the Messiah, partake principally of the regal
character ; and David, the king and prophet, is made the promulgator of them ; and an ex-
cellent provision was made for the expression, and to secure the memory of them in the
language of poetry. They passed into the devotions, pubUc and private, of the Church
of Israel.
It had been foretold that the reign of Solomon should be distinguished for its peace and
Prophecy in tranquillity. It was also distinguished for its wealth and power (1 Kings iv.
the time of 20-26). David had subdued all the enemies of Israel ; and in actual extent the
Solomon. boundaries of the Chosen People, in the time of Solomon, did not reach beyond
the conquests of his father. He had dominion over nearly all the territory comprised in the
original grant to Abraham. " The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of aU
Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in
Israel " (1 Chron. xxix. 25).
The greatest monument of Solomon's reign was the Temple. It had been a command
and a prediction that he should build this edifice in his days (1 Chron. xxii.
8-11). This glorious fane was commenced under the auspices of prophecy (2
Chron. vi. 16, 17). The royal builder, at its dedication, made mention, in the hearing of
all Israel, of past and subsisting predictions, which mention, in the hearing of those who
could have given a ready contradiction, in case they were false, certified that they were ful-
filled and known.
The Temple itself was a prophecy. The building of it was directed for the reason that
The Temple God had given " rest to his people," and henceforth would not suffer them to
itself a wander, or be disturbed, so long as they enjoyed the privilege of being his
prop ecy. people. " Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant
them, that they may dwell in a, place of their own, and move no more " (2 Sam. vii. 10).
This promise of rest is connected with the Temple ; for it was spoken by the prophet
Nathan, when God confirmed the design of building it. A fixed sanctuary of their religion
was the most appropriate pledge that they could receive of the stability of their national
fortunes. It must have been a gratifying pledge to a people, who had been pilgrims in
Canaan, strangers in Egypt, wanderers in the Desert, and who again, in Canaan, had sought
a home for their religion, in the removals of their migratory Ark. " Whereas I have not
dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,
even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle " (2 Sam. vii. 6).
It may be said that the Temple did not have a lasting continuance. The people were
jarried into captivity, and the Temple was destroyed. To this it may be replied that the
Temple was never designed to act as a charm to avert the divine judgments, in case of dis-
i»bedience. It fell with the people and rose with them. It was the place which God had
* chosen to set his name there." It was the acknowledged and authorized seat of theb
GENEKAL INTRODUCTION. 25
worship, upon which their covenant stood. Except around that Temple the Israelites have
never been able to settle themselves as a people ; except in it, they have never been able to
find a public home for their nation and their religion. God made it their " resting-place " ;
and if it exists no more, it is a proof that they have ceased to be his people. The long
desolation of the Temple, and their removal from the seat of it, are, therefore, proofs that
their polity and peculiar law have, in the purposes of Providence, come to an end.
In case of disobedience, on the part of his people, God forewarned Solomon, that the
Temple, which was to be a " resting-place," on condition of obedience, should The destruc-
be destroyed. " But if ye at all turn from following me, ye or your children, ''™ "' ">»
and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before toi" to^Solo-
you, but go and serve other gods and worship them ; then will I cut oif Israel mon, at its
out of the land which I have given them ; and this house, which I have hallowed ded'c"''""-
for my name, will I cast out of my sight ; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word
among all people : And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be
astonished, and shall hiss ; and they shall say. Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land,
and to this house? " (1 Kings ix. 6-8 ; see also 2 Ghron. vii. 19-22).
Such was the oracular communication from God to Solomon, on the completion of the
sacred edifice. As Moses, the founder of the Commonwealth of Israel, was inspired to fore-
warn the people, at the beginning of their national existence, of their future afilictions and
dispersions, so the builder of the Temple, had foreshown to him, at the time of its comple-
tion, a view of its destruction, by the avenging hand of the Almighty, as one of the special
acts of hig judgment against his people, in case of their disobedience and apostasy.
The glorious empire of Solomon came to ruin. With all his wisdom, which has placed
^im above the wise of every age, he was guilty of much folly. He attained to „ ,. .
, . „ , .• V, 1, J ,, i; J J ■ ■ Prediction of
;he maximum or polygamy : nis narem numbered " seven hundred wives, prin- the dismem
cesses, and three hundred concubines " (1 Kings xi. 3). " His wives turned away bermentof
his heart after other gods (xi. 4), and he introduced polytheism (xi. 5, 7). Thus y °™o^°
was he led away from the paths of David, his father, " and the Lord was angry
with Solomon " (xi. 9). Along with this depravation of morals and religion followed, natu-
rally, a depravation of that just and wise policy of government, which had won for Solomon
the admiration and love of his subjects. Oppressive burdens were laid upon the people,
which produced discontent.
These things provoked the Lord to anger, and He " said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as
this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have
commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake : but I will rend it
out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom ; but I will
give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have
chosen" (1 Kings xi. 11-13).
The glory of the kingdom of Israel ended with the peaceful and prosperous reign of
Solomon. On the accession of his son, Rehoboam, ten tribes revolted and formed Prophecy at
a separate kingdom under Jeroboam. Judah and Benjamin adhered to the house ^^^ 'i"" <•'
of David. This was a convulsion afiTecting the whole body of Israel. Their bg^jnent of
monarchy, so lately compacted, was rent in pieces ; their public union, under the kiog-
which they had been made subjects of the divine covenant, was broken ; and a *°™'
cause of discord was rooted between the members of the commonwealth, which God had
planted in Canaan, in a community of country and religion. Such a change would raise a
question of their covenanted relation. Where did the promises of God attached to that
relation rest ? Did they rest with Israel? or with Judah, or with both ? or were they for-
feited ? Prophecy answered the question. The 'ivent itself had been foretold in Solo-
mon's reign by the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings xi. 29-39). It was also preceded by many
predictions, which supplied discriminating marks of the purposes of Providence now in oper-
ation. There were Jacob's predictions of the ascendency of the tribe of Judah, and the
continuance of the sceptre with it until the advent of Shiloh (Gen. xlix. 8-10). There
♦rere the recent promises of favor to the house of David (2 Sam. vii. 12-16). There was
the Temple at Jerusalem, the local seat of their religion. And last of all there was the
projdieoy of Ahijah, which fully met the case, both in the particular form of the event, and-
in the r« ison of it. As to the event, the prediction of Ahijah limited the defection to
26 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
ten tribes, and fixed the time of it in tlie reign of Solomon's son. The reasons of t.-t
event were the corruptions introduced by Solomon (1 Kings xi. 33). The event was pre-
ceded, therefore, by the announcement of prophecy, sufficiently adequate to solve all questions,
in regard to the transmission of the covenant.
It may be said that the partition of the kingdom might have been easily foreseen, inas-
much as the ten tribes, in the time of David, had shown a disposition to act
Sc«on together, and to oppose themselves to the dominion of the tribe of Judah.
that the par- Consequently thev might be expected, under provocation, to withdraw and term
tition of the ^ ^^ ^.^ government. To this it may be replied that the occasion and
mTghT have pretext of the revolt did not exist until after the prediction of it was delivered,
been easily jj j^gj^. jjg ^jge from the rin-or of Rehoboam's government ; but it was foretold in
m2^°„f'"' the reign of Solomon, and" foretold with a particularity, which existing poHtieal
political cir- reasons could not warrant. Moreover, though the revolt took place, on the ex-
cumstances. gj^g^jg^^ ^f human motives, it was established and confirmed against the current
of such motives. God forbade the attempt to subdue it. " But the word of the Lord came
to Shemaiah the man of God, saying. Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, King
of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying. Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall
not go up, nor fight against your brethren : return every man to his house ; for this
thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the Lord, and returned from going
against Jeroboam" (2 Chron. xi. 2, 3, 4).
The dismemberment of the nation became a safeguard of the prophetic evidence, by
placing it under a jealous and divided care. The people of Samaria professed
levmeltT' to receive the Pentateuch and to hold the Law of Moses. The predictions in
the kingdom i\^e Pentateuch, concerning the tribe of Judah, were, therefore, subjected to their
o/thTrf rigid scrutiny. So also the prophecies delivered against them, after the dismem-
phetic lit berment, by prophets sent from the kingdom of Judah. A prophet of Judah
aence. ^^^ sg^t ^g prophesy against the altar erected at Bethel by Jeroboam. Had
no such prophet been sent among them, it would have been easy for them to prove it. This
case is somewhat similar to the safeguard furnished for the accurate transmission of the
Scriptures of the Old Testament by the jealousy of Jews and Christians.
The moral cause of the disruption of the kingdom of Israel was idolatry (1 Kings
xi. 33). Hence Jeroboam had a warning against the sin, which furnished the
''^atiif'to occasion for the establishment of his kingdom. But he was no sooner seated on
the king- the throne than, for political reasons (1 Kings xii. 26, 27), he founded a system
flom of the ^f ^ gjj idolatry ; and for its preservation he appointed a priesthood, and ritual,
tentnbos. ^^^ erected an altar (1 Kings xii. 28-33). The golden calves in Bethel and in
Dan were the public monuments of this apostasy. " Behold thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," was the creed of the new kingdom (1 Kings
xii. 28). The enormity of this sin was that it made idolatry the national religion, whereas,
in former times, its contaminations had been surreptitiously, sometimes openly, associated
with the institutions of Moses. The people readily acquiesced in the king's apostasy. Un-
der the compact of this sin, he incorporated them in allegiance to his throne. Hence the
reason of the brand affixed to his memory : " Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin" (1 Kings xiv. 16).
Prophecy did not remain silent in this crisis of wickedness. God sent his prophet fi:om
the land of Judah to pronounce sentence of condemnation upon the system of idolatry,
which Jeroboam had established (1 Kings xiii. 1-10). This interposition of prophecy wag
for a sufficient cause. It was a timely remonstrance with the ten tribes in regard to the
crime, which became the chief source of their growing corruption, and thereby the cause of
their reprobation, misery, and ruin. The remonstrance was made on the scene of their
offense, and accompanied with a, miracle, which should have served as a memorial of reproof
to meet the transgressor, whenever he came before the forbidden altar. But this warning
prophecy was given without efiect. From Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, tc
Hoshea, the last, there is no king excepted from the imputation of the general depravity.
The whole line of kings is one of unmitigated irreligion and wickedness. King aStfr king
has this historic epitaph : " he did evil in the sight of the Ijord."
A few righteous remained among the people. The prophet Elijah imagined that, likfl
the Seraph Abdiel, he only was " faithful found among the faithless ; " but God revealed
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. '11
to him, that there were seven thousand in Israel, who had not bowed unto Baal (l Kings
six. 18).
The prophecy, during this period, was adapted to the prevailing irreligion. It abounds
in commination and leprooi. The mission of the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha,
falls in the earlier part of this period — a mission directed chiefly to the kingdom of the ten
tribes and its kings, and enforced by miracles to convince and awaken an apostate people.
The duration of Elisha's ministry reaches nearly to that of Jonah ; and from Jonah we en-
ter into the series of the prophetic canon. This is the continuity of prophecy. There is
also another proof of the same continuity, in the prophecy given to Jehu, during the minis-
try of Elisha, that his children should reign after him to the fourth generation. This proph-
ecy does not expire until after the prophecies of Amos and Hosea have begun ; and these
prophets begin to foreshow the destruction of the kingdom of Israel. Consequently the
series of prophecy is so far complete.
The result is that the kingdom of Israel has its entire history written in the perpetuity
of its wickedness, as recorded in the ministry of its prophets. The general document is :
"Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the
children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did ; they departed not
from them ; until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his ser-
vants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this
day " (2 Kings xvii. 21-23).
The prophecies concerning Israel furnish a melancholy contrast to those relating to Judah.
The case of Israel was to be hopeless : Judah was to be restored.
At the time of the disruption of the kingdom, reason could not determine, for Temporal
anything that then appeared, which would be the more prosperous, or stable of lating to
the two. That of Samaria, her greater territory and numbers considered, seemed Judah, from
to have the advantage. But prophecy supplied data, which would assist in form- of'tjj^^^jj,^
ing a judgment concerning their comparative stability. We have already seen aom in the
that there were promises on the side of the tribe of Judah and the family of ^y' "f *•*-
David, which may be understood, by plain inference, to negative the hopes of the a, thefikby-
othcr tribes. For these promises made to the tribe of Judah virtually cut off the Ionian cap-
other tribes by a speedier termination of their power. "'^'
But the question was not left to depend upon inference. It was decided positively by
direct prophecy. Of the four greater and twelve minor prophets, whose books we find in
the Canon of Scripture, the most ancient are Jonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. The
prophecy of Jonah relates to the city of Nineveh. Joel speaks of coming judgments upon
the land, of a restoration of Judah and Jerusalem from captivity, and of blessings upon
them. Hosea speaks directly to the point, as it regards the relative destiny of the two king-
doms. Speaking in the name of the Lord, he says : " I will no more have mercy upon the
house of Israel ; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house
of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God" (Hos. i. 6, 7). The whole book of
this prophet inculcates the speedier dispersion and desolation of the house of Israel. Both
Israel and Judah are threatened ; but the burden of his prophecy is upon Ephraim, Bethel,
and Samaria. Amos wails in elegiac strains : " The virgin of Israel is fallen ; she shall no
more rise: she is forsaken upon her land ; there is none to raise her up " (Amos v. 3). Isaiah
predicted that " within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a
people " (Is. vii. 8). Looking through his prophecies, we find predictions that Judah should be
preserved. They were to fall under the power of the Assyrians ; but they were to be deliv-
ered (chap. x). They were afterward to fall into the hands of the Babylonians (chap, xxxix).
But a restoration was to ensue, and the restorer is mentioned by name (xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1). The
medium of their restoration was to be the capture of Babylon (xlv. 1-3 ; Ixvii. 1-15 ; comp.
chap. xiii.). The Medes and the Persians were to be the powers engaged in the siege (xiii.
17; xxi. 2). The city of Jerusalem and the Temple were to be rebuilt (xliv. 28).
The most cheering evangelical promises were made during the decline, and ETangelioal
after the overthrow of the temporal kingdom. When the First Dispensation be- ^'^^'i^^dis
gan to be shaken, the objects and promises of the second began to be substituted ruption of
in its place. A new kingdom, and a new covenant are presented to view ; and theWngaom
*^ o ' 1. 1 J J. • until the
the blessings and mercies, which are most pecuhar to the expected dispensation, paptiyity la
we placed in a clearer light than ever before. The promises of them are also Babykm
28 GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
greatly multiplied. The evangelical teaching of the prophets, during this period, was an
approach to the economy of the Gospel, which abolishes the ritual law and establishes the
moral. In this light, it was a preparation for the iuture change. It also furnished oppor-
tune instruction to the people of Israel, at a time when the nuual law was rendered difficult
or impracticable. On the one hand, there was intestine trouble ; on the other, foreign in-
vasion : their heathen enemies were beginning to spoil their land ; the temple was about to
be destroyed, and the public institutions of their religion were soon to be suspended. In
this state of alFairs, it must have been consolatory to the pious men of the nation to learn
from the prophets, that personal religion was that, which God most esteemed, and which He
had always preferred. Thus the prophetic teaching was adapted to the difficulties of their
situation.
During the first part of this period, there seems to have been a pause in evangelical
prophecy. In the time of David large revelations concerning the Messiah were made ; but
after the disruption, prophecy was directed to the state of the two kingdoms. The two
great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, were ministers of the temporal prophecy. Their mission,
so far as we can gather from the records of their times, was confined to the Northern King-
dom, and it had passed before the Gospel subject appears again in view, unless some of the
Psalms, of an unlsnown date and of >< prophetic spirit, may be ascribed to this intermediate
time.
The other prophets, during this period, were Jonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah,
Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah.
The book of Jonah contains no prediction of a direct Chi-istian import. The subject of
his prophecy is Nineveh. He was, however, in his own person, a type, or prophetic sign of
Christ. The miracle of his deliverance from the belly of the whale was the type of Christ's
resurrection (Matt. xii. 40). Moreover, the whole import of his mission partakes of the
Christian character ; for his preaching exemplified the divine mercy to a heathen city. It
brought the Ninevites to know " a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repenting Him of the evil " (Jonah iv. 2). Whether all this is to be consid-
ered a formal type of the genius of the Christian religion or not, it is certainly a real ex-
ample of some of its chief properties, in the efficacy of repentance, the grant of pardon, and
the communication of God's mercy to the heathen world. Viewed in this light, the book of
Jonah forms a point of connection with the Gospel.
The prophet Joel foretells, in the plainest terms, the effusion of the Holy Spirit (ii. 28-
32). The Apostle Peter applies this prophecy to the descent of the Spirit on the day of
Pentecost (Acts ii. 16-21).
The prophet Amos predicts the restoration of the tabernacle of David (ix. 11), which the
Apostle James refers to Gospel times (Acts xv. 15, 16).
Hosea contains much of a Christian import cited by our Lord, by Matthew, and by Paul.
Compare Matt. ii. 15, and Hosea xi. 1 ; Matt. ix. 13, and Matt. xii. 7 with Hos. vi. 6; Eom.
ix. 25, 26 with Hos. ii. 23 ; and 1 Cor. xv. 55 with Hos. xiii. 14.
Isaiah is styled by way of eminence the evangelical prophet. His book contains the
scheme of the Gospel in its grand outlines. In it we have clearly set forth the mission of
Christ ; his divine nature ; his supernatural birth in his incarnation ; his work of mercy ;
his kingdom of righteousness ; his humiliation, sufferings, and death ; -his atonement for sin
made by his death ; the effusion of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit ; the universal
diffusion of his religion ; the blindness and incredulity of the Jews in the rejection of it;
the adoption of the Gentile world into the Church ; and the peace of the righteous in death
(Is. vii. 14 ; ix. 6, 7 ; and all his later prophecies from chap. xl. to chap. Lxvi.).
Micah foretells the birth-place of Christ ; his divine nature ; the promulgation of the
Gospel from Mount Zion and its results ; and the exaltation of Christ's kingdom over all
nations (Mic. v. 2 ; comp. Matt. ii. 6 ; iv. 1-8).
The hook of Nahum has no Cloristian prophecy, either direct or typical. It will be best
understood as a continuation of, or supplement to the book of Jonah. The prophecy of
both is directed against Nineveh. But that of Jonah was followed by the preservation of
that city ; that of Nahum, which abounds more in details, by its capture and destruction.
They form connected parts of one moral history, the remission of God's judgment being.
Illustrated by the one, the execution of it by the other.
Zephaniah predicts the restoration of Jerusalem, apd the happy state of the people of
God in the latter days (chap. iii. 8-20).
GENEEAIi INTRODUCTION. 29
Jeremiah foretells the abrogation of the Mosaic law ; speaks of the Ark as no more re-
aaembered ; foretells the propagation of a more spiritual religion than the old ; the mediae
torial kingdom of the Messiah, whom he calls " Jehovah our righteousness ; " describes the
efficacy of his atonement ; the excellence of the Gospel in giving holiness as well as par-
don; the call of the Gentiles; and the final salvation of Israel. (Jer. xxx. 9; xxxi. 15 ;
comp. Matt. ii. 17, 18; xxxii. 36-41; iii. 15-18; xxxi. 31-34; comp. Heb. viii. 8-12, and
X. 16, 17; xxiii. 5, 6. There are many other passages, which perhaps refer directly to the
restoration from Babylon ; but they speak of it in such a way as to convey the idea that it
is intended to be typical of a more glorious restoration.)
In the book of Habakkuk there are two passages, which cannot be excluded from some
relation to the Gospel. The first is, " The just shall live by faith " (ii. 4), cited in Rom. i.
17 and in Heb. x. 38. Here we have a Christian principle, though the prophet probably
had no particular Christian truth in view, when he uttered it. Faith — the habit of trust-
ing in God, or in his revealed Word — is the principle of divine life ; so, in every age, com-
plete salvation has been a matter of faith rather than of sight. The other passage is chap,
iii. 17, 18, which contains a confession of the prophet's own faith — a faith separated from
all earthly and temporal hopes. As such it is of a pure evangelical character.
It is somewhat uncertain when Obadiah delivered his prophecy, but it was probably im-
mediately after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Some give it an earlier
date. For our present purpose it is not important to determine the precise time. Its pre-
dictions are directed against the Edomites. But verses 17-21 evidently refer to Messianic
times. The fulfillment of these verses, Keil and Delitzsch afiirm, can only belong to the
Gospel dispensation, " and that in such a way that it commenced with the founding of the
Kingdom of Christ on the earth, advances with its extension among all nations, and will
terminate in a complete fulfillment at the second coming of our Lord."
It is a fact to be observed that prophecy, relating to heathen states and kingdoms, be-
comes most copious and explicit in the time, when those states and kingdoms are Prophecy re-
most powerful. When the people of God are threatened with invasion by these J^""* •"
, .. , , ^ . , .Till heathen na-
neatnen powers, or when they are groaning under oppression by them, then proph- tions during
ecy foretells the overthrow of their power and the extinction of their glory. The twa period,
success of the heathen was in some measure the triumph of idolatry ; for they were accus-
tomed to ascribe the honor of their victories to their false divinities. The return of the vic-
tor was the occasion of celebrating the praise of his idol. The religion of the conquered
partook of the disgrace of their defeat. Accordingly the memorials of these times of re
proach and distress in Israel show how much the faith of men and the credit of true relig-
ion were assailed by the boasts of their conquerors. The cry of the oppressed Israel was ;
" Wherefore should the heathen say. Where is now their God ? " (Ps. Ixxix. and Ixxx.)
" Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have
blasphemed thy name " (Ps. Ixxiv. 18). "The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come
to the solemn feasts : all her gates are desolate : her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted,
and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper " (Lam. i. 4, 5).
The pious Israelite, under these mournful circumstances, derived his consolation from
prophecy. The nations that oppressed him, had their rise, their victories, their changes
and downfall delineated on the prophetic page. The controlling providence of God was
thus explained, when it was most liable to be called in question. His people were most in-
structed as to his ways and purposes, when their sufierings and their fears were at the great-
est height. His moral government was illustrated in their own predicted afflictions, in the
.'bretold victories of their present conquerors, and in their expected deliverance.
The great use of prophecy concerning heathen nations was in part the same as that of
ill other temporal prophecy, namely, to demonstrate the providence of God. The disclosure
of an event before it took place would more forcibly exhibit the divine direction of things
than an explanation of it after it had occurred ; for it manifested the divine prescience,
counsel, and ordination together.
Had the prophets confined their revelation to the affairs of the Hebrew people, the proof
of God's providence would have been imperfect ; for his overruling sovereignty, in the
sphere of other kingdoms, might have remained a question. But the revelations of proph-
ecy resolved every doubt in regard to the matter. They proclaimed his universal provi-
dence and sovereignty over all nations. " Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrui^
30 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. _
whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of
kings, to open before him the two leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut ; I will go
before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass,
and cut in sunder the bars of iron" (Is. xIt. 1, 2). "The Most High ruleth in the king-
dom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Whose dominion is an everlasting do-
minion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation " (Dan. iv. 32-34).
The state of religion, in the heathen world, rendered this exercise of prophecy expedient
For one of the most prevalent notions of false religion was that of local and tutelary deities
Polytheism set up its gods over particular regions, or kingdoms, within which it circum-
scribed their power. Under such an idea, the God of Israel might have appeared the deity
of one place, or people. Hence the expediency of declaring his universal sovereignty.
There was, moreover, in the heathen world, a universal reverence paid to oracles, or sys-
tems of divination. These had their origin in the natural desire of seeing into futurity,
which may sometimes have been abused by the craft of policy, and which of itself degener-
ated into the superstitions of augury, necromancy, and other forms of delusion. To the
Israelite all these modes of exploring futurity were forbidden, as the devices of heathenism
(Deut. xviii. 14; Lev. xix. 31). But the prohibition was made reasonable by the genuine
gift of prophecy, which showed the omniscience of God in the affairs of those countries, in
which the oracles of superstition were consulted. " For these nations, which thou shalt
possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners : but as for thee, the Lord thy
God hath not suffered thee so to do'' (Deut. xviii. 14). This was the practice of the an-
cient Canaanites. The Egyptians and the Chaldseans, in a later age, infused more of the
mystery of pretended science into the same kind of superstition. But the insph-ed proph-
ets of Israel fiirnlshed the antidote and the refutation of all this science, when they could
contrast with its falsehood the truth of their own predictions. " Thus saith the Lord, that
frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, that turueth wise men back-
ward, that maketh their knowledge foolish ; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and
performeth the counsel of his messengers " (Is. xliv. 25, 26). By this test God vindicated
his own foreknowledge, and put the pretenses of human skill, and of idol oracles to confusion.
Prophecy relating to the heathen nations commenced at a very early period. The remote
judgment of God upon Egypt was revealed to Abraham (Gen. xv. 14) ; he had an intima-
tion that it would fall upon the Amorites ; and he witnessed the nearer judgment upon
Sodom and Gomorrah. These were nations placed within liis view and connected with the
future state of his family, the Hebrew people. The revelation, thus opened to Abraham,
continued, in subsequent times, to hold the same order ; for the temporal prophecy con-
tinued to embrace the Hebrew Church and nation, and other states and kingdoms, so far as
the people of Israel were affected by them, or could see the tenor of God's providence illus-
trated in their history. " Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do ? " (Gen. xviii.
17), is the introduction to the prophecy which revealed to the Father of the faithful the doom
of Sodom and Gomorrah. ^ Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets " (Amos iii. 7). This is the range of prophecy con-
cerning his own people. " I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations " (Jer. i. 5). This is
the mission of Jeremiah at the time when prophecy took its largest scope among the king-
doms of the earth, and when God's government and providence were to be most conspicu-
ously displayed in their rise and fall, their conquests and desolations. In the time of Moses
the Uke union of prophecy concerning the heathen nations with that concerning Israel may
be observed ; and thoughout the principal age of prophecy from Samuel to Malachi, the
connection is constantly maintained. There is then a general consistency in the prophetic
system, in this particular of it ; and the analogy begins in the revelation to Abraham, to
whom was exemplified the entire scheme of prophecy, in its simplest form, in all its parts,
Christian, Jewish, and Gentile.
The principal heathen nations that were made the subject of prophecy were the Egyp-
tians,' Edomites,^ Moabltes,^ Ammonites,'' Philistines,^ Tyrians," Assyrians,'' Babylonians,'
Persians,^ Greeks,'" and Romans.'' The predictions against these nations were mostly given
»midst the decays of the Jewish covenant, and were intended to rebuke the pride of the
1 Ezek. xxix. 14, 15. 2 Jer. xlix. 8 Jer. xlviu. 4 Ezek. xxr 2-1;
i Ezek. XIV. 15-17. 6 Is. xxui. 7 Is. xxi. 27-88. Nah\jm. 8 Is. xxl. l-io • lirll
• Jar. illx. 81-89 ; Dan. ii., vii. 10 Dan. ii., tU. 11 Dan. ii.. Til. '
GENERAE INTRODUCTION. 81
nations, to administer consolation and instruction, and above all to lead the thoughts of men
to that Kingdom which cannot be moved. In the midst of the captivity Daniel saw in
symbol the character and overthrow of the great monarchies of the earth, and in vision he
beheld the Ancient of days ascend the throne of universal dominion.
The captivity in Babylon, as we have already seen, had been foretold. It was, therefore,
a fulfillment of preexisting prophecy. It was a severe and remarkable dispensa- p^^ ^^
tion of Providence. In former times the people of Israel had suffered great during the
calamities. They had often been brought under the power of their enemies ; <:iipt"ity in
the ark, the symbol of God's presence, had been carried, for a short time, into '* ^ °°'
the land of the Philistines. But the captivity was the severest blow that had hitherto
befallen them. Their land was laid waste ; their ark was destroyed ; their temple was
burned to the ground ; and Jerusalem was reduced to ashes. " How hath the Lord covered
the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the
beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger 1 The Lord hath
purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion ; He hath stretched out a line. He hath
not withdrawn his hand from destroying ; therefore He made the rampart and the wall to
lament ; they languished together. Her gates are sunk into the ground ; He hath destroyed
and broken her bars ; her king and her princes are among the Gentiles ; the law is no more ;
her prophets also find no vision from the Lord" (Lam. ii. 1, 8, 9).
The prophets, during the captivity, were Jeremiah, only in part, Ezekiel and Daniel,
The prophecies of Jeremiah have already been mentioned ; and it is not necessary prophets
to refer to them again. He was allowed his choice either to go to Babylon, during the
where he would doubtless have been held in honor at the royal court, or to re- "^^ '" ^'
main with his own people. He chose the latter. Subsequently he endeavored to persuade
the leaders of the people not to go to Egypt, but to remain in the land, assuring them, by a
divine message, that if they did so, God would build them up. The people refused to obey,
and went to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them (Jer. xliii. 6). In Egypt he
still sought to turn the people to the Lord (xliv.) ; but his writings give no information
respecting his subsequent history. It is asserted that the Jews, offended by his faithful
remonstrances, put him to death in Egypt : Jerome says at Tahpanhes.
The duration of the captivity was foretold by Jeremiah (Jer. xxv. 11, 12. Compare Dan.
ix. 2). Seventy years were to be accomplished in the desolations of Jerusalem. Temporal
Ezekiel, who, like Jeremiah, was a priest as well as a prophet, was carried away prophecy
captive eleven years before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. When he was capthfty "
among the captives by the river Chebar, " the heavens were opened and he saw both Jewish
visions of God" (chap. i. 1). and Pagan.
The predictions of Ezekiel were delivered partly before and partly after the destruction
of Jerusalem, which calamitous event forms their central point. Before this sad calamity
his chief object was to call to repentance those who were living in careless security ; to
warn them against indulging the hope that, by the help of the Egyptians, the Babylonian
yoke would be shaken off (chap. xvii. 15-17) ; and to assure them that the destruction
of their city was inevitable and fast approaching. After the destruction of the city his
principal care was to console the exiled Jews by promises of future deliverance and restora-
tion to their own land.
The predictions of Ezekiel are remarkably varied. He has instances of visions,
" When, by the vision led.
His eye surveyed the dark idolatries
Of alienated Judah; " l
(chaps. viii.-xi.) ; symbolical actions (iv. 8) ; similitudes (chaps, xii., xv.) ; parables (xvii.) ,
»roverbs (xii. 22 ; xviii. 1 ff.) ; poems (xix.) ; allegories (chaps, xxiii., xxiv.) ; open proph-
ecies (chaps, vi., vii., xx., etc.).
In his predictions against the heathen nations, he confines the number of these nations to
seven. This was probably intentional on the part of the prophet, otherwise we would
scarcely find Sidon separately brought forward alongside of Tyre, xxviii. 20 ff. (Ewald, p.
S07 ; Hitzig, p. 187.) Also the order in which these prophecies stand connected, deviating
M it does from chronological sequence, has a deeper foundation in the subject-matter. " First
1 Milton, Paradise Lost, book i., Une< t55-467.
32 GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
the judgment is predicted against the neighboring nations, Ammon, xxv. 1-7 ; Moab, vers.
8-11 ; Edom, vers. 12-14 ; and the Philistines, vers. 15-17; these rising up in open enmity
to the theocracy, represent in this tlie might of heathendom, as it has turned away from
God, and is arrested in the very act of rebellion against Him." Then follow the prophecies
against Tyre and Sidon (xxvi.-xxviii.). " In Tyre is represented the image of vain-glory,
and of fleshly security, which looks away from God, and thus plunges ever deeper into
the sinfulness and inanity of the natural life." " Finally, both of these sides meet together
in Egypt (xxix.-xxxii.), that ancient enemy of the covenant people, now strengthened so as
to become one of the empires of the world, and as such taking its stand in unbending defiance
and vain-glory ; yet now, like all the rest, on the point of being hurled down into an abyss
from the summit of its ancient splendor " (Hay., Comm., p. 405).
The position of the prophecies against the foreign nations, in the middle between the
threatening predictions before Jerusalem was destroyed and the announcements of salvation
after this catastrophe, is due to the internal bond of connection, which is real and causal.
It is brought about by means of the following thought : " Though the covenant people fall
under the heathenish worldly power, still this is not a victory of heathenism over the true
theocracy. Far from this, heathenism, with all its might and glory, must fall ; and on the
other hand the theocracy shall rise again from its ruins to new life in glory." (Comp. Hav.,
Comm., p. 404.)^
" The book of Daniel bears the same relation to the Old Testament, and especially to the
prophets, as the Revelation of John to the New, and especially to the prophetic sayings of
Christ and his Apostles. Daniel is the Apocalypse of the Old Testament. Other books of
the Old Testament as well speak of the great Messianic future ; other books of the New
Testament as well speak of the second coming, or Parousia of Christ. But, while the other
prophets bring only the particular situation of the people of God at the time into the light
of prophecy, and while the Apostles give disclosures on special eschatological points, as the
wants and necessities of their readers demand them ; Daniel and the Revelation of St. John
are not so much called forth by a temporary want, and given for a special end, but they have
the more general aim of serving as prophetic lamps to the congregation of God in those
times, in which there is no revelation, and in which the Church is given into the hands of
the Gentiles (/catpoi kOvwv, Luke xxi. 24). We have thus recognized Daniel as the light
which was sent for the comfort of those who were " wise," to lighten the darkness of the
half millennium, from the Captivity till Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans. And, in like manner, the Apocalypse of John was given to the saints of the new
covenant, as a guiding star, to lead them on their pilgrim's journey through the world, from
the first coming of Christ, or rather, from the destruction of Jerusalem till his second coming,
when He shall establish the Kingdom of glory (comp. Tit. ii. 11-13 ; Rev. i. 7 ; xxii. 17, 20).
The last days indeed form also the subject of Daniel's visions (chaps, ii. and vii.), and there-
fore we must necessarily expect an intimate connection between these chapters and the
Apocalypse. But, while Daniel writes for Jews, and from the Old Testament stand-point,
John, standing on New Testament ground, writes for Gentile Christians, a difference rich in
consequences.
" Such being the object for which the Apocalyptic books were given, ;t will easily be seer
why there is, strictly speaking, only one Apocalypse in each Testament, though there are
many prophets in the Old, and many prophetical disclosui-es in the New. There are two
great periods of revelation, that of the Old and that of the New Testament. And each of
these is followed by a period without revelation ; that which succeeded the exile, and that
which succeeded the Apostles (the Church-historical period). The Apocalyptic books are
the two lights which shine out of the former periods into the latter. And hence, each Apoc-
alypse is among the latest works of its respective Canon ; it is written at a time when rev-
elation, about to lapse into silence, gathers once more its whole strength into a final effort.
We are taught this by the very name Apocalyptic. It is from aTTOKaXv^iK (Rev. i. 1), a
revelation in a peculiar emphatic sense, needed for the times without revelation ; a guiding-
Btar in the times of the Gentiles." ^
At the very beginning of the book of Daniel we find the opposition between Israel and
ie heathen world-power, and more particularly that power in the stage of its development!
1 Introduction to the Old Testament. Keil, TOl. I., pp. 860, 361. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1869.
a The ProphecM of Daniel, pp. 70, 71. By Carl August Auberlen. AndoTer: Published by W. S. Draper 1867.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 33
which commences with the Babylonian exile, which forms the historical basis of Daniel'j
prophecies. The book opens with a statement of the beginning of the captivity (i. I, 2) ;
and mentions (Lx. 2) its termination.
" The new revelation which the people of God required for the period beginning with
the Babylonian captivity, was to teach them how to regard the powers of the world which
they were to obey ; to teach them their nature and purpose, and then to show them the re-
lation in which the work of salvation which was to begin in Israel, stood to them. A new
subject was thus given to prophecy, which, in the nature of things, could not have been
given before the captivity, but which now forced itself, as it were, by an internal neces
sity."i
Chap. ii. contains an emblematic representation of the kingdoms which form the chief
subject of the book. The image, which Nebuchadnezzar saw, represents the Babylonian
monarchy under his own dynasty, the Medo-Persian empire, the Grecian, and the Roman.
The last is divided into ten kingdoms, and gives way to the kingdom of the Messiah, repre-
sented by a stone cut out without hands, which became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth. In later chapters, one or other of these kingdoms again and again appears.
In chap. vii. the first four of these kingdoms are represented by beasts, all highly signifi-
cant. So they appeared to Daniel, whose eye was spiritualized. Of the ten kingdoms into
which the fourth is divided, three are subdued by a little horn (ver. 8). Tli.e power repre-
sented by the little horn exercises its tyranny until the triumph of the saints. This view
of the four empires has special reference to their religious connections, as the former view
had to their political.
Chapters vhi., x., xi. contain prophecies concerning the Medo-Persian and Grecian empires.
From this brief outline of the temporal prophecy of the book of Daniel, it will be seen
that it throws a prophetic light over the whole future. The great world-powers pass away,
and the scene closes with the universal establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah.
The book of Ezekiel is not directly quoted in the New Testament ; but in the Apocalypse
there are many allusions and parallels to its closing chapters (xl.-xlviii.), which jiegsianio
contain symbolical representations of the Messianic times. Other portions of prophecy
his prophecies, of a general Messianic character, are chap, xxxiv. 11-19 ; and p""°? *°
chaps, xxxvi.-xxxix.
Daniel foretells the coming of the Messiah, the atoning power of his sufferings (ix. 24-
27), and the universal dominion, which is to be given to Him over all the kingdoms of the
world (chaps, ii. and vii.). In this apocalyptic book the kingdom of God takes, in the per-
son of the Son of Man, the place of the kingdom of the world.
The Son of Man, in Daniel, is not T;he people of Israel, as some expositors have affirmed,
but the Messiah. This is evident from the fact that He comes with the clouds of heaven,
which cannot very well be predicated of the people of Israel. Again, the saints are men-
tioned in the vision (ver. 21) ; if then they are introduced in person, they cannot be repre-
sented by the Son of Man. The expression Son of Man must, therefore, be taken to desig-
nate the Messiah, and to designate his people only secondarily, and as represented by Him
(comp. Gal. iii. 16-28 ; 1 Cor. xii. 12).
" It is quite in keeping," says Auberlen, " with the universal horizon of Daniel's prophecy,
that Messiah is not designated as the son of David, but in general, as the Son of Man ; no
more as King of Israel only, but as king of the world. The prophetic horizon has returned
to its original extent, as it was in the Protevangel in Paradise. There, as now again here,
all mankind — humanity — was within the field of prophecy."
This brings us " to view the picture of the Messiah presented by Daniel, in its relation to
the prophecy, which immediately precedes it. From the view we have already given of the
history of Israel, it will appear to the careful reader that, in the development of the Old
Testament Theocracy, the Babylonian captivity is the exact counterpart to the epoch of
David. This one epoch is the culminating point of the glorious exaltation of the people of
.he covenant, the other of their deepest humiliation. Hence the types with which the king
dom of David has furnished Messianic prophecy, disappeared at the time of the exile, which
jubstituted others in their place. These types are twofold, as would be expected irom the
nature of the case. On the one hand, the sufferings of the people are reflected in the pic-
;ure of the suffering Messiah ; and this is the basis of the prophecy of the servant of Jeho-
1 The Propliecies of Daniel, p. 20. By Oarl August Auberlen. Andoyer : Published by W. F. Draper. 1867.
3
34 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
vah, which Isaiah beheld in his visions (xl.-lxvi.). To this class, also, the ninth chapter of
our book belongs. On the other hand, in this very time of suffering, the truth that in the
kingdom of God the cross is the only way to glory, shines forth more brightly than ever be-
fore, and there is a lively hope that after " the scattering of the power of the holy people "
is accomplished (Dan. xii. 7), the kingdom of God will be set up among men with a power
and extensiveness previously unknown. This is the prophetic vision of the Son of Man
(Dan. vu.). All these expressions are equally significant. Servant of God denotes zealous
and patient obedience to God : Son of Man refers to the ground on which man is to obtain
again that original destiny and dignity as head of creation, which was conferred upon him
(Gen. i. 26-28!) Both designations of the Messiah have taken the place of the Davidic
type. The Messiah is no longer represented as the Theocratic King coming to the cov-
enant people, but He appears a centre of unity both for the covenant people and the Gentile
world. We see here a similar progress to that which took place in the tunes of the Apostles
fi-om Judaism to Christianity. It will be easily seen that this progress is intimately con-
Bected with the historical position of the people during the captivity. Even in the picture
of the Messiah during the Davidic period, the two sides of suffering and victory begin to
appear prominently. The Messianic psalms are divided into psalms of humiliation and of
triumph. And what we here see in its germ, we afterwards see fully developed at the time
of the captivity. On the one side the atoning power of Messiah's sufferings is disclosed
(Is. liii. and Dan. ix.) ; on the other there is revealed that dominion of the Messiah which,
In the development of universal history, is given to Him over the individual kingdoms of
the world (Dan. ii. 7). Prophecy has thus gained not only in depth, but in breadth of
view.'' ^
At the close of the seventy years' captivity (the time predicted by Jeremiah, xxv. 12
hec ^"'^ ^^^'^^ ^*')' Cyrus "made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and
from the end put it also in writing, saying. Thus saith Cyrus King of Persia. The Lord
of the Baby- (j^j ^f heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath
ti'Tity°to''tto charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there
time of Mai- among you of all his people ? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jeru-
th"cio°i of s^l^™' which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is
the Old the God), which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where
Testament jje sojourneth, lot the men of his place help him with silver and with gold,
Canon. ^^^ ^^^j^ goods and with beasts, besides the free-will offering for the house of
God that is in Jerusalem" (Ezra i. 1-4 ; compare Isaiah xliv. 28, and xlv. 1-5).
This edict of Cyrus was founded upon the prophecy of Isaiah ; but how he became ac
quainted with that prophecy we are not informed. He certainly was acquainted with it, for
his proclamation was a public recognition of it to his empire. As such, it would draw notice
to the prediction of Isaiah, and tend to spread something of the knowledge of the true God
wherever it was convoyed. But however this might be, it had one certain and important
use in securing the favor of succeeding kings of Persia to the Hebrew people, for the safety
of their affairs, and the complete restitution of theii- city and temple (Ezra v. 13-17 ; vi. 1-
15 ; ix. 9). To this subject and the annunciation of the Gospel the predictions of the post-
exile prophets are almost entirely confined. These prophets are Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi.
The return of the Jewish people from Babylon, and their reestablishment in their own
Temporal land, were not beheld with favor by the Samaritans and other surrounding en-
prophecy of emies. The rebuilding of their temple and of their walls was forcibly inter-
this penod. rupted and delayed. The struggle affected their restoration as a Church and a
people, and hazarded the exercise of their religion. But prophecy supplied the encourage-
ment, which the conflict of their fortunes required. It did so by assurances of the repres-
sion of their enemies, and complete reestablishment of their city, temple, and public peace.
Haggai delivers four prophetic messages (i. 1 ; ii. 1 ; x. 20), three of which are intended
to reprove the Jews for neglecting the temple, and to promise that the divine favor will at-
tend its erection. The fourth, addressed to Zerubbabel, the head and representative of the
family of David, and the individual with whom the genealogy of the Messiah began after
the captivity, promises the preservation of the people of God, amidst the fall and ruin of th«
kingdoms of the world.
1 154« Prophecies of Daniel. By Carl Augtist Auberlen. indover : Publisheil by W. F Draper 1857.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 35
Zechariah, also, speaks words of comfort to encourage the hearts of his countrymen,
" Thus saith the Lord ; I am retiu^ned to Jerusalem with mercies : my house shall be built in
it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. My cities
through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad ; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and
shall yet choose Jerusalem" (Zech. i. 16, 17). "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I
thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I repented not : so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and
to the house of Judah : fear ye not " (Zech. viii. 14, 15). Such is the scope of Haggai and
Zechariah's predictions as they relate to the affairs of the Jewish people.
Along with their predictions concerning the rebuilding of the temple, the post-exilt
prophets introduce Messianic and evangelical prophecy. In Zechariah especially Messianic
we find portrayed, in mystic vision and by typical representation, the kingdom f-^"! <=™°s«l-
and priesthood of Christ, the establishment of the Christian Church, and the con- ccy during
course of nations resorting to the future temple. In this we have a second ap- ""s period,
plication of the same systematic form of prophecy, which was employed in the establish-
ment of the temporal kingdom. The nearer subject, in each instance, supplies the prophetic
ground and the prophetic images for the more remote Christian subject. In the first in-
stance, the kingdom of Christ is delineated in connection with, and by analogy to, the actual
kingdom, which was seen rising to view ; in the second instance, his personal priesthood and
his Church are delineated, in connection with, and by an equal analogy to, the priesthood
and temple of the Hebrew Church, at the time, when that priesthood was reinstated in its
functions, and that temple was rebuilt. As an example of this symbolical prediction, take
Zech. vi. 10-15. The attempt of Archbishop Newcome to apply this prophecy to Zerubba-
bel is in vain ; for Zerubbabel wore no crown, neither was he a priest upon his throne.
In the prophetic delineations of the future fortunes of the theocracy, in this book, the tem-
porary and local relations of the present fall into the back-ground and the Messianic views
predominate. In chapters ix.-xi., the struggle of the theocracy with the powers of the world
is predicted, its victory and their subjection, by the appearing of the Messiah, and under
his official authority as the Shepherd. In chapters xii.-xiv. the prophet predicts the last as-
saults of the powers of the world upon Jerusalem ; the conversion of Israel to the Messiah,
whose death had been caused by the sin of the people ; the ruin of the old theocracy, the
annihilation of all the foes who fight against the Lord, and the final completion and glorifi-
cation of the kingdom of God.
In Haggai there are two Messianic prophecies (ii. 6, 7 and ii. 22, 23). The first promises
the fiiture glory of the second temple and the coming of the desire of all nations ; the sec-
ond predicts the exaltation of Zerubbabel, the offspring of David, and the overthrow of all
earthly thrones.
Malachi foretells the coming of the messenger of the covenant to the temple, and the
sending of Elijah, the prophet, as his forerunner (Mai. iii. 1 and iv. 5).
With Malaclii terminates the prophecy of the Old Testament. His last predictions are
like the earliest. They rebuke corruption and promise deliverance. They uphold the au
thority of the first dispensation and reveal the second.
A few words of recapitulation may contribute to the formation of a clearer view of the
brief and imperfect survey of the scheme of prophecy, which has been exhibited.
The survey shows that the character of prophecy is not simple and uniform, nor its light
equable ; and that it was dispensed in various degrees of revelation. It shows, moreover,
that the principal age of prophecy is from Samuel to Malachi ; that from the Pall to the
Flood, and thence to the call of Abraham, its communications were few ; that in the patri-
archal age they were enlarged ; that, during the bondage in Egypt, they were discontinued,
but renewed with the Law ; that a cessation of them, during four hundred years, followed
the Law, and that a cessation of equal duration preceded the Gospel.
It shows, further, that the subjects of prophecy varied. While it was all directed to one
general design, in the evidence and support of religion, there was a diversity in the admin-
istration of the Spirit, in respect to that design. In Paradise, it gave the first hope of a
Redeemer After the Deluge, it established the peace of the natural world. In Abraham,
't founded the double covenant of Canaan and the Gospel. In the age of the Law, it spoke
af the second prophet, and foreshadowed, in types, the doctrines of the Christian dispensa-
don. It foretold the future fate of the chosen people, who were placed under the prepara-
36 GENEEAX INTRODUCTION.
tory dispensation. In the time of David, it revealed, with the promise of the temporal, the
kingdom of Christ. In the days of the later prophets, it foretold the changes of the Mosaic
covenant, the fate of the chief pagan kingdoms, and completed the annunciation of the
Messiah and his work of redemption. After the Captivity, it gave a last and more urgent
information of the approaching advent of the Gospel.
Thus prophecy ended as it had begun. Its first revelations in Paradise, and its concluding
predictions, in the book of Malaohi, are directed to the same point.^ That point is Christ.
" To Him give all the prophets witness " (Acts x. 43). " The testunony of Jesua is the
spirit of prophecy " (Rev. xix. 10).
VI.
Prophetic Style.
Each writer has a peculiar manner of expressing his thoughts, and this we call his style.
The sacred writers form no exception : each one maintains his individuality. When we read
Isaiah, we say this is not the style of Jeremiah, or of Ezekiel ; and when we read John,
we say this is not the style of Paul.
The individuality of the sacred writers is beautifully illustrated by Gaussen, in his work
Individual- on Inspiration.^ " As a skillful musician," says Mr. Gaussen, " who has to exe-
ity of style. g^(.g alone a. long score, will avail himself by turns, of the funereal flute, the
shepherd's pipe, the dancer's bagpipe, or the warrior's trumpet ; thus the Almighty God, to
proclaim to us his eternal Word, has chosen of old the instruments into which He would suc-
cessively breathe the breath of his Spirit. He chose them before the foundation of the
world ; He separated them from their mother's womb.
" Have you visited the Cathedral of Freyburg, and listened to that wonderful organist,
who, with such enchantment, draws the tears from the traveller's eyes ; while he touches, one
after another, his wonderful keys, and makes you hear by turns, the march of armies upon
the beach, or the chanted prayer upon the lake during the tempest, or the voices of
praise after it is calm ? All your senses are overwhelmed, for it has all passed before you
like a vivid reality. Well, thus the Eternal God, powerful in harmony, touches by turns
with the fingers of his Spirit, the keys which He had chosen for the hour of his design,
and for the unity of his celestial hymn. He had before Him, from eternity, all the human
keys ; his creating eyes embraced at a glance, this key-board of sixty centuries ; and when
He would make this fallen world hear the eternal counsel of its redemption and the advent
of the Son of God, He laid his left hand on Enoch, the seventh from Adam, and his right
hand on John, the humble and sublime prisoner of Patmos. The celestial hymn, seven
hundred years before the Beluge, began with these words : " Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of his saints, to judge the world ; " but already in the thought of God and
in the eternal harmony of his work, the voice of John was responding to that of Enoch, and
terminating the hymn, three thousand years after him, with these words : ' Behold he cometh,
and every eye shall see him, yea, those that pierced him I even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly,
amen I ' And during this hymn of three thousand years, the Spirit of God did not cease
to breathe upon all his ambassadors ; the angels stooped, says an Apostle, to contemplate
its depths ; the elect of God were moved, and eternal life descended into their souls."
These ambassadors did not all speak, or write alike. " It was sometimes the sublime and
untutored simplicity of John ; sometimes the excited, elliptical, startling, argumentative
energy of Paul ; sometimes the fervor and solemnity of Peter ; it was the majestic poetry
of Isaiah, or the lyrical poetry of David ; it was the simple and majestic narrative of Moses,
or the sententious and royal wisdom of Solomon ; — yes, it was all that ; it was Peter ; it
was Isaiah ; it was Matthew ; it was John ; it was Moses ; but it was God 1 "
But apart from the style, which is the expression of the mental and moral idiosyn-
crasies of the prophets, there is a style which characterizes them as prophets,
liar to the This arises from the method of prophetic revelation. With the exception of
Prophets as Moses and Christ, intercourse with heaven was maintained by means of vision
irop e . ^^^ dreams (Num. xii. 6). The distinction between these two, in general terms,
1 Davison On Prophecy, pp. 253, 264.
a Theopneusty, or The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Script Kres. By S. E. L. GauflBen, pp. 64, 65, 66. Vew ToA
taker & Scribner, 1846.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 37
Beems to be this : the vision referred to what was seen ; the dream, to what wag spoken and
heard. The prophets, while retaining their consciousness ai d the use of their rational pow
ers, were raised to a spiritual sphere, where they saw the vision and heard the words of the
Almighty. Such seems to be the meaning of the phrases, " I was in the Spirit and heard " ;
" The hand of the Lord was upon me " ; " The Spirit of the Lord came upon me." When
in this condition their intellectual and emotional nature was quickened. They knew by
intuition, and their hearts glowed with seraphic ardor. This was " the normal state of the
prophets, when they were receiving divine communications." They were in '■ the region of
spirit as contradistinguished from that of sense and time." At the same time they retained
their personal characteristics and native susceptibilities. The Holy Spirit, both "in his
more peculiar, and in his more common operations upon the soul, has respect to its essential
powers and properties, and adapts himself in his most special communications, not only to
the general laws of thought, which regulate the workings of the human mind, but also to
the various idiosyncrasies and acquired habits of particular individuals." While this is
true, it is plain that communications made to men, who were elevated to the spiritual sphere,
cannot have the form and dress of outward reality. They are to be separated from the
things of actual life, and confined to the region, in which they were made. Bearing this in
mind, we will be freed from the necessity of understanding literally the instructions given to
Hosea to marry an unchaste woman, and the command to Ezekiel to lie three hundred and
ninety days at a stretch on one side, and forty days upon the other (Ezek. iv. 5, 6), together
with symbolical actions of a similar kind. Such typical actions were ideal and intended to
present an image of the actual world in the territory of real life. Dr. Fairbairn justly
remarks, that such things, " understood to be representative, and teaching actions in the
purely spiritual sphere, could not, by anything of an unbecoming nature, which they might
contain, " produce the pernicious effect which must have attended them, had they obtruded
themselves upon the senses ; they were for the mind alone to contemplate, and it would natu-
rally do so with a respect to the moral bearing of the representation." The principle of
interpretation of such typical representations is, therefore, in the words of Dr. Fairbairn,
the following : " As, according to the rule, divine communications were to be made to the
prophets in ecstasy or vision, so whenever we have to do merely with the record of these
communications, the actions related, as well as the things seen and heard, should be under-
stood to have occurred in the spiritual sphere of prophetic revelation ; and outward reality
is to be predicated of any them, only when the account given is such as to place the
Bymbohcal act in undoubted connection with the facts of history. Or it may be put thus :
The actions are to be held as having taken place in the spiritual sphere alone, if they occur
simply ib the account of God's communications to the prophet ; but in actual life, if they
are found in the narration of the prophet's dealings with the people. In the one case the
mere publication of the account constituted the message from God ; while in the other, an
embodied representation was given of it in the outward act."
The depth, sublimity, and force of the prophetical writings cannot be fully comprehended
without an acquaintance with the symbols employed in them. A knowledge of gyn,i,oiicai
these symbols furnishes a key to many of the prophecies, whose treasures can style of ttn
only be discovered by him, who knows how to use it. Many works have been l"^^^"*"'
written on syrabology ; but perhaps much still remains in that field to reward the (^.q^ tijj
patient investigator. natural
There was a natural tendency in the prophets to adopt figurative representa-
tions of future things. The various objects of the world of nature were used for this pur-
pose. These natural objects, known and familiar to all, were used as images of things heal-
ing some resemblance to them in the history of God's kingdom among men. They were
used, however, in their broader and more common aspects, not in a recondite sense known
only to a few. They were applied, moreover, in a consistent and uniform manner. The
prophets did not shift from the symbolical to the literal, without any apparent indication of
change, nor from one aspect of the symbolical to another essentially different.
" The Law," on the authority of an Apostle, " was a shadow of good things to come, and
)0t the very image of the things " (Heb. x. 1). It had the " shadow of heav- The history
enly things " (Heb, viii. 5). " Which are a shadow of things to come ; but the of the Old
body is of Christ'' (Col. ii. 17). These passages teach that the institutions of ^"^er^which
■-he Old Covenant stood in a typical relation to the institutions of the New. the prophet*
38 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
jTed, fur- When the prophets, therefore, announced the better things to come, they repre-
Dished an- gented them as a fuller development of the things existing under the Old Cove-
ofsymb™™ nant, or as a grander exempUfication of the truths and principles which they
Kil and typi- embodied. Much of their imagery too was drawn from their more sensuous
ullT^^^"' system of worship. This is a combination of type with prophecy, which is very
natural ; for as every type possesses a prophetical element, we may expect them
sometimes to run into each other. In this way the typical in the past, or present, is repre-
sented, by a distinct prophetical announcement, as going to appear again in the future. For
example, Hosea (viii. 13), speaking of the Lord's purpose to visit the sins of Israel with
chastisement, says, " They shall return to Egypt." The old state of things should come
back upon them, or the evil, which was to befall them, was to be after the type of what their
forefathers had experienced under the yoke of Pharoah. Yet the new was not to be the
exact repetition of the old ; for, in the next chapter (ix. 3), the prophet says, " Ephraim
shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria " ; and again (chapter
xi. 5), " He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king."
" He shall return to Egypt," and he shall not return to Egypt ; in other words the Egyptian
state shall come upon him.
This mode of representation is not peculiar to the prophets. We find examples of it in
the classics. The Sibyl, in Virgil, when disclosing to ^neas the fortunes of himself and
of his posterity in Latium, represents them as a repetition of what he had experienced in
Troy.
" Non Simois tibi, nee Xanthus, oec Doriea Castra
Defuerint : alius Latio jam partus Achilles,
Natus et ipse Dea."
We have already remarked that the prophets, when they saw their visions, were trans-
PoeHcal ported into an ecstatic state, and rendered capable of holding direct intercourse
ityle of the ^j^j^ heaven,
prophets.
They " pass'd the flarQin£r bounds of space and time:
The living-tlirone, the sapphire-blaze.
Where angels tremble, while they gaze,"
They "saw."
In such an elevated spiritual and mental condition, the language of poetry became the
natural vehicle of their glowing thoughts and figurative representations. The poetical diction
of the prophets is, therefore, connected with their prophetical state. The ecstatical state
was the source of the poetical element in prophecy.
Among the Hebrews and some other nations of antiquity, there was but one word for
prophet and poet. It was thought that every prophet must be a poet, and every poet to
some extent a prophet. Hence it arose that the prophetical gift was measured by the poeti-
cal, and the prophetical books were assigned to a golden, or a silver age, according to their
rank as poetical compositions. But prophets and poets have distinct spheres, and different
ends in view. " The distinctive characteristic of the prophetical representation lies pecul
iarly in this, that it is not confined to any precise mode ; but as its aim rises above all kind«
of human discourse, so it avails itself of all, according as they are best adapted to that aim.
The poet has his definite manner, and cannot so readily change and vary it, for his imme-
diate aim is not to work upon others ; he must satisfy himself and the requirements of hi»
own art. But the prophet will and must work upon others ; nay work upon them in the
most direct and impressive manner ; and so for him every method and form of representa-
tion is right which carries him straightest to his end." *
The poetical element in prophecy was regulated by a practical aim. Hence we find in
the prophetical writings the simplest narratives, the most practical addresses, and poetical
descriptions in close juxtaposition. All was made subservient to the higher ends of spiritual
instruction.
In addition to Prophetic Poetry, Hebrew Literature has two other kinds — Lyric and
Didactic. The Lyric Poetry of the Bible consists chiefly of the efi"usions of pious feelings,
and forms the greater portion of the Psalms. The Hebrew Didactic Poetry is mostly com-
prised in the book of Proverbs. The Prophetic Poetry abounds more than these in meta-
phors, allegories, comparisons, and copious descriptions. It excels also in imagination and u
»nergy of diction.
1 jEneU, lib. Ti. 88-90. 2 Qray's Progress of Potty.
8 Bvfald J quoted by Dr. Fairtilrn, On. Fropkecy, p. 184.
GENEEAL INTRODUCTION. 39
The characteristic form of Hebrew Poetry is parallelism, which is divided into (1)
Synonymous, in which the second line is entirely or almost a repetition of the first ; (2)
Antithetic, in which the second line is the converse of the first ; (3) Synthetic, in which the
idea contained in the first line is further developed in the second.
The observance of this parallelism in the interpretation of the prophetical and poetical
books of Scripture will preserve the interpreter from errors, into which he might otherwise
fall.
vn.
Schools of Prophetical Interpretation.
The symbolical character of prophecy opens an ample field for the indulgence of fancj
and imagination ; and some interpreters seem to look upon it as a gymnasium for the exer-
cise of the imaginative faculty. They see things that the prophets never saw. They speak
with as much assurance as if they knew not only the grand scheme of divine Providence,
but also every part of its machinery. The rings, which Ezekiel saw, and which "were
so high that they were dreadful, inspire no dread in the minds of such interpreters, but
appear to them in their mathematical dimensions of hubs, spokes, fellies, and tire. The
" terrible crystal " does not dazzle their eyes. Like Dante they describe with the accu-
racy of eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses. Prophecy to them is merely history written before-
hand ; and consequently all that it reveals of the future must be as literal as history
itself.
Others go to the opposite extreme. They change the nature of prophecy, by denying
that its object was to give any precise, or definite outline of the future, and regard it as the
expression of men's fears or longings, as to the coming destinies of the world.
There are others, who rob prophecy altogether of its predictive character. It contains,
according to their view, nothing that Ues beyond the reach of human foresight. The
precise and definite knowledge of the future, implying as it does a miracle, is, in their
opinion, impossible.
The fundamental principle of literalism is that " Prophecy is nothing but the history
of events before they come to pass." It is history anticipated, and all that it The literal-
reveals of the future must be taken as literally as history itself. The great argu- "sts.
ment in behalf of this view is the exact fulfillment of many prophecies — especially of
prophecies relating to the advent and history of Christ. Even here the principle fails ; for
Christ did not sit literally upon " the throne of his father David." The valleys were not
literally exalted, nor were the mountains and hills literally made low (Is. xl. 4) before Him.
It was this extreme literalism on the part of the Jewish interpreters that led to his cruci-
fixion. It lay at the foundation of the worldly views of his disciples (Matt, xviii. 1 ; Mark
ix. 34 ; Luke ix. 46 ; Acts i. 6).
Tested by the principle of this school, the first prophecy (Gen. iii. 15) would be denuded
of all serious import, did it literally mean that the descendants of Eve, on the one side,
would receive injuries from serpents, and that, on the other, serpents would have their heads
crushed by them. Certainly something more was intended to comfort our first parents, when
driven from Paradise and mourning under the curse induced by their fall.
The prophets did not expect to be understood literally, when they spoke of the future
glory of the Church as consisting in the complete reestablishment of the old economy, the
srection of the temple, the enforcement of its ritual, and the concourse of all nations to its
vOurts ; for in other places they speak of a new covenant, of the abrogation of the old one
as not worthy to be remembered. It must require a great stretch of credulity to adopt the
Uteral interpretation of the concluding chapters of Ezekiel. His rebuilt temple takes, in
the Apocalypse, the form of a holy city with " no temple therein." So also many things
that are said of Zion and Jerusalem cannot be taken in a literal sense ; for the language,
while referring to the present dispensation, takes its coloring from the Old Economy, which
was to vanish away. Take the last prophecy of the Old Testament (Mai. iv. 5) ; can any
oae adopt its literal interpretation, unless Elijah is yet to come ?
It cannot be doubted that numerous and exact correspondences between the prophetia
40 GENEEAL INTRODUCTION.
delineations of Scripture and the past and present state of the world can be pointed oul
and that the language of prophecy has, in many instances, been literally yerified by the fact&
of history. Hence "the popularity of those works, which have been written to show these
correspondences and exact fulfillments. They have contributed to awaken a lively interest
in the subject of prophecy, and have furnished an argument for the truth of the Bible, by
directing attention to certain predictions, whose accomplishment cannot be denied. " But it
is perfectly possible that the efforts in this direction may have somewhat overshot the proper
mark ; that the advantage obtained on one side may have been pushed so far as to create a
disadvantage on another ; that the evidence of a close and literal fulfillment of particular
prophecies,''by being carried beyond its due limits, may have given rise to views and expecta-
tions respecting' the structure and design of prophecy in general, which are neither warrant-
able in themselves nor capable of being vindicated by a reference to historical results. Such
indeed has proved to be the case."
One extreme begets another. Some minds are so constituted that they cannot occupy a
middle ground. When they see the untenableness of one position, they choose
Anti-uteral- ^-^^ ^^^^. opposite. It is with something of this disposition that a class of inter-
preters, convinced of the falsity of the principle that prophecy is history written
beforehand, hold that very little, if any, is so written. They say, if prophecy is history
written beforehand, it should be written as history. Instead of giving any precise, or defi-
nite outline of the future, it is regarded by them as the expression of men's fears and long-
ings in regard to the future destinies of the world. Dr. Arnold has said : " If you put, as
you may do, Christ for abstract good and Satan for abstract evil, I do not think that the
notion is so startling, that they are the main and only proper subjects of prophecy, and that in
all other cases the language is, in some part or other, hyperbolical ; hyperbolical, I mean,
and not merely figurative. Nor can I conceive how, on any other supposition, the repeated
applications of the Old Testament language to our Lord, not only by others, but by himself,
can be understood to be other than arbitrary."
This school of interpretation occupies less tenable ground than the literalists ; for it elimi-
nates from prophecy everything that is properly predictive. Hence there is no revelation
from God to his people, in regard to the future movements of his providence in the world.
Prophecy is nothing more than an expression of men's fears and longings. We would say
it is rather a response from God to these fears and longings, to sustain the hope of his people
in times of darkness, and to inspire confidence in the goodness and rectitude of his mora!
administration.
It is difiicult to conceive how anticipations, fears, and longings could take so definite a
form, and so detailed a character as many portions of the prophetical writings exhibit.
Unexpected events, and the names of the persons who accomplished them, are foretold.
The prophecies relating to Nineveh and Babylon delineate so circumstantially what befell
those cities, as to exclude them from the sphere of mere anticipation, or human foresight.
Dates, names, and particulars of the minutest kind belong to certain foreknowledge, not to
anticipations, longings, and fears.
The fundamental principle of the neologioal school is that there cannot be distinct prophetic
„ foresight of the distant future. Distinct foresight of the distant future would be
a miracle of knowledge, and there can be no such thing as a miracle. " The
writings of the prophets," says a representative of this school, " contain nothing above the
reach of the human faculties. Here are noble and spirit-stirring appeals to men's conscience,
patriotism, honor, and religion ; beautiful poetic descriptions, odes, hymns, expressions of
faith almost beyond praise. But the mark of human infirmity is on them all, and proofs or
signs of miraculous inspiration are not found in them.
The effects of such a principle upon the interpretation of the prophetical writings can be
easily seen. All predictions of the future are, according to these neological interpreters,
vaticinia ex eventu ; or they relate to things which might have been easily foreseen without
a special revelation. To this foregone conclusion all exegetical results must yield or be
accommodated. Hence the arbitrary processes of the destructive criticism employed for the
discovery of arguments, philological, historical, rhetorical, and moral against the genuine-
ness of many passages in the prophets. It is necessary to refer only to the treatment by
neologists of the later prophecies of Isaiah and the book of Daniel as exemplifications. Ol
'xnirse " all conclusions fou ided, or necessarily depending, on the false assumption " of thii
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 41
school of interpreters, " must," in the words of Dr. Alexander, " go for nothing with those
who do not hold it, and especially with those who are convinced that it is false." That it
IS false every interpreter, who receives the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures,
believes.
It is admitted that there is a historical element in prophecy. So far from standino- in iso-
lation, prophecy is interwoven with sacred historj-. The latter is its frame-work.
In the facts of history prophetical revelations take their rise and form. But it y,?'^^*
does not follow from this that one is the measure of the other. History is the
occasion of prophecy ; but the latter rises above the former and sheds a supernatural lio-ht
upon its movements. Prophecy is the antedated history of a divine agency in the affairs of
the world, an agency now veiled in clouds and moving unseen, now revealing itself in daz-
zling brightness. This providential history dictated by One, who is not subject to the limi-
tations of space and time, pays very little regard, in many instances, to these necessary con-
ditions of all human agency. A thousand years in the sight of God are as a moment. His
prophet looking down the vista of time saw visions of the future as we see the stars in the
firmament. The stars seem near to each other ; but they are separated by billions of miles.
So future events seemed near to each other, in the visions of the prophet, but in reality they
are sometimes separated by millenniums. As an illustration of this it is sufBcient to refer to
the prophecies of Zephaniah and the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, in which our
Saviour foretells the destruction of Jerusalem, and, in close connection with it, the signs of
the day of judgment.
It is, moreover, well to bear in mind that the fulfillment of many prophecies is germinant.
In other words they are fulfilled by installments, each installment being a pledo-e of that
which is to follow. Such a prophecy is that of Joel (ii. 28, 29) concerning the outpourino'
of the Holy Spirit. It was not completely fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. It is o-oinor on
fulfilling at the present time. Of course to make history the measure of such prophecies is
impossible until the whole course of both history and prophecy is run.
Again, the combination of type with prophecy renders it necessary to distincruish between
prophetical representations and direct historical narrative. Taking this combination into con-
sideration, it is impossible to interpret many prophecies as anticipated history in a literal sense.
" Every type was so far a prophecy, that under the form of sensible things, and by means of
present outward relations, it gave promise of other things yet to come, corresponding in
design, but higher and better in kind. And hence, when a prophetic word accompanied the
type, or pointed to the things which it prefigured, it naturally foretold the antitypical under
the aspect, or even by the name of the typical." This relation of the typical to the anti-
typical furnishes the key to the interpretation of many of the prophecies relating to Christ
and the future glories of the Church. In these prophecies it is scarcely possible to under-
stand David, Zion, and Jerusalem, as the David, Zion, and Jerusalem of the Old Testament,
or to understand the things predicted of them as a literal reproduction of the things of the
Jewish Economy. They evidently refer to things in the sphere of the antitype, prefigured
in the sphere of the type ; and these things differ as much from the things that prefigured
them, as the antitype differs from the type. Material types of spiritual objects do not imply
a material fulfillment.
It is not denied, in what has been said, that many announcements of prophecy are capable
of yielding clear and specific historical results, that they have been literally fulfilled ; but
merely that prophecy is written like history, and that one is the measure of the other. There
is a palpable reason why prophecy should not be written like history, lest the clearness of
its predictions should prompt the efforts that lead to their accomplishment. In fact it has
been alleged that such is the case, in regard to some prophecies written in a style closely
approximating that of historical narrative. " The best form for the purposes of argument,"
says Dr. Chalmers, " in which a prophecy can be delivered, is to be so obscure as to leave
ie event, or rather its main circumstances, unintelligible before the fulfillment, and so clear
as to be intelligible after it." Even in reference to some of the most historical parts of the
visions of Daniel, Hengstenberg has remarked, that no one ignorant of the history, and with
only this prophetical outline in his hand, could make his way to any precise and circumstnn-
Ual account of the events.^
1 See Fairbaim, On Prophecy, p. 114.
12
GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
vm.
Canon of the Prophetical Predictive Books.
The Jews made two classes of prophetical books, one of which may, be denominated
Divisions of Prophetical historical books ; and the other, prophetical predictive hooks. The first
the prophot- class Contains Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, which they
leal books. gtyjed the earlier prophets [Q''jit»S"1 Q''W"'23] I the second class, the prophets
proper, called by them the later prophets [□"'aiinSl a"'W"'33]. The latter are subdivided
into the greater prophets [□';bil2 D"_S';23], namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; and the
lesser [D^3Ep D''N''33], namely, in the order of our authorized version, Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obadiah, Jonah, Mioah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
These form twelve separate books in our Bibles ; but they were reckoned one by the Jews,
who regulated the number of the books in the Hebrew Scriptures by that of the Hebrew
alphabet, which consists of twenty-two letters.
The book of Daniel stands, in the Hebrew Canon, among the Kethubim, between Esther
Collocation and Ezra ; in the LXX. and Vulgate, in the German and English Versions, it ia
of the book placed after Ezekiel, as the fourth of the greater prophets. Its position in the
0 anie . Hebrew Canon seems, at first sight, remarkable. But it is supposed to be a
natural consequence of the right apprehension of the different functions of the prophet and
Reason of seer. Daniel had the spirit, but not the work of a prophet ; and as his work
this coUoea- was a new one, so was it carried out in a style of which the Old Testament offers
'""'■ no other example. His Apocalypse is as distinct from the prophetic writings as
the Apocalypse of St. John from the apostolic epistles. The heathen court is to one seer
what the isle of Patmos is to the other, a place of exile and isolation, where he stands alone
with his God, and is not, like the prophets, active in the midst of a struggling nation.'
All these books were received into the Hebrew Canon as possessing divine authority.
Formation ^°d they are found in all the ancient catalogues. Ezra, according to tradition,
of the He- collected and arranged all the sacred books, which were admitted to be inspired,
brew Canon, previous to Ms time; and the work was continued by the Great Synagogue,
until the Canon was closed by the admission of the book of Malachi, the last of the Hebrew
prophets.
The following table is copied, with some changes, from that of Otto SchmoUer, the author
Chronologi- of the Commentaries upon Hosea, Joel, and Amos. Other dates, in some cases,
ment™°the ^''® ^s^'g"^*! by different Commentators, whose arguments, in support of them,
prophetical can be found in the special Introductions to the several books. They are al'
books. briefly exhibited in O. R. Hertwig's tables for an Introduction to the Canonica
and Apocfyphal Books of the Old Testament : —
1. The Pre-Assteian Period.
Prophets.
Xings of Juddh.
Kings of Israel.
B. C.
B. C.
Obadiah,
c. 890-880 ? [585]
896
9 Joram.
5 Joram,
889
6 Ahaziah,
884
7 (Athaliah)
883
10 Jehu.
8 Jehoash,
877
Joel,
c. 850.
856
11 Jehoahaz.
840
12 Jehoash.
9 Amaziah,
838
Jonah,
c. 825-790.
824
13 Jeroboam II
Amos,
c. 810-783 10 Azariah,
810
Hosea,
c. 790-725 ? [called
783
Anarchy.
Uzziah 2 Kings xv. 13 and 2 Chron. xxvi. 1]
772
14 Zachariah
771
15 Shallum.
1 Aub«rlen, On Daniel and Revelation, pp. 26, 26 ; and Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, b. t Dankt
GENEEAL INTRODUCTION.
43
2. AssYKiAN Period.
Prophets.
B. 0.
Kings of Judah.
B. 0.
Kings of Israel.
16 Menahem.
Isaiah,
C. 760-690.
760
759
17 Pekahiah.
18 Pekah.
Micah,
0. 768-710.
11 Jotham,
12 Ahaz,
13 Hezekiah,
758
742
780
727
722
19 Hoshea.
Overthrow of the King-
dom of Israel by th«
Nahum,
C. 680.
14 Manasseh,
15 Amon,
8. Chaldean Period.
696
641
Assyrians.
Zephamali,
c. 639-609.
16 Josiah,
17 Jehoahaz,
639
609
Jeremiah,
c. 628-583.
18 Jehoiakim,
608
Habakkuk,
c. 608-590.
19 Jehoiachin,
599
Ezekiel,
c. 594-535.
20 Zedekiah,
598
Destruction of the kingdom of Judah by the Chaldseans, 588
4. Period of the Exile.
B. 0.
588-c. 586.
Jeremiah,
c. 628-583.
Ezekiel,
c. 594-535.
Daniel,
c. 605-636.
Prophets,
B. 0.
Haggai,
c. 520-525.
Zechariah,
c. 520-510.
Malachi,
0. 4SS-424.
5. Post-exile Period.
Kings of Persia.
B. O.
Cyrus, 529
Darius Hystaspis, 621-486.
Artaxerx.es Longimanus, 433-4M«
44
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
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GENEKAL INTRODUCTION. 4b
IX.
Literature of the Greater Prophets.
See the Literature in the respective Introductions to these Prophets.
General Literature of the Minor Prophets.
The Monographic Literature is found at the end of the Introductions to the several
books. In order to restore a chronological arrangement in the enumeration of the interpre-
ters, I have, where I was able, specified the editio princeps of the work in question, and
added the year of the author's death.
I. EXE&ESIS.
Primitive Church Exegesis,
HiERONTMUS (t 420) : Comm. in Proph. Minores ; in the Frankfort- Leipzig folio edition
of 1684 ff. Vol. vi., p. 91 ff.
Theodore op Mopsuestia (f 429) : Comm. in Proph. Minores; ed. Th. a Wegnern.
Berol. 1834.
Cyrillus Alkxandrinus (t 444) : Comm. in Prophetas Minores Greece et Lat., ed. J.
Pontanus. Ingolst. 1607. Folio.
Theodoretus Cyrensis (t 457) : Explanatio in XIL Proph. quos Minores vacant juxta
interpr. LXX. P. Gillio interprete. Lugd. 1533. (In the foUo edition of his works, vol.
ii., p. 1449 ff.)
Mediceval Exegesis.
Hatmo (t 853) : Comm. in XIL Proph. Minn. Col. 1533. Folio.
Remigius Antissidorensis (c. 900) : Comm,. in Proph. Min. in the Bibl. Max. Patrum,
t. xvi. p. 928 ff.
Thbophylact (f after 1071) : Comm. in (5) Min. Proph. Lat. ex interpr. J. Loniceri.
Francof. 1534. Folio.
EupERTUs TuiTiENSis (f 1135) : Comm. in Prophetas Minores, in 0pp. Par. 1638.
Folio. Vol. i., p. 798 ff.
Hugo db S. Card (f 1263) : PostUlm s. Breves Comm. in Proph. Min. in Univv. Bibha
juxta quadruplicem sensum. Col. 1621. Folio.
Albbrtus Magnus (f 1280) : Comm. in Proph. Min. 0pp. Lugd. 1651. T. viiL
Nicolaus de Lyra (f 1340) : PostUlce Perpetuce, ed. Feuardent, Dadraeus, and others.
Lugd. and Par. 1590. Folio.
Cornelius a Lapide (f 1637) : Commentarii. Antv. 1664. Folia
Rabbinical Commentaries.
R. Salojion ben Isaak (Jarchi, Izchaki, Raschi, f 1105) : Comm. in Proph. Lat., ed.
F. Breithaupt. Gotha. 1713. 4to.
R. Abraham ben Meir ibn Esra (Abenezra, f 1167). (See under Bomberg's Rab-
Unical Bible.)
R. D. KiMCHi (f 1230) : XII. Proph. Minn, cum Comment. D. Kimchi a F. Vatablo
emend. Par. 1539. 4to.
S. J. NoRZi: >W ntl^Tp, Kritisoher Commentar zum A. T. (1626), in the Vienna edition
3f the Old Testament, by Ge. Holzinger, 1812 sq.
R. Lipman: Disputatio adv. Christianos ad Explanationem XII. Prophetarum Minn, in-
ttiluta. Alt. 1644.
Romberg's Rabb. Bibel. (Ven. 1518. Folio.) [Bomberg's Rabbinical Bible. This con-
46 GEiraRAL INTRODUCTION.
tains the Targum of Jonathan and the Commentary of David Kimchi. The second edition,
by Jacob Ben Chayim (Ven. 1526), has the two Masoras and the Commentary of Aben-
ezra].
Buxtorf's Rabh. Bibel (Has. 1618). [Buxtorf' s Rabbinical Bible (Basle, 1618), con-
tains, besides the Targum, tiie Commentaries of Kaschi, Abenezra, Kimchi, Levi Ben Ger«
som, and others.]
Exegesis at the Period of the Reformation.
Franc. Lambert (f 1530) : Comm. in Proph. Minn. Compiled. Francf. 1579.
Jo. Oecolampadius (t 1531) : Adnott. in P. M. Compiled. Gen. 1658. Folio.
CouR. Pellicanus : Comm. in II. V. T. Tig. 1532. F. V. IV. (All the proph-
ets except Jonah and Zechariah.)
Mart. Luther's Auslegungen der Propheten. Halle. 1741. Th. vi. [Mart. Luther*
Expositions of the Prophets, in the Quarto Edition of Walch. Halle. 1741. Part vi.]
Vict. Strigel, Scholia in Proph. Minores. Lips. 1661.
Jo. Calvin : Prcelectiones in Proph. Minores. 0pp. Amst. 1671. T. V. 2.
JoH. WiGAND ; Explicationes in Duodecim Proph. Min. Francof. 1566.
Jo. Mercerus (t 1570) : Comm. in Proph. 5 inter eos qui Minn, vocantur, cum Prmf.
Chevalerii. Gen. 1698. 4to.
Luc. OsiANDER : Biblia juxta Vet. seu Vulg. transl., etc. (ed. pr. Tub. 1573). Tub.
1597. l( ii.
Jo. Brentius (t 1678) : Comm. in Hos., Am., Jon., Micah. 0pp. Tub. 1578. Folio.
T. iv.
J. Tremellius et Junius : Biblia Sacra s. I. Can. V. T. Latini recens ex Hebroso facti
Vreoibusque Scholii illuslrati. Franof. ad M. 1579. Folio. T. iv.
Lamb. Dan^eus : Comm. in Proph. 12 Minn. Gen. 1586.
NiC. Selneccer (t 1592) : Anmerkungen zu den Proph. Hosea, Joel, Micah. Lpz. 1578.
tto. Auslegung iiber Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk. Lpz. 1667. 4to. Ueher Jeremiah und
Zephanjah. Lpz. 1566. 4to. [Annotations on the prophets Hosea, Joel, Micah. Leipzig,
1578, 4to. Exposition of Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk. Leipzig, 1567, 4to. Jeremiah and
Zephaniah. Leipzig, 1666, 4to.]
Post-Reformation Exegesis.
Franc. Ribera (Rom. Cath.): Comm. in 12 P.M. Rom. 1593. 4to.
Jo. Drusius (t 1616) : Comm. in 12 Proph. Minores, ed. J. Amama. Amst 1627. 4to.
Casp. Sanctius (Rom. Cath.) : Comm. in P. M. Lugd. 1621. FoUo.
JoH. PiscATOR (t 1625) : Comm. in Cann. II. V. T. Herb. 1646. Folio.
Jo. Tarnovius (t 1629) : Comm. in Pr. M. c. prof. J. B. Carpzovii. Lips. 1688. 4to,
J. H. Menochius (Rom. Cath.) : Brevis expos, lit. sensus totius Scr, S. ex opt. autt, colU
Coll. 1630. T. ii.
LuD. DE DiEU (1642) : Critica Sacra. Amst. 1698. Folio.
H. Grotius (t 1646) : Annotala ad V. T. Par. 1644. Folio. T. ii,
Jo. CoccEius : Comm. m Pro/)A. ilfmn. Lugd. B. 1652. Folio.
J. Trapp : Exposition upon the 12 M. P. Lond. 1654.
JoH. Hutcheson : £ay&aft"o in 12 P.M. Lond. 1657. Folio.
Critici Sacri : S. Doctissimorum Virorum ad Sacra Biblia annott. et tractatus. Lond,
1660. Folio. T. iv. Sp. 6583 ff. (With the Commentaries of Munster, Vatabl^s, Castalio,
Clarius, Drusius, Liveleius, Grotius.)
J. DE LA Hate (Rom. Cath.) : Biblia Maxima. Par. 1660 ff. Folio. (With the Comm
of Estius, Sa, Menochius, Tirinus.)
Abr. Cxi^OYiva: Biblia Illmtrata, etc. (ed.pr. 1671). Dresd. 1729. Folio. T, i,
JoH. ScHMiD : Comm. in Proph. Minn. Lips. 1687 ff., cum prsef. Seb. Schmid.
Sbb. Schmid (f 1696) : Comm. in P. M. Lips. 1698. 4to.
Jo. Marckius : Comm. in Jo. Am. Ob. Jon. Amstelod. 1698. 4to. In Micah, Nah
Hab., Zeph. Amst. 1700. 4to.
A. Calmet (Rom. Cath.) : Commentaire Liteial sur tons les Livres de I'Ancien et dn
VouweaK ros^amenJ (ed. pr. Par. 1707). Par. 1725. Folio.
GENERAL INTKODtJCTION. 47
PoLYC. Lysekds : Prcelectiones acadd. in P. M. Goslar. 1 709. 4to.
J. H. MiOHAELis: Biblia Hebracia cum Annott. Hal. 1720. (Obadiah and Micah, by Ch.
Ben. Michaelis.)
K. "S. Stauck : NolcB Selectee in Proph. Lips. 1723. 4to.
J. W. Petersen: Erklarung der 12 Kleinen Proplieten (Exposition of the 12 Minor
Prophets). Frankf. 1723.
Jo. Clericus : Vet. T. Prophetce ab Jesaja ad Malachiam usque. Amst. 1731. Folio.
Br. B.. Gkbharovs : Die 12 Kleinen Propheten. Gesammelt. Frankf. 1737. 4to. [Tho
12 Minor Prophets. Compiled. Frankfort.]
Ant. Patronus (Rom. Cath.) : Comm. in 12 P. M. Neap. 1743. Folio.
Ph. D. Bukck; Gnomon in 12 P. M. HeUbr. 1753. 4to.
J. A. Dathb : Proph. Min. illustr. Hal. 1773.
W. Newoome : An attempt towards — of the M. P. Lond. 1785. 4to.
G.L.Bauer: Die Kleinen Propheten. Lpz, 1786. [The Minor Prophets. Leipzig,
1786.]
E. F. C. RosENMULLER : SchoUa in V. T. T. vii. p. 1-4 (ed. pr. Gen. 1788 f.), ed. 8.
Lips. 1832.
BAXSV-e,!,: Die 12 Kleinen Propheten. Dresd. 1793. [The 12 Minor Prophets. Dresden,
1793.]
J. Sev. Vater : Observatt. in Locos aliquot Min. Proph. Hal. 1815. 4to.
J. G. Eichhorn: Die Hebr. Propheten. Gott. 1816 ff. [The Heb. Prophets. Gott.
1816 ff.]
P. F. Ackermann (Rom. Cath.) : Prophetce Min. Vindob. 1830.
F. Mauker : Comm. Gramm. Histor. Crit. in V. T. Vol. ii. Lips. 1836.
H. Hesselberg: Die 12 ^/. PropA. Kbnigsb. 1838. [The 12 Min. Proph. Konigs-
berg, 1838.]
F. Hitzig: Die 12 Kl. Proph. erJclart (1 A. 1838) 3 Aufl. Lpz. 1863. [The 12 Min.
Proph. interpreted 3d. ed. Leipzig, 1863.]
H. Ewald : Die Propheten des A. Bundes. (1st. ed. 1840,) 2d ed. Gott. 1867. [The
Prophets of the Old Covenant.]
J. W. C. Umbreit : Prdktischer Commentar Hber die Kleinen Propheten. Hamb. 1845.
[Practical Commentary on the Minor Prophets. Hamb. 1845.]
P. Schegg (Rom. Cath.) : Die Kleinen Propheten ubersetzt und erklart. 2 Th. Regensburg,
1854. [The Minor Prophets translated and explained. 2d Part. Regensburg, 1854.]
L. Reinke (Rom. Cath.) : Mess. Weiss, bei d. Proph. Giessen, 1859, vol. iii. [Messianic
Prophecy in the Prophets. Giessen, 1859, vol. iii.]
C. F. Kbil : Biblischer Commentar iiber die Kleinen Propheten. Lpz. 1866. [Biblical
Commentary on the Minor Prophets. Leipzig, 1866.] Compare also Sixti Senensis Bibl.
Sancta. Par. 1610. Polio, p. 14 ff. and elsewhere.
Ltjd. Cappellus (f 1658) : Comm. et Notce Criticm in V. T. cum J. Cappelli observatt. in
V. T. Amst. 1689. Folio.
R. Lowth: De Sacra Poesi Hebrceorum, ed. J. D. Michaelis. Gott. 1770.
A. KiJPER : Jeremias II. ss. interpres atque Vindex. Berol. 1837.
E. B. Puset, The Minor Prophets, with a Commentary Explanatory and Practical. Ox-
ford, Cambridge, and London, 1861.
E. Henderson: The Book of the Twehe Minor Prophets, translated from the Original
Hebrew. With a Commentary Critical, Philological, and Exegetical. Andover, 1866.
Henry Cowles : The Minor Prophets ; with Notes Critical, Explanatory, and Practical.
New York, 1867.
The Works on Introduction, by Carpzov, Eichhorn, Augusti, Bertholdt, De Wette ; Jahn,
H'avernick, Keil ; Stahelin, and Bleek.
Herzog's Real-encyclopadie, articles " Obadiah," " Jonah," etc., by C. Nagelsbach,
Umbreit, and Delitzsch.
Smith's Dictionary of the BMe (enlarged Am. ed. by Hackett and Abbot), articles undei
Jie names of the Twelve Minor Prophets respectively.
Kitto's Biblical Encyclopaedia (third ed. by Wm. L. Alexander), articles under th«
aames of the Twelve Minor Prophets respectively.
48 GENl-^vAL INTRODUCTION.
n. Prophetic Theologt.
JtrsTiNUS Maeiyr : Dialogus cum Tryphone (0pp., ed. Prud. Maranus. Par. 1742.
Polio.)
EusEBiDS Caes. : 'EKkoyai UpocjyrjTiKal, ed. Gaisford. Oxon. 1842.
Jo. Chrysostomus : Sermo de Jona {0pp., ed. Ducseus. Francf., 1728. Folio, v. 898. s.
71), and elsewhere passim in the Homilies. a fn
Adgustinxjs : Ep. 102 ad Deogratias. De civit. Dei, 1. xviii. c. 30 ff. Sermo 48. {Upp.,
ed. Bened. Bassan. 1797. 4to. T. ii., 373 ff. ix., 672 ff. vu., 268 ff.
M.ATTH.'FLACivalti.Y&iGvs: Clavis ScripturceSacrcB (1567). Lips. 1695. Folio.
Jo. CoccEius : Summa Theologies ex Scripturis repetiia, adjecta Sumtna Doctrina de Fcedere
et Testamento Dei (1648). Gen. 1665. 4to.
Abr. Gulichius : Analysis Librorum Propheticorum V. et N. T. Amst. 1681. 4to.
Ch. a. Crusius : Hypomnemaia ad Theol. Proph. Lips. 1764 ff.
M. F. Roos : Fussstapfen des Glaubens Abraham [Footsteps of the Faith of Abraham].
Tub. 1770.
F. Ch. Oetinger : Theologia ex Idea Vitce. Stuttg. 1852.
J. J. Hess : Vom Reiche Goltes ; ein Versuch Uber den Plan der goiilichen Anstalten und
Offenharungen. [Of the Kingdom of God ; an essay on the design of the divine institu-
tions and revelations.] Zurich, 1774. Kern der Lehre vom Reiche Gotles [Nucleus of the
Doctrine of the Kingdom of God]. 2 Aufl. [2d ed.] Ziir. 1826.
E. W. Hengstenbbrg : Christologie des A. T. (1829.) 2 Aufl. [Christology of the Old
Testament (1829). 2d ed.] Berlin, 1854.
D. V. CoLLN : Bibl. Theologie [Biblical Theology]. Leipzig, 1836.
J. Ch. Steudel : Vorlesungen uber die Theologie des A. T. ; Herausg. v. OcHer. [Lec-
tures on the Theology of the Old Testament ; edited by Ochler.] Berlin, 1840.
J. Ch. K. Hofmann : Weissagung und Erfullung. Nordl. 1841. Schrifibeweis. 2 Aufl.
Nordl. 1857 ff. [Prophecy and Fulfillment. Nbrdl. 1841. Scripture Evidence. 2d ed.
Ndrdl. 1857 ff].
J. T. Beck : Christliche Lehrwissenschaft [Christian Scientific Doctrine]. Stuttg. 1841.
F. Delitzsch : Die Bibl.-prophetische Theologie [Biblico-prophetical Theology]. Leip.
1845.
H. a. Ch. Havernick : Theologie des A. T. [Theology of the Old Testament]. Erlan-
gen, 1848.
J. H. Kurtz : Lehrb. d. h. Gesch. 11 A. [Manual of Sacred History, 11th ed.] Konigs-
berg, 1864.
J. H. Staudt : Fingerzeige in den Inhalt und Zusammenhanq der h. Schrift. [Hints on
the contents and connection of Sacred Scripture.] Stuttg. 1854. (2d ed. 1863.)
W. Hoffmann: Stimmen der Hater im A. Bunde. (Predigten.) [Voices of the herdmen
in the Old Testament.] Berlin, 1856.
A. Tholuck : Die Propheten und ihre Weissagungen. [The Prophets and their Prophe-
cies.] Gotha, 1860.
Oehler's Article on this subject, in Herzog's Real-EncyclopSdie.
HI. HOMILBTICAL.
Luc. Osiander's Bibelwerh : Dutsche Bibel Luther's mit einer hurzen, jedocTi grilndli"
then Erklarung, herausg. v. D. Forster. [The German Bible of Luther with a brief, yet
thorough exposition, edited by D. Forster.] Stuttg. 1860.
Herborn'sche Bibel. (Von Piscator). 1617 ff.
H. HoRCH : Mystische und Prophetische Bibel. [Mystical and Prophetic Bible.] Marb.
1712.
J. M. DE LA Mothe Guyon : Les Livres de I'Ancien Testament avec des Explanations et
Reflexions qui regardent a la Vie Interieure. [The books of the Old Testament with expla-
Qations and reflections, which concern the inner life.] Ed. P. Poiret. Col. (Amst.) 1716.
Berleburger Bibel. 1726 ff.
Ch. M. Pfaffische Bibel. Tiib. 1729.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 49
JOH. Lanoe: Biblia Parenthetica. Lips. 1743.
J. G. Starke : Synopsis, Biblioth. Exeg, Lips. 1747, vol. 5.
J. D. MiCHAELis : Deutsche Uehersetzung des A. T. mit Anmerkungen fOr Ungelehrte-
[Grerman translation of the Old Testament, with notes for the unlearned.] Gbtt. 1782.
F. Hezel : Die Bibel A. u. N. T. mit Erklarenden Anmerkungen. [The Bible, Old and
New Testament, with explanatory notes.] Lemgo, 1786.
P. v. Metek : Die h. Schrift mit Anmerkungen. [The Holy Scripture, with notes.]
(1819), 3d ed. Frankft. 1855. 4to.
F. G. Lisco : Das A. T. mit Erkldrungen, Einleitungen, etc., 2 Aufl. [The Old Testament,
with explanations and introductions, etc., 2d ed.] Berl. 1863.
Edwards and Park : Bibl. Sacra T. V. New York and London. 1848.
Calwer Bibel. Stuttg. 1849. T. 1.
O. y. GebIjAch.: Das A. T. mit Anmerkungen. Bd. iv. Abth. 2. Von Sohmieder. fThe
Old Testament with notes. Vol. iv. Part. 2, by Schmieder]. Berlin, 1853.
Sermons and Devotional Expositions.
R. Gualther: Homilioe in XII. Proph. Minn. Tig. 1563.
Andr. Kunad : Comm. Exegetico-practicus in XII. p. Minn. Dresd. 1677. 4to.
J. J. Bauler, Prophetisches Mark und Kern, d. i. 68 Predigten uber alle Capitel der 12
Kleinen Propheten. [Prophetical Marrow and Kernel, i. e., 68 sermons on all the chapters
of the 12 Minor Prophets.] Ulm, 1699. 4to.
C. H. RiEGER (f 1791) : Kurze Betrachtungen Uber die 12 Kleinen Prcpheten. [Brief medi-
tations upon the 12 Minor Prophets.] Stuttg. 1835.
J. SCHLIEB : Die 12 Kleinen Propheten. [The 12 Minor Prophets.] Stuttg. 1861.
THE
BOOK OF HOSEA.
EXPOUNDED
OTTO SCHMOLLER, Ph. D.,
URACH, WimiEMBERa
TtUNSLATED FROM TBE OEXMAN, WITB ADOITIOMt,
JAMES FREDERICK M^CURDY,
INSTRUCTOB IN OKIENTAL LANGUAGES, THEOLOGICAL SEMINART, PEINOETON, H. J
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS,
Kntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
ScKiBNER, Armstrong, and Company,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
HOSEA.
INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. Person of the Prophet}
The name SBJin, which occurs in ver. 2, as well as in the superscription, rer. 1, signifies
deliverance, salvation. It was a name not uncommon among the Jews. The last monarch
of the kingdom of Israel ^ furnishes another familiar instance. It was also the original name
of Joshua, having heen changed hy Moses to ^toin^ The LXX. write the name 'Clar]e
(for which Paul, however, in the citation from our Prophet, writes 'fio-ije'), the Vulgate Osee,
and Luther, more conformably to the Hebrew pronunciation, Hosea. The Prophet's name =
Deliverance, stood thus in marked contrast to the aim of his mission, — the announcement of
ruin and destruction. And yet it well agreed with his vocation as a messenger of God, to
return to whom would have been the only but the sure way to deliverance. So also the final
" deliverance " of God's people was the grand object kept in view through all the terrors of
the judgment denounced upon apostate Israel. Thus the position at the beginning of the
Book of the Twelve Prophets, occupied by Hosea, was truly significant.
As to the origin of the Prophet we have no direct information. Only the name of hia
father, Beeri, is mentioned in the superscription. But we may be justified in seeking hia
home in that region which is clearly presented as the scene of his labors, namely, in the
Kingdom of Israel. It is true that we have, in Amos, an instance of a prophet sent from
Judah into the Kingdom of Israel, as also in the case of the prophet mentioned in 1 Kings
xiii. But if Hosea also had been so commissioned, the fact would probably have been
recorded as something unusual, as was done in the case of Amos. Yet prophets were not
unknown in the Kingdom of Israel (e. g., Jonah under Jeroboam H., 2 Kings xiv. 25, and,
previously, Elisha with the school of young prophets trained by him). But the perfect famil-
iarity with the circumstances and topography of the northern kingdom, displayed by Hosea,
furnishes positive evidence that he belonged to that region (comp. chaps, v. 1 ; vi. 8, 9 ; xii.
1 2 ; xiv. 6 ff.) . That, in chap, ii., he calls it directly "the land," and, in chap. vii. 5,
terms its king " our king," would seem to prove, further, that he resided there, while his
diction betrays an Aramaic coloring, in forms as well as in particular words. His frequent
casual references to Judah do not invalidate the evidence of a northern origin. For it was
impossible that a prophet of Jehovah, were he ever so much a citizen of the kingdom of
Israel, should lose sight of Judah ; for Judah was the kingdom of David, and it was to it
alone that those promises related, which formed the sure ground of the Messianic hope, that
the Lord would not cast off his people utterly and forever, but that a time was coming when
they should rise gloriously from out of their desolation. The prophet could call attention
all the more impressively to the strictness of the divine righteousness as displayed towards
Judah ; for even that nation was not to be spared, but was to be punished for its apostasy ;
how much less, then, should the kingdom of Israel fancy itself secure in its gross unfaithful-
ness to God I Finally, if the superscription, in the first line of which the period of the
1 [Compare, besides the articles on Hosea in the Bible Dictionaries, an ingenious and suggestive Life of the Prop/iet
Hosea, by Prof. Green, of Princeton, in Our Monthly, Cincinnati, January and February, 1871. It is constructed mainly
Bfom hints scattered through the book itself. Dean Stanley gives an eloquent sketch of the Prophet io his Lectures on
'Ac History of tke Jewish Church, ii. 409 f. — M.]
2 [In Engl. Vers, written Hoshea, to distinguish him from the Prophet. Comp. Zachariah and Zechariah, also ideate
Wl Id the Hebrew — M.]
HO SEA.
Prophet's ministry is defined according to the succession of Kings of Judah, should he
adduced as proof that Hosea did not belong to the Northern Kingdom, it might be shown
that this proves nothing, since it is not certain that the superscription proceeded from the
Prophet himself. It may have been prefixed to his writings in the kingdom of Judah some
time after their composition, and this mode of indicating his era would then have been quite
natural.-*
With regard to the circumstances of Hosea's life we know absolutely nothing. What
tradition has to say upon this subject is utterly devoid of support and quite worthless.
With regard, however, to the character and disposition of the Prophet and his inner life
generally, much could be gathered from his book. But this is to be gained more fully from
what is unfolded in the book itself, and we shall therefore postpone our inquiry until we
come to examine the subject as presented there.
There can be no doubt as to where the scene of the Prophet's labors lay. It was the
more northerly of the two divided kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel. The prophecies which
he has left to us in his book are almost exclusively occupied with that kingdom, the events,
religious, moral, and political which had transpired there, and the destiny which was await-
ing it. Judah is, indeed, not unfrequently mentioned, partly in contrast to Israel (Ephraim),
partly as being guilty of the same transgressions. In the latter relation it is named with
greatest irequency in chaps, v. and vi., but afterwards only in isolated passages : viii. 14 ;
X. 11 ; xii. 1. But Judah is always referred to incidentally, and in such a way that no
doubt is left upon the mind, that the Prophet, though giving to Judah a prominent place,
did not regard it as the sphere of his mission. The supposition that later, at least, he
betook himself to the kingdom of Judah and there composed his book (Ewald), cannot be
established.
If we seek for the period in which the Prophet lived and labored, we meet at once with a
definite statement in the superscription (ver. 1), which defines this period as " the time of
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of
Israel." This would assign to the active ministry of the Prophet a very long duration.
" For between the death of Uzziah and the first year of Hezekiah there intervened thirty-
two years. But the Israelitish king, Jeroboam II. died, at the least calculation, a considerable
period before Uzziah. The interval was probably twenty-six years, although the discordant
statements of the books of the Kings with regard to the relation of the Kings of Judah and
Israel prevent us from assigning with certainty the precise period. Thus, according to the
superscription, the ministry of Hosea must have begun long before Uzziah's death, and if
we place it only a short time before the death of Jeroboam H., it must, since it reached to
the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah, have been of very long duration, about sixty years."
(According to the ordinary reckoning Jeroboam died B. o. 783, and Hezekiah ascended the
throne in 727.) This result is calculated to excite doubts of the correctness of the super-
scription. We therefore seek grounds of support in the book itself. It appears to be quite
certain from it that Hosea appeared before the fall of the dynasty of Jehu, which affords us
the terminus a quo. For it is with the announcement of the destruction of this house that
his book opens. " But it was only," remarks Ewald rightly, " the idolatry promoted by the
house of Jehu, that was denounced ; the people were still, to all appearance, great and
powerful." More especially, there is as yet no allusion whatever to internal commotions, or
to the subversion of the order of things in the state. We can hardly refer his first appear-
ance to the period succeeding the death of Jeroboam H., during which the kingdom was
probably in a state of anarchy for from eleven to twelve years. And if the supposition of
such an interregnum should be pronounced untenable, we have still less room for Hosea'a
appearance after Jeroboam's death ; for with his son Zachariah the house of Jehu lost the
throne, thus bringing about the event threatened by the Prophet, Zachariah having retained
possession only half a year. The dynasty of Jehu then actually appeared to be firmly
established, but was undoubtedly being undermined internally even in the time of Jeroboam,
To this period, therefore, concerning which we have a brief notice in 2 Kings xiv. 23-29,
and which is there expressly spoken of as a time in which Jehovah gave help through Jero-
boam, for " He had not yet declared that He would blot out the name of Israel from under
heaven," to this period towards its conclusion, we can assign, with almost perfect confidence,
the terminus a quo of Hosea's ministry. It is a matter of greater difficulty to fix the termi-
1 [For the further discussion of this question, and the leasons fir doubting the correotnefis of the oonolufiloa arriT«4
it above, eee the superscription as expounded in its place. — M '
INTRODUCTION.
nus ad quern. We are certain, at the outset, only of this much, that Hosea labored and
wrote before the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah ; for it was in that year that the event
transpired which he had so plainly announced, the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, by
the Assyrians. But how closely are we justified in approaching this limit ? That Hosea
lived during the gloomy period of the disorders occasioned by the usurpations under Zacha-
riah, Shallum, and Menahem, described briefly in 2 Kings xv. 8-20, is a well established
fact, for these events are most vividly mirrored in his discourses (see especially chap. vii.).
But the Assyrians stand in the foreground with special prominence, as the power in which
help was sought, and to which " gifts " were sent in time of distress, — foolishly, for it was
in these actions that the Prophet discerned so clearly the sure way to destruction through
Assyria. We must therefore descend at least to the reign of Menahem ; for it was then
that Assyria under Pul, first came in contact with Israel, Menahem paying him tribute,
and thus purchasing from Assyria assistance in his efforts to maintain his kingdom."^
Ewald does not feel himself at liberty to seek any later period, and therefore does not go
down as far as the reign of Pekah, thus excluding the period of King Uzziah in Judah.
For it was under Pekah that Tiglath-Pileser, summoned by Ahaz to assist him against
Pekah, who had formed an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria (2 Kings xvi. 5-9), wreste"!
from the kingdom of Israel the northern and eastern portions of the country, more particu-
larly Galilee and Gilead (2 Kings xv. 29). Yet of these important transactions the Prophet
appears to know nothing historically, Gilead and Tabor, in his view, comprising between
them the whole of the kingdom, and Gilead, so often mentioned, appearing throughout as
an unconquered territory. But these grounds are not unassailable. In the first place we
do not even know to what extent the conquest was carried. It may have been only a
plundering expedition. It is certain that these districts stood only in the relation of tribu-
taries to Assyria. But, especially, we do not know how long this state of subjection lasted.
May we not be allowed to assume, in the absence of other information, that the later ex-
pedition of Shalmaneser against Hoshea (2 Kings xvii. 3) was occasioned by the circum-
stance that Hoshea had regained possession of the territory formerly subdued by Tiglath-
Pileser ? In that case, however, we must take into consideration the interval between the
utterance of the discourses and the composition of the book. " In them, therefore, allusions
might well be found to events and circumstances which at the time when the book was com-
posed, belonged to the past " (Hengstenberg) . Thus for example, Hosea might have sur-
vived the first Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser, even though, in his discourses, Gilead
appears to be still a component part of the kingdom, which in other passages, e. g., chap,
xii. 12 (11), it is not necessary to assume. For a, tributary relation to Assyria and utter
destruction are things entirely different. Scarcely anything then stands in the way of the
attempt to bring the terminus ad quern down to the days of Pekah and Hoshea. On the
• • other hand, there are many things which seem to demand such an attempt. The whole
position which Assyria assumes with Hosea seems to show that what he spoke and wrote
did not fall on the first contact with Assyria under Menahem, which had a comparatively
favorable issue, but that Assyria had already displayed her power, so fraught with danger
to Israel and causing such destruction, as was done by Tiglath-pileser in the reign of Pekah.
And many indications seem to point directly to the reign of the last king Hoshea ; one in-
stance is the denunciation of the double relation, into which Israel entered simultaneously
with Assyria and Egypt (chap. vii. 11 ; xii. 2). Ewald would refer this to two political
parties. But nothing is known of any connection with Egypt under Menahem at least ;
and even though chap. vii. 11 could be interpreted in this interest, the expression employed
in xii. 1 indicates so clearly an alliance and an offering of gifts, that we are only justified
in supposing that transaction to be referred to, of which we have certain information,
namely, the double game which, according to 2 Kings xvii. 3, 4, Hoshea played with Assyria
and Egypt. We may obtain still clearer testimony to the correctness of this view, if, in
1 [This was the first occasion recorded in the Scriptures, and also, probably, the turning-point in the history of
Israel's relations with Assyria, which terminated so disastrously to the former. If we may trust, however, the transla-
tion of the inscription upon the black obelisk brought by Layard from Nimriid, which was erected by Shalmaneser I.
we are pointed to the reign of Jehu as the period of the first contact. It is stated there that Benhadad H. and Hazaei
(enemies of Israel) were among the conquered foes of the great Assyrian, and that Yahua (.fehu), the son of Khumri
(Omri, who must therefore bare been considered the founder of the Kingdom of Samaria) paid tribute to him. In this
translation all authorities concur. Sir Henry Hawlinson infers also from 2 Kings xv. 19, that Menahem " had neglected
to apply for the usual confirmation of his kingdom," and that this was the cause of Pul's invasion. He draws a like
Inference with regard to Amai^iah of Judah from 2 Kings xiv. 5. If these opinions are correct, it would appear that
Ihe counfriea were brought into fret^ueut contact before the first occasion alluded to in the Old Testament. — M.J
6 HOSEA.
chap. X. 14 Shalman be understood directly to stand for Shalmaneser, so that the first ex-
pedition of Shalmaneser, mentioned in 2 Kings xvii. 3, would be referred to as having already
been made, and as a new invasion is here threatened, the last expedition of that king which
brought ruin upon the kingdom would be regarded as impending. But the passage is ob-
scure, and the conclusion which must be adopted is that the terminus ad quern can be only
approximately ascertained. But, at all events, no direct testimony can be adduced against
the correctness of the designation of time made in the superscription, which extends the min-
istry of the Prophet to the reign of Hezekiah.
Accordingly Hosea was, most probably, an older contemporary of Isaiah, whose ministry
began in the long reign of King Uzziah in Judah, though much later than that of Hosea,
and extended to a period much later. He would also be contemporary with Micah, if he
actually lived until the beginning of Uzziah's reign. On the other side he comes in con-
tact with Amos ; for the latter prophet lived in the contemporary reigns of Uzziah and Jero-
boam n. ; and if it was the case that Hosea did not appear until after the death of Amos,
he must have been closely connected with him, not merely in time, but also in their common
vocation. For it was the mission of Amos also, though belonging to the tribe of Judah, to
proclaim the divine judgments upon the kingdom of Israel. Hosea, therefore, takes up the
thread where Amos had let it drop and keeps spinning it out until the destruction of the
kingdom. He also manifestly makes reference to Amos, comp. Hos. viii. 14 with Amos ii. 5
(i. 4-7, 10, 12 ; ii. 6) ; Hos. ix. 3 with Am. vii. 17 ; Hos. xii. 8 with Am. viii. 5 ; Hos. xii,
10 f. with Am. ii. 10 ff. While Amos is probably cognizant of the power, Assyria, by
which God was to execute his judgments upon the kingdom of Israel, but does not name or
even allude to it, in Hosea it is named plainly and very frequently, and he must denounce
any association of Israel with this World-Power, which had approached already so near.
Hosea falls, in any case, in the last of the three periods of the history of this kingdom. The
times in which he lived, as defined above, form a twofold period, or two periods, outwardly
at least, very diverse. One was the period of the vigorous rule of Jeroboam H. who raised
the kingdom to an unprecedented position of eminence and power, although internal condi-
tions of decay were abundantly present, which the Prophet was commissioned to prove. The
other was the period of the visible decline and decay of the kingdom after the fall of the
house of Jehu and under the succeeding kings, induced inwardly by a religious and moral
ruin, and not deferred, but only hastened, by an untheocratic policy, which sought support
among foreign powers, and delivered the nation into the hands of the Assyrians. The in-
formation given in the historical books concerning this whole period must have its due place
in the study of the Prophet. Comp. 2 Kings xiv. 23-29 ; xv. 8-31 ; xvii. 1-6, and, as sup-
plementary to it, the pragmatical treatment of the subject, assigning the causes of the de-
struction of the kingdom, 2 Kings xvii. 7-23. The truest picture of the whole period is
presented by the Prophet himself in his whole book, to the examination of which we accord-
ingly pass.
§ 2. The Book of the Prophet.
We have in the Canon under the name of Hosea one book in fourteen chapters.
With regard to its contents. We have seen above that it is mainly occupied with the
more northerly of the two kingdoms, although the kingdom of Judah is not therefore kept
out of sight, being alluded to repeatedly, especially in chaps, v. and vi., in conjunction with
Israel. What then has it to say with reference to that kingdom ? A single glance into
our book is sufficient to inform us. It is chiefly occupied with a most severe testimony
against the national apostasy from Jehovah, and the deep and prevailing moral and civil
corruption which appears throughout as the fruit of that apostasy, and in immediate connec
tion therewith, an announcement of divine judgments, which increases in severity until the
utter destruction of the kingdom itself is foretold. But this does not exhaust the purport
of the book ; for, like the other prophetic writings, it contains too an abundant storehouse of
promise. By the side of the severe threatenings, though these occupy by far the larger
space in the book, there are found words of promise most richly unfolded, not merely as a
hope of future conversion and thus of the return of better days, but as a definite announce-
ment that tiie time was coming when the people, purified by chastisement and returnino- it
grief and penitence to their God, should again find acceptance witli Him, and that thereby
Iheir kingdom should be restored, not in its then abnormal and divided condition, but as one
inited body, under a King of the line of David.
INTRODUCTION.
But this view only presents the meaning of the book externall)', and exhibits only tha
germs of that which it was the special province of the prophetic writings chiefly to unfold.
It is just with our Prophet that this exhibition cannot satisfy. He presents these general
truths in a form peculiar to himself; he would at least, beside the one, the threatening,
place the other, the promise, but he labors to regard from a single point of view the posi-
tion which Jehovah bears to Israel and so specially to the kingdom of the ten tribes, and
from this to explain both the threatening and the promise ; to view them, namely, in the
light of JehovalCs love to Israel as his people.
In this love of God (and not simply in his righteousness) are rooted, according to Hosea,
even the threatening and announcement of punishment, with which he is chiefly occupied.
For it was because Jehovah's love embraced his people from the beginning that He could
not suffer any apostasy from him, but must become angry at it, must chastise it, must even
play and destroy it utterly, that is, in its corporate existence. All threatening and chastise-
ment is really the indignation and zeal of love,^ born of sorrow and therefore all the more
intense. Hence the announcement of punishment sounds forth in tones of terrific severity.
But they also have their end in themselves. Love is indeed angry and most deeply so, but
it is and remains nothing but love, for it is pained that it must be angry, and with all its
wrath it can only aim to remove that which interrupts and prevents the display of itself to
the object beloved, and must ever aim to secure salvation, reconciliation, and restoration,
else it would itself stand in the way of realizing its object, and would thus contribute most
surely to its own failure. From this stand-point, promise is seen to be as necessary as
threatening, and in proportion to the severity of the latter must be the richness of the
former, as flowing from the love of God, and not simply from a certain compassion coexist-
ing with his punitive righteousness, or from his faithfulness, by which the covenant is main-
tained, as though his truthfulness alone were to be kept unimpeachable. If, therefore, we
do not wish to rest -content with a superficial view of the book, we must regard its meaning
from this stand-point as expressed in the following estimate : " The prophetic exhibition of
the love of God, wounded sorely and in numberless ways by Israel's guilt, and therefore neces-
sarily a chastening love, though ever remaining unchanged in its inner nature, which being
Bo deeply grounded would not destroy, but heal and recall to itself." Such are the words
of Ewald, who has so correctly perceived and so beautifully expressed the fiindamental
thought of our book, but who views it too subjectively, too much as the mere outflow of the
author's own personal feelings, instead of something flowing from a deep insight into the
nature of God himself. Yet he makes these admirable observations : " To this prophet the
love of Jehovah is the deepest ground of his relation to Israel ; that love was always active
in forming the Church ; it was injured and disturbed by Israel ; it chastens now in deep
pain, but can never deny itself or be extinguished ; it would still deliver and will at length
save all. All this is exhibited with the most glowing sympathy, and in a great variety of
ways. But no image is here more expressive than that of marriage. As the wife is united to
her husband by indissoluble and sacred bonds, and the faithful husband justly feels angry at
the unfaithful wife, punishes her or even casts her off for a time, but never can really cease
to love her, so has the ancient Church, the mother of the churches now living, borne children,
during her unfaithfulness to Jehovah, who resist Him unworthily, and yet the love of Jeho-
vah never departs from them, although he is angry and punishes them."
This last sentence may indicate also why we regard this relation of love between Jehovah
and Israel not merely as the doctrinal background of the contents of our book, but an ex-
pression of those contents themselves. For Hosea, from the very opening, presents ex-
pressly this relation of Jehovah and Israel under this figure of the husband, who just be-
cause he is united to his wife by the bond of love, must as surely be indignant with her and
punish her, as he must also be unable to let her go, but must hold out to her the prospect of
a cordial reinstatement in her former relations.
The figure becomes indeed less prominent as the book advances, but app^rs through the
whole sometimes more obscurely, sometimes more clearly, and even emerges again into the
foreground in several passages. The conception of Israel's conduct is based upon this image,
partly as it is designated infidelity, whoredom, which applies not merely to idolatry itself, ,
but sets forth the principle that underlies the false, untheocratic policy of the kingdom of
the Ten Tribes in its alliances with the world-powers; and partly and still more as every-
thmg that is said of Jehovah's conduct towards Israel, of warning, of threatening, of pun-
1 [Comp. Delitzsch, Comm, on Jobj Introduction. — M.]
8 HOSEA.
ishing, of promising, is rooted wholly in this fundamental idea of Jehovah's love to Israel as
his spouse drawn from the analogy of wedded love, — exce_>t that this image of wedded love
is interchanged with the figure of paternal love, equally strong in another direction, aa
especially in chap. xi. in accordance with the fact that the subject of that chapter is Jeho-
vah's conduct towards Israel in his childhood. This latter relation is thus placed parallel to
a relation of personal love based upon a moral course of life. This view explains why our
book, in a way so peculiar to itself, refers so much to Israel's earlier history. For it is nat-
ural that love should remind the one beloved, who had become unfaithful and refused to
reciprocate affection, of the beginning of their attachment ; that the husband should recall to
the wife, when such a rupture of the marriage tie has taken place, the first love with which
he met the bride (as the father also reminds the backsliding son of the love displayed to-
ward him in childhood). On the other hand when the course of infidelity is complete, he
is led to remember the beginnings and foretokens of such behavior in earlier days, and he
explains the present in the Ught of the past, justifies his anger and chastening in the present
and his bitter complaints over the unfaithfulness of his wife, by adducing the complainta
made and the punishments which had to be inflicted in former times. If the recollection
of the past thus intensifies the bitterness of injured love, it is equally potent, on the other
side, in preventing the extinction of love ; for to the wounded and deeply injured one it again
presents the attachment in its whole extent, and forces the thought upon him irresistibly and
imperceptibly : " This is the one upon whom thou hast bestowed thy love, with whom thou
hast been and art united in love, and whom, therefore, thou canst not let go from thee ut-
terly and forever."
If we now consider the contents of the particular divisions of the book, we find this much
to be clear at the outset ; first, that chaps, i. and ii., and next that chaps, iv.-xiv. are closely
connected. With regard to the first and smaller division, ch?ops. i. and ii., the fact is more
incontestable than with regard to the second and longer one, which, in any case demands
itself a subordinate division. The question is now, how we are to reckon chap. iii. It has
been attached by some to chaps, iv.-xiv. as their introduction. But the correct view will
be found to be given in the words of Havernick, that " the symbolical method of represen-
tation unites the first three chapters into one whole." And if we are reminded of the some-
what abrupt introduction of chap, iii., we must observe that an explanation of the symbol
is given in vers. 4, 5, — an explanation in plain words, in fact the first one which occurs,
of the discourse in chap, ii., which from ver. 4 onwards is figurative throughout, represent-
ing Israel as an adulterous wife, so that we here arrive at a conclusion which clearly ex-
presses the sense of what precedes. '
It will more cleai-ly appear that the view which regards chap. iii. as belonging with chaps.
1. and ii. is the correct one, if we remember that the contents of chap. i. (and therefore also
of chap, ii.) certainly fall in an earlier period than the discourse in chaps, iv.-xiv. (as chaps,
i.-ii. relate expressly to the " beginning of the word of Jehovah to Hosea "), namely, in the
period preceding the fall of the house of Jehu (ch!u|. i. 4), while chaps, iv.-xiv. belong to
ithe second period defined above, after its fall; for it is in, that*- portion that Assyria, first ap-
jjears, which is decisive. If now the symbolical narrative in cfiap. ' i. must have appeared
earlier than chaps, iv.-xiv., it is only proper to suppose that chap, iii., so analogous to it,
falls in the same period, that we have here generally fragments drawn from the earlier part
of the Prophet's ministry, and that therefore chaps, i.-iii. form a connected whole. It is thus
natural to assume that the symbolical mode of presentation, in general, characterizes the
earlier period of the Prophet's labors.
We thus assume two main divisions : chaps, i.-iii. and chaps, iv.-xiv., and in favor of such
partition have not only internal grounds but also an external argument, namely, that each
part is the product of a distinct period. The one of earlier origin is, however, compara-
tively small, and the opinion is plausible that the Prophet, in committing the whole to writ-
ing, prefixed the former part as a kind of introduction to the greater prophetic discourse
which constituted the main division, like a vestibule inviting an entrance. The contents,
also, are appropriate to this purpose with their symbolical actions and figurative discourses.
It has something enigmatic, surprising, straining the attention, and so preparing the way
for reaching and hearing what is expressed in n simple, literal form.
The first introductory portion (chaps, i.-iii.) which contains " the beginning " of the divine
revelation to Hosea, describes the (spiritual) adultery of the kingdom of the "ten tribes in its
apostasy from Jehovah to idolatry, and the conduct of Jehovah towards this unfaithful spousa
INTRODUCTION. 9
The most severe punishment even to rejection is threatened against it, but, as the end and
aim of such punishment, new and higher blessedness is held out in prospect.
This is set forth in three sections, each of which contains both threatening and promise,
with the aim of showing clearly how little these are to be separated, how, rather, both hava
a common source in the love which Jehovah has to Israel, since He stands united with it 'n
(spiritual) marriage.
1. Chap. i. 2 — ii. 3. The Prophet must symbolically, by a marriage with a wife of
whoredom, hold up to Israel its sin, and, by the names of the children born of this marriage,
announce its rejection (i. 2-9). Yet its future acceptance and reunion are immediately pic-
tured witli a few outlines (ii. 1-3).
2. In copious, extraordinarily vivid, and, especially in the latter portion, most sublime lan-
guage, Jehovah unbosoms Himself to his unfaithful spouse, Israel. He utters a severe accu-
sation against her, and proclaims that she shall be punished by falling into a condition of
extreme want, that she shall be laid waste (vers. 4-15). But with this new "leading into
the desert " a change occurs ; Jehovah concludes a new alliance, rich in blessing, with the
spouse returning in penitence to Him (vers. 16-25).
3. Chap. iii. The Prophet must again show symbolically by his conduct towards the wife
of whoredom, whom he was commanded to marry, that God still loves his adulterous wife,
Israel, and would only in his love humble her, that she might return to Him.
The second division, the main portion of the book (chaps, iv.-xiv), the product of a
later period, as we saw above, is in form distinguished from the earlier part by the entire
absence of symbolical acts, the discourse being literal throughout. The purport is, how-
ever, similar in its essential features, inasmuch as here also punishment and even destruction
(on account of its apostasy) are announced to the kingdom of Israel. But at the same time
also it is predicted that it shall be received back on the ground of its expected conversion ;
indeed a time of richest blessing is at last held out to it in prospect. Jehovah appears here
also as one who loves Israel, and must therefore punish it for infidelity, though as unable to
give it up, and as being forced to be again merciful and to bless according to the law of
love. The object is accordingly essentially the same; this inability to give up Israel, this
ultimate favor and blessing form here also the picture of the future. But it costs labor, as
it were, to realize this aim ; the threatening is so severe. This constitutes by far the largest
portion of the whole, and only after it has disclosed its full severity, does promise break
through, when Jehovah seems as it were to call to mind his former love for his people, thus
showing that from the beginning love did not fail, but that even his accusings and threaten-
ings arose from deeply wounded love. This suggests already that the ground upon which
the prophecy proceeds, is changed. Idolatry, as unfaithfulness to Jehovah is, it is true, al-
ways the fundamental offense on account of which judgment is declared, but to this is added
not only moral pollution, but also dissolution of the state, and especially the pursuance of a
false policy altoo-ether opposed to the character of a people of God, which sought help in
external aid against the distresses which invaded them, partly in Assyria and partly in
Egypt. It is the unfaithfulness of Ephraim towards Jehovah, mainly in this form of a
political attitude entirely untheocratioal, against which the prophet appears, and on account
of which he announces judgment, the punishment threatened being destruction by those
very world-powers, Egypt, and especially Assyria.
This second main division, of such large extent, calls itself for a division. But this is a
matter of great difficulty. It is, however, certain that the attempt to assign the several
chapters to different periods of time, and thus to view the succession of the chapters as de-
termined by the order of their composition (Maurer and Hitzig among others), must be
unsuccessful, even if it be conceded that these chapters did proceed originally from different
occasions. It is remarkable, for example, that in chaps, iv., v., vi., Judah is mentioned fre-
quently along with Ephraim, while afterwards it retreats more into the background, so that
it is natural to infer different situations as their occasions. But as the whole lies before us
at present, there is a certain unity apparent, though it is difficult to follow d tfinitely the
course of thought. We must abandon the supposition of a strictly logical arrangement of
the parts in view of the nature of the language, marked, as it is, by excitement and con-
Itantly surprising abruptness. Different expositors adopt most widely differing divisions,
while others abandon the attempt altogether.
It is clear, at the outset, that from chap. iv. onwards accusation of Israel occupies tho
ehief place, as describing its degradation and guilt ; and Ewald has rightly perceived that
10 HOSEA.
3hap. iv. is to be separated as containing a general charge, relating to the apostasy generally
of the people from Jehovah, and the moral deterioration thereby induced. Then in chap
v. the denunciation is more specially directed against those of exalted position (comp. vers.
1), and as its subject, in addition to the general unfaithfulness to Jehovah, something special
enters, namely the false, untheocratic policy of " going afler Egypt and after Assyria." This
is, at all events, the new element here, and in attempting to exhibit the progress of thought,
this point must so far be made prominent. In chap. vi. this does not appear, but the
chapter is so closely connected with chap, v., that no partition is supposable. On the other
hand the denunciation of the untheocratic policy becomes still more marked in chap.^ vii.,
being there directed chiefly against the court itself; while chaps, v. and vi. seem to be aimed
more particularly at the priests. Hence chap. vii. also is to be combined with these chap-
ters. So in all these chapters the threat of punishment is uniformly united with the accu-
sations. But actual announcement of judgment appears first in chap, viii., accusations how-
ever being still uttered. Compare the beginning, chap. viii. 1, and it seems to show mose
especially that the punishment, namely, the transportation into Egypt and Assyria, and there-
fore, the destruction of the state, the carrying away into captivity, is presented as the re-
verse side of the calling upon Egypt and going to Assyria. For the same reason chaps, ix.
and X. are to be added with chap. viii. Chap. x. 15 forms a fitting close to this section.
But the contrast to the transportation to Egypt and Assyria appears again only in chap. xi.
11, so that we stand first upon new ground in that passage.
Thus with chap. xi. begins a new section, and with it enters promise. Jehovah's love to
Israel, which seemed to be utterly swallowed up in the announcement of judgment, here
breaks forth. At first, indeed, only in the form of a reminder of its manifestations in early
times, how it was vouchsafed to Israel in childhood. This is naturally expressed in a sor-
rowful complaint against that Israel, who now in his manhood requites that love so ill, dis-
playing in his apostasy the basest ingratitude. Hence we have again in chap. xi. 5, the
most severe threatening. But Jehovah has again brought his love to remembrance ; it is He
that loves Israel, as had been already shown in the beginning ; this love is his essential dis-
position towards Israel, and thus cannot in the present belie itself; it oversteps wrath and
appears as mercy, and promise breaks forth on its shining way, like the sun after dark and
long distressing clouds. The brief recollections of former times in chaps, ix. and x. only
served to giv6 point to the keen accusings. But in chap. xi. the sun breaks forth brightly.
It is promise that now prevails.
But the storm is not yet past. In chaps, xii. and xiii. denunciation and announcement of
punishment reappear. Yet, if they are still severe, they are much less protracted. But,
chiefly, there seems to be a new standpoint gained. It is the past that is dwelt upon, namely,
what had transpired between Jehovah and Israel in former days. But this is a great step
gained. Hence the weighty words are twice uttered : " I am Jehovah, thy God, from the
land of Egypt" (chaps, xii. 10 ; xiii. 4). This thought does, it is true, serve to sharpen
the complaint, and with it to sharpen the threatening ; but that people cannot be given up
who have, from the beginning, Jehovah as their God. Hence in chap. xiv. 2-4, the exhor-
tation to return, which shows clearly his determination not to give them up ; and now, upon
the ground of their expected conversion, love at last flows forth in the fullest promise, which
is no longer merely a cessation of punishment, as in chap. xi. 9 fi"., but, positively, holds out
in prospect a glorious state of blessedness.
The course of thought is accordingly not perfectly undeviating, but, especially towards
the close after the highest point has been reached, rather deflected, as it tends towards the
conclusion through the wrestling of love and justice, which it thus expresses. Ewald as-
sumes after chap, xi., a, sort of preliminary conclusion, marking an interruption in writing.
It is, at all events, correct to assume that the train of thought has then reached a certain
completion, after which the former order of the discourse is again taken up.
The following scheme will exhibit our attempt to divide the section : —
Jehovah pleads with Israel, his beloved but unfaithful spouse (comp. chap. iv. 1).
I. First discourse (chaps, iv.-xi.).
1. Chaps, iv.-vii. The complaint, addressed —
a. (Chap, iv.) against the people as a whole, on account of their idolatry and deep de-
pravation of morals promoted by the priests.
h. (Chaps, v.-vii.) : against the rulers (priests, chaps, v.-vi.), court (chap, vii.), espe-
lially on account of then: ungodly and calamitous alliance with the powers of the world.
INTRODUCTION. 11
2. Chaps, viii.-x. The judgment, extending even to the carrying away of the people to
bondage under Assyria.
3. Chap. xi. Mercy ; God cannot utterly destroy Israel, whom He has always loved, but
will again have compassion upon them even though they have most vilely requited his love.
II. Second discourse (chaps, xii.-xiv.).
1. Chap. xii. Complaint is once more resumed, and —
2. Chap, xiii., judgment is most emphatically declared ; but —
3. Chap, xiv., in hope of conversion, love finally flows forth in the promise of richest blessing.
[Those who may wish to become acquainted with the various methods of dividing the book
which have been proposed, will find them exhibited and discussed in the Biblical Repertory,
Jan. 1859, art. " Book of Hosea," by Prof. Green, of Princeton. A division having much
to recommend it is that adopted by him from Keil, according to which each of the two main
sections (chaps, i.-iii., iv.-xiv.) is divisible into three smaller ones (i. 2-ii. 1, ii. 2-23, iii. ;
iv. 1-vi. 3, vi. 4-xi. 11, xi. 12-xiv. 9). Each of these smaller sections in both of the main
divisions is marked by its beginning with denunciation and ending with promise. — M.]
In harmony with the fundamental thought of our book, as above presented, according to
which it describes the sorrow and indignation of Jehovah's love, so sorely wounded by
Israel's infidelity, the language is of a peculiarly emotional and impassioned character, re-
flecting unmistakably the rush and swell of the feelings. " This anguish of love at the faith-
lessness of Israel so completely fills the mind of the Prophet, that his rich and lively imagi-
nation seeks perpetually by variety of imagery and fresh turns of thought, to open the eyes
of the sinful nation to the abyss of destruction beside which it is standing. His profound
sympathy gives to his language the character of excitement, so that for the most part he
merely hints briefly at the thoughts instead of studiously elaborating them, passes with
abrupt changes from one figure or simile to another, and moves forward in short sentences
and oracular utterances, rather than in gently rounded discourse." (Keil.) Jerome {Prmf. in
XII. Proph. Min.) says of him : " Commaticus (literally, cut up = short) est et quasi per sen-
tentias loquens." Eichhorn (Introduction, § 555, p. 286) says not unaptly : " The style of the
Prophet is like a garland woven of various kinds of flowers, comparisons intertwined with
comparisons. He breaks off one flower and throws it away, only to break ofi' another im-
mediately. , He flies like a bee from one bed of flowers to another, bringing the honey of
his varied sentences." With these features are connected manifold anomalies in the structure
of his clauses, rugged transitions, ellipses, asyndetical constructions, inversions, and anacolu-
tha. Add to this that his diction is marked by rare words and forms and unusual com-
binations, and it may be conceived how difiicult is the exposition of the book. " One must
often read between the lines if he would establish the connection between the several
thoughts and sentences. We will not be charged with overstatement, if we assert that the
Prophet is in this respect one of the most difiicult of the prophets of the Old Covenant, and
indeed of all the Biblical writers." (Wunsche.)
The abruptness of the language, reaching often to obscurity, does not merit any censure,
for this peculiarity is to be explained from the contents and the subject of which the Prophet
was full. " His heart," remarks Wiinsche, " full of the deepest anguish, on account of the
destruction and the inevitably approaching dissolution of the State, makes him neglect all
artistic and harmonious treatment and exhibition of his theme." And Ewald says with per-
fect correctness : " In Hosea there is a rich and lively imagination, a, pregnant fullness of
language, and, in spite of many strong figures, great tenderness and warmth of expression.
His poetry is throughout purely original, replete with vigor of thought and purity of presen-
tation. Yet at one time we find the gentle and flowing predominate in his style, while at
another it is violently strained and abrupt, and his irresistible pain causes him often to give
a hint of his meaning without allowing him to complete it. There is also thrown over the
whole language the burden of the times and of the heart so oppressed by them."
If, finally, we inquire into the composition of our book, we find no ground whatever for
maintaining that the author was any other than the Prophet himself, or for the assumption
that, although the several discourses came from Hosea, they were yet first compiled by an-
other and later editor. It has been thought that their aphoristic character justifies such a
hypothesis, but we are convinced that this is not so marked as one would certainly suppose
at first sight, and that the several portions are not only governed by one fundamental idea,
which would probably have become still more obscured in the hands of a later redactor of
tuch fragments, but that the several parts are brought into a definite order and connectiott
12 HOSEA.
There can therefore be scarcely a doubt that our book came from the hands of the Prophet
precisely in that form in ivhich wo possess it to-day. " On closer examination the book is
seen to form a complete whole executed according to a fixed artistic plan, and with corre-
sponding beauty. This artistic plan and execution only need to be rightly understood in
order to show us that it was finally published as a whole, and in its present form, by the
Prophet himself." (Ewald.) But as to the relation in which this book stands to the numer-
ous prophetic utterances of Hosea, we are compelled to assume that we have not in this
book those discourses presented in their original form. If this had been the intention of the
Prophet, we should have had a greater number. Moreover the book is framed too decidedly
according to a certain plan, making it clear that it was designed to form a continuous and
regular composition. We have therefore to regard it as a selection from his discourses, or
more correctly, as a free and independent working-up of the substance of them by the
Prophet liimself. His several utterances are combined by him into one complete picture.
He would employ not only his lips but also his pen, and by his writings would testify
concerning the holy anger of the love of God, and thus appeal to the consciences of the
people.
But here the question may be asked, whether our book is the first product of Hosea's
pen, whether, more particularly, earlier writings are not embodied in it. At the outset it is
certainly to be assumed that Hosea was in the habit of writing down his several discourses
But keeping this in view, the difference between the first part of the book (chaps, i.-iii.)
and the second (chaps, iv. ff.) is so significant, the contents of the first part, moreover, fall
ing in an earlier period, that Ewald's conjecture has much to support it : that chaps, i.-iii
contain the substance of an earlier composition of Hosea, which he embodied in the present
one when he executed it. Even if we hesitate to go so far as this, we must probably as-
sume that the separate sections of chaps, i.-iii. had been published already by the Prophet,
since we have in the narratives of the symbolical actions merely the drapery in which they
were to be presented to the world and not actual occurrences (see below). For in those
chapters punishments were announced which were inflicted at a time earlier than the com-
pletion of the whole book. The Prophet could incorporate into his book only at a later
period earlier actual events ; but these symbolical transactions existed only in the mind of
the prophet, and in publishing them he must have come forth at a time when these para-
bolic narratives could address themselves to the conscience of the people, and therefore a
considerable period before the composition of the whole book, which, as we now have it,
contains, in its second part, discourses of a much later time. Such publication of the sym-
bolical transactions might indeed have been at first only oral ; but the contents of these sec-
tions seem less appropriate to that mode of announcement.
The preservation of the whole book in the destruction of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes
may be readily explained. " Through the intercourse which was kept up between the
prophets of the Lord in the two kingdoms, it was carried soon after its composition into
Judah, and became widely difi'used in the circle of the prophets, nnd was thus preserved, as
Jeremiah especially has made frequent use of it in his predictions. Comp. Aug. Kiiper, Jere-
miaa, Lihrorum SS. Inierpres alque Vindex. Berlin, 1837, p. 67 fi"." (Keil.)
After what has been said it will scarcely be necessary to add anything special in the way
of exhibiting the importance of our prophetic book in Old Testament history and doctrine.
Into the internal relations of the kingdom of the ten tribes, against which he, Uke his older
cotemporary, Amos, directs his words of rebuke and threatening (by which these two propli-
ets mark a new step in prophecy, in distinction from Joel and Obadiah, regarding the
heathen not merely as the objects but also as the instruments of the divine judgment, which
is inflicted with the greatest severity against the people of God themselvesj, — into the
internal relations of this kingdom Hosea gives us the deepest insight, and affords a most
essential addition to the knowledge which we have thereon from his older cotemporary. As
to its doctrinal teaching, however, there can be no doubt as to the significance of a book,
which regards the relation of Jehovah to Israel so profoundly and specially from the stand-
point of holy love, of a holy wrath of love, and looks so far into the depths, into the inten-
sity as well as into the sincerity, of such love as, in the examination of the contents and fun-
damental thought of the prophecy, we have shown that it does. In this he stands above his
nearest predecessor, Amos. That prophet also discerns the favor of God shining attain at
last upon his people after the tempests of his wrath. But he grounds it upon° the con-
iciousness that this judgment is and shall be only one of trial and not of destruction and
INTRODUCTION. 13
Ihat room is thus prepared for mercy through the revelation of wrath, while Hosea traces
back this duality in the divine revelation to the nature of God Himself, by his more pro-
found conception of the divine love.
Our book is therefore truly a classic for the right understanding of the Old Testament
conception of God with its interaction of love and wrath, and of the nature of the Old
Testament revelat'on concerning God. Only such a God who can so be angry and so love,
who in all His lo\e so displays anger and in all His anger so displays love, could give up
his Only-begotten Son to the accursed death for the deliverance of rebellious man.
§ 3. The Symbolical Transactions in Chaps, I. and III.
What is recounted in these chapters is so peculiar, and has always been regarded under
such diiferent views, that a, more intimate discussion cannot here be foreborne : and to it we
shall therefore devote a separate section in the Introduction. In this the results of the exe-
egesis of the passages in question ai'e of course to be anticipated, and must therefore be re-
ferred to here. This much is however certain that, according to the narrative, mention ia
made of a marriage of the Prophet with an unchaste woman at the command of God himself.
Here we have a stone of stumbling. It is true that the ground of moral offense contained
herein does not exist according to some interpreters, inasmuch as the " wife of whoredom "
whom the Prophet is to marry, is regarded as being such in the spiritual sense in which a
" whoring " of Israel is spoken of = serving idols ; that Hosea had scruples about marrying a
whorish, that is. an idolatrous woman ; and that it is commanded him not to stand aloof from
her but to exhibit symbolically in his own domestic fortunes, that is, by his union with such
a woman, Jehovah's relation to his people. But this view is quite untenable. For idolatry
cannot be a symbol of idolatry, a marriage with an idolatress cannot be a symbol of a like
marriage, namely, the marriage of Jehovah with an idolatrous people. This, altogether
apart from the consideration that such a command of God to the prophet is not conceivable,
that such marriage would have produced upon the people an effect exactly opposite to the
one intended, namely, the presentation of idolatry to the consciousness as something sinful,
if we can suppose that any effect was produced. Umbreit also seeks to establish more
firmly the interpretation of the woman's whoredom as spiritual whoredom, by maintaining
that Hosea, in order to represent God's marriage with Israel, was commanded to enter into
marriage with Israel ; but, since all Israel had become adulterous towards God, that he was
oblio'ed in order to enter the marriage relation with Israel, to unite himself to a whore in the
spiritual sense = idolatress. Such a wife thus represents, as an individual, the whole peo-
ple. And this outward marriage of the Prophet is the symbol of his spiritual marriage witli
his people. But Kurtz remarks rightly against this hypothesis, that the notion that the
Prophet himself was to enter into a spiritual marriage with Israel is quite unfounded, that
such a conception is not once found in the Old Testament, which knows only of a marriage
of Jehovah with Israel ; that the Prophet by his external marriage could symbolize only
that spiritual marriage of Jehovah, and not his own spiritual marriage with Israel. For
this reason his marriage, in order to represent the marriage of Jehovah with adulterous
Israel, must be a marriage with a whorish woman in the outward sense.
Thus it is beyond question that it is such a marriage of the prophet that is here described,
but the question is now : Must we assume an actual outward event in the life of the Prophet
or not ?
It is clear that we have before us a transaction which has a symbolical significance and
is therefore in so far a symbolical transaction ; but the question is just this. Is this an actual
event intended as a symbol of a higher truth, or do we move outside the sphere of objective
reality ? The latter supposition does certainly seem, on the first view, to be excluded by
the language employed, which does not give us the slightest hint that we have presented to
us anything else than outward reality, but rather creates the impression that it is a record
of actual events. And it is not to be maintained that the narrative has to do with some-
thing physically impossible, that it bears directly upon itself the stamp of unreality in the
external sense. But it appears all the more probable that something morally impossible ia
described ; for would it not be in the highest degree incredible that a prophet should marry
an unchaste woman, and that at the express command of God ? Hence the literal interpre-
tafon has been rejected already by the Chaldee Paraphrase and by the Jewish Commenta-
loiB. But this plea is itself not altogether without difficulties. The reference to Lev. xxL
14 HOSEA.
7-14, at all events, proves nothing : for what is there forbidden to a priest cannot be directly
transferred to a prophet (comp. Kurtz : " That prohibition is based upon the consideration
that the priests were to represent the ideal holiness of the people, and is rooted in the same
ground as is the law that a priest must be free from physical blemishes. The latter injunc-
tion is as far as possible from implying that physical defect is sin in an Israelite, and the
same holds with regard to the former"). And then it is one thing to have intercourse with
an unchaste woman, In order to practice fornication with her, and quite another to marry
6uch a woman. The one is as assuredly sinful as the other is in itself not so, any more
than it was for Jesus to be a friend of publicans and sinners. For the prophet would not
have entered Into such an alliance that he might be assimilated to the woman, but in order
to raise her up to his own level, to rescue her from her sinful habits : " Non propheta per-
didit pudicitiam fornicarice copulatus, sed fornicaria assumsii pudicitiam, quam antea non
habebat " (Jerome).
Such an alliance in the Prophet would have been in the very highest degree surprising,
But it may be asked. Was it not intended to be so, in order that the people, in their aston-
ishment at such an anomaly, should ask what it meant, and might then learn to their shame,
that it held up to them a mirror in which they could perceive their own relations with God ?
The Prophet would reinforce his oral preaching by a preaching of outward action ; this mar-
riage would have been a lasting actual proclamation of punishment to the people, not im-
peding the influence of the Prophet, but furthering it.
But on a closer examination of this view, which understands actual events to be described,
most serious objections to it are immediately suggested. A beautiful picture could have
been drawn exhibiting the morally reforming influence of this alliance upon the light-minded
wife and the neglected children of the first marriage, and how worthy of God it would have
been, answering to his compassionate love seeking that which was lost 1 But of this there is
not a syllable — not a syllable could be said. Rather, this idea, which alone could neutral-
ize the moral objections against this alliance with an unchaste woman, is completely ex-
cluded by the whole spirit and aim of the command which the Prophet received. It is just
the present " whorish " conduct of Israel, the still existing and continued and persistent in-
fidelity towards Jehovah, that is represented by this marriage of the Prophet, and punish-
ment and rejection are then exhibited as the necessary iiruit and conseqence of such conduct.
Thus the " wife of whoredom," whom the Prophet is to and does marry, is necessarily to be
regarded as one who does not amend her ways, or is withdrawn fi-om her life of sin by her
alliance with the Prophet, but who even now in this alliance with him is conceived as prac-
ticing unchastity, who shows and proves herself to be unfaithful to her husband. Other-
wise she would not be at all an image of Israel as thus situated, nor would this marriage be
at all an image of the present conduct of Israel towards their husband, Jehovah. Strictlv
speaking, this wife of whoredom would have been bound, so long at least as her marriage
with the Prophet was to testify to Israel of its sin, not to forsake her sinful life (until special
corrective measures, related in chap. ill. should be taken with her, so that she might become
a testimony of that which God, still retaining his love for Israel, would do to them).
There is no need to prove that the assumption of an actual occurrence would lead to an
ethical monstrosity. With the design of this marriage to exhibit the conduct of Israel
towards Jehovah, is most clearly connected a circumstance, which shows more plainly than
ever the non-reality of the related transaction, namely, that the Prophet is expressly en-
joined to take a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom. This is at first sight surpris-
ing, but becomes quite intelligible if we think of the design, of that which was to be exem-
plified, the conduct of Israel and all its individual members. Israel in the concrete is repre-
sented only by the latter ; but this separation of a part from the whole is very frequently
found in relation to Israel. Israel as the whole tken appears as the mother, the individual
members as the children (comp. chap. ii. 4 fl".). Now both Israel as a whole and all the
members of the people are unfaithful to Jehovah, they " commit whoredom." If therefore
the actual condition of affairs in its whole extent is to be represented by a marriage of the
Prophet, he must take to wife a woman still practicing unchastity, and, at the same time,
nave children, who are children of whoredom, that is, naturally (see also below in the exe-
gesis) not those who were the fruit of the illicit commerce of the mother (a woman charac-
terized as a woman of whoredom could, in fact, have no other, and the remark would be
juite superfluous), but children who stand in the same relation to whoredom as the mother
loes, that is, who practice whoredom as she did, and bear therefore a faithful resemblance ta
INTEODUCTION. 15
her. How then is the Prophet to "take" these children of whoredom ? Naturally the no-
tion of such " taking," which in the case of a woman means marrying, must be modified
in the case of children. Two senses are supposable. One is that he obtains them by mar-
riage as children already born to his wife. In that case he is obliged to find out an un-
chaste woman, who has children that already commit whoredom ; and not only so, but they
must actually continue that habit ; for otherwise the symbol no longer meets the conditions
of the case, the sign no longer agrees with the thing signified. In short, under the assump-
tion of an objective reality in this transaction, we come again to an ethical monstrosity. But
the case is still worse, if we understand " taking " the children in the sense of begetting them
with the wife (and this view is the more probable one ; see the exegesis below). For Jeho-
vah is married to Israel, and they are unfaithful to Him ; and Jehovah has begotten children
by this marriage — the individual members of the people — and they also are unfaithful to
Him, they " commit whoredom." So the Prophet, in order to manifest this, must not only
take a wife of the above description, but also beget children by her who are of the same
character as she, are unchaste like her. It might be known antecedently that they would
be so ; they are, so to speak, predestined to such a character ; if it were otherwise, they
would fail to perform their part, they would not represent what it was intended they should.
To speak of actual reality in such a case is now a sheer impossibility. The thing signified,
that which is to be represented, is revealed too clearly through the sign, that which is to set
forth the relation ; only one thing could make it plainer, namely, that the Prophet should
add : of course this was not really done I — but one must be almost blind to suppose, even
for a moment, that it could be. The symbol is arranged simply in accordance with the thine
to be symbolized, without reference to the consideration that in concrete reaaly it would
encounter invincible obstacles : naturally such reference does not need to be had, because
the transaction was not realized in concreto and in facto, but was only a plastic symbolizing
of a certain condition of affairs which was to be denounced.
We must now go a step backwards. That which morally excites such objections lies not
merely in the fact of this marriage with an unchaste woman, of whom again unchaste chil-
dren were to be born, but also in its design. It is to be observed that the alliance spoken of
has its aim purely out of itself, terminates in nowise upon itself, but is merely a mean to an
end. This end is not the begetting of children. They are certainly to be begotten, but
they are themselves only means to an end, with their significant names, which they receive
in order to announce to the people their rejection. This marriage was thus to be contracted
purely for the purpose of symbolizing another fact which lay altogether without the sphere
of marriage. Such a conclusion cannot be disputed unless there is imported into the words
something foreign to them. Let the words be followed closely, let not separate expressions :
he went and took, etc., be emphasized, but the whole be accepted and understood as it
reads, with no interlarding of all sorts of notions, about the use and plausibility of this alli-
ance, of which nothing is indicated, and the narrative will be seen to relate to a marriage
and procreation of children which are purely symbolical and described solely as serving the
purposes of an emblematic representation. And that this transaction, considered as an oc-
currence of outward reality, is something inconceivable, opposed to the spirit and significance
of marriage, is so clear, that the Prophet did not need to give the least hint of its unliteral
character (if, indeed, that had been the custom of the Prophets). No; an actual marriage
is not concluded simply in order to symbolize something different ; the marriage is a symbol
of a higher covenant. But its design is not realized in such symbolizing. That would be a
tiifling with the idea of marriage, agreeing but little with the profound conception of that
state, which the Prophet brings to light in this very act of conceiving the relation between
Jehovah and Israel as a marriage. I can give a name to a child born of a marriage, for the
purpose of indicating something by it symbolically ; but it would be something quite differ-
ent if I were to enter into the married state simply for this purpose. And hence the refer-
ence to Is. vii. 14 ; viii. 3, 4, where, however, an outward act is narrated, is altogether un-
suitable. If recourse is had to the words of the text, it may be replied that many pro-
phetic passages, e. g., 3e^T. iltl\. 15 ff., Zech. xi., show clearly that the simple words of the
aarrative are not decisive. In such passages the words, taken literally, even when relating
to symbolical transactions, seem to record an occurrence entirely objective, though no one
supposes that they really do so. In other passages this inference is more patent, while here
't is obscured, though only apparently so ; for that which it is ethically inadmissible to sup-
l(j HOSEA.
pose should be done by the command of God, is just as incredible as the occurrence of thai
which is physically impossible.
We have "now to consider, finally, in what a brief period the action is performed, the rap-
idity with which the several acts are, and are intended to be, presented. It is the rapidity
which, if the word may be allowed, is well suited to a dramatic conception, but not to con-
crete reaUty. By literalists the fact is entirely ignored that this symbolical course of teach-
ing would have requii-ed three years at least for its complete unfolding. And in connection
with the other considerations the remark of Simson (in spite of the strictures of Kurtz)
is perfectly just : '■ After each of the four principal scenes which make up the symbolical
narrative (vers. 2, 4, 6, 9), the explanation and occasion of the symbol follows, connected
with ' for ' in such a peculiar way, that it may be gathered indubitably, simply from this
connection and the whole manner of expression, that the figure is not presented in its act-
uality, but is only devised for the sake of making evident to the senses the lessons it
unfolds." Thus the view which regards the actions described as real occurrences is seen to
be untenable if we do not even go beyond the first section ; nor do we need to add to the
other arguments the relation of chap. iii. to our section. On the contrary, we think that
arguments have been too much drawn from that portion of the book, and therefore too
largely based upon external grounds, and for this reason less convincing than they should be.
Now after this negative result, that the narrative is not to be regarded as relating actual
occurrences, the question first arises : What then does it relate ? A vision ? So the Jewish
commentators, and in recent times especially Hengstenberg. This view does indeed surren-
der the externality of the transaction, but it holds to its actuality, only assuming that it was
not experienced outwardly but inwardly. With regard to this hypothesis of a vision, it is
admitted that a " beholding " lies at the foundation of all prophetic announcement, that is,
a vision in the wider sense (comp. the remarks on Amos, chap. vii.). But we are not justi-
fied on this account in assuming at once that the Prophet was in an ecstatic state. There
is not the least hint of such a thing given in our passage ; for nothing is said of a vision
in the narrower sense, and hence we are unwarranted in adopting such an assumption here.
He certainly " beheld," as all the prophets did, that which he here relates in parabolic dis-
course. It is thus that the narrative is most properly designated.
But it may be asked : If, according to the above reasoning, it leads to a series of monstros-
ities to regard the (symbolical) transaction as an actual occurrence, was it allowable for the
Prophet even to present it in a parabolic dress ? This objection, which it seems to be, is
possible only under a misapprehension of the whole aim of the exhibition. The action rep-
resented is certainly bold, is surprising, is, we say directly, exorbitant. But it was just in-
tended to be so. It was intended, as we remarked above, to rouse the hearer into uttering
the question : What ? do I hear aright ? What do you say the prophet must do ? The
thing to be set forth, the thing signified, is something abnormal, contradictory, something
which it seems could never occur, that Israel should " commit whoredom, departing from
their God " ; and not this merely, but also (which, to be sure, is the necessary consequence
of the former) that God should reject this His people. His spouse, to whom He had always
been faithful, to whom He had been so beneficent. Since this condition of affairs to be
represented, the " thing signified," was of such a character, it must be set forth by the de-
scription of an occurrence of a like kind, that is, one which is just as abnormal, contra-
dictory, and unprecedented, thus necessarily rousing the attention to consider how a prophet
could marry a whore at the bidding of God, and by her beget children, who should receive,
also at God's command, names indicative of punishment, from their resemblance to their
mother. There is therefore intentionally something monstrous, something ethically impossi-
ble, held up to the people as though it had happened, in order that it might be forced upon
their consciousness, how utterly abnormal, how moustrous, how opposed to the right order of
things, is that which they had done to God, and which He must do to them. That, therefore,
which the prophet relates to the people is related to them, because it is something monstrous;
but being so, it was just as certainly not a statement of actual fact for this very reason. If
we were to maintain the opposite, we should mistake the design of the prophet. He would
Bay : As Israel has acted towards God, and as He must treat his people in return: so would
I, the prophet, act if I were to marry a whorish woman. As impossible as the jaiter is, so
.Impossible should the former be ; and yet alas it is a reality I
But it may be objected : The prophet's marriage would indeed represent to the people
.heir apostasy from Jehovah, and the names of the prophet's children would bring perpetn-
INTRODUCTION. 1 T
aJly to their consciousness the judgment which they must expect in return ; but if that mar-
riage did not take place, and the children never existed, how could such a design be carried
out ? Now, this objection is based simply upon an unwarranted supposition, and the infer-
ence drawn therefrom must be false. It is taken for granted that such an argumentatio ad
oculos by outward action must have been made by the Prophet, that the Prophet intended to
do so, judging from the statements of the book, and that therefore we have a narrative of
actual occurrences, while it is never said that the prophet had any such intention. The
Prophet may just as well have intended to appeal to the people, not by means of outward
action, but by a discourse in which certain actions were the drapery of those truths which
were to be proclaimed. Whether this discourse was originally oral or not, as other prophet-
ical discourses usually were, or whether it existed from the beginning in a written form, we
do not know. If the former supposition is correct, we are not obliged to assume, any more
than in other prophetical discourses, that it possessed precisely the same form as that which
we now have, since it would have the form appropriate to oral discourse. It is quite wrong,
however, to insist that such a mere recital, — heard to-day and forgotten, perhaps, to-morrow,
— could have but little influence, and make but little impression, for at least its fixed written
form followed with its words speaking perpetually to the conscience. And it has been said
already above in § 2, that such a fixed form was probably given to it before the composi-
tion of the whole book, as at present constituted, and during the period in which the dis-
courses of the first part were pronounced.
But another argument still is adduced against the supposition of a parabolic recital, which
is seen to be so necessary from all that hn,s been said. It is urged that this would derogate
from the character of the prophetic word ; that the Prophet speaks expressly and repeat-
edly of a command of the Lord which he had received ; that, if the whole were only a
feio-ned transaction, the words, " the Lord said," would be degraded into a meaningless,
rhetorical phrase, which would be opposed to the divinely objective character of Prophecy.
Certainly our whole position would be viewed with distrust, if this drapery of narrative in
which the Prophet clothes his message of instruction and rebuke, which he records, and in
which he makes mention of an express command of God, were to be regarded by him as only
an arbitrary device (rhetorical or as being appropriate to the plan of the book). But what
is there to support such an assumption? In this, as throughout his prophetic ministry, the
Prophet rather acted and spoke from a divine impulse. He had beheld what he had to say
to the people, reproach of their sinfulness and threatening of punishment, and how he had
to say it, that is, he had received from God in spirit an authorization and an impulse to
adopt this form of rebuke, to present his divine commission in the form of feigned events.
It has been further remarked (e. g., by Kurtz), that we have the words : go, take, etc., and
not : go, tell the people that thou hast taken a wife, etc. But this objection is without force.
For the expression : " The Lord said to Hosea, go, take to thyself," etc., is itself included
already in the parabolical discourse as well as vers. 4, 6, 9 ; and to insist that the Prophet
must have given some hint that he was not intending to record an actual occurrence, argues
a somewhat crude notion of the obligations of a writer. A parabolic discourse must not
bear the appearance of being so ; on the contrary it must present itself as describing actual
events (comp. e. g., Judges ix. 8 ; 2 Sam. xii.), though it does not really do so. It bears
in itself a sapienti sal which shows that it does not, — and thus our narrative is really two
fold. In general the fact is evidently always overlooked, that we have before us in these
seemingly liistorioal portions, not a statement concerning the Prophet, but the written dis-
course of the Prophet himself; that, therefore, behind the words there stands, so to speak,
the prophet writing. It is not his duty to record events as an historian ; and the inference
is unwarranted, that he must do so because what he says has the form of an historical rec-
ord. Hence, according to correct conceptions as to what different kinds of composition re-
quire, no objection based upon the form of representation can be made to the parabolic
view. And the circumstance that the Prophet is spoken of in the third person, cannot be
adduced as a proof that he does not here speak and narrate (figuratively), and that a statement
'is made concerning him. It cannot, at least, by any one who regards the whole book to be
Jie composition of the Prophet and not a mere compilation by another. Moreover, in chap.
ix. the Prophet introduces himself as speaking of himself in the first person. And, finally,
it proves nothing that the name and origin of the woman are given. Even if the names
are not applied appellatively (see in the exegesis), nothing would be more natural than to
nvcnt names for the occasion, which would be a device appropriate in a symbolical discourse.
18 HOSEA
If we now turn to chap. iii. and hold the identity of the woman named there with the
one in chap, i., the question is decided of itself. For if the marriage, mentioned in chap, i.,
of the Prophet with this woman, was not an actual occurrence, it is self evident that his deal
ings towards her in chap. iii. are not more historical. If he did not in reality marry thi."
woman, then he did not actually perform what, in chap, iii., he is commanded to do, love her.
The woman is, in chap, i., only a feigned person, and if the same person is meant in chap,
iii. she cannot be a real person. But if we regard the woman of chap. iii. as not identical
with that of chap, i., we have, in the fact that the Prophet becomes connected with another
woman, disregarding his marriage with the one mentioned in chap, i., we have here, I say, a
clear indication, applying to the whole narrative from the beginning, that these descriptions
do not relate to actual events in the Prophet's hfe. For it is plain that the assumption of
his separation from the first wife, or of her death in the interval, is only a device to escape
from a dilemma. Such circumstances must have been stated, if actual events had been
related ; but not a syllable is found to this effect, simply because it was assumed that no one
would think of real occurrences.
But, leaving the consideration of the circumstances connected with the woman mentioned
in chap, i., and regarding simply by itself the command given to the Prophet in chap. iii.
according to his own representation of it, we find the matter here to be somewhat differ
ent.
The fact is to be set forth that Jehovah preserves his faithfulness to Israel in spite of their
unfaithfulness, and therefore does not utterly cast them off, but only adopts, for their good,
corrective measures springing from such abiding faithfulness. Thus something is to be ex-
emplified which would not be expected, since rejection would be the more natural course, but
nothing which should not be, nothing which could be found fault with or would invite cen-
sure. And accordingly the symbol, or that which the Prophet was commanded to do, was
not something ethically inadmissible or monstrous, but only something difficult, unusual, be-
cause involving great self-denial, namely, that he should remain faithful to an unfaithful
wife. And what is declared to have been done by him is in the same way not something
inadmissible, but only sometliing unusual ; for by a series of corrective measures the unfaith-
fulness of the wife is to be brought home to her heart, while, at the same time, it was to be
shown that she would not be rejected. Now though it might appear as if very little could
be urged in disproof of the actual occurrence of the event described (that is, if it be viewed
as an isolated account), yet here also grave objections arise upon a closer examination.
Even if the woman of chap. iii. is not to be identified with that of chap, i., the former is
hardly conceived of as being of another character than the latter. The woman is not one
who was previously chaste and afterwards became unchaste, but one whose adultery is only
the manifestation of her former disposition, and a continuation of her previous mode of life,
and the Prophet would thus be represented as entering into such intimate relations with her
— whether he married her or not would not be certain — ■ which again would border closely
upon the morally offensive and become for the Prophet an impossibility. Here the canon is
again to be applied, that acts, which are of an essentially immoral nature and fall under
moral criticism, cannot be regarded upon external grounds as having been actually per-
formed by divine command. Thus a husband might, it is true, be so controlled by the
thought of God's faithfulness, as even to remain faithful to an unfaithful wife, that is, from
moral and religious considerations, whether suggested by himself or by another. But this
is not the case presented here : the narrative speaks not of an act undertaken or a course
of conduct discontinued upon any such ground, but simply of a positive command of God,
which was not intended to remind the husband of a duty demanded of him, but which was
issued with the design of a manifestation of God's attitude towards the people of Israel, a
design altogether foreign to the nature of marriage or the injunction of fidelity.
The Prophet is represented as doing what he here does purely for this external purpose ;
not from the recognition of a duty, and not to call attention to such duty : lie does it plainly
in order to symbolize something different. This is perfectly agreeable to the parabolic
mode of presentation ; but as soon as we come to hold the notion of an actual transaction,
the moral sense revolts against it as against a trifling with things which belono- essentially
io the sphere of the moral and religious life, and therefore cannot be employed as means to
serve another purpose. Finally, if we had real transactions presented to us and not a sym-
bolical form, it could not be very well supposed that the woman, accepting the gift of the
Prophe/- would be inclined to obey his command. The possibility of the opposite would
INTRODUCTION. 19
rather have to be assumed, which was manifestly not the case. But in the parabolic nar-
rative this happens naturally just as the purposes of instruction require.
On the question treated in this section compare the thorough discussion by John Marck,
Diatribe de Muliere Fornicationum, Leyden, 1696, reprinted in his Comment, in 12 Proph.
Min., ed. Pfaflf, 1734; and in more recent times especially Hengstenberg, Christologie, L
205 ff., who denies the actual occurrence of the events described, and the minute investi-
gation of Kurtz, Die Ehe des Propheten Rosea [The Man-iage of the Prophet Hosca], 1859,
reprinted from the Dorpat Zeilxchrift fiir Theologie und Kirche, who holds as strongly to the
literal interpretation.
[The question so fully discussed above is encumbered with difficulties so great as to seem
almost insuperable, and it is probable that it will never be satisfactorily settled. Instances
might even be quoted of the same interpreter holding directly opposite opinions within a
very short period of time. If the history of interpretation were to be thoroughly surveyed,
it might perhaps be found that the majority of distinguished names have been arrayed on
the side of the literal view. It may be remarked, however, that among modern interpreters,
the more reverent and cautious of those of Germany seem, as a general rule, to favor the
theory that the prophet was not to fulfill the commands actually and outwardly. Among the
Anglo-American Commentators, on the other hand, the preponderance of opinion still is, as it
always has been, in favor of the literal interpretation. So among the recent writers, Pusey
and Cowles. The opinion that the Prophet beheld the events in vision has been maintained
by Pococke and lately by Fausset. This theory is discussed at length by Cowles in a dis-
sertation appended to his Commentary, to which the reader is referred. It may be remarked,
generally, that the main support upon which the defenders of the literal interpretation rely, is
the nature of the language employed, bearing, as it does, not the slightest indication that the
^mmands were to be fulfilled in any other than a literal manner, and that the opponents
of this theory take their stand chiefly upon the supposed moral impossibility of the literal
fulfillment. The conclusion which each reader will arrive at for himself will depend mainly
upon the relative force which these considerations may have upon his mind. — M.]
§ 4. Literature.
Single Commentakies : Hoseas Chaldaica Jonathanis ParapTirasi et R. Saiom. Jizchahi,
R. Ahrah. Aben-Esrce et R. David KimcJiii commentariis illustratus (Hosea, illustrated by
the Chaldee Paraphrase of Jonathan and the Commentaries of R. Solomon Isaaki, R.
Abraham Aben-Ezra and R. David Kimchi), edited by Von der Hardt. Helmstadt, 1 703,
4to ; new edition by J. D. Michaelis, 1775; Rabbi Isaac Abarbenel, Comm. in Hoseam,
edited by Franc, ab Husen, Leyden, 1687.
Of the age of the Reformation : Capito, Comm. in Hoseam, Strassburg, 1528 ; Brentius,
Comm. in Hoseam Proph., 1560 and 1580.
Of the last part of the sixteenth, with the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries : Jac.
Matthseus, Prmlectiones in Hoseam, Basle, 1590; Am. Polanus, Analysis Libri Hosece Proph.
Basle, 1599 ; Hier. Zanchius, Comm. in Hoseam, Neost., 1600 ; Dav. Pareus, Hoseas, Pr.
Comm. illust., Heidelberg, 1605-1609 ; Mich. Kraekewitzius, Comm. in Hos., Frankfort,
1619 ; Balth. Meisnerus, Hoseas, Viteb., 1620 ; And. Rivetus, Comm. in Hoseam, Leyden,
1625 ; Exposition of the Prophecy of Hosea, by Jer. Burroughs, Oxford, 1643-1652, 3 vols.;
Henr. Ursinus, Hos. Comm. literali enuclealus, Norib., 1677 ; Pococke, Commentaries on
Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Malachi, Oxford, 1685; Seb. Schmidius, Comm. in Pr. Hos., Frank-
fort, 1687; Franc. Vavassor, Comm. in Hos. Proph. (In his works, Amsterdam, 1709); De
Prophetie van Hosea outledigt door J. Biermann [The Prophecy of Hosea expounded by
J. Biermann], Utrecht, 1702; Waekius, Expos, et illust. Hosece, Ratisbon, 1711 ; Hoseas His-
torice et Antiquitati redditus db Herm. von der Hardt, Helmst., 1712 ; Dathe, Dissert, in
dquilcB reliquias interpr. Hosece, 1757; Manger, Comment, in Hos., Campis, 1782; Schroder,
Der Proph. Hosea aus bibl. und weltlichen Historien erldutert, etc. [The Prophet Hosea
ucidated from sacred and profane histories], Dessau, 1782; L. J. Uhland, Annotat. Hist.
Exeg. in Hoseam, Tubingen, 1785-1797; J. C. Volborth, Erkldrung des Proph. Hosea [Ex-
Dosition of the Prophet Hosea], Gottingen, 1787; C. T. Kuinoel, Hosece Oracula Hebr. et
Lat. Perp. Annot. illustr., 1792; J. Ch. Baupel, Der Proph. Hosea erlddrt [The Prophet
Hosea explained], Dresden, 1793.
Of the present century : E. G. A. Bbckel, Hoseas, Augsburg, 1807 ; J. C. Stuck, Hoseas
20 HOSEA.
Propheta, Leipzig, 1828 ; Simson, Der Proph. Hosea erlclart und iibersetzt [The Prophet
Hosea explained and translated], Hamburg and Gotha, 1851 ; O. C. Krabbe, QucBStionum
de Hos. Vatic. Spec. [A View of Questions relating to the Proph. of Hosea] (Hamburg Pro-
gramme), 1836 ; A. Wiinsche, Der Proph. Hosea uberseizt und erldart mil Benutzung der
Targumim, der jUdischen Ausleger Raschi, Aben Ezra, und I). Kimchi [The Prophet Hosea.
translated and explained, with a use of the Targum, and of the works of the Jewish Ex-
positors, Raschi, Aben Ezra, and D. Kimchi], Leipzig, 1868. The most complete of recent
times. The copious illustrations drawn from the Chaldee Paraphrase, and the three Jewish
Commentaries are very valuable. F. A. Lowe, BibliscJie Studien, Erstes Heft : Beitrage zum
Verstdndniss des Propheten Hoseas fBiblical Studies, Part First : Contributions to the Inter-
pretation of the Prophet Hosea].
For the Practical Exposition : L. C, Graf, Der Proph. Hoseas in 1 72 Wochen-Predigten
erkidrt [The Prophet Hosea explained in 172 Weekly Sermons], Dresden, 1716; P. Die-
drich. Die Propheten Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, kurz erkidrt fixr heilsbegierige, aufmerksame
Bibellesen [The Prophets Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, briefly explained for earnest and at-
tentive Bible-readers]. Leipzig, 1861.
[The special works in English upon Hosea, besides those of Burroughs and Pococke
mentioned in the above list, are : Bishop Horsley, Hosea, translated from the Hebrew with
Notes, Explanatory and Critical, 2d ed. London, 1804 ; Rev. Wm. Drake, Notes on Hosea,
Cambridge (England), 1853. Dr. Pusey's Commentary upon Hosea in his Min. Proph. (in
which he has advanced as far as Micah), on account of his excessive allegorizing and spirit-
ualizing tendencies, is not uniformly of the highest critical or exegetical merit, but is worthy
of all praise for the great value of its practical remarks. Bishop Wordsworth, who beloncg
to the same patristic school, treats of th<? Minor Prophets in the 6th volume of his CcoD-
mentary (London, 1872). — M.]
HOSEA.
SUPERSCEIPTION. Chapter I. 1.
The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri,^ in the days of TJzziah,
Jothatn, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son
of Joash, king of Israel.
PART FIRST. Chapters I. 2-III. 5.
Chapters I. 2-II. 3.
A. The Rejection of the Kingdom of Israel, and especially of the House of Jehu, on
account of their " Whoredom," is symbolically announced. — Chap. i. 2-9.
2 The beginning ^ of the Word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea
[in the beginning when Jehovah spoke with Hosea, then Jehovah said to Hosea] : Go, take untO thee a
wife of whoredoms and chUdren of whoredoms ; for the land hath committed great
3 whoredom, departing from the Lord [Jehovah]. So he went and took Gomer the
4 daughter of Diblaim ; which [and she] conceived, and bare him a son. And the Lord
[Jehovah] said unto him. Call his name Jezreel ; for yet a little while, and I will
avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the
5 kingdom of the house of Israel. And it will come to pass in that day, that I will
6 break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and
bare a daughter. And God said unto him. Call her name Lo-ruhamah [unpitied] ; '
for I wni no more have mercy upon the house of Israel ; but I will utterly take them
7 away [that i should keep on forgiving them]. But I will have mercy upon the house of
Judah, and will save them by the Lord [Jehovah] their God, and will not save them
8 by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle [war], by horses, nor by horsemen. Now when
she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son [And she weaned Lo-Ruhamah
9 and conceived and hare a son]. Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi [Not-my-people], for
ye are not my people, and I will not be your God [yours]. ^
B. And yet Israel will be again accepted by God.
Chapter U. 1-3.
Yet [And] the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered ; and it shall come to pass, that in the
place where ' it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said
22 HO SEA.
2 unto them, Te are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah
and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one bead ;
3 and they shall come up out of the land : for great is the day of Jezreel. Say to
your brethren, Ammi [My-peopie], and to your sisters, Ruhamah [compassionated].
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 [Ver. 1.— ''"ISa —explained by Geseniua as meaning, fountain ; by Eilrst et <;;.; one who explains, comp. Deut.
I. 6. If a symbo'liia:! meaning is Bought, the latter is probably to be preferred ; if not, the signification must remain
Dndecided. There seems to be no necessity for holding a symbolical sense. — M.]
2 Ver. 2. — '■^ nbniTl. By the construct state in which the first word stands the foUowing ( "''^ "l^l'^ being
not an infinitive but a prffiterite), becomes a sort of substantive phrase subordinate to nvPin. Ljl^nn is thus
made equivalent to an adverb of time = when at first (Kwald). The construction would thus be similar to that of the
phrase "'"'""IS/I D'l''?, Ex. vi. 28 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 15 et at. See Ewald, (?r., § 286, 3. Tor the view which regards the
Brst clause of' the verse as a "kind of superscription," see the exposition and Green, Ueb. Or., § XjS, 1, 2. — M.]
— n3Tn nbT according to the famiUar Heb. emphatic mode of expression, the rT3T is here marked as complete,
v: • t'
8 Ver. 6. — nam is usually regarded as a participle with a fallen away. But according to Keil it is rather th«
il fem. pnet. (in the pausal form on account of the Athnach, as in u. 3, 25) = "she finds no sympathy, is not compassion-
ated." [This is a question which must remain undecided, as the word occirs only in pause. Yet the common view is
preferable, because (1) the part, is the better form for an appellative, as it approaches more nearly to a noun, and (2) if
the verb became an appellative it would probably remain a fl.Ked form, or at least not be subject to such changes as ths
8 prget. undergoes in pause The part, would of course retain the Kamets in any case. — M.]
The dlMonlt words '31 t^tl?3 ''3 probably give a further explanation of the Qn"^H. Stt73 = to forgive ; I will
no longer have compassion on them thfft I should forgive them (Meier : *3 is climactic = how much less forgive them).
The object : sin, is certainly then to be supplied as also in Gen. xviii. 24. But, according to the context, it is easier to
supply this than to translate with Hengstenberg : I will take away from them, namely, what they have, or everything
they have. In chap. v. 16, Mtt73 in the sense of taking may without dificulty be construed absolutely. But here,
especially with the dative, an object is expected.
[Pusey, Henderson, Cowles, et al. follow E. V in rendering : But I wiU utterly take them away Newcome : But I
will surely take them away. Ewald agrees with Meier in the translation given above. Henderson admits that Sti?3
followed by V elsewhere means to forgive, and that it might have the same sense here if it were only preceded by tha
copulative \ but that ''S meaning but excludes such repetition. Here it is forgotten that ^^ may mark consecutioD
or result, as it does frequently, comp. Gen. xl. 15 ; Is. xxix. 16 ; Ps. viii. 5, with many other passages. But ScDmoller
as well as Keil, who discern the true connection and meaning of the words, have overlooked the occurrence of the inf.
before the future of the same verb. All the other critics give to this combination the force of emphasis or intensity.
Is it not better to suppose that repetition is implied, which is the fundamental notion ? And if the last clause is ex-
planatory of the preceding, the *XX3 of the one must find its counterpart in the frequentative construction of the
other : I will no longer have mercy on them that I should continue to forgive them. Greater fullness of meaning and
appropriateness is also seen to mark this part of the verse : God had overlooked their sins often before, but He would
not keep on overlooking them forever. — M.]
* [Ver. 9. — 05^ ^.'!'^^ ^^ • ^ ^^^' ^°' ^^ ^^^ y°"' ^* '^■» hot be yours, not belong to you. There is no need
of maintaining that " God " is understood, as Henderson, Cowles, and the English expositors generally do. The sense is
complete without supposing an ellipsis. Houbigant (followed by Newcome) has gone so far as to transpose the letters o(
the last two words into D3^rT7S. But this has no support in the MSS. or Versions, and is besides very improbable,
not to mention that it supposes the omission of the latter H, — M.]
6 Chap. II. 1 — "^li?^? DipQ^. We might be inclined to render : in the plaoe of [its being said] ; the usa^ of the
expression elsewhere is however too clearly opposed (comp. Lev. iv. 24-83 ; xiv. 13 ; Jer. xxii. 12 ; Ezek. xxi. 35 ; Neh.
It. 14). But Qipa with the subject following is perhaps = instead of, in Is. xxxiii. 21.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. \. Superscription. It has been shown al'
But a further diiEculty is felt. Only one king
of Israel is named, whom Hosea long suvviTed,
and the succession of Judaic kings brings down
ready in the Introduction (§ 1 ) that the chronolog- 1 the life of the prophet far beyond the time of that
ical limits assigned in the title must be admitted single monarch, Jeroboam 11. Hence it is alleged
to be essentially correct. Difficulties hare been ' that the second part of the superscription does not
suggested to the minds of some from the circum- agree with the first.
stance that when the duration of Hosea's ministry
is given, it is, in the fii-st line, placed in relation
to the reigns of Judah, and that a king of Israel
is mentioned only in the second line. To argue
from this, however, that Hosea belonged to the
kingdom of Judah, is inadmissible; for as we saw
m the Introduction, all other evidence goes to
prove that he was a resident of the Northern King-
lom.
Keil seeks to solve this difficulty by assuming
that the Prophet acknowledged only the legiti-
mate rulers of the kingdom of Judah as the real
kings of the people of God ; and that he defined
the limits of his ministry according to the real
succession of that kingdom. He introduces alonj;
with the names of those kings, that of the Israel-
itish monarch, under whom he began his prophetic
course, not only to indicate that occasion mora
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 3.
23
definitely, but chiefly on account of the significant
position occupied by Jeroboam in the kingdom of
the Ten Tribes. He was the last king through
whom God vouchsafed any aid t» that state. The
succeeding rulers scarcely deserved the title of
king.
But this explanation, brought forward in order
to defend the originality of the superscription, can
scarcely be acquitted of the charge of arbitrari-
ness. (The precedence assigned to the Judaic
kings would be better explained on the hypothesis
that Hosea, at a later period, took up his residence
in Judah and there composed his book.) Ewald,
who, to be sure, does not admit in its full extent
the correctness of the chronological statements of
the superscription, supposes that the allusion to
the kings of Judah was added by a later hand
■ (which also inserted Is. i. 1), while the remainder
is the old original superscription, which, however,
he thinks belonged at first only to chaps, i., ii.
The question, whether the supejscription in its
present form is quite original, must be allowed to
remain undecided.
|As serving however to defend the genuineness of
the superscription, comp. with the view of Keil ad-
duced above, the following full and forcible pres-
entation of the probable design of the prophet in
its insertion given Uy Hengstenberg in his Chris-
tology: '" Hosea mentions, first and completely,
the kings of the legitimate family. He then
further adds the name of one of the rulers of the
Kingdom of Israel, under whom his ministry be-
gan, because it was of importance to fix precisely
the time of its commencement. Uzziah, the first
of the series of the kings of Judah mentioned by
him, survived Jeroboam nearly twenty-six years.
Now, had the latter not been mentioned along
with him, the thought might easily have suggested
itself, that it was only in the latter period of Uz-
ziah's reign that the prophet entered upon his
ofiBce ; in which case all that he says about the
overthrow of Jeroboam's family, would have ap-
peared to be a vaticinium post eventitm, inasmuch as
it took place very soon after Jeroboam's death.
The same applies to what is said by him regarding
the total decay of the kingdom which was so flour-
ishing under Jeroboam ; for, from the moment of
Jeroboam's death, it hastened with rapid strides to-
ward destruction. If, therefore, it was to be seen
that future things lie open to God and his servants
' before they spring forth ' (Is. xlii. 9), it was neces-
sary that the commencement of the Prophet's min-
istry should be the more accurately determined ;
and this is effected by the intimation that it took
place within the period of the fourteen years during
which Uzziah and Jeroboam reigned contemporane-
ously.! That this is the main reason for mention-
ing Jeroboam's name is seen from the relation of
ver. 2 to ver. 1 . The remark made in ver. 2, that
Hosea received the subsequent revelation at the
very beginning of his prophetic ministry, corre-
sponds with the mention of Jeroboam's name in
Ver. 1. But this is not all There was a
considerable difference between him and the subse-
quent kings, Cocceius remarks very strikingly :
The other kings of Israel are not viewed as kings
but as robbers.' Jeroboam possessed a quasi legit-
imacy. The house of Jehu to which he belonged,
had opposed the extreme of religious apostasy.
It was to a certain degree recognized even by the
1 [This will Bhow the groundlesanees of the opinion of
Noyes, that " from the contents of the book it is probable
Eh&t he did not exercise his office until after the death of
Prophets. Jeroboam had obtained the throne not
by usurpation but by birth. He was the last king
by whom the Lord sent deliverance to the Ten
Tribes ; comp. 2 Kings xiv. 27. "
The English commentators hold to the origi-
nality of the superscription, with the exception of
Noyes, who speaks of it as " doubtful." The argu-
ments which establish it are mainly these: (1.)
The very fact of its existence in its present form
from the earliest known period. (2.) The analogy
of other prophetic books as well as of many other
portions of the Old Testament, the genuineness of
whose superscriptions has never been successfully
impugned either by German critics or their Eng-
lish followers. (3.) The improbability of any
other hypothesis. Any " redactor " (Ewald and
others) could have had no reason to insert such a
peculiar title. Its anomalous character shows it
to have been the work of the author himself. Any
other would either have made no allusion to the
kings of Israel, or would have given a complete
list of the contemporary ones. There is a pur-
pose manifest here which a collector would not
have conceived, and which it was beyond his prov-
ince to convey to the world by embodying it in
an addition to his author's writings. (4.) The
exact correspondence between the character of the
superscription, the contents of the book, and the
position of the author, as partly shown above,
and as might be further proved abundantly.
The superscription therefore is origin.al, and
original in its present form. As to the place of
its coniposition there is no improbability in the
opinion, mentioned by Schmoller above, that with
the rest of the book it was composed in Judah.
But this cannot explain, as he supposes, the anom-
alies of the superscription. It only increases the
difficulties. Why was an Israelitish king men-
tioned at all 1 This question remains unanswered,
while the old difficulty of the non-allusion to suc-
ceeding kings of Israel remains in all its force.
The true solution must therefore be sought not in
any local conditions of the Prophet, but in his
necessary relations as a Prophet of God to the
two kingdoms, as determined by their respective
characters, and in his desire to assign definitely
the limits of his ministry. — M.]
A. Vers. 2-9. The Prophet announces symbol
ically to the Kingdom oflsrad that it will he rejected
on account of its Whoredom."
Vers. 2, 3. In the beginning of Jehovah's
speaking with Hospa . . and bare him a son -^
37E7ln2, literally, in Hosea, that is, into Hosea.
The simple translation in, as expressive of an
inner revelation which he received, is excluded
even by the usage of the language (comp. Zech.
i. 9, 14) ; as also is the explanation ; by Hosea.
This " into," however, must not be modified into
simple " to him." This would have been — ^i^- ^
evidently expresses here a closer, personal relation
into which the speaker enters with another person,
while ^!|J, " to," merely indicates the direction
of the discourse. It therefore betokens an energy
of speaking, probably also in connection with a
certain continuity ; answering best to our " speak-
ing with " (comp. besides the passages cited above,
al-so Num. xii. 6, 8; Hab. ii. 1). The whole
clause, naTlvPlPl, could be regarded as a kind '
Jeroboam, when the kingdom of Israel was in a stpte ol i
great distraction and anarchy." — J F M.]
24
HOSEA.
of superscription = The beginning of that which
Jehovah spoke with Hosea. The discourse would
.hen begin with "lOn"!. But it is preferable to
attach the whole clause, as a specification of time,
to the following ~i^l^»1, and to take nhrtr],
which is therefore = in the beginning, as an aceu-
Bative of time : In the beginning, when Jehovah
spoke. The sense would be : When Jehovah be-
gan to speak with Hosea, then, etc. [For the in-
ternal structure of the clause, see the first Gram-
matical Note. — J. F. M.] This means that God
has begun his revelation to the Prophet with the
tommand immediately following; in other words,
that the prophet must enter upon active duty
with the following testimony against the spiritual
adultery of the kingdom of Israel : Go take to
thee a wife of whoredom and children of whore-
dom. " Wife of whoredom : " D^2^3^ occurs only
in the plural, expressing a plurality of acts. —
t ntyN, a woman whose element is whoredom,
with whom the Hit is a thing not merely inci-
dental. From this designation, as applied to the
woman it is evident that it was just in her mar-
riage with the prophet that she would show her-
self to be an T HE'S, and would thereby become
an adulteress (though naturally this does not ex-
clude the idea that the Prophet begets children by
her). The truth to be represented demands this
view of the case. For it is Israel married .to Jeho-
vah that commits whoredom.
But who are the 3t. ^37!!''' "Children" men-
tioned along with the " wife," naturally make the
latter appear to be the mother. But they cannot
be called children of whoredom simply for the rea-
son that their mother is an ^ ^"l??^. They can
have that designation only because they themselves
stand essentially connected with D"'3^3^. But in
what relation 1 It is readily suggested : " they are
related to it as its results = they are the fi'uit of
the D^313T, of the mother, are born of the mother
in consequence of her unchastity, are of illegiti-
mate birth." But, according to this explanation,
the genitive would have a sense different from that
which it has in the former connection, and this
creates a difficulty. If a woman, who practices
lewdness and is in fact wholly given up to it, is
called T O^^i it '^ most natural to assume that
the construction exactly similar and immediately
ifollowing should be understood in like manner to
fExpress action and disposition. D^3^2T '''^/7,'^
iflserefore^ children who act and are disposed like
ilaeir mother, children of the same character as
tlteir mother. And this must be admitted to be the
correct explanation when it is remembered what is
to ibe represented by the woman and her children,
BauBely, Isr.iel conceived of as the mother of a
-people, and its children. And the fact which is to
be-established with regard to Israel and its children
is, ■that they all practice whoredom; comp. the
cxplaj itory clause, V???'? i^?!'"?"'?- It is not
said ithat the children are of adulterous origin, but
that the whole people — the people as a wliole and
in their individual members, or, according to the
Hehnew personifying mode of conception, the
xnother and her children, commit lewdness. " Go,
take -xa thee : " HtSS X^~r) is, according to the
constant Hebrew usage, equivalent to our phrase,
" to take a wife," i. e., to take a woman to be a
wife, to many. And npM (ver. 3), which ex-
presses the fulfillment of the command given with
np, has certainly no other sense. In our verse,
another object, still, D"'3^3T '^^7-' ^^ joined to
npb. This is done by zmgma, in the sense : Ac-
ape tibi uxorem et suscipe ex ea Jilios scortationum.
He is, accordingly, to ally himself with an un-
chaste wife, and the children which he begets with
her are to be like their mother. This is just the
position of Israel. Israel, Jehovah's spouse, com-
mitted lewdness, and the children, who belonged
both to Jehovah and to her, acted just as their
mother did. Wife and children grieved equally
the Husband and Father. The reference here ia-
therefore not to children which the woman is sup-
posed to have had before her marriage with the
Prophet. Thaforce of the painful experience of
grief over his own children, through which the
Prophet was to pass, would then be lost. By these
children of whoredom we are not to understand
directly just the three children mentioned after-
wards, for the expression is a general one, but they
do certainly fall under this category, and it is only
they who are named.
The command which the Prophet receives is
supported by the words ; for the whole land ia
whoring, whoring away ft-om Jehovah (falling
away from Jehovah). HJt : evidently a meta-
phorical expression here designating apostasy
fiom Jehovah to idolatry, according to the con-
ccptiori of Israel's relation to Jehovah as that
of a marriage. He who serves idols accordingly
commits whoredom and breaks the marriage vow,
is unfaithful to a lawful spouse, because surren-
dering himself to a stranger, with whom no mar-
riage relation can exist. This notion of infidel-
ity is further indicated expressly by the addition :
"''' ^!?n^-^' "ITTl^^ is a significant composite
preposition, which expresses not merely absence
from Jehovah, but conveys the notion that a rela^
tion, the direct opposite of '"'' ^^i'DH tj^il, has
been entered into, and therefore expresses forcibly
a position of infidelity, of a discontinuance of
fidelity. On this notion of n3| in a spiritual
sense, see the Doctrinal Section. As HJW HDJ
expressed the intensity of the apostasy, so i^'.^t"?
expresses forcibly its extent. As the sequel shows,
it is the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel
who are meant. This whole sentence gives the
ground of the command which the Prophet re-
ceives to take a wife of whoredom. He is to tako
a wife who commits bodily unchastity because the
whole land commits whoredom spiritually. Why'
The most natural answer is : In order to hold up
to the people a mirror in which they might behold
their guilt, and thus to bring to their consciousness
iTiore surely and powerfully than could be done by
mere didactic discourse, how greatly they, by theil
idolatry, had sinned against their God, and dishon-
ored Him. God would thus be represented as
standing in a position which would hardly he im-
puted to a man, namely, that of living in marriage
with a woman given up to adultery ; or that sucll
a relation would be as dishonoring to God as mar
riage with a whorish woman would be to a prophet.
But the taking of this wife had, besides, the expresT
CHAPTEKS I. l-II. 3.
25
purpose of begetting children with her, who by
their names should annonnce to Israel the punish-
ment incurred by its guilt. For to the people ( rep-
resented by the woman and her 3? ""T. rl) was to
be presented the consequence of their ivhoredom,
and it was to be brought to their consciousness
what punishments their rightful husband, Jehovah,
would inflict as the consequences of their infidelity.
The children, as 3.T "'Tv^, represent the children
of Israel in their guilt, but, at the same time, by
their names, the punishment thereby entailed, and
as those names, significant of punishment, are af-
fixed to those who represent the guilt, the fact is
expressed that the punishment is directly conse-
quent upon the guilt.
It is clearly incorrect to lay stress upon 'H <"n|2
and the alliance of the Prophet with the woman,
by itself considered, and so give to the thought a
positive turn ; that, by the Prophet's marriage
with a lewd woman, and by the announcement of
its results and by the names of the children, it was
intended to be illusti'ated how Jehovah entered
into a marriage with the faithless nation of Israel
through Hosea, and that the children and the con-
sequences of such marriage would represent severe
chastisements from the hand of love (Lciwe). This
notion is imported into the sentence. In so far as
it is correct, it belongs to chap. iii. and not here.
But of an alliance being entered into between Je-
hovah and the disloyal people, there is nothing
said even there, simply because Jehovah had, on
his part, entered into such a marriage with the
people long before. To infer from the fact of the
Prophet's marriage that God entered into the same
alUance would be a false application of the image.
The Prophet cannot be conceived of as standing
already in that relation. He must contract this
marriage in order to symbolize Jehovah's marriage
with the people alreadi/ existing. It would be just
as baseless, however, to infer from this marriage
contracted by Hosea with the woman, that the
original covenant between God and his people at
Sinai is to be represented ; that God had concluded
the alliance with the people as with a pure virgin,
and that they became unchaste after they came
under the covenant; that therefore also 3? HK^'W
is no£ a woman who has already practiced lewd-
ness, but that an nndefiled virgin is to be under-
stood, of whom, however, it was foreseen that she
would become unfaithful and bear children of adul-
tery. Apart from the emphasis placed upon the
words 3T j"ltZ7W, this view is seen to stand in di-
rect contradiction to the causal sentence : "for the
land," etc. Because the land commits whoredom
must the prophet take a maiden who will become
anchaste '' No. " The marriage which the prophet
was to contract was simply intended to symbolize
the relation already existing between Jehovah and
Israel, and not the way in which it had come into
existence. The wife does not represent the nation
of Israel in its virgin state, when the covenant was
being concluded at Sinai, but the nation of the
Ten Tribes in its relation to Jehovah at the period
of the prophet, when that kingdom, considered as
a whole, had become a wife of whoredom, and in
Its several members resembled children of whore-
*om." (Keil.)
Ver. 3. Took Gomer, a daughter of Dlblaim.
The command is obeyed without delay. "l^-S oc-
Bnrs elsewhere only as the name of a nation : Gen.
X. 2, 3 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 6. If the name be taken
here symbolically, the derivation from "1^5 might
afford the signification, "complet on,";, e., not an
nihilation, utter ruin ; but, completion of whore-
dom = completed whoredom (so already Aben Ez-
ra, Jerome). According to Eiirst it is also possilile
to explain, '' fire-glow," literally, a being consumed
with passion. D''_73'1 occurs only as a proper
name. In attempts to interpret it, it is usually
explained as = l3''7?'^i fig-cakes (so already Je-
rome), in which an allusion is perceived to chap,
iii. ver. 1, where raisin-cakes appear as an image
of that idolatry which ministers to sensuality.
" Daughter of fig-cakes " would then = loving fig-
cakes, or more generally, deliciis dedita. The iden-
tification of Q';55'^ and Q"'!?51 has its difficul
ties, however. Fiirst supposes that the root 73T,
besides the sense, press together, from which wa
have nvll"^.i fig-cake, has also the signification,
enclose, and thus gains the meaning, embracing
(strictly, as in the dual form : double-embracing,
copulation), therefore: daughter of embraces.
And this would naturally mean, not the fruit of
such embraces, but (as in the other explanation,
expressing a connection or intercourse), aban-
doned to embraces, complexibus dedita. The inter-
pretation of these names is accordingly attended
with difficulties. For we cannot say that in them-
selves they necessarily demand such an explana-
tion, at least so far as our knowledge of the He-
brew language permits us to judge. But it can-
not be adduced against the admissibility of such
interpretation that the names are not elucidated
for us as are those in vers. 4 fF. " This may be
simply explained from the circumstance that the
name was not given to the woman, but that she
had it already when the prophet married her "
(Keil). If the names have really the.se meanings,
it is clear that a woman designated, " consummata
in sco'rtatione, complexibus dedita,*' would be a strik-
ing picture of Israel, uttering a severe rebuke.
[Henderson, holding the literal interpretation of
the narrative, maintains that there is no need of
assuming any symbolical meaning whatever for
these names. On the other hand, if the narrative
be not the record of actual occurrences, the neces-
sity of a symbolical interpretation of the names is
manifest. Most of the English expositors who
note the names show a general agreement with the
explanations : completed whoredom, and : given
up to dainties. — J. F. M.]
And she conceived and bore to him a son. The
taking of the wife had evidently in view the birth
of children. That the woman conceived by the
prophet, and that the son is to be regarded as his,
is clear even from the simple connection of the
words, but is placed beyond question by the ex
press addition : bore to him. The opinion that the
children were illegitimate, has arisen only from the
false assumption, at variance with the context, that
the woman must have formerly been a virgin ; foi
the designation, ? ^'^'^i must then be justified,
and if she were not such before marriage, she must
have become unchaste after it.
Vers. 4, 5. Then the JLord said to him : Call
his name Jezreel — in the valley of Jezreel.
The names of the childreD were to be significant,
in view of the announcement of punishment, and
must therefore be determit ed by God. That of the
first child was to be Jeirecl. This was to the
26
HOSEA.
house of Jehu a, nomen cam amine, on account of
the significant connection of the " plain of Jezreel "
with that family. It should remind them of that
place and of that which occurred there. It cried
out to them accordinp; to the meaning of the word,
' God will disperse," and thus threatened pun-
ishment for what was there transacted ; and also,
according to what follows, presented to their fears
the " plain of Jezreel " as the place where the pun-
ishment should be inflicted. Blood-guHtiiiess of
Jezreel. Jehu had, by one fearful massacre, exter-
minated the whole house of Ahal) in the city of
Jezreel (2 Kings ix. 30; x. 17). This city was
situated in the plain of Jezreel, which lay in the
well-known Valley of Kishon. Now there appears
this difficulty : Jehu did this at the express com-
mand of God through Elisha (2 Kings ix. 1 ff.),
and the deed was afterwards commended by God
(x. 30), and yet it is to be avenged as murder upon
Jehu's house. It might be said that in the mind
of the author of the books of the Kings, and in
that of the prophet, there were different views with
regard to the violent overthrow of Ahab's house.
Bnt the prophet also could regard the overthrow
of a family like that of Ahab only as a merited
judgment of God, and hold the same view with
reference to the extension of the massacre to Ahaz-
iah of Judah and his brethren, by reason of their
connection with the house of Ahab. The correct
solution may be seen in the words of Keil : " The
apparent contradiction is resolved simply by dis-
tinguishing between the act itself and the motive
by which Jehu was instigated. Regarded in itself,
as a fulfillment of the command of God, the exter-
mination of Ahab's family was an act for which
Jehu could not be held criminal." But the motive
which actuated Jehu was not at all the desire to
fulfill the will of the Lord ; for, even if he did not
use the command of God as a cover for his own
selfish and ambitious feelings, he did yet in no way
enter into the intention of the Divine injunction.
God desired that the kingdom of Israel should be
cleansed from idolatry by the extermination of the
house of Ah.ab and the elevation of a new dynasty.
In that purpose lay the justification of the deed,
which was to be simply a judgment of God upon
idolatry. But Jehu, though ceasing from the wor-
ship of Baal, retained the worship of the calves.
He fulfilled God's command indeed, but only went
half way. After he had gained the throne, to
which God had destined him, he struck out for
himself a false path, from a false policy in which
he thought it advisable to retain the worship of the
calves, and thus rendered God's intentions nuga-
tory. Thus was the bloody deed of Jehu divested
of all real value, and thus it entailed a burden of
guilt upon him and his house (wherefore also
the possession of the throne was promised to him
only to the fourth generation). This section of
the book shows directly that the idolatry counte-
nanced by Jehu and his house is to be brought
into connection with his deed as an act of blood-
guiltiness, for " the whoring of the land" is expressly
designated as the sin to be punished (ver. 2). Such
apostasy from Jehovah (this is the first announce-
ment), is to be punished by the way in which the
deed of blood in Israel is regarded and avenged as
a sinful act of blood-guiltiness. The ground of the
resentment towards that act therefore does not lie
in the deed itself, but the punishment is inflicted
for something else without which it would not have
been incurred. The objection therefore is not just
which maintains that this deed cannot be the
crowning crime of Jehu and his house. Nor is
there any discrepancy between the prophet and th«
books of the Kings, where all the members of that
house are adduced as guilty by not departing from
the sin of Jerusalem. [Pusey : " Jehu, by cleavmg
against the will of God to Jeroboam's sin, which
served his own political ends, showed that in the
slaughter of his master he acted not as he pre-
tended, out of zeal (2 Kings x. 16) for the will of
God, but served his own will and his own ambition
only. By his disobedience to the one command of
God he showed that he would equally have di»
obeyed the other, had it been contrary to his owe
will or interest. He had no principle of obedience.
And so the blood which was shed according to the
righteous judgment of God, became sin to him who
shed it in order to fulfill not the vrill of God but
his own. Thus God said to Baasha : ' I exalted thee
out of the dust and made thee prince over ray
people Israel,' which he became by slaying his
master the son of Jeroboam and all the house of
.Jeroboam (1 Kings xvi. 2). Yet because he fol-
lowed the sins of Jeroboam, ' the word of the Lord
came against Baasha for all the evil that he did in
the sight of the Lord in being like the house of
Jeroboam, and because he hilled him ' (ver. 7). The
two courses of action were inconsistent : to de-
stroy the son and the house of Jeroboam, and to
do those things for which God condemned him to
be destroyed. Further yet ; not only was such ex-
ecution of God's judgments itself an offense against
Almighty God, but it was sin, whereby he con-
demned himself, and made his other sins to be sins
against the light. In executing the judgment of
God against another, he pronounced his judgment
against himself, in that he that judged, in God's
stead, did the same things (Rom. ii. 1)." M.]
Will visit : alluding to extermination which
corresponds to the act of Jehu. It followed not
long after the death of Jeroboam II. in the mur-
der of his son through the conspiracy of Shallum
2 Kings XV. 8 ff ). But the threatening goes
further : will utterly destroy the kingdom of the
house of Israel. " House of Israel " here designates
the kingdom of Israel in a special sense, the king-
dom of the Ten Tribes, as distinguished from the
house of Jehu (ver 7). The kingly office in gen-
eral should cease in the kingdom of Israel, and
that would naturally be a cessation of the king-
dom itself But this was connected with the faD
of the house of Jehu, because, in consequence o(
that event, a state of the wildest anarchy ensued,
so that only one king, Menahem, had a son for
successor, the rest being all overthrown and slain
by conspirators. The fall of that house was there-
fore " the beginning of the end, the beginning of
the process of rejection " (Hengstenberg).
Ver. 5. And it happens in that day, that I
break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jez-
reel. "That day" is the daj' on which the de-
struction of the kingdom takes place. " Bow of
Israel " " by synecdoche for the military force on
which the strength of the kingdom and conse-
quently its existence rested "( Keil ) . The valley
of Jezreel is the plain in which the city Jezreel
lay, in the Apocrypha and Josephus : tIi fieya
ireSiov E<rSpai\!i>v, or simply : rh fn-eya veSlov.
There the threat was to be fulfilled, because it waa
there that the bloody deed was committed. It was,
moreover, the natural battle-field of the northern
kingdom (comp. Judges iv 5 ; vi. 33). Israal
forms here an unrhistakable paronomasia with
Jezreel. The words, and especially also the men-
tion of a locality, point clearly to a battle, here
an overthrow, by which the before-named dcstruc
CHAPTEES I. l-II. 3.
27
lion of the kingdom should be effected, and thus
in this sentence not only is the punishment indi-
cated, but the mode of its infliction stated. The
enemy who should effect this annihilation of the
kingdom is not yet indicated. No deiinite enemy
is named before the second part of the book where
Assyria is brought forward. (It is not mentioned
in the books of the Kings where Assyria dealt this
blow. )
Vers. 6, 7. And she oonoeived again and
bore a daughter, — by horses and riders. The
second child is a daughter who receives the sym-
bolical name: nQPIT S7 [See Gram. Note].
That the second child should be a daughter is not
a voucher for the necessity of the literal view, but
is grounded in the inner connection between the
female sex and compassion. The announcement
that there was no more compassion, becomes so
much the more emphatic as the representative of
the nation which was not to find compassion was
a daughter. For the " female sex finds more com-
passion than the male," and yet there is no com-
passion to be found. That must be a sad case
mdeed ! The explanation is incorrect which sup-
poses that the daughter signifies a more degener-
ate race (e. g., Jerome). For I wiU no longer
have any compassion. An explanation, telling
what the name of the daughter implies, namely,
the exhaustion of Divine compassion. The king-
dom owed its preservation in the midst of the pre-
vailing idolatry only to the undeserved compas-
sion of God. [On the rest of ver. 6, see Gram.
Note.]
Ver. 7. But I will have compassion on the
house of Judah. A keen reproach for the house
of Israel ; if they were like the house of Judah,
they too would find compassion ; but they are not
so ; they live only by the compassion of Jehovah as
is plain from the words. Why Judah finds favor,
and Israel does not, is indicated in the words
that follow, in the peculiarly emphatic expression :
I will deliver them through Jehovah their God
(comp. Gen. xix. 24). Here allusion is made to
the connection in which Judah stands with Jeho-
vah, while it contains, at least by implication, the
thought that Judah owes its dehverance directly
to the fact that it acknowledges Jehovah to be its
God, and not, as is further said, to its military
force, while Israel on the contrary, trusting in its
military strength instead of in Jehovah who is its
God no longer, shall for that very reason, and in
spite of its warlike resources, utterly perish. By
war is an unexpected expression as occurring
along with the other words ; but it naturally
means not : by weapons of war, but obviously :
by waging war. The bow and the sword are
named as the weapons, and the words : by war,
show more definitely that the employment of those
weapons is meant. Horses and riders, accord-
ing to a familiar mode of expression, indicate the
force which completed the military strength in
which so much pride was taken. The occurrence
of these words at the close is specially emphatic.
When Jehovah delivers. He needs no weapons of
.Tar, no horses or riders, nor can these give any
nelp without Him.
Vers. 8, 9. And she weaned Lo-Kuhamah,
will not be yours. The weaning and the con-
teptiou are to be taken together, that is, as soon
as she had weaned, she again conceived, in order
to indicate the continuity of the announcement of
Bvil. There is no interruption until the end of
the 'ejection. [Henderson : " The mention of the
weaning of Lo-Ruhamah seems designed rather tc
fill up the narrative than to describe figuratively
any distinct treatment of the Israelites." J. J".
M.J. Not my people : thus should the people in
the kingdom of Israel be designated. The coven--
ant relation between God and his people is to be
completely dissolved. D.?7 n_^r7^."N7 = I will
not belong to you [see Gramm. Note]. On the
relation of the three threatonings to one another,
see the Doctrinal Section (2). On the whole nar-
rative see Introd. § 3.
B. Chap. ii. 1-3. And yet Israd shall be accepted
again.
Immediately upon the announcement of the
judgment extending even to the complete rejec-
tion of the kingdom of Israel, follows, to the sur-
prise of the reader, an announcement of deliver-
ance. The verses, in distinction from the Hebrew
arrangement, should form, one section with chap.
i. The arrangement by which vers. 1 and 2 are
joined to chap, i., and a new chapter begun with
ver. 3, as is done by the LXX. and Jerome, and
after them by Luther, is more incorrect still.
Chap. ii. 1 . And the number of the children
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, —
children of the living God. The promise in ver.
1 a, agrees almost verbatim with the promise of
Gen. xxii. 17 and xxxii. 13, an agreement which
is designed. The rejection of the Ten Tribes just
announced forms a strong contrast to the promise
there made to the patriarch with regard to the
boundless increase of his posterity. Now if the
promise is firmly believed one might have doubts
of the rejection, or if the threatening of the
Prophet were to be accepted one might feel that he
had mistaken the promise. Hence the Prophet goes
back directly to that promise, and shows how the
promise is in no way annulled by the -threatening,
but that the latter agrees well with the former,
which will certainly reach its fulfillment. ( Comp.
also the reference to that promise in Is. x. 22, in
opposition to false security, and in Jer. xxxiii.
22). The promise given to the fathers is just the
pledge that a time of deliverance will come again !
The announcement of deliverance in ver. 1 ff. is
rooted in that promise. Thus the words are
strictly to be regarded as a citation =: and yet
what was promised will come true, that, etc., "'3?
bSllCP^ is therefore naturally to be understood of
the people of Israel generally (against Keil). For
the promise is made with reference to the whole
people, and in ver. 2 mention is made expressly
of a union between those who had been divided.
But that enlargement of the whole body cannot
take place with the return of those whose rejec-
tion IS now announced. Hence the second mem-
ber of the verse turns to them. For those who
are here called " not my people " are naturally
identical with those referred to in chap. i. 9. Iij
the place in wMoh it is said to them, etc.
There is no need of inquiring what place is meant,
whether Palestine or the Land of Exile. The ex-
pression has rather the more general sense : " Just
as it has been said — so will it now rather be said,"
etc. The one will answer exactly to the other.
Children of the living God. Instead of simply :
my people, or, people of God, which would be ex-
pected at first, we have here a much stronger ex-
pression. "'H 7W naturally in opposition to deai?
idols, whose service brings the people to ruin
They are not merely a people of God, but his chil
28
HOSEA.
dren : they shall have in Him not merely a God
but a Father (see below in the Doctrinal Section).
There is no allusion here to the moral ground of
this gracious acceptance, and such a notion must
not be introduced. For to the darkness of the
first part (chap, i.) the light is here contrasted
quite abruptly and in a way quite unprovided for.
The connecting link is not found before the^ more
profound exhibition of the subject in chap, ii.^ It
is understood, of course, that only a remnant is to
meet with compassion, but it is not here expressed.
Vers. 2, 3. And the children of Judah and
the children of Israel are gathered together —
Ruhamah. The acceptance of the rejected ones
by God will be followed by a reunion of those who
had been separated (inwardly as well as outwardly
— on the one side belief in God, on the other idol-
atry). Comp. Jer. 1. 4, which rests upon our pas-
sage, and iii. 18, and still more fully Ezck. xxxvii.
15 ff. The children of Israel, by being contrasted
with the children of Judah, receive here their
more restricted and special meaning, as belonging
to the Ten Tribes. The words : appoint for them-
selves one head, denoting one common king, ex-
press this union still more definitely (comp. chap,
iii. 5 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 24 ; xxxvii. 24). And go
up out of the land. These words are difficult.
" The land " is, according to most, the land of
Exile, and a rettirn from it would therefore be ex-
pressed. It is certain that the Prophet does not
m our section predict a leading away into exile ;
for " the place, etc., in ver. 1 is not necessarily to
be understood of a foreign land. Yet the remark
of Reinke is not incorrect : When it is said of Israel
that they are no more a people of God, and will
no more receive compassion, the fact is presup-
posed that they could remain no longer in the
Holy Land which they had received as God's peo-
ple and had retained through his mercy. Already
m Lev. xxvi. and Deut. xxviii. banishment into
an enemy's country was threatened to the people
as the punishment of obdurate apostasy. It may
be objected, however, that by this explanation, the
Prophet would seem to have presupposed an ex-
ile of Judah, while he says absolutely nothing of
it, but, on the contrary, distinguishes in chap. i.
7, Judah from Israel. Difficulty is felt further
in the indefinite expression : VTIiJi^'^P i^/yi
which gives no hint of a land of exile. Reinke,
however, as after him Keil, gives this explana-
tion : The prophet refers to Ex. i. 10 and borrows
the expression from that passage, a supposition
put beyond doubt by chap. ii. 16, 17, where the re-
acceptance of Israel is represented as a leading
through the wilderness to Canaan, and a, parallel
's drawn to the leading forth out of Egypt, as in
chaps, viii. 13 ; ix. 3, the carrying into Exile is
described as a carrying into Egypt (comp. also al-
ready Deut. xxviii. 68). Egypt was thus a type
of the heathen world, over which Israel was to be
dispersed ; the deliverance from Egypt a type and
earnest of deliverance from captivity and disper-
sion among the heathen. Well : but would nbv
y^Sn ID, an altogether general expression, in-
telligible in itself, have been a strictly technical
term for " going up out of Egypt." 'And upon
the single passage, Ex. i. 10, in which, moreover,
ao allusion is really made to a Avjthdrawal from
Egypt as from a land of captivity, but Pharaoh
only speaks of a departure of the Israelites from
it could such a linguistic usage have been based,
that \'-liSn \a n'7V would have been under-
stood correctly without any explanation? Na
other passages occur upon which such a usagi
could have been founded, and none in which it
actually occurs. In chap. ii. 15, e. g., "Egypt"
is expressly mentioned. No matter how much,
therefore, may be said for this explanation as be-
ing actually correct, it cannot be approved uncon-
ditionally. Others therefore understand '"tha
land," simply of Palestine. " Going up out of
the land," is thus viewed either as a marching up
to Jerusalem (Simson), and to this the context
gives much support, especially in the reference to
the reunion of Israel and Judah under one head
(D.avid). This would imply that Jerusalem would
become again the common central point of the
nation. But to this also objection may be made
(in another direction) to the too general expression
tr-|^n 113 nbs?. The terminus a quo would
then be quite irrelevant. Wliy then mention this
terminus a quo, and omit the terminus ad quern — to
Jerusalem (Zion), which is the important point?
Hence ^'nSn ]'a iibV is regarded by others as
a marching forth to victory (Ewald), as David
did. The comparison with Mic. ii. 14 f. is cer-
tainly a fitting one. The preceding words, about
their marshalling, and uniting and appointing one
head, also suit this view well ; one is led to think
in this of a rising up to vigorous action (because
viribus unitis). This explanation demands the
mention of the place whither this T\>'S was to be
directed less than the others. But perhaps it is
indicated in the following still more obscure sen-
tence : lor great is the day of Jezreel. This
naturally refers back to chap. i. 4, 5. But there
Jezreel was the place of overthrow of divine judg-
ment. Keil supposes the same thing is meant here
also, that that day of defeat was great, i. e., de-
cisive, glorious, because it formed the critical oc-
casion by which the return of the recreant and
their reunion with Judah were rendered possible !
Others think of the appellative meaning of the
name Jezreel, which certainly appears in chap. ii.
24, 25 : God sows. This use of the term is sup-
posed to express the notion that the Valley of Jez-
reel, in consequence of the overthrow there suf-i
fered, becomes a place where God sows the seed of
the people's renovation. Keil also admits this as
a secondary allusion. But to understand by Dl^
vSV'IT'], that day of disaster, and to suppose that
a day of defeat is called great on account of its
good remote results, is a far-fetched notion. Here
in chap. ii. 1,2, in the announcement of deliver-
ance, we find ourselves upon other ground than
that of chap. i. 4 ff. What is here ijraised as great,
is not and cannot be the same as that which in
chap. i. is announced as punishment, but must be
something of an opposite character. But if we
leave out of view that day of battle, we have left
only the vague notion : time of God's sowing, i. e.,
when God plants as He had before rooted out, i. e,,
the time of r«acccptance ; and such a time is des-
ignated as great by 7"n3. But our sentence can-
not be supposed to give utterance to sucii a gen-
eral thought. The confirmatory ^3 does not suit
such a view ; for ^'^ Q1^ alludes too definitely
(as Keil has perceived correctly) to chap. i. 4, and
therefore refers to a definite event ; only not thcl
same event, but one which is its counterpart. The
sense evidently is this, that there where Israel was
overthrown, and its bow broken, a victory will yet
CHAPTEES I. 1-n. 3.
29
oe achieved : thither will the children of Israel
and Judah gather themselves together under one
king, marching up out of the country. And still
the appellative significance of Jezreel may be re-
tained ; for by this victory God makes a new sow-
ing or planting. Thus, as the threatening is con-
nected with the names of the children, chap. i. 4
ff., so also is the promise : in the first name with-
out any modification, in the other two by the
change into their opposite by the omission of the
t^7. [The English expositors usually take the ref-
erence to be primarily to the return from the Baby-
lonian captivity. Some of them (of whom Cowles
is the latest) i-efer the fulfillment only to the con-
sequences of the reign of Messiah, the " Head "
chosen not only by the united children of Israel and
Judah but also by the world. Henderson, denying
any multiple sense in prophecy, interprets the
" head " to be Zerubbabel, " because the Messiah,
whom most suppose to be intended, is nowhere
spoken of as appointed by men, but always as the
choice and appomtment of God." But (1 ) it is not
said that they will appoint their leader to be the
Messiah. That is of course God's appointment.
(2.) The Messiah thus appointed must necessarily
be the chosen leader of his people. It is the ser-
vice of a " willing people " in which they engage.
Even God always offers Himself to his people as
their king. They are to choose whom they will
serve. This argument is evidently only the plea
of one who has a theory to uphold. As to the
main application of these verses, it is probably
best to regard its promise as partially and but to a
very small degree fulfilled in the case of those out
of the Ten Tribes who returned to Jerusalem after
the Exile, and to be constantly undergoing its ful-
fillment in the increase of the true Israel until the
"great multitude which no man could number of
all nations" (the 144,000, the mystical number of
those sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel), shall be
completed. That the Messianic application is al-
most exclusively the true one is evident both from
the grand comprehensiveness of the promise, and
from the paucity of evidence as to subsequent re-
union to any extent of the representatives of the
two kingdoms. — M.]
Ver. 3. — Say to your brethren, Amml, and
to your sisters, Buhamah. According to some
the children of the Prophet are addressed. Those
who had first called out to the people by their own
oames : Not-my-people ! and Unfavored ! are now
to call out to tliem the opposite, the son to his
brethren, the daughter to her sisters, that is, to
the rest of the Israelites. According to others, it
is the people who obtain mercy that are addressed,
whose members are to salute one another with the
new name bestowed on them by God (Hengsten-
berg, Keil, Umbreit). The latter is to be pre-
ferred. For the verse is naturally coanected with
the close of ver. 2, and it should therefore present
the rejoicing shouts of the victors. Their victory
is to them a pledge of their acceptance by God,
which is to be celebrated by these joyful shouts,
according to the requirement of the Prophet, or
rather of God through him.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
I. One of the most profound conceptions of the
Did Testament is that which regards the covenant
•clatioQ between Jehovah and Israel as a mar-
riage. As a consequence, Israel's idolatry and
ipostasy from God appear as whoredom or adul-
tery ; for idols are paramours as contrasted with
Jehovah the husband.
The fundamental elements of this conception
are found as early as in the Pentateuch ; Ex.
xxxiv. 14, 15; Lev. xvii. 7; xx. 5, 6; Num. xiv.
33 ; (xv. 39) ; Deut. xxxi. 16 ; xxxii. 16, 21. Ex.
xxxiv. 14, 15 must be regarded as the most im-
portant and the fundamental passage.
Other passages are Judges ii. 17; viii. 33; 1
Kings xiv. 24; xv. 12; xxii. 47 ; 2 Kings ix. 22,
xxiii. 7; 1 Chron. vi. 25; 2 Chron. xxi. 11, 13.
Further in the Psalms (if we leave Ps. xiv. out of
the question) ; Ps. Ixxiii. 27 ; cvi. 39.
Such passages of later time, as those from
Chronicles, naturally presuppose the prophetic
development of this doctrine. This is found first
in our Prophet, who has made that conception the
fundamental idea of his discourses, in some of
which it is directly discussed, while it permeates
others as an essential principle [e. g., in chap. xi.).
On the ground of these discourses it is more fully
presented by Jeremiah (especially chaps, iii. ; v. 7 ;
xiii. 27, etc.), and Ezekiel (chaps, xvi.-xxiii.). It
is only hinted at in Isaiah (chaps, i. 21 ; liv. 5 ;
Ivii. 3; Ixii. 5). It is not met with in the other
prophets. For Nahum iii. 4 ff. does not belong
here (although the expressions show allusions to
our prophet). Nor does Is. xxiii. 16 ff. ; for there
it is not idolatry that is represented by the whore-
dom of Nineveh and Tyre. In addition, on the
positive side, namely, the love of Jehovah to Israel,
we must name the Song of Solomon, which bears
besides, unmistakable allusions to our Prophet.
In the New Testament this conception returns,
naturally modified in form, in the description of
the great Whore, Rev. xvii. ff. (embracing, at the
same time, the ideas that are found in the last-
named passages concerning great and commercial
cities). But the positive notion of a marriage of
Jehovah to his people is found again in a New
Testament form in Eph. v. 22 ff , though there in
an inverted order ; for an actual marriage is firsi
taken, and a parallel is then drawn between it and
the relation of Christ to the Church.
For the meaning and significance of this whole
conception of Jehovah's relation to his people, our
Prophet is, according to the above remarks, tha
best commentator in all his writings, and especial-
ly in chap. ii. See therefore the remarks upon
that chapter.
2. " God will not be mocked " is the truth which
the writings of the Prophet, written in letters of
flame, bear upon their front in the announcement
of the destroying judgments which God must and
will inflict upon his apostate people. The mods
of this announcement in our chapter through tha
three children with symbolical names, is full of
instruction. The very fact that they represent
the apostate children of Israel and declare by
their names the punishment for this apostasy, sets
forth unmistakably the close connection between
sin and guilt, namely, that punishment is, so to
speak, attached to sin. And the sudden appear-
ance of the three children without any interval
expresses evidently the certainty and unavoidablc-
ness of the infliction of the divine judgment. Tha
three symbolic names, moreover, were given fol
the purpose of intensifying and emphasizing tha
announcement of the judgment. If the first nama
simply presages the fact of a retribution by an
overwhelming judgment, the second unveils with
terrible clearness its ground in the divine nature ■
it is that they shall no more flnd corajassion, tha
God has turned away from them. Ani the resnl
so
HOSEA.
of all this is that the nation ceases to be a people
of God. Thus the whole significance of this judg-
ment is exhibited. Destruction, the cessation of
mercy, might be felt by any other people or king-
dom ; but with the people of God its influence
was difl^erent, it was to them the loss of its special
prerogative. Such a judgment has therefore a
significance which is not merely political or social
but also theocratic, and must be inflicted with a
terrible severity elsewhere unfelt.
But it is most palpably enounced in our chap-
ter how far judgment is from being the end of
God's ways toward his people. Immediately after
the three strokes of destruction, so to speak, had
been dealt, the sun of divine favor breaks forth
from the darkest clouds of divine judgment in the
brightest splendor of words of deliverance, as three
names are again sounded forth each more dis-
tinctly than the former. This great transforma-
tion is presented mthout the least preparation,
evidently as an enigma, thus exciting the greatest
desire for its solution. The connecting link be-
tween these two announcements so broadly con-
trasted ; namely, on the side of God, love, in which
even his wrath against his faithless people is
rooted — if He were inditferent He would not be
angry, — and on the side of man, a return to Him
in consequence of the chastening of his judg-
ments, is not yet displayed here. This is done by
the longer exposition given in the following chap-
ter.
3. A man may be the instrument of God and,
by his acts, execute his will, and yet be rejected :
so Jehu. Our position is determined by the rela-
tion which we inwardly bear to that will, accord-
ing to the simple truth that God regards the heart,
whether we make the desires of God our own and
are willing to be nothing but his instruments and
to serve Him, or whether we assert and claim a
place for our own interests, and thus in truth seek
our own will and not the will of God. If we in
this seek our own ends, the result is inevitable ;
our execution of the divine will is impeded and
disturbed, if it is not rather only a seeming fulfill-
ment and our labors abortive.
4. The New Testament conception of sonship
with God, has as its Old Testament correlative
that of a people of God. This places God in a
close, unique relation to men. But God appears
there as only Lord and King, though bestowing
blessings and ofl^ering the conditions of life; and
man, to whom He thus stands in relation, is not
the individual but only the people of God as a
whole. Therefore also this government of God
has for one of its aims the restoration and preser-
vation of the outward conditions of national exist-
ence, including the natural basis of such a com-
munity, the land itself. Under the New Covenant
there is also a people of God, but the individuals,
who constitute the whole, are all regarded as chil-
dren of God
But in another direction the Old Testament no-
tion of a people of God tends undeniably towards
the New Testament conception of sonship, and
thus show") itself to be a germ ever developino-
with living power as the earnest of its fruit. AU
Israel apj;ears as a son of God in the significant
passage, Ex. xi. 22; comp. further Hos. xi. 1.
The Israelites themselves are also called " sons of
God," Deut. xiv. 1 ; xxxii. 19, and here in our
rhapfcer. But these are only single whispers, and
the grand distinction must not be overlooked,' that
this expression is applied only to the totality of
vhe people, «ven when it relates to their great
multitude. Moreover our passage is contained in
an announcement with regard to the future, and
we must hold beyond question that the prophets
go beyond the stand-point of the Old Covenant
It is just as Paul declares in Gal. iv. 1 ff. Israd
indeed actually held the position of sonship to-
ward God, but ^(^' (icoy xP^*"^^ ^ K\7jpov^ vi]'iri6i
eo-Tic oijhev Siaipepei hovKou. Only the incarnation
of the Son of God Himself in an individual per-
son could confer the privilege of the relation of
individual and personal sonship towards God, the
vloOeaia of individual personality.
5. How is the promise in chap. ii. 1-3 fulfilled?
We might at first be inclined to seek the fulfillment
in the return of the people from Babylonish Exile.
For that event certainly marks the turning-point
where God's judgment upon his people reached
its end and his favor again shone upon them. But
in truth we cannot yet discern the accomplishment
of the prophecy in that event. It could hardly he
the subject of the promise, inasmuch as the Prophet
only speaks and knows here of a judgment upon
the Ten Tribes. But if a return from the As-
syrian Exile and a consequent reunion with the
kingdom of Jndah had taken place, we might ex-
pect to see in these events a fulfillment of the prom-
ise. But such a return and consequent remission
of the judgment upon the kingdom of Israel never
took place ; and the return from the Babylonish
Exile afl^ected that kingdom but very slightly,
and brought about only to a very small degree a
season of deliverance. God's favor rctnrned, in-
deed, inasmuch as this period was an assurance
that God had not utterly rejected his people, and
the hope of the fulfillment of the prophetic prom-
ises became so much the brighter. But it was not
the fulfillment itself No ; to arrive at that we
have only to look at our promise a little more
closely.
Before the eye of the Prophet there is evidently
standing here a pictui-e of a people of Israel, not
only innumerably increased and united into one
kingdom, but also actually realizing the idea of a
people of God (" sons of the living God "). That
is, the time which he promises is in his mind di-
rectly the " time of fulfillment," which we, upon
the ground of other prophecies, since Hosea him-
self scarcely speaks of the Messiah (not even in
chap. iii. 5), must designate the Messianic. Hence
we can in no ease seek the fulfillment in events
which transpired before the advent of the Messiah.
But now the Messiah has come in Jesus of Naz-
areth. Is this promise of prophecy already ful-
filled ? Is this picture of the future already real-
ized f If we keep to the words of the Text we
must answer. No.
In fact the coming of the Messiah did not bring
for Israel, as a whole, the time of deliverance, hut
on account of its guilt, rather a time of rejection,
and the consequence was the infliction of a new
and still more complete judgment. It is quite
clear also that we cannot find the fulfillment of the
present promise in the acceptance of the Messiah
by the comparatively few who did accept Him.
Must we then say that God did indeed design for
the people in the Messiah such blessings as are
here promised ; but that, since they rejected Him,
the promised time will never be theirs f In one
respect this is perfectly true. But we cannot rei-t
satisfied with it. The prophetic promise with all
its rich fullness of meanmg would then simply fall
to the ground.
But still more unjustifiable is the assumption
that the promise is to be regarded as only bu»
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 3.
31
pended for the people of Israel during the time of
tlieir obduracy, and to expect its fulfillment in that
nation when it shall be converted to the Messiah.
For this opinion, though so much favored of late,
simply holds mechanically and restrictively to the
letter, with a complete misconception of the nature
of the Old and New Testament and their mutual
relations, and of the higher plane to which divine
Revelation rose with Christ, and supposes it pos-
sible that Revelation could retreat from the stand-
point of the fulfillment to that of the Old Testament
preparation, where Israel as a people represented
the kingdom of God. It would assume also that
allusion was made to the one kingdom only, for
the purpose of showing that the distinction be-
tween children of Judah and children of Israel
was lost by the extinction of the whole kingdom,
even of the kingdom of Judah, independently of
the consummation of the reunion under one head
here promised. And therefore a promise which
takes that division for granted and holds out the
prospect of its removal and conversion into a
higher unity, cannot be regarded as one whose ful-
fillment (according to the plain sense of the words)
is still to be expected ; or is that division of the
two kingdoms, which no longer exist, yet to take
place, in order that it may at some time be re-
moved ? If we have to give up the main posi-
tion of this assumption of a literal fulfillment vet
to be accomplished, on account of its intrinsic im-
possibility, all support is taken away from the no-
tion that the promise will be realized in and for
the people of Israel upon the soil of the Holy
Land. It falls to pieces from internal weakness.
Instead, therefore, of dreaming of a future ful-
fillment in the literal sense, we must rather say,
that the Prophet knows of a people of God only
in the form of Israel, and hence what he hopes
and promises for the people of God he hopes
and promises for Israel, and in the form condi-
tioned by Israel's history. But it has become
clear to us under the New Testament through
Christ : Israel was only a type, necessary for its
time and chosen by God, of the true people of
God, only a shell which contained the kernel in
the mean while, but at the same time was also to
protect it until the time of its maturity. But the
shell was too small and must be burst ; the kernel
had not and has not sufficient room, and it would
be reversing the order of things, after the kernel is
laid bare to retain the shell. It is not the outward
Israel that is God's people ; it was just the period
of its lain, just the rejection of the Messiah at his
coming by the external Israel that opened the way
for this. It was made clear that a people as such
was insufficient for this high callmg, to be the
chosen people of God, as the prophets themselves
distinguished more and more between the mere
external Israel and the true Israel, and saw the
heathen coming to Zion and entering the breach.
And though Israel is still held as the central point,
!he fulfillment is not in outward form, but ideally,
-nasmuch as Christ came the " Saviour of the
Jews ; " Israel therefore remaining the root in
which the others were engrafted. We can under-
stand now the promise of the innumerable increase
(chap. ii. 1 ). Literally it would apply to the people
of Israel, but can only apply to them as the people
of God ; and even though the older prophets say
nothing as yet of the calling of the Gentiles, as
Vlicah and Isaiah do, we have now assuredly a
right to abandon the notion of an increase of the
external Israel, and to see the fulfillment in the
S)unding of a pea pie of God by Christ just in the
time of the final ruin of Israel, who have become.
especially by the conversion of the heathen, a
numberless multitude, and will become still more
numerous. Then the reunion of the divided king-
doms is an essential element in the Messianic pic-
ture of the future held up in prophecy, as this
very passage shows. This is altogether natural.
Since prophecy knows a people of God only in
the form of the people of Israel, it was necessary,
if salvation was to be brought by the reign of the
Messiah, that the breach, so harmful to God's peo-
ple, and the fruitful source, even more than the
consequence, of apostasy from Jehovah, should be
removed. If Israel was to be described as be-
coming converted to God, it must also be repre-
sented as returning to its unity under the divinely
chosen House of David. This element also in
the promise belongs naturally to its form, the form
which it must naturally assume under the Old
Covenant. As in the New Testament it was de-
clared that the outward Israel was not to consti-
tute God's people for all time, this element lost its
significance ; we cannot expect a literal fulfillment
of this promise, but the idea which lies at its
foundation has been and is being realized, that is,
the idea of the real unity of God's people under
one head of the house of David, who was, how-
ever, more than the son of David, namely, under
Christ. These promises have thus a higher range
than the Prophet conceives, and find their fulfill-
ment in a far higher sense than he hopes, and as
they are thus more than mere human aspirations
and pious wishes, they are seen to proceed from
the Spirit of God, who preformed and prevised
the New Covenant in the Old. So little does this
view do away with the divine authority of the
prophetic word, that it is rather its only real attes-
tation and adequate expression, unlike the other
literalizing view disproved above.
But if the reproach of spiritualizing should he
brought against this conception, our defense is that
we onlj' spiritualize in reference to Old Testament
promises, along with the Apostles, and would not
be more realistic than they, who (1 Pet. ii. 10;
Rom. ix. 25, 26), although fully aware of the lit-
eral sense of our passages, yet do expressly refer
them to the conversion of the heathen. Peter in
the same connection (ver. 9) sets the New Testa-
ment people of God, Christians, directly in the
place of those of the Old Testament, and therefore
the former are now the true Israel. This exten-
sion with reference to the heathen is also quite
consequent. If the words : not my people, were
once pronounced over Israel, it was because they
had sunk quite to the level of the heathen. And
if they are to be received again, they would be re-
ceived just as those who had actually become like
heathen ; and it is no longer right to exclude the
heathen, who are behind them in no respect. But
there is this difference between the reacceptance
and the first choice. When the Israelites were
chosen they were not in positive opposition to God,
but now they are so ; and therefore a longer exclu-
sion of the heathen would be a particularizing to
a greater extent than their disciplinary training
demanded ; it would be a violation of justice. Fo'
the rest: Paul declares clearly that Israel itself
shall not be excluded (Rom. xi. 26). Only thus
should the people of God attain to its full increase
(And surely, in the fact of the preservation of Is-
rael in its nationality even under the New Testa-
ment, we may see a promise of this conversion,
although that wonderful preservation by God's
providence is to be regarded in its most patent aa-
32
HO SEA.
pect as a part of the judgment decreed upon Israel
by God. It is preserved as a living witness of the
rejection decreed by God on account of its unbe-
lief and rejection of the Messiah.) Only Paul
says not a word, when promising Israel's conver-
sion, that would lead us to think that a people of
God, tear i^oxv^, will be continued, not a word of
the "glory of the kingdom of Israel," though his
heart beat so warmly (conip. chap, ix.) towards
his nation in its outward sense.
Finally we have only further to remark that in
our referenees to the Messianic period inaugurated
by Christ, as the time of the fultillnicnt of the pro-
phetic promises, " Messianic time " is taken in the
fullest sense of the term, and the whole course
of the New Testament dispensation, from its
foundation to its completion, is regarded as one
whole, so that we have not yet attained to the per-
fect fulfillment, although the promises of prophecy
have been undergoing their realization since the
time of Christ. " For it doth not yet appear what
we shall be." The fulfillment is not yet complete,
but we stand in expectation of it. This perfect
realization consists least in the literal fuliillraent
with respect to the external Israel alone, but it too.
in so far as it is converted to the Messiah, will have
a share in the complete salvation ready for all who
will be converted to God through Christ.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 2. Staeke : All departure from God's
Word and from true religion is a spiritual whore-
dom. Blessed are they who beware of this !
Ver. 4. Staeke : As a good intention without
God's counsel does not make a cause good, so it
cannot be said that the divine will has been ful-
filled, when it has been executed with a perverted
heart and not in accordance with the divine pur-
poses. (Comp. the Doctrinal and Ethical section.
No. 3.)
WiJKT. SuMM. . God's wrath often falls upon
posterity, and they must suffer for the sins of their
forefathers, if they walk in their evil footsteps
(Ex. XX. 5).
Tub. Bible : Public sins of a whole nation or of
its kings and princes are followed by a general jud_
ment of God, by which whole lands are destroyed.
[Posey ; So awful a thing it is to be the instru-
ment of God in punishing or reproving others if
we do not by his grace keep our own hearts and
hands pure from sin. — M.]
Ver. 6. WiJET. Shmm. : Behold here the sever-
ity of the divine wi'ath. God is certainly compas-
sionate, but his compassion is regulated by his holy
righteousness. His compassion exceeds all human
petitions and understanding ; but his wrath goes
beyond all human reckoning. Men may keep on
sinning against our beloved God too long, so that
when He has waited Ibng exhorting them to re-
pentance, and they do not follow Him, his words
at last are: "Lo-Kuharaah Lo-Ammi." Beware
of this and do not defer your repentance; for
God may soon become as angry as He was merci-
ful.
Ver. 7. Ceamek : When human help ceases,
divine help begins. He is not limited to the use
of means, but is Himself our Help and Shield.
[BuEEODOHS : The more immediate the hand
of God appears in his mercy to his people, the
more sweet and precious ought that mercy then to
be. Dutcius ex ipso fonfe. Created mercies are the
most perfect mercies. — M.J
Starke : Woe to him whose God the Lord will
no longer be. Let men therefore beware lest by
presumptuous sin they trifle away all intercourse
with God.
RiEGEE ; When God thus renounces those who
were his people, it is much more lamentable than
any severance between those who are married or
betrothed. " I will be your God and ye shall be
my people," was the formula of the covenant.
They had broken the last condition by their unbe-
lief; and thus they stirred up the Lord to anger
so that He renounced the first. Yet He has not
expressly retracted the whole formula of the cov-
enant. He did not say : I will not be your God,
but He cut short his words in anger : I will not
yours. Thus room is left for that mercy which
shall awake anew for them.
Ver. 9. The threatenings are indeed terrible :
but how merciful it was in God to announce the
judgment before it comes ; and the plainer and
more striking these threatenings are the greater
the mercy. This is a ground for hoping that the
judgment will be averted.
Chap. ii. ver. 1. This is the order and method
of God s dealings : He slays, not that He may keep
under the power of death, but that He may bring
to repentance. Thus He dispersed Israel among
the heathen, and without any compassion and
mercy, as it seemed to outward observation, re-
jected them utterly. For the Ten Tribes have not
yet returned to their own land. But how abun-
dantly has God compensated to them this misfor-
tune ! For those who were scattered among the
heathen, He gathered again by the Gospel, and so
gathered them that a great multitude of the heathen
came to the knowledge of the kingdom of Christ
along with the remnant in the kingdom of Israel.
He points the people of Israel to this compensa-
tion, that they may not despond in such affliction,
as we also assuage, by the hope of the future glory,
prepared for us by the death of Christ, the sor-
rows of those calamities which we see before our
eyes.
[BuEKOUGHS : If we expect God to be a living
God to us, it becomes us not to have dead hearts in
his service. If God be active for our good, let us
be active for his honor. — M.]
Ver. 2. Staeke : The Church of the New Tes-
tament has only one Head, who is Christ. Blessed
are we if we cleave to and follow Him I
[Matthew Henet : To believe in Christ is to
appoint Him to ourselves for our Head, that is, to
consent to God's appointment and willingly to sub-
mit to his guidance and appointment; and this in
concurrence and communion with all good Chris-
tians who make Him their Head ; so that though
they are many, yet in Him they are one, and so
become one with each other. Qui corweniunt in ali-
quo tertio inter se conveniwit. — M.].
Ver. 3. The prophet gives the best application
of the names which God bade him apply to his
children in order that the Christian Church may
be convinced thereby that all the former things are
reversed, that wrath is done away, and that the
unfathomable compassion and mercy of God stand
open to every man. For how should God, after Ha
gave his son, not with Him have given all things?
This word " say " belongs to the office of public
preaching. We are to understand by it that the
servants of God in the New Testament are com-
manded to comfort believers, and to declare to
them that they stand in mercy and are a people of
God.
[PcSEY : The words " my people " are words of
CHAPTER II. 4-25. 33
hope in prophecy ; they become words of joy in
each stage of fulfillment. They are words of mu-
tual joy and gratulation when obeyed ; they are ciled to Hun. — M.]
words of encouragement until obeyed. God is rec-
onciled to us, and willeth that we should be recon-
PoLLEB Discourse op Jehovah Concerning His Adulterous Spouse, Isbabi..
Chapter U. 4-25.
A. Complaint and Threatening of Punishment.
Verses 4-15.
4 Plead with your mother, plead !
For she is not my wife
And I am not her husband,
That she put away her whoredom from before her
And her adultery from between her breasts.
5 Lest I strip her naked,
And place her as (she was in) the day of her birth,
And make her like the wilderness,
And set her (so as to be) like a barren land.
And slay her with hunger.
6 And on her cliildren I will not have mercy.
For they are children of whoredom
7 Because their mother has committed whoredom
And she that bore them has caused shame,
Because she said : I will go after my lovers,
Who furnished my bread and my water.
My wool and my flax.
My oil and my (pleasant) drinks.
8 Therefore behold I am hedging up thy way with thorns,
And will wall up a wall [raise a waU before her]
And she will not find her paths.
9 And she will pursue her lovers and not overtake them
And will seek them and not find ;
And she will say : I will go and return to my former husband,
For (it was) better with me then than now.
10 And she did not know that I gave her
The corn and the wine and the oil.
And that I increased for her silver and gold,
(Which) they used for Baal.
11 Therefore will I take back my corn in its time
And my wine in its season,
And snatch away my wool and my flas
(Which was) to cover her nakedness,
12 And then will I uncover her shame
In the eyes of her lovers.
And none will deliver her from my hands.
13 And I will bring to an end all her joy ;
Her feast-making, her new-moons, her sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
1-1 And will lay waste her vine and her flg tree
Of which she said : they are my reward
Which my lovers gave to me :
And will make her a forest,
And the beast of the field will devour her.
84 HOSEA.
B.
15 And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals ;
To which she burnt incense,
And (then) put on her ring and her jewels,
And went after her lovers,
And forgot me, saith Jehovah.
The Punishment leads to Conversion, and thus to the glorious Renewal of the Mar
riage Contract between Jehovah and Israel.
Verses 16-25.
16 Therefore, behold, I am alluring her,
And will lead her into the wilderness
And speak unto her heart [epeak with comfort].
17 And I will give her her vineyards from thence,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will answer then as in the days of her youth,
As in the day of her coming up from the land of Egypt.
18 And it will be in that day, saith the Lord,
Thou wilt call : My husband.
And thou wilt no more call me : My Baal.
19 And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
And they shall no more be remembered by their name,
20 And I will make for them in that day a covenant
With the beast of the field.
And with the birds of heaven.
And the creeping things of the earth,
And bow and sword and war will I destroy from the land,
And make them dwell in security.
21 And I wUl betroth thee to me for ever,
And betroth thee to me in righteousness and justice.
And in mercy and in compassion ;
22 And betroth thee to me in faithfulness,
And thou shalt know Jehovah.
23 And it will be in that day,
I will answer, saith the Lord,
Will answer the heavens,
And they will answer the earth,
24 And the earth wUl answer the corn and the wine and the oil,
And they will answer Jezreel [ood's sowing]
25 And I will sow her for myself in the land,
And favor " Unfavored,"
And say to " Not-my-people " :
" Thou art my people,"
And they shall say : " My God."
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
; Ver. 4.— D^?^QS3, air. Xev. = 3''5M3. Fiirst regards It as signifying objects of Idolatrous woiship, thera
fore : little images, which are represented aa being oarried upon the breast. [But this is opposed to the parallel expres-
sion, D^3^3T, which, as Hengstenberg says, is evidently to Iw taken aa the species (adultery) of which the othet
(whoredoms, acts of unchastity) ia the genua. As illustrating the fitness of this picture, Manger compares Ez. xxiii. 3,
uid Horace, Od., i., 19, 7, 8. — JL]
[2 Ver. 8. — n^'75. J. H. Michaelis and Jahn point in their editions (TT~11T5, ker wdi^ and this reading, Hengsten-
serg assumes, wittiout any discussion, to be correct. But there is an obvious unsuitableness in this. The wall could
oot be £:epr(;»<inted as being " her " wall unless it were conceived of as existing before the action ou the part of Jehovah,
Fhich action was to viake the wall. — M.]
CHAPTER II. 4-25.
33
[S Ver. U. — rrnSO?, (which were) to cover. Such an ellipsis is quite common The rendering of the LXX.
rou jiLt) KoXvinetVj conveys the sense, but is not a translation. It was quite unnecessary for Newcome, Horsley, Booth"
royd, ana others following Houbigant, who waa misled by the LXX., to change the b into J3.— M.]
4 Ver. 14. — n^riN. This is usually derived from 712/1, as also is the usual synonym, pHH. Hengstenberj
labors to prove the derivation of both words from ^DJ and its 1st fut. : a " I-will-give-thee," similar to our " forget,
me-not." The absence of daghesh-forte in both nouns would seem to prove the unteuableness of this hypothesis. - M.]
6 Ver. 17.— nn3J7, Some take this ftom Jl^'S, to be bowed down, here: to be humble. But this does no suit
the sense of the verse. Besides, rT?Sl2? would then =s D^.
EXESBTIOAL AND CRITICAL.
This chapter is the essential supplement to chap.
i. It contains, in a more discursive style, an ex-
position, justifying and elucidating that which in
chap. i. was presented only as a theme, and in
some parts even enigmatically in its brief sentences.
Thecomplaint and threatening of destroying judg-
ments were uttered without any preparation ; and
still more suddenly were they followed immediately
by as glorious an announcement of salvation. Chap,
i. must thus excite inquiries, not so much through
the symbolical representation of the first part, as
by these unexpected utterances, inquiries which de-
mand an answer. Such answer is given by the
Lord Himself in chap. ii. 4 if., in a longer dis-
course. This is now altogether based upon the
conception of Israel as an unchaste wife, which was
only indicated in chap. i. and then disappeared, and
is developed in two sections, of threatening and of
promise. A complaint is first raised against the
unchaste wife, and then the course of punishment
is figuratively described, which, however, is seen
to be really a chastening with the view to conver-
sion from idolatry. This conversion itself is prom-
ised, and the way thus prepared for the announce-
ment of salvation. Israel, returning as penitently
as a wife to her husband, finds mercy with God.
So the close, ver. 24 f , returns expressly to chap,
i.-ii. 3, and the discourse is thus shown to be most
closely connected with that section.
The complaint and announcement of punish-
ment occupy vers. 4-15. The discourse takes a
turn with ver. 16. The declaration of deliverance
is introduced by the announcement of conversion,
and from ver. 20 onwards becomes a glorious prom-
ise.
A. Vers. 4-15. Complaint, and Announcement
of Punishment.
Vers. 4-6. Plead with your mother — for
they are children of whoredom. The person
who makes the demand is naturally Jehovah.
Those who are addressed are not the children of
the Prophet, chap. i. 4 if. (Kurtz), but the chil-
dren of the adulterous spouse, Israel (and there-
fore those who are designated children of whore-
dom, chap. i. 2). These children are distinguished
ideally from their mother, because Israel is from
one point of view regarded as the spouse. Israel
viewed as a unit is the mother : the children then
represent the individual Israelites (the mother can
Dot be conceived as existing without the children).
The children are now to plead with their mother.
But this does not mean that a part of Israel did
not serve idols, so that the better disposed among
!he people would be addressed (Keil, et at.). This
would conflict with what has Jjeen said of the rela-
^on between the mother and the Children. The
vhildren are conceived of as those who have to
U-ead misfortune on account of the prevailing
" whoredom." They, in fact, however, represent
just what the mother does ; they are to suffer the
same punishment with her, though in ver. 6 the
punishment is as yet only mentioned expressly as
that about to fall upon the children. But the dis-
tinction made between the mother and the children
is only a rhetorical mode of presentation resorted
to for the purpose of casting upon the mother,
through the children, the reproach that she by her
conduct was bringing misfortune upon them, and
thus persuading her to abandon her lewdness. Not
as though the children had acted diflferently from
the mother, but now when the punishment is to be
presented, the complaint is naturally directed
against the latter. For if the children have sinned,
they have followed their mother in doing so. She is
the really guilty one in this punishment. The chil-
dren are comparatively innocent, and have been
only seduced, and yet they must suffer like their
mother ! And then they must participate in the
sufferings which the mother endures for her own
sins. They are therefore the ones who should be
represented as pleading with the mother. This
mode of representation is not pursued beyond the
beginning of the chapter. For she is not my
wife, expresses well the sin of the mother. It is as
though Jehovah had said : " It is her sin that she
deports herself as one who could not be my wife,
and whose husband I could not be, and I cannot
look upon myself any more as her husband." The
next member of the verse shows the cause of this
feeling, for it is the conduct of the mother that gives
occasion to the children to upbraid her. The pun-
ishment would be : I know her no longer as my
wife, and will be her husband no longer. But pun-
ishment is not introduced before ver. 5 — ~'?''!p.''.
The 3'''7 involves the demand to cease from the
present conduct. This conduct is " whoredom,"
but in the case of a wife it is also more, it is " adul-
ter}'." From her face — from between her
breasts. The whoredom (idolatry) of Israel is
thus not secret, but is done openly. Israel is like
a public barefaced whore, who displays her profes-
sion in her face and (bared) breasts.
Ver. 5. The demand is supported by calling at-
tention to the punishment. Lest I strip her
naked. This is perhaps connected with the fore-
going so as to =as a punishment for the shame-
less exposure of her person which she wantonly
practices, strip her bare in a way she does not like
and of which she would be ashamed. Divested
of the figure the expression would mean : lest I
take from her everything that I have given her
and reduce her to the condition in which she was
before I delivered her and made her what she now
is (comp. Ezek. xvi. 4 ff.) The prophet now turns
to this earlier condition with the words : as in
the day of her birth. Primarily tMs is an image
of nakedness = like a new-born chi d, but not sim
86
HOSEA.
ply = without clothing, but = divested of every-
thing, stripped of all she can call her own. Thus
■was Israel on the day of its birth. This birth
took place when Israel was chosen to be the people
of God. According to chap. xi. 1, this was done
in Egypt. Israel was there naked, for it dwelt as
an oppressed natioa of slaves without a country.
And make her like a wilderness, that is, reduce
her to a situation where the necessaries of life are
wanting as they are to those in a desert, so that
they die of hunger ; and like a parched land, that
is, a place in which there is no water, so that she
may " die of thirst." This dying of thirst is only
mentioned because her situation is compared to a
desert ; and the general sense is = reduce her to a
situation of utter destitution from a condition of
great abundance. A reference to Israel's sojourn
in the desert cannot be well disproved (as by Keil)
along with the mention of the day of her birth.
Israel, it is true, was supplied with food and water
by God. But the desert itself had neither food
nor drink, as Israel felt only too keenly. And
that desert is an image of the condition to which
Israel is to be reduced by God.
Ver. 6. And will not have oompassion upon
her cliildren. This verse is in sense still depend-
ent upon ]9 of ver. 5. The want of compassion
is a consequence of the conduct of the mother,
but may be turned away by conversion. Even
the children shall share the same lot, that is, all
individually ; none are to suppose that they shall
escape punishment, — for they are children of
whoredom. Because they are begotten of whore-
dom and also witnesses of it, the Lord who is to
punish his adulterous spouse cannot endure them.
Still the question of chap. i. 2 repeats itself here,
whether S^ "'33 are not rather : children who
commit whoredom. This is most natural, for the
children are in fact identical with the mother.
Vers. 7-9. Because their mother hath practiced
whoredom — it was better with me then than
now. The last explanation given of ST \D2
would certainly be incorrect if ver. 7 were an ex-
planation of ver. 6 6= They are children of
whoredom, for their mother, etc. But such an
explanation, continued too in the parallelism (ver.
7 a, and h), would make the sense extremely pro-
lix. The same remark would apply if the verse
were coordinate to ver. 6 b, and supported it along
with ver. 6 a. Besides, this expression concerning
the mother's sin would not be appropriate as jus-
tifying the punishment threatened against the chil-
dren. The solution is to be found in the wider
scope of ver. 7. For here the thought is so en-
larged that it cannot be regarded simply as an ex-
planation of ver. 6, and at the same time coordi-
nate to the second member of that verse. Such a
view supposes that if that verse is an explanation,
ver. 7 must be so also. The thought is, however,
evidently an independent one. Nor does it refer
backwards, but, as its contents show, it reaches
forward and is therefore rather to be connected
with vers. 8, 9. (So Meier ; even the Vulgate and
Luther have detached it from ver. 6.) [So also
Henderson, and Cowles in his exposition though
not in his translation. — M.] — ntl7''ain here
not = to become a disgrace, but = to commit
shame. Luther: conduct herself shamefully. —
Who gave my bread, etc. = food, clothing, and
the enjoyments of life (Keil), comp. Jer. xliv. 17 ff.
We may refer this to a condition of things which
actually prevailed in Israel (com;), also ver. 16)
If it did exist along with idolatry, it would be na^
urally suggested that it was due to the idols. In
the figurative representation it is the reward which
the adulteress received from her paramours (comp
ver. 14). [Keil : " This delusive idea entertained
by the wife arose from the sight of the heathen
nations round about, who were rich and mighty,
and attributed this to their gods." — M.]
Ver. 8. Therefore behold, I hedge up her
way with thorns. The hedging up of the way,
strengthened in the parallel member by the figure
of raising up a wall, means in general to place an
obstacle in the way, to set up a wall of separation,
and that evidently between the wife and the para-
mours, Israel and the idols, so that the alliance
between them will be dissolved. This is shown
further by the words : and she will not find the
path to them, and also in ver. 9. This causa diri-
mens is here intentionally referred to only in a
general way, in a sort of enigmatical allusion. The
" that " is expressed only once with its immediate
sequence in ver. 9. The " how " does not appear
till ver. 11 ff. It is already hinted at in the con-
clusion of ver. 9. It is the feeling of distress in
strong contrast to the situation just extolled so
highly as the gift of the idols. This privation
must itself excite doubts as to the power of the
idols, and still more must their impotence in the
midst of her distress. Israel would indeed become
at first more ardent in its worship of idols; to
" pursue " after them, etc.. the more their prosper-
ity was regarded as their gift, the more would
they be missed- But " she will not reach them
and will not find them." It is represented, as
though outwardly it were no longer possible to
hold intercouse with the idols. This mode of rep-
resentation, however, is connected only with the
image of raising a hedge, etc., something which
effects an external separation. But the expres-
sion is very suitable, especially as the idols de-
noted by the paramours, prove themselves to be
a mere phantom, dead nothings, just when men
turn to them for help. They are therefore really
not found. Such experience of the nothingness
of idols then awakens again a longing after Jeho-
vah as the One, in whom alone help is to be found,
a longing after the good bestowed by Him upon
his people. The discourse here is just ready to
pass over into the thought that this punishment is
a chastening to lead to conversion (vers. 16ff.), but
upon the mention of former prosperity, it turns
again to complaint, in order to complete the an-
nouncement of the punishment merited by the
ungrateful forgetfulness of the giver of such pros-
perity. This is continued till ver. 15. [Heng-
stcnberg : " There can be no doubt, that by the
hedging and walling about, severe sufferings are
intended, by which the people are encompassed,
straitened, and hindered in every free movement.
For sufferings appear constantly as the specific
against Israel's apostasy from God We
can by no means think of an external obstacle.
Outwardly there was, during the exile, and in the
midst of idolatrous nations, a stronger temptation
to idolatry than they had in their native land.
Hence we can think of an internal obstacle only,
and then again, only of an absolute incapacity of
the idols to grant to the people consolation "and
relief in their sufferings. If this incapacity is first
ascertained by experience, men lose their confi-
dence in them, and feek help where alone it is to
found." — M.]
Vers. 10-12. She knew not, etc. The ^efe^
CHAPTER II. 4-25.
37
jnce is to ver, 7. Israel had shamefully ascribed
to the idols what they owed to God. That God
was the Giver they must have been inwardly con-
Bcious, in fact could have known it from the Law ;
but they ignored this truth, denied it, and nat-
urally so, because they had departed from their
God. The abundance of the natural productions
of the country then led to an abundance of silver
and gold, but — cutting reproach — that which
they owed to God ViJ? i ^2^^, probably ; they
employed it for Baal, not : they made it a Baal, as
the article especially shows. " Employed," partly
in making idol images, partly in the service of
idols. Baal may be taken here for idols gener-
ally, since the actual Baal-worship was done away
witli by Jehu, though not entirely, comp. 2 Kings
xiii. 6 (Keil).
Ver. U. Now the punishment is expressed
which was in vers. 8, 9, only hinted at, the with-
drawal of the good things which had been so en-
joyed. My corn = the corn which they received
from me. In its time, that is, the season when
com and wine are expected. Hence the absence
of them was the more distressing, but also more
significant and striliing, showing itself to be a
punishment from God. Since He was not acknowl-
edged as the Giver when He gave them. He will
manifest Himself more clearly as such in taking
them away. 'Wliioli was to cover her naked-
ness. The resulting want should be complete,
its consequence ignominious bareness = utter des-
titution. And then will I uncover her shame.
= her lovers (idols) shall also look upon her
nakedness to her disgrace. She would become so
miserable, that even they shall despise her, though
she once held herself so highly with them.
Vers. 13-15. And I will bring to an end all
her joy, etc. A still more definite indication of
the punishment before threatened. All joy must
cease. But joy culminates, and has its purest ex-
pression in the festivals, the yearly feasts, strictly
speaking. 3n. Upon these follows the monthly
feast, that of the new moon, and the weekly one,
that of the Sabbath. ni^ia"73 then gathers
all these up in one general expression. Even dur-
ing the prevalence of idolatry the feast-days prob-
ably remained outwardly the same as before.
Ver. 14. The devastation mentioned here is
probably intended to follow up the cessation of
joy; for the vine and the fig tree are the finest
productions of Canaan, not necessary to the sup-
port of life, but affording the choicest delicacies
(comp. Joel i. 7-12). [Henderson: " These nouns
are to be taken as collectives, or rather, as Plorsley
suggests, as plantations of vines and fig trees.
These should be left uncultivated on the removal
of the inhabitants to a foreign region, comp. Is. v.
6 ; vii. 23, 24. — M.]
Ver. 15. And will visit upon her the days of
Baal, that is, the feast-days just mentioned, for
they were celebrated in honor of Baal, and not of
Jehovah. And put on her ring, etc. This is an
expression which in its strictness belongs only to
the image ; for Israel is compared to a coquettish
trostitute, who is in the habit of thus adorning her-
lelf Yet there may be allusion to the festal at-
tire worn at the idol-feasts. And forgot mo. A
(harp and mournful contrast to the vain adorn-
ments of the prostitute. For the sake of the par-
amours she was never weary of decking herself
»ut ; but no more thought of Jehovah. It is plain
How completely this whole threatening was ful-
filled by the Assyrian invasion. Yet it is to be
observed that this itself is not threatened here,
and still less banishment. In general, no enemy
is yet named, at least none definitely, but only the
laying waste of the land. [Henderson : " Their
entirely abandoning themselves to the service of
idols, and their dereliction from the God of their
fathers, are brought forward at the conclusion of
this description of their conduct, in order to
huighten tne aggravation of their guilt, and ren-
der the announcement of the kindly disposition of
Jehovah toward them, at the beginning of the fol-
lowing verse, the more surprising." — M.]
B. Announcement of the Conversion of Israel and
the beneficent Renewal of the Covenant.
Vers. 16-19. Therefore behold I will allure
her, etc. !.?/■ We have had this word twice al-
ready in a similar construction (vers. 8 and 11)
with the sense : because Israel has transgressed,
therefore God will punish them. ^J) also here
naturally means : therefore. Every other explana-
tion, such as vernnfamen, or profecto, is arbitrary,
and has arisen fi-om the embarrassment occasioned
by the difficulty which a " therefore " causes in
this connection ; for it is not clear from what a
conclusion is drawn, whether from their sin or
from their punishment or from their sudden desire
to return (ver. 9). Nor is it clear what conclusion
is drawn, whether punishment or a display of love.
As regards the first question it is to be observed
that the mention of Israel's sin immediately pro-
cedes (ver. 15 at the end), while their punishment
had been previously described, whose converting
influence ver. 9 had already indicated. The ex-
pression : I will allure her, might certainly form a
contrast to the words : she forgot me = while she
forgets me, I am mindful of her and recall her to
my thoughts. But the whole can hardly be merely
an inference from what is said at the close of ver.
15, for the reference to the sin is there only inci-
dental and subordinate to the description of the
punishment. ^37 therefore draws an inference
not from Israel's sin in itself, but from that sin as
being punished, and punished not without sever-
ity, as was before plainly stated. Hence we find
that 137 introduces a conclusion drawn from the
contents of the whole preceding section = there-
fore because Israel has been punished for her sin
and forgetfulness of me, and has been so reduced
to a condition of distress that she longs after hap
piness in communion with me, I will allure her,
etc. This reference to the whole of the preceding
is certainly justified in our verse, since the dis-
course evidently takes here a new direction. II
this is the sense of 137, the conclusion which is
drawn ii not an announcement of punishment,
against which the expression, " I will allure her"
is decisive, but an exhibition of love, and yet such
a display as is virtually determined by the sin that
is punished, and which is connected immediately
with the punishment, in order to foster those first
motions of longing into a steadfast resolution
to return. [Pocock, Newcome, Noyes, and Hen-
derson translate : nevertheless, notwithstanding.
They failed to discern the inner connection be-
tween the passages divided by this particle, which,
in fact, never has the meaning they assign to it.
Cowles reaches the right conclusion, though not
upon exegetical grounds : " Some have found a
difficulty here, inasmuch as the grievous sins of
Israel seem to be no natural reason for giving the
blessings hereafter promised. But the reasons,
38
HOSEA.
fiewed fundamentally, lie deeper than the sins of
Israel, even in God's covenant love and faithful-
ness. He cannot bear that his own Israel should
sink liopelessly under her sins into ruin. There-
fore his pity moves Him to discipline and to
mercy." So also Pusey with most of the German
Expositors- — M.] And lead her into tlie
desert: not as a punishment, for the allusion is
to the leading of the children of Israel into the
desert by Moses (comp. ver. 17). But this was
really a deliverance, namely, from the afflictions
of Egypt. At first it is such only negatively, im-
plying that they will no longer continue in such
distress. They are not yet in Canaan. Even the
desert brought want and destitution with it: and
this is brought first into view here. In so far the
situation indicated by the leading into the desert
coincides actually and outwardly with the punish-
ment by affliction and calamity pictured in ver. 11
(the " wilderness " is the realization of that which
is threatened in vers. 11 ff.). Birt this situation is
presented here also under another point of view,
namely (as being compared with the wanderers in
the desert under Moses), that of a situation while
surrounded with affliction yet leading in truth to
deliverance, and the idea of punishment is thereby
converted into that of chastisement. For the des-
titution felt in the desert meant here had its defi-
nite disciplinary aim, — to shut up the people to
the discovery of their need of help, and to lead
them to faith in God through the help and gra-
cious guidance which they then experienced. Thus
they in the desert, even though encompassed with
need, were still upon the way to Canaan, the land
of blessings, and salvation. This is made plain
from what follows : And speak to her heart =
comfort her (comp. e. g. Gen. xxxiv. .3 ; 1. 21 ; Is.
xl. 2). These words imply an inward consolation
by manifestations of love which immediately fol-
low— the blessings that were withdrawn are again
supplied.
ver. 17. And I will give her her vineyards
from thence = from the desert, so that they, as
soon as they shall have passed the limits of Canaan,
shall receive them, that is, the vineyards which Is-
rael once possessed but had lost (ver. 14), there-
fore : her vineyards. What happened once is a
type of that which shall happen again. And the
Valley of Achor for a door of hope. The Valley
of Achor here comes into view : ( 1 ) on account
of its appellative signification : valley of trouble,
affliction (Is. vii. 25). This shall be made a gate
of hope (a valleys a natural gate) : therefore a
transtbrmation of mourning into joy ; (2) bni also
on account of its position near the border of Ca-
naan. For Israel is conceived of as marching out
of the desert into Canaan. It remains a question
whether the occasion of the name is also to be taken
into account. In this valley the anger of God was
appeased by the stoning of Achan, and was re-
moved from Israel to gi\'e place to renewed favor.
Through tliat which then happened to Achan, this
valley became a door of hope to Israel, which lay
exposed to the anger of God. And this again sets
forth the thought that punishment, affliction, shall
become to them the way to renewed favor. The
conception is more profound than if it merely set
forth a change from one situation to another. But
the image and the thing represented are not exact
counterparts. Here Israel is the party who is pun-
ished and is again to find favor. But there Israel
3nds favor through the punishment of a single in-
dividual. [Hengstenberg : " The people whsn they
mtercd into Canain were immediately deprived of
the favor of God by the transgression of an indj
vidual — Achan, — which was only a single fruit
from the tree of the sin which was common to all.
But God himself in his mercy made known the
means by which his lost favor might be regained;
and thus the place which seemed to be the door ol
destruction became the door of hope- . . . This par-
ticular dealing of God, however, is based upon his
nature, and must therefore repeat itself when Isiael
again comes into similar circumstances." — M.]
And she shall shout aloud thither. The Lord
comes to meet Israel (comp. ver. 16 : shall comfort
her) ; and Israel cries out towards the place whence
he comes forth, looking b&ck to the Qt^O. The
meaning is, that with thankful acknowledgments
she accepts these tokens of his love ; not only re-
ceives them but answers to them by suitable con-
duct. Others suppose that HDl? means here : to be
afflicted, or to be humbled. But such a sense is
unsuitable in this verse. Besides, ^^15 would be
equal to simple DtT. [The view given above as to
the meaning of this clause, and adopted by most
of the German expositors, is defended at length
by Hengstenberg, and is probably the correct one.
AH the English expositors, on the other hand, fol-
low the old explanation which translates the verb :
to sing, and see a special allusion to the song of
Miriam and the Israelites after the crossing of the
Red Sea. The chief arguments in favor of the
former view are, ( I . ) The 'greater fitness of the
idea of " answering," as exhibiting a, change of
character in the Israelites and their readiness to
turn to God. Singing would merely indicate that
their distress was removed, which was not the ulti-
mate object of God's dealing with them. (2.) The
meaning, " answering," is the leading usage of the
Kal; that of singing is proper to the Piei. (3.)
HHtE' ought to be rendered " thither," which suits
the idea of answering, especially as explained above,
but not that of singing. — M.] As on the day,
etc. Perhaps there is an allusion here to the song
of Moses (Ex. xv.), in which Israel gave a grateful
answer to the deliverance which God had wrought
for them. 11357 would then be rendered directly :
sing. So the Vulgate and Luther (comp. 1 Sam.
xviii. 7 ; xxi. 11 ; xxix. 5, to strike up a respon-
sive song). Yet the general signification is prob-
ably to be preferred.
Ver. 18 is then attached to thisHiS?. My hus-
band. That is, she will recognize in Jehovah her
true sijouse, regard Baal no longer as combined
with God, thus (bj' a convenient escamotage so nat-
ural to the human heart which becomes inwardly
apostate from God) to all appearance calling upon
Jehovah, but really putting Baal in his place and
thus dispossessing Him.
Ver. 19. And I wUl remove the name of
Baal from her mouth = I will so act that thou
shalt not take the name of the idols into thy mouth
any longer, that is, shalt not honor them (for as
long as they are honored they are taken into the
mouth, are thought of), but mlt depart from them
entirely, have nothing more to do with them. The
promise is a literal fulfillment of Ex. xxii). 13;
(comp. also Zech. xiii. 2), and expressed in the
same words.
Vers. 20-22. And I will make a covenant
for them in that day, etc. A covenant for them,
in their interest, so that they shall suffer no injury.
Observe here how the figure of the woman as ad'
CHAPTEK U. 4-25.
39
dressed is here departed from, only to be returned
to in the next verse. The covenant with the wild
beasts lays upon them the obligation not to injure
mankind, and especially not to lay waste the land.
That punishment was threatened for the immedi-
ate future (comp. ver. 14). Just for that reason
it is now promised to the converted and favored
people that they shall be defended from it. [Keil :
" The three classes of animals that are dangerous
.0 men are mentioned here, as in Gen.ix. 2.
Beasts of the field as distinguished from the do-
mestic animals (behemoth are beasts that live in
■ freedom in the tields, either wild beasts, or game
that devours or injures the fruits of the field). By
the fowls of heaven, we are to understand chiefly
the birds of prey. Hemes does not mean reptiles,
but active creatures, the smaller animals of the
earth which move about swiftly." — M.] And I
will break bow and sword and war. To break
the weapons of war means to cause war to cease
forever. This is expressly intimated in what is
attached here by a zeugma. To break war in
pieces, — to break bow and sword, and so to put
an end to war. The whole is the fulfillment of Lev.
xxvi. 3 ff. ; comp. Is. ii. 4 ; xi. 6 ff. ; xxxv. 9 ;
Zech. ix. 10 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 25 ff. And not merely
will a condition of security and peace be afforded,
but also that after which Israel longs (ver. 18) will
be given, namely, intercourse with God. Upon
this alone is Israel's renewed prosperity based.
And I will betroth thee to me forever. A
new marriage-contract is to be signed. Israel
now converted, becomes altogether different, is
regarded again as an unstained virgin, and is be-
trothed by God to Himself What formerly exist-
ed, that she was once a faithless spouse, is left
quite out of sight. For f^TI^. means : to woo a
maiden, to betroth her. The words, " I will be-
troth her," are thrice repeated, to take all doubt
away from the statement. This covenant is now
to last forever without any interruption — in right-
eousness and justice, in mercy and compassion.
We are evidently to understand here the right-
eousness which is displayed in Jehovah's appear-
ing to favor his people and defending their cause
against their enemies, from whose power he deliv-
ers them. Such righteousness and judgment are,
with relation to the enemies, only negative, that
is, they are displayed in punishing them ; but, with
relation to God's people, positive, so that right-
eousness really bears the sense of salvation, deliv-
erance. In so far Luther is right, when he holds
that such righteousness is the imputed righteous-
ness of Christ. For there is certainly presented
the notion of God's intervention to bestow favor
upon man, and therefore of an act of justification,
only not at first as connected with the accusings
of conscience by reason of guilt, but in relation
to God's punitive judgments against sin. These,
so to speak, lose the right to destroy God's people
any longer, because they are accepted by Him as
Converted. Keil explains the words as meaning,
the righteous judgment by which God purifies his
people, in order to eradicate everything which, on
the side of the Church, could do prejudice to the
covenant. But the discourse has already passed
Oeyond this. The judgment has been already in-
flicted, and we are now upon the ground of the
complete promises of salvation, when God no more
appears against his people, but interferes in their
behalf in accordance with the purification which
lias been effected. The disoosition of mind in God
represented by this righteousness and judgment is
still further brought out by the two words : in
mercy and compassion. Every idea of an interven-
tion of God in his people's behalf upon the groumi
of their merit is thus excluded. What God exer-
cises towards them is purely favor and compassion.
Ver. 22. But these shall never cease. Hence
the addition : in faithfulness. Only thus does this
engagement receive the pledge of its eternal dura-
tion, while by the preceding generally the possi-
bility of its ratification is set forth. Righteousness
and judgment, favor and compassion, ai-e the con-
ditio sine qua non and causa efficiens ; faithfulness
is the essential modus of the engagement. The end
then is : And thou shalt know Jehovah. No
interruption of such relation shall ever intervene
between Jehovah and Israel ; upon the establish-
ment of such intercourse, a true knowledge of God
will be imparted. This naturally does not mean
a mere cognition of God, least of all a mere logical
conception of Him, — in general, not a mere intel-
lectual relation to Him based upon the operations
of the understanding, bnt a personal living rela-
tion, that deeper notion which is certainly some-
times conveyed by Vl*^,
Vers. 23-25. And it will be on that day that
I win answer, etc. The consequence of the cov-
enant newly ratified is the readiness of God to bless
his people most richly. The betrothal having been
accomplished, the marriage presents are not want-
ing, and heaven and earth, standing in the service
of the bridegroom and husband, must contribute
their share. The heavens, etc., in a descending se-
ries, are represented as earnestly asking the person-
ified objects above fhem respectively whether the
blessing which they expect is to be dispensed. The
heavens ask Jehovah, the earth the heavens, etc.,
or they look towards them with longing. And
now this questioning, this earnest request (in the
time of Israel's rejection) is " answered " cordially
and assuringly. In how far, however, this original
sense of n35 is carried out, or whether it does
not pass over into the signification of our " agree
with " = comply, listen to, cannot be definitely
shown. It is, however, in accordance with the
largely poetical conception to assume here a strict
prosopopoeia. The first object of the representa-
tion is Jehovah ; therefore the sense of the whole
naturally is, that Jehovah, upon whom all blessing
depends, will confer upon his Church the blessings
He had withdrawn from it (comp. Deut. xxviii. 12
and the contrast, Deut. xxviii. 23 f ; Lev. xxvi.
19). [Keil: " By prosopopoeia the prophet rep-
resents the heavens as praying to God, to allow it
to give to the earth that which will insure its fer-
tility, whereupon the heavens fulfill the desires of
the earth, and the earth yields its produce to the
nation." Umbreit ; " It is as though we heard the
exalted harmonies of the united powers of creation
sending forth their notes as they are sirstained and
moved by the eternal key-note of the creative and
moulding Spirit." Henderson compares the per-
sonification in TibuUus, I., Eleg. vii. 25. The ex
treme beauty of the figure here has often been
praised. — M.] 'Will answer Jezreel. The nama
Jezreel is here used unexpectedly instead of Israel.
The same name which symbolized the judgment
upon Israel (i. 4) is here employed directly to des-
ignate the favored people according to its appella-
tive significance : God will sow, especially as in
chap. ii. 2 the hope of victory was connected with .
Jezreel. Israel appears as the sowing of God, be-
cause planted anew by divine grace, as ver. 25'
shows immediately. Thus the first name of evil'
10
HOREA.
omen is taken away and converted into its oppo-
site. The same is true of the other two names.
Israel will again be called "Favored," and the
" People of God," because it is his. It is therefore
said, beautifully completing the picture, that the
people again know God as their God. Thus God's
renewed favor, and the people's new heart, go
liand in hand. On the fulfillment of the promise,
see the Doctrinal Section, No. 4.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The whole tenor of our chapter presupposes
chat Jehovah's relation to Israel as his peojjJe is
compared to a marriage. If we seek the tertium
comparationis in this comparison, it is manifest
upon a general view, that everything of an acci-
dental or external nature is denied of this relation,
that it is presented as a union inward, sacred, and
indissoluble, involving indefeasible rights and obli-
gations. But, more especially, there are two ele-
ments entering into the nature of marriage, which
form the points of comparison, namely, love, by
which the husband is bound to the wile, and its
correlative the requirement of fidelity, or of ex-
clusive reciprocal affection, which He makes of
tier. Hence the relation of Jehovah to his people
is compared to a marriage because his love to Is-
rael is as strong and intimate as that of a husband
to his wife. As the husband chooses the wife from
love, and perhaps, urged by love, takes a poor
maiden and raises her to himself, and in his mar-
ried life attests his affection by being her protector
and benefactor who cannot show her too many
evidences of his devotion, so is it with Jehovah to-
wards his people (comp. vers. 10, 23, 24). Such love
on the part of the husband must have as its cor-
relative on the pai't of the wife, fidelity, undivided,
exclusive affection. As certainly as the husband
should expect this fidelity from his wife, so certainly
shall Jehovah e.^peet it from Israel ; as strongly as
the wife is bound to love him to the exclusion of
all others, and as she does basely violate this duty
by attaching herself to another, the same is true
of the relation of Israel, God's people, to Jehovah.
But if unfaithfulness on the part of the wife is a
violation of duty, it is also worthy of punishment.
And if the punishment (rejection) of an unfaithful,
adulterous wife is justifiable, so also is the punisli-
iinent (rejection) of God's faithle.ss people. But
ithis is only a chastisement wrung from love, and
:lhe source of deep anguish to the loving husband.
TTherefore the husband who loves his wife truly,
^th a love answering to the idea of marriage,
while angry at her infidelity and employing the
most severe means to punish it, only does so in
order if possible to bring her back to her duty and
as (the only way to continue the alliance. Thus is
it with Jehovah towards Israel. As his love has
established the covenant with Israel, and displayed
itself in it, so does it seek with its whole strength
to preserve it unbroken through all interruptions,
— in.other words, to restore it.
2. The exhibition of God's relation to his peo-
ple iMder the figure of a marriage permits us, on
the other hand, to draw an inference as to the na-
ture .of the marriage itself. Such an exalted and
Bacred relation could only be thus represented nn-
ier an exalted view of marriage. The lively,
Btromg, unchangeable love of God to his people,
and the demand of an unchangeable fidelity an-
fwering to such love, and turning aside to no other
»bjfict, is the subject of the representation. This
marriage is necessarily conceived of as a relation
constituted by such love on the part of the husband
and such fidelity on the part of the wife. Without
these it is not contracted ; where these are wanting
or cease to exist, it is shaken to its foundation.
The husband cleaves in love to his wife and to none
other : true marriage is in its very nature mono-
gamic; the -vife must in fidelity belong to thij
husband and to none other.
How severeis thus the condemnation of all act-
ual adultery, and of all unchastity as the source
of adultery, as read in the strong complaints
against Israel as the unfaithful wife ! What a
spir't of moral purity and of chastity is expressed
here ! We find here already just the view of mar-
riage, and, on the other side, of adultery and
whoredom, which meets us in the New Testament,
e. ff., in the writings of Paul. The prophet know
no better image than that of marriage to set forth
the depth and sacredness of Jehovah's relation to
Israel, and the Apostle knows no better image than
the relation of Christ to his Church to set forth
the depth and sacredness of the marriage union.
3. " She knew not that I gave her," etc. This
is perpetually repeated. God blesses men with
good things — undeservedly, even when they do
not serve Him but " idols." But they do not
know that it is his hand from which they receive
everything. It is just the superabundance of his
gifts, that makes them so self-exalted and com-
pletely forgetful -of Him. God must then change
this abundance into want, and make presumptuous
men feel their own impotence. And how deeply
God can humble men ! Such visitations are then
the means by which God draws them again to
Himself, teaches them to know Him, how unjust
and at the same time how foolish is their apostasy
from Him, how little their " idols " can help them,
rather how ill they reward them ; and how good it
is, on the other hand, to abide by the service of
the true God ("it was better with me then than
now"). The fruit of such knowledge by humil-
iation is then the abandonment of idols and a
turning to God.
4. TThat Hosea reverts with special fondness to
the ancient history of Israel was already remarked
in § 2 of the Introduction, and there shown to be
connected with the fundamental idea of his pro-
phetic discourses. In the later chapters (from the
ninth onwards) this is specially apparent : but it
is also found in our chapter, and thus in the earlier
portion of his writings. In this he chiefly takes
up the great deeds by which God manifested Him-
self to the fathers, — ■ the exodus from Egypt, the
journey through the Desert, the entrance into the
Promised Land. These were the great fundamen-
tal acts of God in behalf of Israel, and were most
deeply impressed upon the consciousness of the
people ; for they owed to these their very existence
as his people, so that they could never forget them,
not even in the season of their greatest decline.
Prophetic discourse has in them therefore a sure, un
assailable foundation upon which to take its stand.
It can point out to the present, in a manner not
to be resisted, the dealings of God in his specific
relation to Israel his people, can draw from thence
ils most forcible arguments for its warning and
chastening, as well as for its comfort and promises.
It has been an advantage which it well under
stands and knows well how to use.
Special stress is in our chapter laid upon the
journey through the desert as upon a season of
great significance for Israel. Israel was in the wil
derness ■ the milk and honey of the Promised
CHAPTER II. 4-25.
4:
Land were not yet; the flesh-pots of Egypt were
no more. In the latter respect this season was one
of deprivation and of want, and apparently of loss.
But this was only apparent ; for in reality it was
not only a deliverance from the bondage of Egypt,
which had both outwardly and inwardly injured
the people, but God could draw so much nearer to
the people spiritually as they were now reduced to
corporeal distress, and attest and reveal Himself to
them by his helpful and blessed mercy. It was
just here that God concluded his covenant with
Israel and made them his people, so that their real
gain outweighed their apparent loss; and the peo-
ple to whom God betrothed Himself was or became
the people which found itself upon the way to the
Promised Land. So the Prophet sees in the pro-
found and fruitful signilicance of this journey, or
rather of this leading through the Desert, a. type
of the blessing which a removal into the desert as
a chastening would convey to the people who had
become unfaithful to their God. They are deprived
of their possessions, but so only stripped of the pros-
perity which had made them forgetful of God, and
which was therefore an evil. And now when they
have these no longer, and are thus freed from the
fetters which have bound them spiritually, when,
by foreign influences, so to speak, they are brought
face to face with God, He has again free access to
them; the time has come when God can again
betroth Himself to the people who again return
to Him, lead them again into the Promised Land,
and restore them to a state of renewed prosperity
and of richest blessing.
Those then who were led forth into the Desert
did not realize the object of that experience. Nor
was it individuals whom it was to profit, but the
people as such. For them the journey through the
wilderness was a season of ti'ial in which they
were being prepared to become God's people, who
should take possession of the Promised Land.
And so in the sense of the prophetic promise the
individuals who should suffer the judgment of
devastation were not the same as those for whom
the day of the new salvation was to break forth.
That was to be a new generation. But the people
were still the same, in the sense to be stated more
clearly immediately.
5. With regard to the promise of our chapter
and its fulfillment, the remark made in chap. i. ap-
plies, namely, (a.) The fulfillment is not to be seen
in the return of the Jews from the exile. This was,
to be sure, a fulfillment, but only a small and feeble
beginning. For the promise is to be regarded as
essentially Messianic. And therefore we Chris-
tians, if to Its the truth is fully and differently
realized that Jesus Christ is the promised Mes-
siah, must hold that this promise has found its ful-
fillment in Christ, and still finds it in Him ; that is,
in Christ the new " betrothal " of God to his peo-
ple has already taken place; but the great salva-
tion which is involved in this is as yet only par-
tially realized, the completion is yet to come. The
people of God are still marching through the des-
ert ; in Christ we are upon the sure way to the
Promised Land, but that goal is not yet reached,
(ft.) Israel, to whom salvation is here promised by
the Prophet, comes into view, not according to its
natuial nationality, but according to its divine
destiny, or according to its typical significance as
the People of God. They cannot perish beneath any
judgment : for them a new day of salvation is wait-
ing. But as this salvation is conditioned upon the
coming of the Messiah, and we know clearly that
the Messianic salvation is and shall be universal,
so we are forbidden to restrict this great promiseo
day of salvation to the external Israel, although
the Prophet undeniably speaks of it, — Israel and
God's people being as yet to him essentially one, — ■
and must extend it to the people of God generally,
therefore to all believers, believers of Israel together
with those of the Gentiles incorporated into the
ancient Church, which mustever remain the parent
stem. To Israel, who had become " Not-my-peo.
pie," many of the heathen who had been "Not-
my-people " will unite themselves, and to them, to
this whole complex " Not-my-people," will God
say : " Thou art my people : " and they will say :
" My God." So clearly and truly has Paul shown
that the Gentiles must first become what Israel
was, and that they shall and will really become
so, that they shall actually overshadow Israel and
so repair what they had lost. If these promises
have not found and still do not find their falHll-
ment in the literal interpretation of what is said
of Israel, it is clear that it is not a literal fulfill-
ment of their contents, which speak of temporal
blessings in the Holy Land, that is to be expected.
Such limited blessings are inseparably connected
with the limited range of application ; but if the
latter, the restriction to Israel, is only the shell
and not the kernel, so is it with the former.
When the people of God were embodied in a na
tion, under the Old Testament, the possession of a
definite country as the inheritance assigned them by
God was something essential, and therefore, as the
desolation of the country was a token of the Di-
vine anger, so its fruitfulness, or in general a state
of temporal prosperity, was necessarily an indica-
tion of the Divine favor. And so the temporal
blessings predicted by the Prophet are the tokens
of acceptance, of the returning favor of God. The
latter, however, the return of favor, is the main
element, the kernel which remains after the husk
is stripped ofl^. Yet the favor of God manifests
itself still under the New Covenant in temporal
blessings, while his wrath is declared in temporal
punishments. But it does not need to be shown
that the complete abandonment of the notion of
a national and local settlement in a definite coun-
try, as belonging to the conception of a people of
God, went further than this ; that the New Cov-
enant opens up a prospect of spiritual and inward
blessings and enjoyments of which the former were
only a thin shadow ; and, in spite of this, to insist
upon the literal sense is to beat in the face of the
New Covenant, and to deny to the prophetic prom-
ises generally their lasting significance. For the
legitimate consequence of such a theory is to declare
that these are not and never shall be fulfilled ; it ia
not simply to dream of a fulfillment expected still
in the millennium, and to transfer to this epoch,
which is not described any more definitely in the
Apocalypse, conditions for which it is felt thai
room can be found nowhere else.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
God's testimony against this apostate people :
(1) threatening them with severe judgment ; (2)
and yet alluring them bar k with glorious prom-
ises.— The judgments of God, (1) invoked only by
faithless apostasy from Him and base disowning
of his favor; (2) aiming only at the complete con-
version of the apostate and the joyful aceeptanea
of the converted.
Ver. 4. Pfaff. Bibelwerk : Believers are
bound to warn in love their brothers, sisters, or
42
HOSEA.
parents, who are remiss in the practice of true re-
ligion, and to bring them to the right way.
Vcr. 7. God is the real Giver of all temporal
and spiritual blessings. If, therefore, thou hast
any want, seek its supply from God.
Lange : It is much more easy and pleasant for
a true child of God to serve Him in the enjoyment
of his favor and with inward peace, than it is for
an untaught child of the world to cleave to it with
it« restless service of sin.
[Matthew Hbnrt : Crosses and obstacles in
an even course are great blessings, and are so to be
accounted ; they are God's hedges to keep us from
transgressing, to restrain us from wandering out
of the green pastures, to " withdraw man from his
purpose" (Job xxxiii. 17), to make the way of sin
difficult that we may not go on in it, and to keep
us from it whether we will or not. We have rea-
son to bless God for restraining grace and for re-
straining judgment. God is a bountiful benefactor
even to those whom He foresees will be ungrateful
and unthankful to Him. — M.]
Ver. 10. God ever remains the Possessor of the
gifts He bestows. Pfaff. BibeJwerk : It is a
shameful and inexcusable sin to misuse the gifts
of God, in order to serve our evil desires or to pro-
mote evil ends. It is a great sin to devote the
riches, which God bestows, to the service of idol-
atry or superstition.
[PusET : Since " men h.ave as many strange
gods as they have sins," what do they who seek
pleasure or gain greatness or praise in forbid-
den ways or from forbidden sources, than make
their pleasure or gain or ambition their god, and
olTer their time and understanding and ingenuity
and intellect, yea their whole lives and their whole
selves, their souls and bodies, all the gifts of God,
in sacrifice to the idols they have made 'i — M.]
Ver. 11. Pfaff. Bibelwekk : God takes
liis gifts from ns when we misuse them. He de-
mands a heavy reckoning.
[Matthew Henrt : Those that abuse the mer-
cies God gives them to his dishonor cannot expect
to enjoy them long. — M.]
Ver. 12. Hengstenbekg : Him who forsakes
God for the world, God puts to shame before the
world, and that all the more, the nearer he formerly
stood to Him.
[Matthew Henry : Those who will not de-
liver themselves into the hand of God's mercy
cannot be delivered out of the hand of his jus-
tice.—M.]
Ver. 14. Pfaff. Bibelwerk : Thus on ac-
count of fixlse worship of God and impious doc-
trine, are whole countries destroyed by the Lord.
0, that true zeal would animate the great ones of
this world to destroy the kingdom of Satan every-
where powerfully, so that the hand of the Lord
m.ay not smite them.
[Hengstenbekg : The sacred writers are not
ashamed to use a base word for such base traffic.
They speak throughout of common things in a
common manner ; for the vulgar word is the most
suitable for a vulgar thing. The morality of a
people or of an age may be measured by their
speaking of a vulgar thing in a vulgar manner, or
the reverse. — M.]
Ver. 15. Pfaff. Bibelwerk : This is the
way of the gracious and merciful God : if He does
first lead us into the desert and make us feel the
rod of his wrath, He speaks kindly to us after-
wards when we repent, and applies his mercy to
our stricken hearts, which are thus made more ca-
pable of using it aright.
[Matthew Henrt : The best way of reducing
wandering souls to God is by fair means. By tha
promise of rest in Christ we are invited to take
his yoke upon us, and the work of conversion may
be forwarded by comforts as well as by convictions.
PtrsET : God has mercy, not because we deserve
it, but because we need it. He draws us because we
are so deeply sunken. He prepares the soul by
these harder means, and thus the depths of her
misery cry to the depths of his compassion : and
because chastisement alone would stupefy her, not
melt her, He changes his wrath into mercy, and
speaks to the heart which, for her salvation, He has
broken. — M. I
Ver. 17. Strife and tribulation are to believers
by God's gi-ace a door of hope (Rom. v. 4). It is
a peculiar and special work for God's children to
praise Him with mouth, heart, and life, for so many
blessings received.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk : Behold, 0 soul, the con-
sequence of thy true repentance. Thou hast new
hope, new joy, new faith in Jesus the Bridegroom
of our souls, the abandonment of all false and hypo-
critical worship, new blessings from God, security,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost !
[PnsEY : To each returning soul, the valley of
trouble, or the lowliness of repentance, becometh a
door of patient longing, not in itself but because God
giveth it so ; a longing which reacheth on, awaiteth
on, entering within the vail, and bound fast to the
throne of God.— M.]
Ver. 19. Keil ; 'The abandonment of idolatry
and mixed religion is a work of divine grace which
renews the heart and fills it with abhorrence of
idolatry in its gross or refined forms.
Ver. 20. Only then can men live with full en-
joyment and security in the world, when they feel
assured that they have a merciful God.
[Matthew Henry : Tranquillus Deus tranquil-
lat omnia. — M.]
Ver. 21. RiEGER : When the kind alluring of
God finds entrance into us, when it educes an an-
swer of humble penitence, how the faithful God
becomes inclined to make all his covenant good to
us, and to let no good thing fail of all that He has
spoken.
Pfaff. Bibelwei-k : How highly are the souls
of believers esteemed by God that He should be-
troth Himself to them, and that to eternity, and
present Himself and his love to them literally as
their own ! For in this He presents to them his
dear righteousness, the righteousness of Christ,
which is of infinite worth ; He acquits them in
judgment ; He displays toward them mercy and
compassion by the forgiveness of sins. He even
betroths Himself to them in faithfulness, and thus
implants the true knowledge of Him in their souls.
Prove, 0 soul, whether thou art as intimate with
Him : Dost thou enjoy with Him a blessed and
true communion of love 1 Why is it then that
thou dost still love so much the world and sin, and
that thy mind is ever occupied with other objects
than Jesus ■?
[Saint Bernard : How can it be that so
mighty a king should become a Bridegroom, that
the Church should be exalted into a bride ^ That
alone which is all-powerful hath power for this.
Love that is strong as death. How should that not
raise her up, which has already made Him to
stoop ■? If He hath not acted as a spouse, if He
hath not loved as a spouse, been jealous as <
spouse, then hesitate thou to think thyself e»
poused. — M.]
CHAPTER III.
43
Vers. 23, 24. If Ood be for us, who can be
against us. Faith will assuredly gain a hearing.
Behold, all creatures are ready to serve believers.
Everything must drop blessings upon them.
Pfaef. Bibelwerk : God pours down upon
believers from the lofty heaven of his mercy a
shower of spiritual gifts, yes, even the oil of the
Holy Spirit Himself. It is our part to open the
mouths of our heart, and most eagerly receive those
blessings which God's mercy vouchsafes to us.
[Matthew Henet : See what a peculiar de-
light those that are in covenant with God may
take in their creature comforts, as seeing them all
come to them from the hand of God ; they can run
up all the streams to the fountain, and taste cove-
nant love in common mercies, which makes them
doubly sweet. — M.]
Ver. 25. Pi-ait. Bibelwerh : There is thus
always time left for repentance, and the Lord still
preserves a seed for Himself, which He makes
fruitful and increases. If He then is so rich in
mercy, 0 let us become ready to receive it by a
true repentance and conversion, and not suppose
that this great work can be accomplished in a life-
less spirit or with a hypocritical behavior.
Cramer: True faith knows God not only ai
God, but as its God.
RiEOER : All in this life that is truly good is in-
cluded in this : My God ! if said not from habit,
but with a full title to its use. This is a word of
faith, by which we place our whole reliance upon
the almighty, true, and compassionate God ; it is
a word of hope by which we provide ourselves
with all good perpetually in God, who is a Rock
of Kternity, a word of love and fellowship by
which we delight ourselves in the goodness of God,
and give ourselves wholly up to Him.
[PnSEY ; To say my God, is to own an exclu-
sive relation to God alone. It is to say, my Begin
ning and my End, my Hope and my Salvation, in
whom alone I will hope, whom alone I will fear,
love, worship, trust in, and obey, and serve, with
all my heart, soul, strength, and mind, my God
and my All ! — M.]
chaptek in.
The Love which Jehovah preserves towards the " Adulterous " People, and the Chasten-
ing in Love which He undertakes for their Conversion, again symholicaUy repre-
sented.
1 Then said the Lord [And Jetovah said] uBto me, Go yet,' love a woman beloved
of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord [Jehovah] toward
the children of Israel, who look [and they turn] to other gods, and love flagons of
2 wine ^ [raisia-cakes]. So I bought her ' to me for a homer of barley and a half-homer
3 of barley. And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide [remain quiet] for me many
days ; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man : so will
4 I also he for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king,
and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without
5 an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return and
seek the Lord [Jehovah] their God, and David their king, and shall fear ^ the Lord
and his goodness in the latter days [shall tremble towards Jehovah and towards his goodness at the
end of the days].
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — lil? might, especially to gain a relation to H bnpl (i- 2), be connected with "iaN*l. ^"' "'^'^ "
00 Bufflcient ground for a change in the accentuation. The reference to chap. i. 2 is clear by the connection with tj^.
[2 Ver. 1. —The translation of the last two words of ver. 1, in B. V. : "flagons of wine," which is that of Junius,
Iremellius, and others, and the various other renderings, have not been due to different readings, but to misconceptions
of the meaning of ''Ji7''tt'S. The only variation of reading seems to have been that held by Aquila, who translates;
raXata, having read '^K?*'tS?'^. — M.]
[3 Ver. 2. — n^SMT has here daghesh-forte separative. See Green, ffr., § 24 6 ; Ewald, § 90 c (6) ; Bottcher, § 229,
3 ; 899 6 (1). Note the repetition of D''~l^tD as characteristic of the Hebrew. It might be better to avoid the like
instruction in English, as many have done, by rendering : a homer-and-a-half of barley. See the exposition. — M.]
4 Ver. 6 — i1 linS Is a pregnant construction : tremble (and come) toward Jehovah and toward his goodness.
EXBGBTICAL AND CRITICAL.
Chapter iii. narrates a second symbolical action,
jn which the prophet has again to represent by his
IBlatjons to a woman the relation of God to Israel.
But as regards this relation, that which is to be pre
sented to the senses is essentially different from
that which the symbolical action of chap. i. was to
present. There the sin of Israel was to be sym-
bolized, with the judgment which Jehovah would
inflict upon Israel for their idolatry. Here there ie
44
HOSEA.
no distinct reference to these. It might be assumed
of itself tha.t a simple repetition of the comparison
would be inadmissible. We must rather expect an
advance. This is found when we consider that
we are no longer at the beginning as in chap, i.,
but that the whole exposition, from chap. ii. 1 on-
wards, lies between, and especially the section ii.
4 ff., where it is clearly stated that Israel will be
deservedly punished, but only because of God's love
in order that they may by chastisement be led to
return and secure his favor. This announcement
is presupposed in our chapter, which naturally
stands in close relation to chap. i. But as the lat-
ter chapter forms a beginning, so also does it form
a conclusion. For here we have not to do with
the judgment, as such, which Israel has to suffer,
the judgment of rejection, but with the symbolical
declaration, that God loves Israel, must chasten
them, but does so only out of love, only because
He will not cast them off. The symbolizing of this
love of God is shown expressly in ver. I, to be the
main object of this purely symbolical transaction,
and the emphasis is therefore placed upon the com-
mand, to "love," laid upon the prophet, which is
inserted designedly. The sequel shows of what
kind this love is, and what is its aim. Vers. 1-3
describe the symbolical action. Vers. 4, 5 afford
its explanation and inform us of its object.
Ver. 1 . And Jehovah said to me : go onoe
more, etc. The reference to chap. i. 2 is clear even
by the collocation of TlJ? and tj^. nniS is es-
sential, as already hinted, and therefore cannot be
modified into a mere np (i. 2) [= take], on ac-
count of the Tf7 "T^t which expresses the repeti-
tion of the former action. It is only the Tf /^^
that needs to be repeated, in relation to the woman.
But what the prophet is to do this time in respect
to the woman is 2nS. This must express not
merely a disposition to love (for a command, and
especially the command 'H /, would not agree with
this, expressing as It does an outward act), but an
attestation or effectuation of love. Yet this pre-
supposes an inclination to love ; in so far it is de-
manded of the prophet. For he is to represent the
conduct of God, and in that his displays of love
spring from a loving mind. The prophet is to love
a woman who is not in the least worthy of love —
to love whom one feels and can feel no desire.
net:?:a^ -Sn ryDn^ ntt7S. Looking to the sec-
ond epithet the sense is clear : committing adul-
tery. Thus the prophet must marry an adulterous
woman. This can scarcely be a woman who has
been unfaithful to her marriage with another. It
might be supposed, indeed, that she had been sep-
arated from her husband, and it would be difficult
to love such a woman, as she gives no guarantee
of her fidehty. But nothing is said of any such
separation from another, and the tertitun compard-
tionis is just the fact that the prophet acts after the
analogy of God, and therefore must love a woman
who is unfaithful to her marriage with himself.
But the difficulty lies in the indeflniteness of the
time ind cated by the part. nQH3a. Keil takes
it to be future = who will become adulterous:
naturally, if the woman is one who is first married
to the prophet. But the difficulties which attend
the explanation as future are less patent with Keil,
for he regards ^rlH = Pip, which, however, is ar-
bitrary. Jf we take ^'I'.^ as 2nH, it is felt im-
mediately that it cannot be simply a future adul
tery that is here meant. It is meant that love co-
exists with adultery at present existing, by which
love is not destroyed, but rather is displayed to
the adulteress as that which she had trifled with
by her infidelity. Hence love is here rather some-
thing that is to follow. Only so is it the rep-
resentative of the attitude of God which is hera
depicted. For God has indeed loved Israel, though
He knew they would afterwards be unfaithful to
Him. But it is not that which happened once
that is to be exhibited by the prophet, but that
which is now transpiring, the present conduct
of God towards Israel (as in ehap. i. the present
conduct of Israel towards God, as Keil there cor-
rectly remarks ; see above). It is this, that God
does not withdraw his love from a spouse who has
been and still is unfaithful. Besides, the suppo-
sition of a future adultery on the part of a wife
whom the prophet is to take, is not admissible ac-
cording to what follows. For the prophet in ful-
filling the command makes this impossible for her
(ver. 3). And to suppose that she commits adul-
tery in spite of this prohibition in ver. 3 is against
ver. 4 ; for there a condition of Israel is described
in which there is no longer adultery (idolatry).
Finally, we may ask more generally, how we
can call a woman who is to commit adultery at
some future time, n3t^30 ilC^S ? Therefore
nQM3t2 is to be taken as a preterite or as a pres-
ent =^ a woman who has been or is unfaithful
to thee. And the conclusion is a necessary one,
that a woman is supposed with whom the Prophet
was already united. It would then be surprising,
if it were quite forgotten in chap. iii. that a mar-
riage of the prophet had already been described,
and a new one were introduced. Such a broken,
atomizing method of representation can hardly be
imputed to a prophetic writer, especially as there
is absolute necessity for understanding a reference
to chap. i. in the very matter in question. No, as
our chapter presupposes the preceding in a general
way, it presupposes chap. i. specially ; yet it nat-
urally is not a repetition of the image, but an ex-
tension of it. There the prophet was commanded
to marry a lewd woman (and to beget children by
her). When such a woman is married she is no
longer a whore, but an adulteress. F^or a woman,
once characterized as Q''3^T HtDM, naturally re-
tains that character, and when married will be
.nOi^;!? ntSW. It is thus that she appears in
chap. iii. And as first the prophet was to marry
a whorish woman, so now he is to love the whor-
ish woman as married, i. e., an adulterous wife.
Compared with the other this is something higher,
something new. The former was to exhibit a
disturbed actual condition of things, — the existing
inversion of the normal relations between God
and Israel (and in the children the deserved pun-
ishment) ; the latter a comforting truth, the desired
restitution of those relations. ( We might add :
As the unpropitious names of the children have
been changed into their opposites, the same thing
happens in a certain sense in the unpropitious mar-
riage. There it was said : Thou must take a wife
just because she is a whore, and so testify against
Israel's sin and of their rejection, and now : Thou
must love her although she is an adulteress, and so
testify of Israel's hope). And as something essen-
tially different is to be symbolized by this relation
of the prophet to his wife, it is not to Ve wondered
at — which cannot be denied, — that the form of
CHAPTER in.
45
the discourse is such that something altogether
new appears to begin, or that it appears as though
the prophet were now for the first time being
brought into relations with this woman. We have
here again an indication that we have not to do
with real, actual events. A narrative of an actual
marriage of the prophet is not given ; he is only
conceived of as standing in that relation, and since
it is only a feigned condition of things, it can very
well be viewed first from one side, and then, with-
out any preparation, from another. The woman
is naturally called HJSK, not Hf^Mn. For the
emphasis lies upon the predicates ; his wife appears
he<-e as an adulterous woman = love (in thy wife)
an adulterous woman. Tiie absence of the article
can therefore not be urged against the identity of
this woman with the former. This identity is, in
fact, only presupposed in the command of ' our
chapter. Tlie main point is that the Prophet may
be thought of (1) as being already married, (2) as
experiencing his wife's adultery. No importance is
attached to the person of the woman, for no actual
event is described. If this were the case, a woman,
living in wedlock with the Prophet, could not be
spoken of as this one is here described. From this
it is evident that we have here only the symboliz-
ing of religious truth ; as soon as this is accom-
plished the person of the woman possesses no fur-
ther interest.
The suffix in H'^S^ (ver. 2), also appears to al-
lude to a well known woman, and this cannot be
disposed of by Keil's remark that the suffix refers
simply to the woman mentioned in ver. 1. For
according to Keil's view a woman is only described
in ver. 1 ; it is only said what kind of woman she
is. This mere predicate of a woman whose person
is as yet undefined cannot afterwards be supplied
by a personal pronoun but only by : such a wom-
an, or, since that expression is unknown to the
Hebrew, by repeating the whole predicate : a woman
beloved, etc., if her name were not to be given.
The pers. pron. would presuppose that the person
named in ver. 1 was already well defined, and not
simply a person of the kind described. But this
woman is further described as 1?"7. ri3riH., and
that before the other predicate. The sense has
been taken differently: (1) = beloved by a para-
mour, and therefore parallel with riQSSQ, or the
latter would express its consequence : beloved by a
paramour, and so committing adultery. (2) "Since
'S~}. in Jer. iii. 20 denotes a husband but never an
adulterous paramour," the phrase is supposed =
beloved by a husband and yet practicing adultery.
But it is certainly incorrect to say that V~^ can be
understood only of a husband and not of a para-
mour. It means paramour in Jer: iii. 1, at all
events. It means simply : one with whom one has
intercourse, a companion, and specially in the re-
lations of love: one beloved (see the lexicons).
The word does not determine whether the inter-
course be lawful or not. Therefore the notion of
the marriage relation must not be imported into
the word, and we must remain by the sense : be-
loved one (friend, companion). If the marriage
relation is indicated, ?7T is abstracted from this
relation as such, and only its inner side, so to
speak, the love that is felt in the married state, is
brought into view. Now it is just this disposition
3f love that is to be emphasized in this connection,
md therefore ?"!? is chosen designedly. The word
would thus be just as suitable used of illicit as of
conjugal love. But it is especially in favor of the
latter that, so far as the conduct of the woman ia
brought before us, she appears as the (guilty) 'sub-
ject of a love directed towards another, and is
therefore to be represented actively, not passively,
as the object of a love displayed by another ; hen<:e
the passive expression : '^~] i"!?nyi would give
an unsuitable sense if it should mean : beloved by
a paramour. Israel is essentially one who turns
to paramours, runs after thorn unremittingly,
while, on the other hand, Israel is the object of the
Husband's love from the beginning, and is here
represented as receiving it. Therefore in the fig-
urative presentation also the love is regarded as
coming from, and being bestowed by the husband
upon the wife. (It would be otherwise if we had
a different punctation : n^i!!^^). Hence tlie
sense is ; Love a woman, who, although beloved
by her friend, has yet became an adulteress. Her
sin is thus sharply stigmatized, that the love en-
joined may appear in greater contrast to it and as
something unmerited. This view of 5''^ n^riH
shows all the more the untenableness of any
reference to a woman whom the Prophet must
now marry. For that phrase would then allude
to some person who now appears for the fli'st time.
But what meaning would there be in the com-
mand : love a woman who will or is to be beloved
by her husband, i. e., by thee ^ The notion would
be more tolerable only if 3ilH be (with Keil) mod
ified into I^I^ which is, however, certainly inad-
missible. The words: as Jehovah loves the
cliildren of Israel, etc., indicate expressly that
what the prophet is to do has a symbolical mean-
ing, and declares also what that meaning is. For
they are plainly not merely to be connected (Keil)
with n3K3Z2T m r\'jn't>. = (love) a woman
who, although beloved by her husband, commits
adultery, and who acts as does Israel, who was loved
by God and yet, etc. It is more natural to refer
them to the command which the prophet received.
This command of God, in itself so surprising and
exacting, receives by them its symbolical explana-
tion. It is laid upon him only that he may thua
exhibit the love of God, who loves his people and
manifests that love, in spite of their unfaithfulness,
and by the love enjoined upon him he is to repre-
sent and assure to the people this love of God.
n^nSS does not merely indicate the reason why
the prophet is to love this woman, but it declares
also how he is to do so : he must not merely " love "
in the general, but must love after that definite
manner in which Jehovah loves the children of Is-
rael (which is shown immediately thereafter). And
love raisin-cakes. These must have been con-
nected in some way with idolatrous worship : they
probably belonged to the offerings presented to the
idols, and eaten at the idol-festivals. Hence we are
to understand first an image of idol-worship, whose
enticing dainties are contrasted with the hard and
healthy fare of the serious religion of Jehovah.
But this special feature of the worship is chosen in
order to show the service to be something agreeing
with the flesh, satisfying the sensual nature ; which
explains the more easily Israel's apostasy, and at
the same time includes a bitter reproach : " They
forget their God for the sake of dainties."
Vers. 2, 3. Then I purchased her for myaeU
for fifteen silverUngs, etc. In ver. 2 we neces
46
HOSEA.
larily find the fulfillment of the command of ver.
1, the 2ns there enjoined. This is a guide to the
exposition. With ^1^? we must supply -'S^-
fifteen shekels of silver. Homer is the name of a
dry measure = a cor, or ten baths or ten ephahs
(see Ezek. xlr. 11), "^0*2 = a half homer. To-
gether = a homer and a half or fifteen ephahs. The
money value of this quantity of barley cannot be
determined ; for it is arbitrary to suppose, because
fifteen ephahs are mentioned along with fifteen shek-
els of silver, that therefore they are of equal value,
and that an ephah of barley was worth an epiiah of
silver. An agreement of the numbers would then
have been avoided ; nothing would have been said
of the fifteen ephahs, and an altogether different
measure would have been given. Nothing is to be
concluded from 2 Kings vii. 1-18, nor from Ex.
xxi. 32, if, indeed, the latter can be at all con-
nected with this verse. It is supposed that the
passage in Exodus aflibrds the key to the understand-
ing of our passage, and the thirty pieces of silver
are sought here the more earnestly. Thirty pieces
of silver are there stated to be the price of a slave,
and it is supposed that the Prophet paid the same
sum for the woman in order to symbolize the state
of bondage from which God redeemed Israel. But
Kurtz rightly rejects this explanation of the pas-
sage and its application to our verse, on the ground
that there it is not the price of a slave that is al-
luded to, but the compensation allowed for a slave
killed on account of the carelessness of another.
In the latter case it was just as allowable and fit-
ting to fix one and the same price without respect
to age, sex, and constitution, as it would have been
wrong and foolish to fix the market price under
the same conditions. For in the former case (of
killing) the responsibility was just the same no
matter who the slave might be, a strong man, or a
woman, or a decrepit or aged person. Zech. xi.
12 might better be compared. But this passage
does not speak of the price of a slave, and besides,
it is an arbitrary assumption that our passage
speaks of thirty shekels' worth. So we are shut
up to an explanation of our passage from itself
alone, and we have no sure ground for believing
that a redemption from bondage is alluded to. On
the other hand, we are not justified in assuming a
purchase of the woman from her parents with the
pieces of silver, etc., for " it cannot be shown that
It was a custom with the Israelites to purchase the
bride from her parents" (Keil). Keil therefore
holds that the fifteen silverlings, etc., are some-
thing given to the woman. Of course it cannot
be meant that the pieces of silver, etc., were given
to the present paramour of the woman. Such an
ofiFering would be itself surprising : but we must
also remember that the woman is not conceived of
as being adulterously connected with a paramour.
What now does HnSSI mean ? It is clear that
the meaning "dig" is unsuitable here, for the ex-
planation of Hengstenberg, from Ex. xxi. 6 ;
Dent. XV. 17, is strange and awkward. In Gen.
1. 5 ; Deut. ii. 6 ; Job vi. 27 ; xl. 30, it has the
meaning : purchase, make a bargain ; in the last
two passages with v^? of the person or thing for
■>T about which the bargain was made : in the first
.wo with an accusative = to purchase, buy ; in the
first with 7) of the person who is bought : in the
lecond with 2, of the price paid. So also here :
I purchased her to rae for, etc. This certainly ap-
pears not to agree with our explanation of chap,
ui., which we hold is concerned with a woman
with whom the prophet is already married; but
this contradiction is only apparent. For, though
the woman is married to the prophet, she is yet au
adulterous wife, and has therefore renounced her
husband (compare Israel's attitude towards God).
If he " loves " her still, and would prove to her
his enduring love, he must act towards her as one
who weds a wife, he must purchase her, like a
stranger, with a bridal gift. If this points to the
guilt, the extreme estrangement of the woman, it
shows also directly the endurance of the husband's
love that he should act thus, that he should treat
as a bride a degraded, adulterous wife, from whom
it would be most natural to cut himself entirely
loose, that he should even give her a bridal present
in opposition to all natural inclinations ! Yet this
is not a blind love, but it corresponds to the cir-
cumstances of the case (compare God's attitude
towards Israel), a love which involves a beneficial
chastening. 'This is indicated in our verse. It is
assuredly not without design that a production of
nature forms part of the gift. It shows that it was
intended for the support of lifii. It is probably
indicated that the woman is not yet taken into the
husband's house ; for such a gift would then have
no meaning. Further, the bridal gift is such a one
as the wife had the least right to claim or expect :
a token that her husband loves her still and will
not cut himself oflF wholly from her. And if this
cannot be maintained with certainty, it is still
probable (barley was among the ancients a food
but little esteemed) that this whole present was
not at all a rich one, but only barely sufficient,
especially if we can assume that it was to last
" many days." Ver. 3 gives additional infor-
mation as to the action of the prophet described
in ver. 2, D''??' Q^P^i an indefinite period of
long duration : the end will depend upon the con-
duct of the wife, ''b ''3U7ri. at»;^=to sit, !. c,
" to keep quiet. The ^7 shows that such con-
duct was to be obsei'ved with reference to the hus-
band, that he so disposes of her from love to her,
in order to improve her and educate her to become
his faithful wife.'' ''y ^P^ therefore does not
mean : dwell with me. What was remarked in
ver. 2 proves this already, and the meaning of ver.
4, especially, would not suit such a sense, for a re-
lation of communion with God is here denied. The
difficult words tj"' ^W ''3W CJI, are probably to
be explained in a corresponding manner with the
recent expositors : and I will be so towards thee,
namely, observe the same conduct towards thee,
i. e., have no conjugal intercourse with thee. An-
other explanation is: and I also will hold myself
ready for thee, wait for thee, i. e., not take any
other wife. This is possible in itself, but not suit-
able to ver. 4, which contains the explanation of
ver. 3. For this verse contains only a negative
thought (see on ver. 4). Therefore the sense ot
the whole is : The Prophet displays unmerited love
towards his adulterous wife, according to the com-
mand 3n^. for, like a bridegroom he again ac-
quires her with a bridal gift. But this love has
also for its object the improvement of the wife, and
he therefore manifests liis love in such a manner
as to secure that end. He cares for her support
but limits her allowance that she may learn salu
tary humility. He naturally interdicts her adul
CHAPTER III.
47
lerous habits, but does not at once resume his con-
jugal intercourse with her. This is therefore a
manifestation of love of a disciplinary character,
but still essentially of love, — just as is that of God
toward Israel.
Ver. 4. For many days will the children of
Israel sit, etc. Ver. 4 is the explanation 03 ^^
for) of ver. 3. Three pairs of objects are named
of which the children of Israel shall be deprived.
King and prince — holders of the civil government,
which will therefore cease in Israel. Also the wor-
ship will cease with it. This is represented by the
two following, nST, sacrifice, and n^^J5i stat-
ues, defining the sense more closely. Besides these,
two objects used as oracles are mentioned : the
ephod, which was strictly the High-priest's shoul-
der-garment, with the XJrim and Thummim, which
was put on or brought out when oracles were given.
It is brought into view here evidently not in rela-
tion to the High-priest, but on account of its con-
nection with oracles in general, as its use was im-
itated even by idolaters in worship (Judges xvii.
5; xviii. 14, 17, 18, 20). The D''?"Ji!l were also
used for the same purpose.. They are equivalent
to Penates (comp. Zech. xix. 2; Ezek. xxi. 26),
and in the passage cited from Judges are men-
tioned along with the ephod. Whether the sense
is that Israel will have neither the worship of Je-
hovah nor idolatry, remains doubtful. For, ac-
cording to what has been said, the ephod does not
directly imply the worship of Jehovah ; still less
does npT. Probably the distinction between the
two is not implied, but worship simply indicated.
The condition of things is described as one of the
deprivation of that which had been Israel's sup-
port (king and prince) and joy and consolation
(sacrifice, etc.); and the important fact is that
idolatry should cease. This should be effected
against Israel's desire, would be a punishment
hke the cessation of their own government, civil
independence ; but the punishment is a chastening
in love, a tokea that God had not forgotten Israel.
It is true that this positive truth, of a manifesta-
tion of love, lies in the background in our verse,
which wears a negative aspect. But this love was
declared in ver. 1 to be the main thought, and in
ver. 5 (whose purport, moreover, transcends the
symbol) it appears quite clearly by the issue to be
the object in view.
Ver. 5. Afterwards will the children of Is-
rael return : a post hoc which includes, however,
clearly a propter hoc, i. e., the situatic j described
in ver. 4 is an essential coijperating factor. Will
seek Jehovah their God and David their king.
" Seeking J'chovah their God is connected with seek-
ing David their king. For as the apostasy of the
ten tribes from the kingdom of David was only
the consequence and result of its inner apostasy
from Jehovah, so the true return to God could not
take place without a return to their king David,
suice God had promised the kingdom to David for-
ever in his seed (2 Sam. vii. 13, 16) ; thus David
is the only true king of Israel — their king " ( Keil ) .
The family of David is probably primarily meant,
and more strictly, a king of that family. The con-
clusion, " at the end of the days," alludes to the
Messianic period, according to prophetic usage else-
where ; hence we are justified in assuming the Mes-
siah to be also meant here. Will tremble towards
Jehovah. "THQ, to tremble ; with ■ !;* it forms a
- pregn1^t expression : tremble hastening towards.
It is a stronger expression for the preceding
tS'pS = seek with anxiety, since the needed help
is found in the One sought ; therefore sought wth
solicitude, although He assuredly will be found,
because He is the seeker's only dependence. This
is thus the direct contrast to the former abandon-
ment of Jehovah and seeking help in idols. What
is sought in God is his goodness, especially in his
gifts, of which they had been deprived (comp. Jer.
xxxi. 12 ; Zech. ix. 17). On the end of the days
see the preceding remarks. This is therefore the
end of the " many days," or the fuller explanation
of inH.
[The discussion given above of this chapter is
so full and able, both as to its general purport and
as to its special features, that no additions are neces-
sary from any writer holding the identity of the
woman here described with that of chap. i. The
force of some of the arguments employed is over-
estimated, and others, as is readily perceived, are
too largely based on mere speculation, yet the gen-
eral results go to show the strong probability of
the correctness of this hypothesis and of its conse-
quences, where they affect the interpretation of in-
dividual passages. The recent English commen-
tators agree with the majority of the moderns in
holding this view. Newcome adopts the old opin-
ion that the Prophet's former wife ( Gomer) had died
in the interval. Noyes thinks that it is immaterial
whether the women are identical or not. The full-
ness of the discussion of the several minor features
of this short chapter precludes the necessity of ad-
ditions from the remarks of Anglo-American ex-
positors, which are, moreover, usually of a com-
paratively general nature. On some points, as, for
example, the object of the " purchase " of the wom-
an, and its symbolical meaning, the difficulties can-
not be said to be yet satisfactorily solved. — M.]
DOCTSmAL AND ETHICAL.
1. On the love of Jehovah to Israel, which en-
dures in spite of all unfaithfulness, but does
not forget to chasten, see the Introduction, and
especially No. 1 in the Doctrinal and Ethical lec-
tion attached to chap. ii.
2. A condition of things, such as that threat-
ened in ver. 4, characterized the kingdom of the
ten tribes when they were led away into exile by
Assyria ; and in this we can see a fulfillment, al-
though nothing is said of any captivity, and in
fact nothing of the manner in which the kingdom
and worship should cease. It is very doubtful, to
say the least, whether we can claim for the threat-
ening a wider range, and make it apply also to the
kingdom of Judah. Nothing can be adduced from
the resemblance to the threatening which the
Prophet Azariah uttered against Judah in the days
of Asa (2 Chron. xv. 2, 4). For ver. 5 of our
chapter points too clearly to the kingdom of the
ten tribes, and no judgments are pronounced
against Judah until the later chapters, which be-
long to a later period. The threatening goes hand
in hand with the promise. The latter holds out,
first of all, a return, which, according to the words ;
shall seek Jehovah their God, is to be taken as a
contrast to the resort made to other gods (ver. 1).
According to the promise they will also seek David
their king. [See the passage quoted from Keil in
the exegetical section.] The house of David is
naturally the primary object of the reference. For
in returning thither they acknowledge the divina
i8
HO SEA.
right of David to the kingdom. This promise is
ehoAvn here indubitably to be Messianic by the
expression : " at the end of the days," which " does
not denote the future in general', but always the
coming consummation of the kingdom of God,
which begins with the advent of the Messiah."
(Keil.) We cannot, therefore, find the fulfillment
in that which happened in the return from the
Babylonian e.xile, apart from the consideration
that that event affected mainly the kingdom of
Judah, while here the kingdom of Israel is the
subject of discourse ; thus the promise was not
then fulfilled. Hence the question is suggested
here also : Since this promise was not fulfilled to
Israel even with the coining of the Messiah, has it
fallen to the ground, or is the fulfillment yet to be
expected'? According to what has been remarked
under chap, i., both questions are to be answered in
the negative, and the answer rather is : The fulfill-
ment has already begun in Him, in whom all the
promises of God are Yea and Amen, hut in another
and far higher sense than the Prophet imagined, who
saw the people of God in Israel alone. Separating-
the kernel from the husk, we must, upon the
ground of the New Covenant, see the fulfillment
in the gathering of a people of God around a de-
scendant of David who was greater than David's
son, — around Christ. And so, though this is not
the literal meaning of the promise, " King David "
that one of David's family who was to be sought
after, is the Messiah. In this Son of David it is
fulfilled, though not yet completely. The promise
is still in course of fulfillment, and to its perfect
fulfillment is specially necessary the universal con-
version of Israel to Christ, but, as is natural, not
merely the people of the ten tribes, here literally
indicated.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. Luthek: Let us cease to fear the
inath and judgment of God on account of our
sins, and believe what the Prophet says, that God
is like a husband who, although he has been de-
serted by an adulterous wife and is angry thereat,
is yet more impelled by mercy, than urged by the
sin of the adulteress, and wins her back to his
love. And truly has the Prophet in two respects
set forth great things. For, m the first place, he
could not describe sin as being more dreadful than
he here pictures it in the sin of the adulteress. And,
again, he extols highly the love of God by this
image, when he says that He is animated by love
towards the adulteress.
[PnSEY : His love was to outlive hers, that He
might win her at last to Himself Such, God says,
is the love of the Lord for Israel. — M.]
[Ver. 2. Matthew Heney : Those whom God
designs honor and comfort for He first makes sen-
sible of their own worthlessness, and brings them
to acknowledge with the prodigal : " I am no more
worthy to be called thy son." Poverty and dis-
grace sometimes prove a happy means of making
great sinners penitent. Comp. the Exegetical re-
marks. — M.]
Ver. 4. Although it is a great punishment of
God, that a government should be cast down, it is
yet a much greater punishment that liberty should
be taken away to serve God and teach his Word.
Luther : Ver. 5. These are glorious words of
the Prophet who thus combines God and Christ
in worship, so that, when we call upon God, we
should do so through Christ ; when we hope in
the mercy of God we hope through Christ that
God would have mercy on us.
[PusEY : So God's goodness overflows with
beneficence and condescension, and graciousness
and mercy and forgiving love, and joy in impart-
ing Himself, and complacence in the creatures
which He has reformed, and refound, redeemed,
and sanctified for his glory. Well may his creat-
ures tremble towards it with admiring wonder that
all this can be made theirs ! — M.]
CHAPTER IV. 1-19. 49
PART SECOND.
Jehovah pleads with Israel his Beloved but Unfaithful Spousb.
Chapters IV.-XIV.
FIRST DISCOURSE.
Chapters IV.-XI.
I. THE ACCUSATION.
Chapters IV.- VII.
A^ Against thi People as a Whole on Account of their Idolatry and the Corruption of
their Morals (^promoted by the Priests).
Chapter IV. 1-19.
1 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel !
For Jehovah has a diiFerence with the inhahitants of the land,
Because there is no fidelity and no goodness
And no knowledge of God in the land ;
2 (Only) cursing and lying,
And murdering and stealing and adultery ;
They break in, and murder follows upon murder.
3 Therefore will the land mourn.
And all who dwell therein shall languish,
With the beast ^ of the field and the bird of heaven ;
And the fish of the sea also shall be swept away.
4 Only let none contend,
And let none reprove (another) ;
And thy people ^ is like those that strive with the priest.
5 And thou shalt fall in the day-time.
And the Prophet also shall fall with thee in the night,
And I will destroy thy mother.
6 My people are destroyed for want of knowledge ! '
Because thou despisest knowledge,
So do I despise thee ' to be my Priest ;
Because thou dost forget the law of thy God,
I also will forget thy children.
7 The more they increased the more they sinned against me
Their glory will I turn into shame.
8 They eat [make profit of] the sin of my people,
And direct their desires after their transgressions.
9 And so it is : as the people, so the priest,
And I will visit their ways upon them,
And reward to them their deeds.
10 Then they shall eat and not be satisfied.
Will practice whoredom and not spread abroad.
Because they forgot ^ Jehovah, to regard Him.
50 HOSEA.
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine
Will take (possession of) a heart.
12 My people" inquires of its wood [idols],
And their staff shall declare to it ;
For the spii-it of whoredom has deceived them,
And they commit whoredom (departing) from under their God.
13 They sacrifice on the summits of the mountains,
And burn incense on the hiUs ;
Under the oak and poplar and terebinth.
Because their shadow is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters commit whoredom
And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 Yet I wUl not visit upon [punish] your daughters because they commit whoredom,
Nor your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery ;
For they [you] themselves go aside with prostitutes.
And sacrifice with temple-girls,
And the people without understanding shall be cast down.
15 If thou commit whoredom, O Israel!
Let not Judah become guilty,
Go not to GUgal,
And ascend not to Beth-aven,
And swear not : by the life of Jehovah.
16 For Israel is as intractable as an unbroken heifer;
Now Jehovah will pasture them
Like a lamb in a wide field.
17 Ephraim is joined to idols — let him be.
18 Their drinking-feast is spoiled ;
They keep on wlioring.
Their sliields [rulers] keep on loving shame.*
19 The tempest seizes them witli its wings :
And they shall be ashamed of their sacrifices.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 3. — 31 n^n2, 4I la ased here as in Gea. vii. 21 ; ix. 10, to specify or enumerate objects indicated be-
fore in the general. In usage, though not in grammatical function, it is equiyalent to our namtly, — M.]
[2 Ver. 4. — tJS^I. Newcome gives a variety of emendations and transpositions, partly from other sources, in order
to obtain a more natural sense than the one he draws from the text. He seems to have been misled by the difficulty
suggested by Houbigant, who remarks that it could not be a crime to contend with idolatrous priests. These of course,
are not meant. See the exposition. Among the ancient translators, the LXX., Atjuila, and Arab, read ^^"V '. my
people, which seems more natural but is not necessary. — M.] Meier would point differently, and reads tT^V^ ! with
thee, against thee, namely, God, and makes the negation continue: (let no one be) against thee. This is forced. The
^TT^ would be neces.sary, and DV would not be the proper preposition.
[8 Ver. 6. — We must not read riV"^ "^ /?^ unexpectedly (Meier). The article is essential — t[SDWQS\ Ac-
cording to the Masora the third S is superfluous, and therefore probably a chirographical error. According to Ewald it
Is an Aramaic pausal form. [Henderson ; The third S is not found in a great number of Kennicott^s and De Rossi's
manuscripts, nor in some of the earlier printed editions ; in others it is marked as redundant, and a few have ^DSDM
^-lp. - M.]
4 Ver. 10. — "nDK?/. Meier attaches this word to the following verse : to practice lewdness, etc. But this is forced.
l^Hcndersou cites the similar view of Saadiiis, Arnold, and Horsley, but thinks " there is something so repugnant to
Hebrew usage in the combination : to observe fornication, wine and new wine, that it is altogether Inadmissible." But
his •hoice of the term "observe " is arbitrary. In thus opposing Horsley, he overlooks the fact that the latter renders;
to give attention to, a sense of the word which is not at all repugnant to Hebrew usage. It mffst be remembered that
(hey " neglected " Jehovah or dropped Him from their thoughts ; the antithesis would naturally be : to keep in mind
ewdnes.», etc. This is the exact uiiage of the word in Gen. xxxvii. U ; Ps. cxxx. 3. Hcrsley's arguments are mainly
based upon the double anomaly of the construction as formerly assumed, in which 2T5? was supposed to govern ill
•bject indirectly (and urregularly) by means of b with the inflnitive, and "IDti? was regarded as governing (against
asage) mH^ as its direct object : they forsook to regard Jehovah. DtS? is now admitted by some to govern iTin^
directly, and the pers. pron. ; Aim, is supplied after regard, as is done by Schmoller. But, even with this construction,
ihc omission of the object ta the original after "HDU? V would be unaccountable and very abrupt. To these consider
CHAPTER IV. 1-19.
51
ations this other may be added, that under the present division of the Terses. ver. 11 is rjade unuHUally brief. Thesa
lifftculties in the way of the ordinary constructions should lead us to regard the subvtrsion of the marlc of division
between tile verses with more favor than should ordiuarily be shown to attempts at amending the text. The proposed
shange would give the translation : because they have neglected Jehovah to set their minds on whoredom and wine and
new wine, (which) will take possession of the heart. — M.]
[6 Ver. 12. — Henderson : " The LXX. and most versions which follow them connect "^^^ with ^7 at the end of
the preceding verse ; a mode of construction adopted by Michaelis and Dathe, but othervise disapproved by modem
translators. — M.]
6 Ver. 18. — ^Dn ^IirrM perhaps belong together, a piatal form from DnW, except that the doubling has been
Beparated in an extraordinary manner. It is therefore really instead of ^^MllinW. Wiinache would read ^DH^
nnW resembling the preceding ^DTH rTDTn. [On this combination see Green, Grr., §§ 92 a, 122, 1 ; Ewald, § 120
a ; Bottcher, § 1065 6. These grammarians, as well as the best critics generally, regard it as one word. The form with
which it is usually compared is '^i^nHT^'^, Ps. Ixxxviii. 17. The last named author calls our form a Qelaltal, cor^
responding to the form adopted by Schinoller. The notion conveyed by such forms is that of intensity, or repetition.
So Bwald : es lieben lieben Sckmadi seine Scfiilf/e. Comp the rendering of Delitzsch in the passage just cited : vernickt'
niektigt. If the alternative of separate words be adopted, it would be almost necessary to adopt some such expedieut
Its that of Wiinsche given above ; for the rendering of E. V. : her rulers with shame do love ; give ye, is almost uniu-
teliigible. — M.]
EXEQETICAL AND ORITICAIi.
Pour strophes may be supposed with Keil (vers.
1-5 ; 6-10; 11-14 ; 16-19), although it can hardly
be maintained in general, that our Prophet ob-
serves a strict strophical division .
Ver. 1 . Hear the word of Jehovah, etc. Jeho-
vah appears against Israel as a Judge (that is, Is-
rael of the Ten Tribes, comp. ver. 15), who raises
the accusation, and pronounces the sentence and
punishment. In a certain sense this first strophe
contains the sense of the whole. Jehovah has a
contest ^ legal action, comp. Micah vi. 2, and
with relation to the heathen, Joel iii. 2. — '""^P^ is
faithfulness, trueness to one's word. "^QD is affec-
tion, kindness, love. Tbese qualities are frequently
mentioned together ; usually as divine attributes,
but sometimes also as human virtues. ^D^ is
here probably special kindness towards the feeble
and distressed (Keil). The opposites are prima-
rily moral defects. But they have their root in
that which is Israel's grand defect, in the want of
the knowledge of God, i. e., they do not know the
living God or know Him any longer — naturally
through their own fault — since they do not care
to serve Him.
Ver. 2. Along with the negative description of
the corruption we have the positive. The sins are
not described by substantives, but are expressed
in a lively manner as actions by verbs, and that
with special emphasis by the inf absol. Five sins
are thus mentioned, corresponding to five of the
Ten Commandments, and at the same time these
sins form a definite contrast to fidelity and good-
ness. Swearing along with lying naturally =
false swearing, or, at all events, wanton swearing.
l^jnQ forms the transition to the finite verb ; the
last three sins, especially murder, are represented
in the concrete, and at the same time as something
fearfully prevalent. [The literal translation of the
the last three words is : and bloody deed touches
bloody deed. CST meant originally : drops of
blood, then transferred to deeds of blood in gen-
eral, and it is altogether probable that this word
was chosen here to present to the imagination the
picture of a swift succession of murderous assaults,
"ollowing so closely that drops of the blood of one
victim might be conceived as meeting and ming-
ling with those of another. If so, this is a strik-
ing illustration of Hosea's wonderful power of
graphic poetical delineation. Henderson : " What
the Prophet means is that murder was so com-
mon th.1t no space was left between its acts.
LXX. : aifxaTo, i^ al^ari fiiffyovai. Coverdale : one
bloudgiltyness foloweth another. And Ritterhus-
ius powerfully in his poetical metaphrase : —
— - f Sic sanguini sanguis
TrudituTj et scelerum nuUus Jinisve modusve est.^ "
See 2 Kings xv. ; Micah vii. 2. — M.]
Ver. 3. Therefore will the land mourn, etc.
The punishment of that moral deprivation ; a
great and universal drought, such, e. g., as pre-
vailed under Ahab, was a judgment of God." This
is described in its effects : The mourning of the
land is a lively figurative expression for the scorch-
ing away of all vegetable productions, and the
languishing of animal life, and the beasts are
named, because the drought was, so to speak, t»
be described from its natural side (comp. Joel i.
10 ff.). It is just in this condition of nature gen-
erally that God executes judgment upon man.
The drought is not to be conceived of as existing
at present, but is threatened, as the whole chapter
generally is occupied with threatening. 2ffi'^"73
nS probably does not refer to the men them-
selves but is specified by the following ?1, and
therefore refers to the beasts, etc. [Keil : 5 is
used in the enumeration of the individuals as iu
Gen. vii. 21 ; ix. 10. The fishes are mentioned
last, and introduced by the emphatic CJ") to show
that the drought would prevail to such an extent
that even lakes and other bodies of waters would
be dried up. ^Ot^jU : to be collected, to be taken
away, to disappear or perish." — M.]
Ver. 4. Only let none contend, and let none
reprove, etc. These words appear quite unex-
jjectedly and are not quite clear. There seems to
be a verbal reference to ver. 1 ; and it may be that
there is a contrast to that contending there an-
nounced on the part of God. The sense would
then be : The Lord will contend, but it is pre-
sumptuous for men to strive against Him ; none
are to contend or reprove. Or we might forego
the reference to ver. 1, and explain generally : let
none contend or reprove ! The hardened hearts
of the people would then be referred to, who would
listen to no rebuke. So Luther after the Vulgate :
52
HO SEA.
yet let none rebuke, etc. But 'TT^ is thus falsely
rendered. It is not = yet. Therefore others hold
that there is a demand " only " to neglect plead-
ing with and rebuking the corrupt people. There
would indeed be much to rebuke, but it would be
to no purpose (Keil). But this thought is not suit-
able to the context. It is just on the part of God
that the 2 ~) does take place, and is not the whole
prophetic discourse a rebuke"? Others suppose a
demand to the people not to resist God and his
judgment. But H^'Din will not suit here ; it
must be taken in the sense of censuring : let none
censure God and his deeds. The explanation of
Wiinsche is therefore better : let none quarrel witli
another and attribute to him the blame of the ca-
lamity. And thy people as those who contend
with the priest, that is, are like those, etc. With
the first explanation of the preceding words, the
ones now considered would surround theur with
still greater difficulties : let none contend — uttered
with respect to the spirit of contradiction among
the people — and they act as, etc. With the sec-
ond explanation the words serve to support the
preceding, to show the uselessness of contending
and rebuking : yet thy people are like, etc. The
explanation of Wiinsche shows the best coimec-
tion : the reason is given why none should re-
proach the others : the whole people are alike. In
form however the sentence is not a confirmatory
one, being simply coijrdinatcd by 1 [This objec-
tion is not conclusive. "1 very often introduces a
reason. See Green, Or., § 287, 1. The opinion
assigned to Wiinsche is that not only adopted in
E. V. but approved by most of the recent English
commentators. Noyes prefers the view assigned
above to Keil. On attempts to amend the text
for other renderings, see the Textual note. — M.]
Contend with the priest — an unexpected ex-
pression, perhaps to be explained by l)eut. xvii.
12 f The people are like those who in the Law
are described as rebels against the authority of the
priest. They are therefore those who would not
allow themselves to be directed aright by those
whose prerogative it was to direct them (Heng-
stenberg, Keil).
•Vcr. 5. 7tp3 naturally refers to the punish-
ment [as the cause of the fall (destruction) of the
people, whom the Prophet now directly addresses.
— M.] Prophet, naturally=false prophets (comp.
1 Kings xxii. 6 i^'. ), " who followed prophesying as
a source of gain." In the day, — by night: a
figurative representation distributed according to
the members of the sentence. The meaning is :
the people and prophets shall fall all the time.
And I will destroy thy mother = the whole na-
tion conceived of as the mother of the children of
Israel.
Ver. 5. My people is destroyed. ""???
!^V3^, not : unawares (Meier), but : from want
of knowledge [see Gram, note], ;'. e., chiefly,
knowledge of God, Yet the expression is to be
taken jirimarily in its general reference ; compare
the beginning and end of the next strophe [vers.
11-14]. This want of knowledge is blameworthy,
a despising of knowledge. This shows the nearer
reference to be to the knowledge of God. Israel
could have gained this from the law, but had for-
gotten that law. And I wUl despise thee from
being a priest to me. This does not refer to the
Driest simply. All Israel, according to Ex. xix. 6,
was to be a priestly people, and to he thus distin-
guished from the h'eathen, the profane. But they
were to forfeit this high prerogative. The notion
therefore = " shall be not-my-people," chaps, i.-ii.
Ver. 7. The more they increased, not merely
in numbers, but in prosperity, power, etc., — the
more they sinned ; comp. ii. 7. They ascribed
this prosperity to their idols, and were thus con
firmed in idolatry. Accordingly Israel's glory,
consisting in their richness and greatness, shall bt
turned into shame, i. e., they shall lose their glory
and stand dishonored.
Ver. 8. A transition to the Priests, according
to the purport of the words, and the beginning of
ver. 9. They eat the sin of my people. They
live upon, derive their support from, the sin of the
people. That is their right to do so, the more the
people sin, i. e., serve idols. For the very exist-
ence of the idol priesthood depended upon the
idolatry of the people. Keil, still more specially,
makes '''12V nKlSH = sin-oflFering of the people
(so also Luther). In the Law the priest was en-
joined to eat the flesh of the sin-otFering to blot
out the sin of the people (Lev. vi. 19). But that
became sin to the priests, because (second member
of the verse) they directed their desires towards
the transgression of the people, that is, wished
their transgressions to multiply, so as to acquire a
large supply of food froiu their offerings. The pe-
culiar expression ; eat the sin, may still bear allu-
sion to the sacrificial ritual. But the notion is prob-
ably more general : they live upon the sin = the
idolatry of the people, as they eat the flesh of the
sacrifice offered to idols. He lifts up his sou]
towards = directs his desires towards. The sin-
gular suflBx is anomalous ; it is perhaps distribu-
tive : each one lifts up his soul. The meaning of
the whole would he : Since they live upon the siu
of my people, they wish for nothing more earnestly
than that the people should keep on sinning more
and more, namely, in idolatry. [So the expositors
generally. — M.]
Vcr. 9. Since the priests go hand in hand with
the people, the people serving idols and the priests
desiring their idolatry, a like punishment will over-
take them all. [Henderson : " The rank and wealth
of the priests will not exempt them from sharing
the same fate with the rest of the nation." — M.]
Ver. 10. They will eat, etc. "Eat" refers
back to ver. 8, and therefore the primary reference
is to the priests — "IITH- The usual force of the
hiphil = entice to whoredom, would hardly suit
here, although it is the priests who are spoken of
The addition ^^'^5^ 171, is unsuitable to this
sense, for an extension by the procreation of chil-
dren, which is here denied of them, could be predi-
cated of those who commit whoredom, but not of
those who only seduce others into that sin. There-
fore it probably ^ a strengthened kal, as in ver.
18; 2 Chron. xxi. 13. The literal signification
cannot here be excluded, if we take into account
the conclusion of the verse, and especially the par-
allelism with "eat." Ver. 11, also, necessitates
the conjunction of whoredom with "wine and
must " = debauchery, and thus supports the lit-
eral interpretation, as also in vers. 13, 14, the
daughters are said to be actual whores. But yet
all this is only the consequence of spiritual
whoredom = idolatry, and in closest connection
with it. It is that which is to be rebuked, and
the figurative sense therefore predominates in
ver. 12, where idolatrous practices are specialH
CHAPTER IV. 1-19.
5&
denounced, in the expression : spirit of whore-
dom. Whoredom as a consequence of idolatry,
and as connected with it, and idolatry itself, are
to the prophet perfectly identical, because insep-
arably united. The reason why they will not
be satisiied or be extended, which are negative ex-
pressions affirming strongly their opposite, is that
they forsook to regard. The expression refers
to Jehovah : they forsook Jehovah, to keep Him,
to regard, to honor Him (comp. Ps. xxxi. 7 ; Prov.
xxvii. 18)= they forsook Him and ceased to re-
gard, honor Him. [See Gram. note. — M.]
Ver. 11. Whoredom and wine and new wine
takes possession of the heart, 3v, " the centre of
the whole spiritual and moral life, the understand-
ing, the will, and the sensibilities" (Wiinsche).
Hence the capture of the hearts the obscuring
and perversion of the understanding and the will,
expressing generally the intellectually and morally
polluting influence of a life given up to sensual
enjoyment. Then in the first member of ver. 12
a proof of this is adduced, — a special instance of
apostasy from the living God.
Ver. 12. i^^? b^tr, inqnive of idols framed
of wood, especially teraphim, in order to gain a
divine revelation ; in direct contrast to /Nti?
nin\ The reproach is made keener by the con-
trasted words : m,ij people, Iheir wood : the people
who are Jehovah's seek to wood, which is made
their god instead of Jehovah. Their staff shall
instruct them. This was the so-called rhabdo-
mancy : two staves placed upright were allowed
to fall while incantations were being repeated, and
an oracular response was supposed to be given by
the direction of its fall, backwards or forwards, to
the right or to the left. [So described by Cyril of
Alexandria. Compare the use of divining-rods
or wishing-rods. — M.] This course of action is
expressly attributed to the influence of a spirit of
whoredom: idolatry (in connection with its conse-
quences, whoredom and debaucheiy) is a seduc-
tive, demoniacal power, which they could no longer
resist. vK jinriQ, literally, from under their
God, like ^I?D'!?^ (i. 2), the normal relation to
God is here regarded as one of subjection. It is
from this that they withdraw tliemselves.
Ver. 13. Upon the summits of the moun-
tains, etc. (comp. Deut. xii. 2 ; Jer. ii. 20 ; iii. 6 ;
Ezek. vi. 13). Mountains and hills, as is well
known, were favorite places for idolatrous wor-
ship. So also were green and shady trees in
pleasant places (here specified instead of the
usual general expression, " under every green
tree "). " Therefore " = because the places of idol-
worship everywhere arranged gave abundant op-
portunity, therefore your daughters commit lewd-
ness (Keil). "Lewdness" is here, at all events,
used in its literal sense, see especially ver. 14,
second part. The prostitution of young maidens
and of wives formed an essential portion of the na-
ture-worship of Babylon and Canaan. It would
seem from the mention of temple-girls in ver. 14
.hat the worship of Astarte, or something similar,
s implied. But, even apart from this, the sensuous
character of idolatry commonly induced unchaste
practices.
Ver. 14. Those who are young cannot be blamed,
for those who are older are worse still. QH : they =
»usbands and fathers. T]Si here intransitive :
to go aside in order to be alone with the niDl'?-
'''.7f^ is one who is consecrated to the service of
Astarte, or some similar Canaanitish divinity ;
women who prostituted themselves for gain. Offer
with the temple-girls : appear with them at the
altar. To such an extent did they carry their im-
pudence and shamelessness. At the end of the
strophe want of understanding is again empha
sized ; it is this that brings them to their fall.
Vers, l.'j-ig contain a warning to Judah not
to participate in Israel's idolatry and shameless
conduct, in order to escape the dreadful ruin of
the former.
Ver. 1.5. If thou, Israel, dost commit whore-
dom. Whoredom is here predominantly employed
in its metaphorical, but includes also the literal
sense. A participation in Israel's idolatry would
have been induced by pilgrimages to the shrines
of the ten tribes, which still, presumably, were
made. Such places were : Gilgal, southwest from
Shiloh, now Djidjilia, formerly the seat of a
School of the Prophets (2 Kings ii. 1 ; iv. 38) ; later
a seat of idolatrous worship, and mentioned as
such besides in our Prophet, ix. 1.5; xii. 12, and
Amos iv. 4 ; v. 5 ; and Bethel, south of Gilgal,
near the borders of Israel and Judah ; now Betin.
This is probably meant here by Beth-Aven, the
name being intentionally changed ; comp. Amos
V. 5 ; mentioned also in Amos iv. 4 along with
Gilgal. Swear not : by the life of Jehovah.
This cannot be forbidden in itself, for in Deut. vi.
13; XX. 20 it is directly enjoined. Swearing applied
to the service of idolatry must he meant, and that
in the two places above-mentioned. It appears
evident that certain formulas of swearing charac-
teristic of Jehovah's worship were employed in
idolatrous service, and that for the purpose of giv-
ing to the latter a seeming justification.
Ver. 16. The punishment of Israel is pointed
out in order to strengthen the warning to Judah.
"OPt intractable, stubborn, will not be subject to
God. God then gives them a free course — bitter
irony, — like a sheep on a wide plain : that is, they
shall be dispersed far and wide. [Hendeison:
" The latter hemistich contains the language of
irony. As lambs are fond of ranging at large, but
are in danger of being lost or devoured, so God
threatens to remove the Israelites into a distant
and large country, where they would be separated
from those with whom they associated in idolatrous
worship, and thus be left solitary and exposed as
in a wilderness. The phrase, to feed in a large
place, is elsewhere used in a good sense. Is. xxx.
23."— M.]
Ver. 17. Joined to idols, i. e., joined to them
so fast that they cannot give them up ; therefore
probably I7"n3n =let them, that is, keep on, let
them serve idols forever, the punishment will not
delay. Ephraim was the most powerful of the ten
tribes, and therefore often stands for the ten tribes
generally. [The other interpretation, not so much
favored, but numbering amongst its supporters
Jerome, Grotius, Rosenmiiller, and Maurer, is that
the inhabitants of Judah are commanded to rave
nothing to do with the idolatry of Israel. This
view has also the support of Cowles, but the other
is approved by the majority of the English ex-
positors. — M.]
Ver. 18. A difficult one. ^^^D liquor, then: a
drinking-bout. EUrst assumes besides TO M
54
HO SEA.
turn aside, another TO to become worthless or
corrupt, here = to be spoiled. So also Keil [so
also Ewald, Horslcy, Pusey, and others, with E.
V. — M.]. Meier takes it in the usual sense, to
be removed, disappear : their carousing has disap-
peared. He then takes the following as in sense a
dependent sentence: the carousing of those who
commit whoredom, whose shields, etc. But this
is rather artificial. To be sure, the mention of the
punishment might be expected here, but it is just
as suitable that ver. 18 sliould describe only their
wicked conduct, and ver. 19 pictures theni as being
seized by a storm-wind in the midst of it. [Hen-
derson translates the first clause : when their car-
ousals are over they indulge in lewdness. Here
DN is supposed to he omitted. Cowles suggests
the impossible explanation ; He (Ephraim) be-
comes more apostate from God through strong
drink.— M.J Along with their debauchery they
commit whoredom, — again in the double sense.
[For the construction of the next clause, see Gram,
note. — M.] The shame which they love is not
expressed, but is clearly enough contained in the
two preceding Lemistichs, therefore = sh ameful
conduct in a moral sense ; not = what brings dis-
grace upon them in its punishment. Her sliields
= her princes, as defenders of the people. " Her"
refers to Ephraim, regarded as the wife. The
princes are named specially : the whole nation is
corrupt from the highest to the lowest.
"Ver. 19. In the midst of their sins destruction
carries them away like a tempest with irresistible
force. "1'^? = hind together ; seize upon. It is
the prophetic preterite. The tempest is regarded
as already present. Dinn^-ta 'tWJ.\ This means
either that they shall be shamed away from their
sacrifices, because they were proved not to be able
to help them, or that they shall be ashamed of their
sacrifices. The sense is that both they and their
sacrifices would be put to shame.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. With bold freedom and with holy earnestness
the Prophet here displays a picture of the religious
and moral corruption of the nation, before which
we tremble. He has an eye open for both, and
expresses most clearly the inseparable connection
between religion and morality. Not only is im-
morality censured, but the religious depravation
also (vers. 1-6, 10-12, 13), so that it may be clearly
perceived that this religious decline is the source
of the moral corruption, and therefore the (true)
religion, that belief in Jehovah is the root of all
morality. Observe here how the knowledge of
God is exhibited as the essence of religion, and
the want of this knowledge as the great error in
connection with religion. Apostasy from God
therefore consists or is rooted in the loss of the
knowledge of Him, which includes not merely a
theoretical cognition, but also belief in Him, as
the self-revealed God, and the acquaintance and
'ntimacy with Him thence drawn by experience.
It is thus that Hosea elsewhere also insists upon
the "knowledge of Jehovah" (v. 4; vi. 3, and
specially 6). In contrast hereto the idolater is
lescribed as one who is "joined to idols " (ver. 17),
enters into conjugal intercourse with them. The
Prophet, however, does not, in a one-sided fashion,
pay exclusive attention to the conduct of the peo-
ple with respect to religion, but lays just as much
stress upon the moral consequences of their relig
ious decline. In his several pictures he brands
and rebukes the depravation of morals ; want of
fidelity and goodness, swearing, lying, stealing,
murder, and adultery. Murdering and steahng,
probably includes also deeds of violence commit-
ted against the poor, defenseless, etc. Special
prominence is given to sins against the Sixth
[Seventh] Commandment, which, on the basis of
idolatry raged so violently in consequence of the
terrible increase of unchaste practices during the
prevalence of heathen religion and rites. The
morallv destructive influence of devotion to sen-
sual and fleshly lusts is aptly described in the re-
buke of ver. 1 1 : it takes possession of the heart,
and the extent of that influence is shown in vers.
13, 14, where the complete destruction of all mo-
rality in domestic life is described. A large element
of the moral corruption is the influence exerted by
the corraption of the priests who make gain of the
people's sins (vers. 8, 9), partly also of the proph-
ets. It is also here to be observed how, on the
other hand, the moral corruption hastens the re-
ligious ruin of the people, drawn as they are ever
further from God, and led deeper into idolatry,
superstition, and unbelief. Comp. ver. 12 in re-
lation to ver. 11. In ver. 12 b, it is clearly indi-
cated that men, through their estrangement fi-om
God and their immoral conduct, lose the power of
voluntary self-determination, and become subject
to a power, and evil " spirit," which they must
follow, and, in the end, against their bitter feel-
ings. Where such universal corruption obtains a
spirit will prevail by which the individual is easily
borne along with it (comp. also chap. v. 4).
2. Jehovah has a contest with Israel (ver. 1).
The expression evidently rests upon the covenant-
I'clation in which two parties assume obligations
conditioned on both sides. Israel with God and
God with Israel. The relation is therefore a legal
one. The one party is bound only so long as the
other fulfills his obligations ; if one party does not
fulfill them, the other may accuse him of an in-
fringement of the compact and institute legal pro-
ceedings against him. Thus Jehovah has a " suit-
at-law " with Isi-ael, because the latter did not
fulfill its obligations. In Joel iv. 2 the expression
has a more general application to the judgment
which God is to inflict upon the heathen ; for they
are also related to Jehovah as the Lord of the
world. He will not be unjust with them, will not
subject them to disadvantages, and will not do
them injustice through his people ; but they are
not to infringe upon his rights, among which is
his special relation to Israel. Attacking this, they
attack Him also : hence this controversy with
them. But alas ! there is a dispute between Jeho-
vah and his own people : instead of being united
they are divided into two opposing parties. Be-
cause the land, shorn of fidelity, goodness, etc., is
brought to shame through sin and infamous deeds
(vers. 1, 2), it shall mourn and languish (ver. 3)
— be visited by drought — as the punishment de-
creed by God. If this " languishing " is extended
even to the unintelligent creation, such a dispensa-
tion would express not merely the extent and de-
gree of the visitation, but would show the lowei
animals to be also included in the punishment.
Man, as lord of creation, has by his sin brought
punishment upon the rest of the .animal world
though these have not sinned, they must suffer
with their master on account of his guilt. The
punishment is elsewhere also set closely parallel to
the guilt : in ver. 9 and especially in ver. 6 ; be
CHAPTER IV. 1-19.
55
sause Israel has despised and forgotten God, He
shall also despise and forget them. In particular,
they show themselves unworthy of the high pre-
rogative of baing Jehovah's prieBt, to which they
were really called as being the chosen people.
3. Between Israel and Judah there was always
an important distinction morally and religiously.
Hence the kingdom of Israel could be held before
to the kingdom of Judah as a warning example.
And this must be done : for it may easily be un-
derstood how the example of Israel was most
dangerous to Judah. We feel clearly, when the
Prophet utters the warning ; " If thou dost com-
mit whoredom, 0 Israel, let not Judah become
guilty," how warmly his heart beats for Judah.
He regards Judah not merely as a kingdom of
kindred origin, but as the one which, after Israel's
apostasy, represented alone the people of God, and
thus he must all the more desire to have Judah
preserved from Isi'ael's ways. The position of a
Prophet like Hosea, who was a citizen of the
northern kingdom, was peculiar. In the discord
that existed between Israel and Judah, such warm
sympathy with the one would hardly be expected
from a citizen of the other. But with a Prophet of
Jehovah theocratic feelings, hi^^her than natural
ones, must prevail. In Judah was Jerusalem with
the temple ; in Judah the House of David ruled ;
Judah was always comparatively more faithful to
God, and that was decisive. His heart must there-
fore turn towards Judah. He could regard the
separation of Israel from Judah, partly in itself
and partly on account of its disastrous conse-
quences especially to Israel, which were so clearly
manifested, only as something utterly false and
unrighteous, as an act of injustice, and would be-
hold the nation only in both kingdoms, so that
the theocrfitic conception was in the deeper sense
also the natural one. Yet in this he displayed
his patriotism even in respect to his nearer home,
just in his earnest testimony against the prevail-
ing corruption, whose consequence he foresaw
would be certain ruin. Hosea certainly does not
expect this ruin to be averted, but only expects a
religious and moral renovation through its influ-
ence, with which he could not but see the restora-
tion of the national unity necessarily united. See
further No. 4 in the Doctrinal and Ethical section
on chaps, v. and vi.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Luther: Ver. 1. Who will stand in the judg-
ment in which he is accused by God t Eor then it
will be no argument of words as before an earthly
judge, but we ourselves bring against ourselves
the testimony of our consciences as our indict-
ment. What is the source of this evil in the
world, that nothing true is found, but everything
is done from a false heart, and that nowhere can
any evidence of honest kindness be seen ? The
reason is, because there is no knowledge of God
in the land, t. c, because men despise God's Word.
[Matthkw Henry : Sin is the great mischief-
maker : it sows discord between God and Israel :
God's controversies will be pleaded ; pleaded by
the judgments of his mouth before they are pleaded
by the judgments of his hand, that He may be
justified in all He doth, and may make it appear
Ihat He does not desire the death of sinners. And
Sod's pleadings ought to be attended to, for sooner
)r later they shall have a hearing. — M.]
Ver. 2. WtiRi. Summ. : Faithfulness and sin-
cerity among a people are like great and precioui
jewels in a land. So also are paternal confidence
and love and pure and faithful preachers of the Word
of God. So there is no greater need than when
these things are absent ; and especially when God's
Word and pure teachers and preachers are want-
ing. This is the fountain of all evil. Eor God's
Word keeps sin at a distance. Where it is not, or
where it is not preached in its simplicity and purity,
or men will not be reproved by it, nor follow it,
nor amend their ways, there one blood-guiltiness
and deadly sin follow after another, and all kinds
of evil break in like a flood.
[PuSKT : Speculative and practical knowledge
are bound up together, through the oneness of the
relation of the soul to God, whether in its thoughts
of Him or acts towards Him. Wrong practice
corrupts belief, and misbelief corrupts practice. —
M.]
Ver. 4. Luther : It is not so great an offenpe
for men to sin as for them not to be willing la
suffer the reproval of sin. For when they live in
such a way as that their hearts have a horror of
the cure of their malady, punishment can no longer
delay. This sin is the most common of our time.
Just look at Christian churches, and you will see
everywhere that the teachers are hated for rebuk-
ing sin so freely. But this only excites God's
wrath more fiercely against us. For not man but
God rebukes and challenges the sinner.
Ver. 6. God will not be mocked. Men may re-
ject God, but He is still beside them, and shows
that He is there in his judgments. The self-decep-
tion of sin : in rejecting God (forgetting his com-
mands) thou doest so as one who is rejected by Him.
[Matthew Henry : Ignorance is so far from
being the mother of devotion that it is the mother
of destruction.
PnsEY : In an advanced stage of sin, men may
come to forget what they once despised. — M.]
Ver. 8. There is nothing more shameful than
to draw profit from the sin of our neighbor, and
thus to strengthen him in his sin, or become the
occasion of his sinning ; doubly shameful if we
abuse our office and more exalted position to
do so.
[PcSEY : What else is to extenuate or flatter
sin than to dissemble it, not to see it, not openly
to denounce it, lest we lose our popularity, or
alienate those who commit it f — M.]
[Ver. 9. Matthew Henrt : Sharers in sin
must expect to be sharers in ruin. — M.]
[Ver. 10. Pusey ; Single marriage, according
to God's law : " they twain shall be one flesh,"
yields in a nation a larger increase than polygamy.
Illicit intercourse God turns to decay. His curse
is upon it. — M.]
Ver. 1 1 . Luther : These two vices, whoredom
and debauchery, so take possession of a man that
he does not know what he thinks, speaks, or does.
The boy Cyrus in Xenophon admirably says, that
wine is mixed with poison. And the saying of
Arohilochus, with reference to impure love, is well
known : —
" UoWrfv Kar epws ay^vv o^LfidTatv exevev,
KAe'i/zas en (mfi^iitv airaXas </»p€Vas."
Comp. Luke xxi. 34 ; Eph. v. 18.
Ver. 12, Luthek; The spirit of whoredom is
that evil spirit which takes away from men's hearts
true thoughts of God, and either perverts theii
hearts, or entirely subdues them by filling them
with trust in the creature, which is true and sheer
idolatry. For idolatry does not consist merely in
56
HOSEA.
calling upon idols, but also in trust in our own
righteousness, works, and service, in riches and
human influence and power. And this, as it is the
most common, is also the most harmful idolatry.
[PusEY : The sins of the fathers descend very
often to the children, both in the way of nature,
that the children inherit strong temptations to their
parents' sin, and by way of example, that they
greedily imitate, often exaggerate them. Wouldst
thou not have children which thou wouldst wish
unborn, reform thyself. — M.]
Ver. 13. WiJRT. Summ. ; Corporeal and spirit-
ual whoredom are commonly united, and mutu-
ally dependent. For how should he who does not
abhor a departure from God through idolatry, ab-
hor a life abandoned to fleshly lusts ? For idolatry
is a much greater sin than corporeal indulgence :
-the one offends against the first table of the law
and against God Himself, but the other against
the second table and our neighbor.
Starke : When worship is performed in an}''
other way than God has appointed, God is hon-
ored no longer, and idolatry is committed.
Ver. 14. Experience teaches that children are
prone to imitate the shameful and unchaste lives
of their parents. When such is the case the par-
ents are most responsible ; they deserve the cnief
punishment.
Luther : If God gives his Word to men, and
they will not receive his instructions, what else
should He do with them, than give them up to a
reprobate mind, i. e., let them live on according to
their own counsel and pleasure, until they finally
perish ?
[Clabee : While there is hope, there is coirec-
tion.
PnSEY : To be chastened severely for lesser sins
is a token of the great love of God toward us. To
sin on without punishment is a token of God's
extremest displeasure and a sign of reprobation.
" Great is the offense, if, when thou hast sinned,
thou art undeserving of the wrath of God." — M.]
Ver. 15. Pfaff. Bibelwbrk : Ye pious aud
true believers, let not the ungodly seduce you to
follow their steps, but beware of them lest ye also
have part in their punishment. But ye sinners, if
ye will go on sinning, do not seduce the innocent,
and thus heap up the measure of your iniquitie.?.
Comp. Gal. V. 9.
[Matthew Henrt : The nearer we are to the
infection of sin, the more need have we to stand
upon our guard. Those that would be steady in
their adherence to God must possess themselves
with an awe and reverence of God, and always
speak of Him with solemnity and seriousness ; for
those who can make a jest of the true God will
make a god of anything. — M.]
Ver. 16. The Prophet employs this simile of a
lamb in the desert, because nothing is more pitiable
than a little lamb which has lost its shepherd. For
the same reason Christ employs this figure of the
lost sheep, when He would show the piteous con-
dition of the sinner, and his great compassion to-
wards him.
ScHMiEDEE : He who will not submit to the
restraints imposed by God, shall obtain a freedom
which will at last become most irksome. This ap
plies both to nations and to individuals.
[Scott : While sinners obstinately reject the
easy yoke of Christ, they are bringing down the
heavy load of his vengeance upon themselves.
PnsEY : Woe is it to that man, whom, when he
withdraws from Christ's easy yoke, God permits
to take the broad road which leadeth to destruc-
tion. — M.J
Ver. 19. Starke : God does indeed bear with
sinners in great patience and long-sufferings, and
calls them to repentance ; but when they do not
amend, his punishment is swift. 1 Thess. v. 3,
[I'tJSEY : So does God, by healthful disappoint-
ment, make us ashamed of seeking out of Him
those good things which He alone hath, and hath
in store for them that love Him. — M.]
B. An Accusation especially against the Priests and the Royal House. The untheo-
cratic Policy of the Kingdom of Israel in seeking for Help to Assyria
and Egypt is denounced.
Chapters V.-VII.
I. Mainly against the Priests.
Chapter V. 1-15.
Hear this ye Priests,
And give ear, tliou House of Israel,
And listen, thou House of the King,
Because the judgment is for you,
And you have been a snare for Mizpah,
And a net spread upon Tabor.
And the apostates make slaughter^ deep [are deeply sunk in slaughter j,
Aad I am a chastening for them all.
CHAPTERS y 1-VI. 11. 67
3 I know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from me ;
For even now hast thou committed whoredom, Ephraim,
Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds wiU not suffer^ (them)
To return to their God.
Because the spirit of whoredom is in their inward parts [their inmost heart!
And they do not know Jehovah.
6 And the pride of Israel testifies to its face,
And Israel and Ephraim will totter, through their guilty
And Judah will totter with them.
6 With their sheep and cattle
They wUl go to seek Jehovah,
But wUl not find Him ;
He hath withdrawn Himself from them.
7 They have been faithless to Jehovah,
For they begot strange children ;
Now the new moon will consume them
Together with their portions.
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Eamah !
Cry out in Beth-Aven'
" Behind thee, O Benjamin ! "
9 Ephraim will become a waste
In the day of chastisement.
Among the tribes of Israel
Have I made known what is siu'e.
10 The princes of Judah have become
Like the removers of land-marks :
I will pour out upon them
My wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
Shattered by judgment,*
For it thought good
To follow idol-images.*
12 And I (am) like the moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 And Ephraim saw its disease,
And Judah its wound.
And Ephraim went to Assyria,
And sent to the warlike monarch ;
But he will not be able to heal for you.
And will not remove your wound.
1 4 For I am like the lion to Ephraim,
And like the young lion to the house of Judahi
I, I wUl rend and go on (rending)
WUl carry away and there wUl be no deliverer
15 I wUl go again to my place,
Until they make expiation (by suffering),
And seek my face ;
In their distress they will seek me.
Chaptek VI. I-ll.
1 " Come let us return' to Jehovah !
For He hath torn, and will heal us.
He hath smitten and will bind us up.
2 He will revive us after two days.
On the third day He wUl raise us up,
That we may live before Him.
68 HOSEA.
rUth,
t 6
3 Let us know, follow on to know, Jehovah :
Like the dawn his coming is sure,
And He shall come like the rain for us,
Like the latter rain (which) waters the earth."
4 What shall I do to thee, Ephraim ?
What shall I do to thee, Judah ?
For your love is like the morning cloud,
And like the dew, vanishing soon away.
5 Therefore I have smitten" (them) through the Prophets,
And slain them with the words of my mouth,
And my judgment goes forth like light/
6 For I delight in love and not sacrifice.
And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 Yet they, like Adam, have broken the covenant,
They vpere faithless to me then.
8 Gilead is (like) a city of evil-doers,
Besmeared with blood.
9 And as the robber lurks,''
So (does) a band of priests.
Upon the highway they murder (those going) to Schechem,
Tea they commit wickedness.
10 Jn the house of Israel
I beheld an abomination, a horror :
Epliraim committed whoredom,
Israel (is) defiled.
11 For thee, also, Judah, a harvest is prepared,*
When I turn the captivity of my people.
^ TEXTUAL AND (JRAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 2. — niOnti? is probably the Inf. Picl from t2n27. [It is tbe inf. absol. with H paragopo. The Kg-
T -; - " '''
alar form would be ni^rj^'^ ^^^ ^^^ Kamets-Hbatuph is changed to Patach. See Green, Gr., § 119, 3. Its con*
itrnction with the finite verb follows a peculiar idiom, common in Hebrew. The literal translation is : they have made
deep to slaughter. Comp. Is sxxi. 6. Ewald, comparing with is, 9, holds that our word is a false reading for nnHK?,
but there is no reason why the Prophet should not have used both expressions. — M.]
r2 Ver. 4. E. V. and most Anglo- American expositors adopt another construction in the first hemistich, rendering :
they will not frame their doings, llorsley, with the beat Continental critics, prefers the rendering which is given in the
margin of E. V. and adopted by SchmoUer. Pusey is nndecided, and indeed it is diiScult to determine which is the
true view • for no importance is to be attached to the objection of Henderson, that •'IDPl'^ would require an olyect ex-
pressed if the construction last referred to were the correct one. — M.]
S Ver. 8. — Before ■] ]M jT^B supply 3.
4 Ver. II. V^-:"! is in the construct, state before t^Ctt''D. It is not = broken, harassed in law, which iB ud-
Buitable here, but we have a genitivus efficientis, and lDDt^^D = judgment, as in ver. 1 : crushed by judgment. On the
combination Tf VH 7"'SirT see Ewald, § 285, 6. The words are coordinate. [See Green, § 269. This construction ia
frequent InHosea; comp. i. 6; vi. i. — M.] Fiirst takes "11? in our passage = ^-l-ll^, a pillar, especially a finger-
post. He, however, has the conjecture that it = Mi!J, HKiS, filth, dirt, and this = C^^lpttJ, D''71v3, ido'Si
and would then take V^WII f^o"^ ''1^'^, to be foolish (of which the Niphal occurs) = he was foolish, and followed
after filth {filthy idol-worship). A further conjecture is that it may be an Ephraimitish mode of writing Iti? (Job xT.
81) = nothing, vanity. LX.^. ; ottiVco twi' ^araiu)!/.
[5 Chap. vi. ver. 1-3. — The true construction of the various sentences in these verses is probably as follows ; The first
line of ver. 1 contains an exhortation, the remainder of that and the following verse consisting of arguments in sap-
port of it; and the first line of ver. 3 contains a parallel exhortation, followed in the remainder of the verse, by parallel
argumente. A glance at the verses in their connection will show tlie appropriateness of this general view. That the
opposite is true of the construction adopted in B. V. and by the English expositors generally, according to which the
opening of ver. 3 is regarded as a continuation of the reasons for returning, is evident both from the unfitness of that
line as an argument, and from the consideration that all the pleas adduced In all three verses are drawn from expeota-
Hons of favor from God Himself The form of the Heb. pret. (with H par<agogic) here employed, also confirms this
view. But there is no need of holding, according to the view preferred by Schmoller, that any of the intermediate
verbs introduce an exhortation. This both weakens the force of the array of pleas successively adduced and mars the
regularand beautiful structure of the section. HD^tTD (ver. 1), n^?"!^ and nD"7"'3, (ver. 3), therefore, being para-
jogic futures (Green, §§ 97, 1, 2641. are cohoriatives. and the only cohortatives in the section. — TVT.l
CHAPTERS V. 1-VI. 'l.
59
0 Ver. 5. — The object of ''^!5?n is to be supplied by anticipaUon from D'TlJln. Instead of TytDQttJj^^
"lis, the punctation and division of ths words is probably to be changed according to the ancient versions, and
"^"IW^ ^t^3tyD^ to be read. The Masoretic reading is encumbered with too many difficulties.
7 Ter. 9. — "^JpH is for n3n== niSH [constr. inf. Piel, equivalent to a participial noun. It is an imitation of
the Chaldee. Henderson conjectures that the form is for ''3nj3, Piel. Part. — nQ^tO. The translation of E. V. : by
zonsent, has arisen from the Targum rendering, "TH ^IHS : one shoulder. This view is now almost altogether aban
daned. — M.J
8 Ver. 11. — nti? is used impersonally, being equivalent to a passive sense [one sets, prepares a harvest = a harvest
is prepared. — M.]
EXEGBTICAL AND CRITICAL.
The beginning in ver. I (corresponding to the
opening of chap, iv.) shovrs that the discourse here
commences anew. Though connected with chap,
iv., this chapter contains an accusation and threat-
ening more definitely directed against the priests
along with the king and his counsellors and
princes, yet without being confined to this, for the
discourse again becomes general, applying to the
whole people. Along with idolatry which here
again becomes prominent as the sin of Israel
(especially in chap, v.) and gross sins among the
people (deceit, robbery, murder, chap, vi.), the con-
duct of the court is afterwards specially reproved,
but particularly the false policy of seeking help in
Assyria and Egypt (which itself presupposes the
beginning of the kingdom's decay). Chap. vi. is
inseparably connected with chap. v. But chap.
vii. is also related to both of them, for a new sec-
tion begins only with chap. viii. (See Introduc-
tion.) A single central and controlling idea, how-
ever, can hardly be indicated in these two chap-
ters, or in the second part of the book generally.
The discourse is too excited, moving suddenly from
one thought to another, especially from accusation
to threatening, and vice versa.
"Ver. 1. Hear this, ye priests. It is doubtful
whether nST refers to the foregoing, but it is not
improbable that it does. The solemn discourse
just ended would now be applied to the hearts of
those specially addressed here, and the continua-
tion of the discourse would then be attached to it.
House of the king = the royal family, or possi-
bly those who surrounded him ordinarily. The
king referred to cannot be with certainty deter-
mined. Keil conjectures Zachariah or Menahem,
or both. According to 2 Kings xv. 19 f. there-
sort to Assyria would suit Menahem better than
Zachariah. For the judgment is for you. Tliis
refers specially, according to the sequel, to the
Priests and the Court. [" The judgment " is that
announced in the preceding chapter ; the special
application is made , here. — M.] The rulers of
the people are compared to a snare and net. The
birds whom they have taken or allured to destruc-
tion, are the people. Mizpah cannot be the Miz-
pah strictly so called in the tribe of Benjamin,
but must be = nQ^KJ and that = l?^? HQ^n
ui elevated place in Gilead, perhaps identical with
ISVP ncn in the tribe of Dan. Tabor, on
this side the Jordan, would correspond to the ele-
vated point on the other side. These two places
are probably selected as prominent points to rep-
resent the whole country ; for it is not known
that they were places of sacrifice. Keil conjec-
tures that they are chosen in this image because
they were places suitable for bird-catching.
Ver. 2. p^J35?.n, to make deep. Literally : they
have made slaughter deep = they have sunk deep
in it. Slaughter might of itself be understood as
murder, but the thought is carried further, lintt?
is usually employed of the slaughter of beasts for
sacrifice, and thus is most suitable here .according
to the foregoing, where the evil influence of the
rulers upon the nation is spoken of, and this con-
sisted in the idolatry which they saw them prac-
tice. But this sacrificing is intentionally called
only slaying, and suggested by it. C^^ a air.
Ae-y. is uncertain. The most probable explana-
tion makes it = D^t??> apostates. This is then
the subject of the sentence, which would be ren-
dered : the apostates are deeply sunk in murder.
Keil, with others, takes it quite differently : trans-
gressions, more literally : deviations. He explains
naqtrj after !2^nU;, l Kings x. 16 f. ; to stretch,
stretch along ; therefore : deviations ; they have
made deep to stretch out = they have carried their
transgressions very far. But what a tortuous
mode of expression : to stretch out deviations !
[The Anglo-American Commentators generally
adopt the former view, rendering : revolters, or :
apostates. — M.]
Ver. 3. The second half of this verse tells what
God discerns in Ephraim and Israel. H/jl^:
now, at this very moment, pointing out, as an
actual fact, that which at present lies open to the
eye of God. [Henderson : " To express an asser-
tion more strongly, the Hebrews put it first in the
form of an affirmative, and afterwards in the form
of a negative." — M.]
Ver. 4. Their deeds will not allow, etc. Their
works stand in the way of their returning to God ;
for they are not isolated things, but are the expres-
sion of their inner nature, and that is held securely
by the spirit of whoredom (iv. 12), as by a demonia-
cal power which has stifled the knowledge of God.
They are therefore not free — not lords over them-
selves, but slaves. [The rendering adopted here
is that given in tlie margin of the English Bible,
and approved by the majority of the Expositors
of Continental Europe, ancient and modern, and
by Horsley among the English ones. But there
he stands alone, all other Anglo American trans-
lators adopting the rendering : they will not frame
their doings to return to the Lord. They have
been led to this view by the mistaken notion that
the other translation involved a grammatical im-
possibility. See Gram. Note. — M.]
Ver. 5. The pride of Israel according to some,
denotes God, as One in whom Israel might havf
60
HOSEA.
pride. The sense would then be that God, by his
judgments testifies in the very face of Israel. But
Buch an explanation is forced. The natural im-
pression, on reading the words, is rather that Is-
rael and its conduct is spoken of. Therefore the
words are to be taken as they stand ; the pride of
Israel testifies to its face, namely, when the pun-
ishment of such pride is being suffered. It will
be then felt what it is to reject Jeliovah in pre-
sximptuous self-reliance (Wiinsche). Judah also
totters "with them. In iv. 15 Judah is warned
not to be partaker in Israel's guilt; but this must
have been done because such participation was al-
ready begun, or foreseen as about to be assumed.
On the other hand in i. 7 Judah's destiny is distin-
guished definitely from that of Israel. [Hender-
son and others account for this seeming discrep-
ancy by assuming that this chapter was written at
a period considerably subsequent to that of the
utterance of the last. But the evidence of the
connection between tbem is too strong to admit
of this supposition. The solution given above is
therefore probably the correct one. — M.]
Ver. 6. They shall go with their flocks and
with their herds. The fruitlessness of Israel's
sacrifices without a mind answering to the offer-
ing, ;9 here shown (comp. vi. 6; Is. i. 11 ff.; Jer.
vii. 21 ff. ; Ps. .k1. 7; 1. 8 ff.).
Ver. 7. "'JSi to act faithlessly, especially of the
infidelity of a wife to her husband. The proof
V^) of such unfaithfulness of Israel to Jehovah,
the Husband, is then given. Instead of bearing
children to God in covenant with Him, they had
rather, by their illicit intercourse with idols, be-
gotten strange, illegitimate children, children not
belongjng to the household, i. e., children whom
the Lord cannot acknowledge a.s his own. The
punishment is then announced : The new moon
will devour them. " The new moon is the festal
season on which sacrifices were offered, and is here
employed for the sacrifices themselves. The mean-
ing is ; your festal sacrifices are so far from bring-
ing deliverance as rather to induce your ruin "
(Keil). The sentence must, at the same time, be
understood in a temporal sense = the time will
soon come when they will perish, as also appears
clearly from ver. 8. Their portions are their
possessions, part of which they brought as offer-
ings.
Ver. 8. The judgment is seen in the Spirit as
being already inflicted. The invasion of the en-
emy is to be announced by the horn and the
trumpet. Gibcah and Ramah were most suitable
for giving signals on account of their lofty situa-
tion. Both were on the northern boundary of
Benjamin. Thus Judah is already menaced (see
ver. .5), and Israel actually occupied. V^~}'n, m
raise a shout = to sound the alarm in danger.
Beth-aven again = Bethel ; 2 is to be supplied.
Behind thee, Benjamin. The danger which is
signaled, the enemy, is coming. He is already
close behind thee.
Ver. 9. Israel shall assuredly be destroyed, and
permanently also : HaDM = enduring, that ia,
lasting misfortune (comp. Dent, xxviii. 59).
Others make it = true, what will surely be ful-
filled. [The latter view is preferable, and is ap-
proved by most expositors. — M.]
Ver. 10. Like the removers of landmarka.
Is this to be taken literally ? It is certain that we
ire not to think of hostile seizures of the territory
of Israel, but the tertium comp. is the curse w hich,
according to Deut. xxvii. 17, is laid upon the re-
moval of a neighbor's landmark = they have done
something worthy of cursing. The curse attend
ing the removal of the landmarks must therefore
be regarded here as something well known. The
question then arises : what is it that they have
done incurring a curse. Keil and Hengstenbe,rg
think that a sph-itual removal of boundaries is in-
dicated, a subversion of the bounds of justice,
namely, by participating in the guilt of Ephraim
which they did by breaking down the barriers be-
tween Jehovah and the idols. And it is true that
the princes of Judah are to be regarded as in a
special sense divided off as against Israel and its
idolatry, by virtue of the true faith which still pre-
vailed in Judah as contrasted with Israel. The
sense would then be : The princes of Judah, by
their favoring idolatry, by this transgressing of
spiritual limits, have become like those who re-
move the land-marks of fields, and thus become
subject to the curse. God's anger will seize upon
them like a full stream of water. Comp. Ps. Ixix.
25 ; Ixxix. 6 ; Jer. x. 25.
Vers. 11-15 declare that even Assyria cannot
help, and that the vanity of all help outside of
God, drives Israel to Him.
Ver. 11. pltOS and V^^"? are "united also in
Deut. xxviii. 33 to denote the complete subjnga
tion of Israel under enemies in the event of apos-
tasy from God " (Keil). "1? occurs only here and
in Is. xxviii. 10. In the latter case, at all events,
it = ni^Q, command. So many here also : a
human statute [" in contrast to the ordinances of
God"] alluding to the worship of calves (Keil).
[See Textual note, J
Ver. 12. A moth and rottenness are symbols of
destroying influences. The moth is alluded to in
the same way in Is. 1. 9 ; li. 8 ; Ps. xxxix. 12 ;
both united in Job xiii. 28. Such influences also
destroy slowly but surely : Certa Dei jvdicia (Cal-
vin).
Ver. 13. "'7^: ^"^^ "''^''^> injury and wound,
hardly denote religious and moral depravation
(Keil) ; for it would scarcely have been said that
Ephraim perceived this, but the judgment of God
mentioned in ver. 12, which according to the im-
age there employed is not one which brings sudden
ruin, but a more secret corruption, of which, in-
deed, moral depravation forms a part, but only as
a judgment of God. That a divine judgment is in-
tended, is clear from what is said of the vanity of
help that is sought, especially in the sequel, and
from the ground assigned for its insufficiency in
ver. 14. Assyria is here named for the first time.
In the subsequent chapters the Prophet frequently
recurs to the false policy of seeking help from As-
syria. Only Ephraim is named becjinse Israel is
the main subject. Judah is referred to only inci-
dentally, ^r'^i ^ contender, an epithet devised by
the Prophet to denote the Assyrian king.
Ver. 14. They can as little defend themselves
from God's judgments as they can from the attack
of lions. (Comp. xiii. 7 ; Is. v. 29 ; Dettt. xxiui.
39).
Ver. 15. The figure of the lion is contiliued.
As the lion, without fear of being attacked, with-
draws into his lair, so the Lord withdraws into
heaven ; none can or dare call Him to account.
Uutil they make expiation = suftfer. The sif
CHAPTERS V. 1-VI. 1].
61
fering shall drive them to God. '^U'? = seek
earnestly. Comp. ii. 9 and Deut. iv. 29, 30, where
comp. also the expression ^Jy "1S3.
Chap. vi. ver. 1. Come let ua return to Jeho.
vah. The words are plainly connected with the
last words of chap. v. where a seeking of God on
the part of the people is mentioned as the aim and
consequence of the divine judgment. The opin-
ion is, therefore, the most natural (so already the
LXX.) that they are just the expression of that
seeking, that in them Israel announces its resolve,
and immediately thereafter the hope of favor on
the ground of the return. The view of Keil is
less suitable, that we have here an exhortation ad-
dressed by the Prophet in the name of God to the
people whom God has smitten. The words are
only and naturally put in the mouths of those
who, punished for their sins, would return to God.
[The Anglo-American Commentators, generally,
adopt the view here advocated. Henderson gives
the additional plea that the bearing of ver. 5 favors
the hypothesis. — M.] I'or He hath torn, etc.
(eomp. V. 14). Strong faith. The Lord who had
spoken with such threatenlngs, and such implac-
able severity, would yet give salvation (and not
Assyria, ver. 13). This would also be true if the
words '13HQ"T''l, 13trzin'''l are taken as express-
ing a wish, which is readily suggested by a fre-
quent usage of "I with the future : and may He
heal us, etc. (so also in the following sentences). —
■"S. The resolve to return would then be strength-
ened by the calamity which God sends. If
"liC^DIT'T be taken not as expressing a wish but
simply a hope the determination to return would
rather be strengthened by this hope, as the heal-
ing, etc., would be the trnit of the return. [On
the grammatical and logical connection of the dif-
ferent clauses of the first three verses, see Gram,
note. — M.] An allusion to Deut. xxxii. 39 can
hardly be mistaken, especially if we look to ver. 2.
Ver. 2. He will revive us again, etc. The
definite limits : two days, and : on the third day,
hold out the prospect of the speedy and sure re-
vival of Israel. " Two and three days are very
short periods of time ; and the linking of two num-
bers following the one upon the other, expresses
the certainty of what is to take place within the
period named, just as in the so-called number-say-
ings in Amos i. 3 ; Job v. 19 ; Prov. vi. 16 ; xxx.
15, 18, in which the last and greatest number ex-
presses the highest or utmost extent of the matter
dealt with" (Keil). Both the Rabbinical inter-
pretations of these numbers (e. g., that they relate
to the three captivities, the Egyptian, the Babylo-
nish, and the Roman) and the Christian, accord-
iilg to which Christ's resurrection on the third day
s indicated, are naturally inadmissible. The lat-
er is excluded even by the words themselves. Is-
ael is the subject of discourse : " it is torn, smitten,
Blain " ; nothing is said of the exile itself, but in gen-
eral there is set forth the termination of its exist-
ence as a people through the divine judgment
(which to be sure was brought to pass by means
of the exile). Israel expects, in the event of con-
version, to be delivered from this situation and to
be restored, and that speedily. It is naturally not
the awakening of the physically dead that is an-
nounced ; but it is a significant fact, that such an
awakening is employed to illustrate the restoration
of Israel, for it may lead us to infer that such a
felief lay not far from the Prophet's mind. Comp.
for our verse. Is. xxxvi. 19 ff. (and for the whole
section, vers. 16-21 ), and especially the well-known
vision in Ez. xxxvii. 1-14. (See further No. 4 in
the Doctrinal section.) [Comp. tlie remarks of
Delitzsch on Job xix. 25 tf. in his Commentari/ on
that book, which contain the true principle of in-
terpretation in such cases, and substantially agree
with the method approved by Schmoller here.
Henderson and Cowles agree in excluding any
but an liistoric allusion, while Horsley and Pusey
maintain the allegorical interpretation, the former
seeing a " no very obscure, though but an oblique,
allusion to our Lord's resurrection on the third
day," the latter repudiating any other application,
and carrying out the analogy to the extreme pos-
sibilities of fanciful conjecture. The explanation
of the two and three days given above is probably
the true one. With it Newcome and Henderson
agree. Cowles suggests an allusion to the dura-
tion of the pestilence in Israel after David's census
of the people, and thinks that besides there " may
be a tacit allusion to the fact that three days ia
about the extent of human endurance under ex-
treme privations and hardships." — M.] That we
may live before Him : " under his protecting shel-
ter and favor, comp. Gen. xvii. 18" (Keil).
Ver. 3. Let us know, pursue the knowledge
of, Jehovah. Keil rightly makes the verse par-
allel with ver. 1, as a further appeal. The expres-
sion f^5^"r'3 especially indicates an appeal, or, ac-
cording to our view, a self-exhortation. The zeal
and earnestness of the return is thus presented.
" Know " must be taken in the sense of iv. 1, 6.
Jehovah had become an unknown, a strange God
to the (idolatrous) people. Such knowledge has
thus a practical aim, to acknowledge, to serve Him.
The following words declare what is hoped for as
the fruit of that knowledge ; His coming forth ia
sure like the dawn, etc. Jehovah will appear
bringing salvation. This is set forth under the
figures of the daybreak and a fertilizing rain. The
appearing of Jehovah is denoted as a rising by the
image of the dawn (^^^» usually employed of the
sun). The transition from night to day is set
forth. Comp. Is. Iviii. 8. And He will come as
the rain for us, etc., i. e., reviving and refreshing.
"In Deut. xi. 14 (comp. xxviii. 12 andLev.xxvi.
4, 5), the rain, or the early and latter rain, is men-
tioned among the blessings which the Lord will
bestow upon his people if they shall serve Him
with the whole heart. This promise the Lord will
so fulfill in the case of his newly-revived people,
that He himself will refresh them like a fertil-
izing rain " (Keil).
Ver. 4. "What shall I do to thee, Ephraim ?
It is common to break off the discourse here,
wron'gly, with ver. 3. It is supposed that there is
here a first section containing a promise, to which
the promise in chaps, xi. and xiv. correspond, and
that a new section begins in ver. 4 with a new ob-
jurgatory discourse (Keil). But, in the first place,
vers. 1-3 do not really contain a promise of the
Prophet, or of God through the Prophet, but only
a hope of the people themselves. And, in the sec-
ond place, ver. 4 is too closely connected with the
preceding (not as a promise of God attached to
the foregoing), according to Luther's translation :
how will I do thije good, etc. 1 For TIWV does not
mean : to do goc .1, and DS'IDPI is not= the mercy
which I will show you, and, especially, the com-
parison of God's favor to the morning cloud and
62
HOSEA.
the vanishiug dew would be unsuitable. The
words rather contain a bitter complaint of Israel's
inconstancy, and that suggested just by the pre-
ceding words. A good and joyful feeling was
there expressed. If Israel only had now such a
feeling as was expressed in the words which the
Prophet puts in their mouth, all would be well !
But Israel is a.s inconstant as God is constant. ^ Its
goodness is as the morning cloud and the swiftly
vanishing dew. Both the dew and the morning
cloud are figures of evanescence. The dew has an
allusion to the rain, with which Jehovah is com-
pared by way of contrast; and the morning cloud
disappearing so soon, points back to the dawn
which surely brings the day. ^D^, love, is nat-
urally, on account of God's complaint against the
inconstancy of the people, to be understood of love
towards God. Yet it may also be taken generally,
and made to include man's love to his neighbor as
well. What shall I do to thee ■? = how shall I fur-
ther punish thee 1 Then follows what God would
yet do.
Ver. 5. Therefore — because the character of
Israel was such as was described in ver. 4. The
words of my moutli is parallel to the Prophets,
because the latter proclaimed God's purposes ; and
the 2Un was performed by the prophets just so
far as they uttered the words of God. S^H' "-^
hew out or off. The figure is that of hard stone
or wood to which, by hewing, the right shape is
given, and obdurate Israel is conceived of as hav-
ing been subjected to such treatment for its good
through the objurgations of the prophets. Kimi-
larly Luther after Jerome : to plane off. — The ex-
pression of the second member is stronger still :
I slew them. A slaying influence is ascribed to
God's word. He gives to the prophets to announce
death and ruin. In the words that follow we are
probably to change the reading, and translate =
and my judgment (goes forth) as light. [See
Textual note. — M.] The image may have been
chosen with reference to ver. 4 : Since your love is
like the morning cloud and the dew, vanishing
quickly, when the sun rises, I will make such a sun
rise as you do not wish. The judgment is hero
compared to a sunrise, which is elsewhere rather
an image of a gracious visitation (comp. ver. 3),
perhaps in the sense that judgment reveals sins,
the works of darkness, in their true light (comp.
Eph. V. 13).
Ver. 6 and the following ones confirm more def-
initely what is said in ver. 5. What God wishes
is luve and the knowledge of God. The knowledge
of God (= piety here) goes back to the essential
idea of "l^C as embracing in its general sense,
love to God and man, though the latter here pre-
ponderates. In this sense Jesus cites it in Matt.
ix. 13 ; xii. 7. On the meaning, comp. No. ^ in
the Doctrinal and Ethical section.
Ver. 7. Yet the conduct of the people is just
the opposite of what God desires. But they, like
Adam, have broken the covenant. The refer-
ence is to Ephraim and Judah, not to the priests.
And, therefore, ^"J^? does not express a contrast
to these =ordinary men. It would rather indicate
a contrast to Ephraim and Judah as the people of
God. But this thought is quite remote. Viewing
the passage without prejudice, the usual explana-
tion is seen to be the most natural ; like Adam,
(illusion is thus made to Gen. iii. Adam's sin was
ie violation of a oiven \nt : for with the command
laid upon Adam, God entered into a relation witl
him, which, in accordance with the analogies of
later agreements made with mankind, might bq
called a covenant. Such covenant-breaking is a
133, a breach of fidelity. Then they were un-
faithful to Me, as it were, pointing with the fingei
to the well-known places of idolatrous worship,
e. g., Bethel. Israel's position, therefore, is one of
apostasy from God. Israel contradicts its destinyj
which was, to be God's people. In fact, the versa
expresses the want of that one thing which God
desires, the want of the " knowledge of God."
Being a condition of intimacy with God, it is lost
in apostasy from Him. Therefore, also, there is no
"iDn ver. 8 ff. [Newcome, Pusey, and Cowles
prefer the interpretation that understands Adam
to be meant. Henderson rejects it, and prefers the
rendering : they (are) like men (who) break a cov-
enant. To this it might be objected, first, that
this, which is in any case, a paraphrase, is not the
natural translation of the words. If it were the
author's meaning, every reader, contemporary with
him or otherwise, would have mistaken- it, on the
first view, at least. In the second place, such a
periphrastic expression would be a very feeble, as
well as unusual, way of conveying the notion fhat
they had broken God's covenant, in marked con-
trast to the directness of the charge in the second
member of the verse. He objects to the other view
that nowhere is there mention made of God's en-
tering into a covenant with Adam. But this objec-
tion is not valid if it appears that the transaction
in which God and Adam were the parties was re-
ally of the nature of a covenant. And that term
" is a concise and correct mode of asserting a plain
Scriptural fact, namely, that God made to Adam
a promise suspended upon a condition, and at-
tached to disobedience a certain penalty. This is
what in Scriptural language is meant by a cove-
nant." (Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. ii. p
117.) His other objection is trivial, that with the
exception of three doubtful passages, of which the
present is one, Adam is not used in the Old Testa-
ment after the first chapter of Genesis (he prob-
ably meant the fifth) as a proper name, nor is any
reference made to our first parents. The nearest
parallel to our passage is Job xxxi. 33 : if I have
concealed my transgression like Adam ; of the cor-
rectness of which rendering there can be no rea-
sonable doubt. Comp. Delitzsch on that passage
in his Commentari/ on Job. — M.]
Ver. 8. Gilead might he taken here as the
name of a city. But it never occurs as su«h, only
as the name of a district on the east of the Jordan.
It must therefore be assumed that the name of the
district is applied here to the chief city, Mizpah.
Or we might remain by the notion of the district,
and the expression would then be a comparison =
All Gilead is, as it were, a city of evil-doers, as full
of them as a city is of men. — n!3pl7. Dpi? is a
foot-mark, therefore : tracked with blood, full of
bloody tracks. Here murderous actions are indi-
cated without being definitely named.
Ver. 9. But the most shameful transactions
occur in the west of the Jordan. Even priests act
like robbers. 1^1? is a predatory band, a band of
freebooters or robbers, therefore —^7^"'? tf^H =
a companion of such bands, a robber Like the
lurking of robbers =as robbers lurk, so luxk a
company of priests, they murder on the way
to Sheohem. Travellers are surprised by ttiem
CHAPTEES V. 1-VI. 11.
63
CO the way to Shechem. Shechem was a City of
Kefiige. Perhaps those are meant who sought
refuge there. The priests are by many thought to
be residents of Shechem. But Shechem was a
Levitical, not a sacerdotal, city. The expression
would then refer not to those dwelling within the
city, but to those without, who fall upon persons
going to Shechem. Bethel was rather the seat of
the priests. Keil therefore supposes : " The way
to Shechem is mentioned as a place of murders and
bloody deeds, because the road to Bethel, the prin-
cipal seat of worship belonging to the ten tribes,
from Samaria the capital, and in fact from the
northern part of the kingdom generally, lay
through this city. Pilgrims to the feasts for the
most part took this road; and the priests, who
were taken from the dregs of the people, appear
to have lain in wait for them, to rob, or, in case of
resistance, to murder." More strictly speaking, it
must hare been done on the return from Bethel to
Shechem. The allusion is evidently to a dehnite
event unknown to us. The same remark applies
to the following words. "'S is climactic. ^^\ =
shame, perhaps, unchastity. [This word does not
mean shame or dishonor. It is primarily a device
or plan either evil or good (comp. Job xvii. 11),
though usually the former. The next meaning is
wickedne-ss ; then specially a crime resulting from
unchastity. For the connection between the two
meanings see Lev. xviii. 11. — M.]
Ver. 10. The consequences of the preceding.
Probably both corporeal and spiritual whoredom
are included.
Ver. 11. A threatening is appended against Ju-
dah also. " Judah also " is guilty. The harvest is
as elsewhere an image of judgment, a cutting down
(comp. also Is. xxviii. 24 ff.) 'When I shall turn
the captivity of my people. This appears, on
the contrary, to refer to a deliverance, and therefore
to be a promise. But it must be remembered that
the judgment has for its aim the deliverance of
God's people C'^V) as a whole. But such deliv-
erance is effected only through the judgment that
falls upon the several parts, first upon Israel
and then upon Judah. The meaning therefore is,
when Israel, the Ten Tiibes, shall have received
its punishment and been restored, Judah also will
be punished. [This paraphrase of the passage
does not agree with historical fact, and must there-
fore be rejected. The true view seems to be that
of Keil : n^2tZ7 3^tt7 never means : to bring back
the captives, but in every passage where it occurs
simply : to turn the captivity and that in the fig-
urative sense of restitutio in integrum. ' My peo-
ple,' i. e., the people of Jehovah is not Israel of
the Ten Tribes but the covenant nation as a whole.
Consequently ' the captivity of my people ' is the
misery into which Israel (of the twelve tribes) had
been brought through its apostasy from God, not
the Assyrian or Babylonian Exile, but the misery
brought about by the sins of the people. God
could avert this only by judgments, through which
the ungodly were destroyed and the penitent con-
verted. Consequently the following is the thought
which we obtain from the verse : When God shall
come to punish that He may root out ungodliness,
ind restore his people to their true destiny, Judah
•fill also be visited with the judgment." — M.]
The whole is not to be regarded as a promise, or
he harvest as a harvest of joy. Nor is it neces-
lary to attract the second hemistich of ver. 11 to
the first verse of chap. vii. (e. g., Meier).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. Prophetic rebuke does not merely not spare
rulers and kings : it is specially directed against
them. This follows from the conviction of the
high vocation the monarchy had to fulfill. It is
the bearer of the magisterial office, and as such
must administer and guard the divine law, and
must therefore care both for the purity of God's
worship and the administration of justice. And
if it neglects or directly violates its obligation, de-
spises the divine law, and even introduces idolatiy,
perverts justice, exercises injustice or leaves it un-
punished, it becomes recreant to God, from whom
it receives its authority, and incurs his punishment.
This, the Prophet, as God's messenger, announces,
and his voice is therefore at first a voice of warn-
ing in order to bring it back to the true path. But
the Prophet arraigns not merely neglect or viola-
tion of the obligations entailed by the office as
such, hut also the personal conduct of the bearers
of the office, with a due appreciation of the influ-
ence which they exercise by word and still more
by deed, in virtue of their high position.
2. " In all inroads of sin and corruption we are
to look not merely at the outward work, but at
the power of darkness, the spirit, that lies behind
as their most dexterous and astute controlling in-
fluence, which will maintain most craftily its right
and cause ; comp. ver. 4 " (Rieger).
3. Rieger: " So long as man under divine chas-
tisement, supposes that he can find help and miti-
gate his misfortunes by trust in the creatures, he
wanders off as though in a trackless wilderness,
from the living fountain, and might preclude him-
self from the most essential self-humbling, the
knowledge of his guilt. But when God presses
upon him with his hand and he has no deliverer,
then is quickened in his heart a little seed im-
planted there before by God's goqd hand ; and
thus the love of God is like a man who has sown
seed in his land ; he goes away to his place, and
depends on that which the seed will produce in
time, and after the rough winter." Most beauti-
ful is the believing assurance with which the
Prophet makes the chastened express their hope
of favor if they should return to God. (This same
hope is expres.sed in Deut. xxxii. 39.) Thus res-
toration after past destruction is hoped for, and the
blessedness of this restoration is further and hap-
pily described by comparing the returning favor of
God to the rising dawn and the descending rain of
harvest, as beneficent and refreshing as the one, as
fertilizing and fraught with as rich blessings as the
other, it spreads its influence. Such a visitation
of mercy was most fully vouchsafed through the
Messiah ; He was the Day-star from on high ; in
Him came to us the Son of God in the flesh to
diffuse upon us the Holy Spirit like fertilizins"
rain. He brings, therefore, the true healing fo
the bruised, the true binding up of the wounds for
the smitten, the true reviving for the slain — all
under the condition (presupposed by ihe Prophet)
of a penitent returning to God. That the Prophet
himself, in putting these words into the mouths of
the penitent, thought of the Messiah, can not be
maintained. We must apply here also canon laid
down at chaps, i.-ii. that the fulfillment took place
under the Messiah, but in another and higher
sense than the Prophet fancied, that the words in-
spired by the Spirit of God had a further range
than the Prophet knew. The "revival" and the
" upraising " imply primarily a restoration of I>
64
HO SEA.
rael, and we have in Ez. xxxvii. 1-14 the com-'ing of judgment like the sun, 'which maybeun-
pleted picture of which our short sentence affords : derstood of the efficiency of the prophets them-
the outlines. But if the true restoration of God's ; selves. It is declared in such passages as xu. U
people has been and is now being accomplished
»nly through Clirist, we can go a step further,
Rnd show that the revival, proceeding from Him,
which is essentially a partaking in a new spirit-
ual life, finds its completion only in the awaken-
ing even from corporeal death to the enjoyment
of eternal life, of those who have been spiritually
quickened by Him. If we, therefore, from the
stand-point of the New Testament, find in the
words of our Prophet here an allusion to this, we
are not really so far wrong as might seem. Nay,
as the Prophet certainly speaks of a reviving in a
spiritual sense, so he must take that image from
an actual revival of the dead, as he took the pre-
ceding ones in ver. 1 from the binding and healing
of a wound, and this idea cannot be so remote
from his language, even if we can say no more
(Isaiah in xxvi. 19 evidently goes further). As
regards the specification of time : on the third day,
which so naturally suggests Christ's resurrection,
— the coincidence is certainly not accidental so
far as the resurrection on the third day is to be re-
garded as a rising in " a very brief space of time."
He was, indeed, to die, but not to remain in the
state of the dead any longer than was necessary,
so to speak, in order to make his death an indu-
bitable fact ; rather, as the " First Fruits," He
should be soonest brought out of death by the
mighty working of the Father, and it would thus
be shown how completely God's wrath, borne by
Him, was quenched, and God's favor restored.
On the third day the sun of mercy thus rose even
here. And upon this revival of the Messiah on
the third day, is conditioned the revival of sinners,
proceeding from Him, in time and eternity. We
must, therefore, regard this passage of prophecy as
at least significant from a New Testament stand-
point, nor do we err if we say, that there is here
contained more than the Prophet could conceive ;
it is a divine word resembling a seed of corn which
does not simply represent what it actually is (even
the most precious stone does no more than this),
but conceals in itself something else far higher,
the germ which it enfolds.
4. Chap. vi. 5. There is expressed here a clear
consciousness of the aim and lofty position of
prophecy. It is above all not something inciden-
tal, but is embraced organically in the divine econ-
omy. Its special mission is fulfilled when the peo-
ple of God forget their calling, and disregarding
the voice of their own conscience, no longer seize
the true path, and, having alreadj' inwardly apos-
tatized, attain only to weak resolves, which are
never fulfilled (ver. 4). Then God appears before
his people, and sends them the prophets, who are,
so to speak, a conscience standing outside of thera.
Through them He speaks the " words of his
mouth " and rebukes his people. He announces
through them his judgment ; their words of re-
buke themselves are a punishment to the people,
at all events, a punishment by words before the
punishment by deeds is sent, but yet essentially
identical with it, inasmuch as it was intended to
produce deep sorrow, to touch the inner man, and
to bring painfully to the consciousness criminal
apostasy from God, and has thus the same aim as
actual punishment has. Thus the sending of the
pi;ophets appears in one passage as a ])unishment ;
therefore also the expression which speaks of God's
hewing and slaying through them is employed,
ml ■there is conjoined with it in one line the " ris-
that prophecy had in itself a more general signifi-
cance, as it effected God's revelation to the people,
and brought Him into close relations with them,
and was, in so far, an element of his dispensation
of mercy. And, apart from this, as Hosea directly
shows, it had not only a legal but also an evangel-
ical aspect by its vocation as proclaiming God's
faithfulness, in virtue of which He had not re-
jected his people but had destined for them a great
deliverance. Here, however, it is occupied with
the race for which it was specially designed, and
for them it preached punishment by holding up
before them the law they had so contemptuously
violated ; it became a chastening rod through the
Word, and it was to hold out to the people the
prospect of the future salvation only through the
medium of punishment, and must as its main duty
"cut to pieces" and "slay." The preaching of
the New Covenant has, on the other hand, as its
main duty, an evangelical mission, which must
never be ignored. But still it cannot dispense
with the preaching of the Law. It must, even
there, recur to that as its next duty ; for the Law
is the true TraiSayoyyhs els XpiarSv.
The worthlessness of sacrifice as a mere opus
operatum is most distinctly emphasized by prophecy
in opposition to the false esteem in which it was
held, which was a token of religious and moral
ruin, going hand in hand with an empty service of
forms and outward works. Sacrifice, in general,
was, as it seems, regarded as a good because a re-
ligious work, even when it was not performed in
the strict legal manner, but was associated with
calf and idol-worship, and therefore with a trans-
gression of the Law (as in our context it is not legal
sacrifice that is spoken of, the address being to the
kingdom of the ten tribes). In this they wishea
to honor Jehovah, or pretended to do so. Comp.
ver. 6. In that passage the worthlessness of the
outward sacrifice, which was only in fona a seek-
ing of Jehovah, and could not be a seeking from
the heart (ver. 15), is strongly expressed. Comp.
Mic. vi. 8; Is. i. 11-17; Ps. xl. 7, 9; 1. 8 ff. ; li.
18 ff. ; 1 Sam. xv. 22. v
To infer, however, from this polemic of prophecy
against the opus operatum of sacrifice (sacrifice to
an idol is to the Prophet only slaughter), that it
values sacrifice in itself but little, and stands as to
the Law, etc., upon a freer standpoint, is assuredly
wrong. If the prophets were the stern guardians
of the Law, and especially of the worship of Jeho-
vah, and directed their rebukes against every depre-
ciation of the law and every apostasy from Jeho-
vah, and if they also placed the ceremonial element
in worship in contrast to the ethical and internal,
they did so because the latter was absent, and be-
cause it alone gave to sacrifice its real worth. And
in our passage it is not to be overlooked that Hosea'
turns first to the sacrifices of the ten tribes, to the
places of unlawful sacrifice, and denounces them
as worthless, not merely on account of the absence
of the inner qualities, but because he saw the peo-
ple engaged in a course of conduct illegal and
therefore displeasing to God, rejects their sacrifices
and therefore so much the more opposes to these
the inner qualities, and amongst these, the knowl-
edge of God, which would lead back to God and
thereby also to the legal worship of Jehovah with
its sacrifices. On the relation of the sacrificial ser-
vice to the future time of salvation, see on chap,
xiv.
CHAPTBES V. 1-VI. 11.
65
5. Chap. vi. 7. " They have, like Adam, broken
iihe covenant." The passage is important as being
the only, but a clear, relference to the Fall in the
Old Testament. This is presented as a transgres-
sion of the Covenant, and God is therefore con-
ceived of as standing to the first man in a covenant-
relation. Adam's sin appears, therefore, to the
Prophet, not as something trifling, but as a great
transf-ression, just as Paul speaks of it in the
Jipistle to the liomaus, though there is nothing
said of the consequences of this sin upon man-
kind. And while this transgression is thought of
as a (the first) violation of the covenant, there is
also ascribed to it a significance as influencing the
destiny of the world.
HOMILETICAI. AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. WcRT. SnMM. : Preachers should re-
buke the sins of rulers as well as those of subjects,
BO that they bear not the guilt of the souls that are
lost, whose blood God will require at their hands.
Ver. 2. Great zeal, even though it be in the
cause of religion, is' not the chief thing. It is of
itself mere bi'gotry and has no merit, but is rather
to be rejected if it is against the truth.
[Matthew Henry : Those that have aposta-
tized from the truths of God are often the most
subtle and barbarous persecutors of those that still
adhere to them. — M.J
Ver. 4. The longer thou continuest in sin the
more difficult is the return. He who commits sin
is the servant of sin. At first he Will not return,
at last he cannot. The heart is hardened. The
spirit of whoredom : not single sins that are com-
mitted, but an evil spirit rising up and taking pos-
session of the soul. The more men sin tigamst
God, the more they lose the knowledge of Him,
»nd the more difficult it is for them to return; and
so the chastisement of God must be more severe to
bring them back to Him.
Ver. 5. God spares not even his own, when
they sin.
Staeke : He who mingles with the ungodly
will be punished with them.
[PuSEY ; In the presence of God there is needed
no other witness against the sinner than his own
conscience. — M,]
Ver. 6. Starke : God will not be slighted
with the outward appearance of godliness. In dis-
tress men should indeed seek God, though not in
hypocrisy, but in sincerity. Our most acceptable
sacrifice to God, is the surrender of ourselves, body
and soul, to Him.
Ver. 7. Wt'RT. SnMM. ; Godless parents usu-
ally bring up godless children, whom God regai-ds
not as his, but as strange children, children of
whoredom. They shall suffer a like punishment
with their parents. But God will require their
blood at the hands of their parents, from whom a
heavy reckoning will be demanded. Therefore
bring up your children in the chastening and admo-
nition of the Lord, and they will not be strange
ihildren, but God's, and heirs of eternal life.
Ver. 9. Starke : In time of war men should
lot be troubled so much about the cruelty and
;yranny of their enemies, as they should lament
ind bewail their sins.
Ver. 10. Pfaff Bibelwerk: God has set
firm bounds even to the great ones of this earth,
ind prescribed to them laws which they must ob-
serve. But when they remove these limits God
pours out his wrath upon them like water.
Hengsteneehg : If those are cursed who re-
move a neighbor's landmarks, how much more
they who remove those of God !
[Scott : When princes break down the fenca ,
of the divine law by their edicts, decisions, or ex-
amples, they open the flood-gates of God's wrath :
and when subjects willingly obey ungodly and
persecuting statutes, they may expect to be given
up to grievous exactions and oppressions ; for God
will disregard the interests, liberty, and security of
those who disregard his honor and renounce his
service. — M.]
Ver. 12. Ldther: There is nothing more del-
icate than a moth. One can scarcely touch it with-
out killing it, and yet it eats through cloth, and so
destroys our clothing. And the wood-worm eats
little by little throuuh the hardest wood. So the
wrath of God is despised by the ungodly, as though
it were without power ; yet whatever contends
with it must come to destruction, and cannot be
restored to its former condition by any might or
influence. We are thus warned not to live on in
such security, but to fear the Lord and walk in all
his ways. All strength and force without this,
will not defend us from his wrath.
[Pdsey : So God visits the soul with different
distresses, bodily or spiritual. He impairs, little
by little, health of body or fineness of understand-
ing ; or He withdraws grace or spiritual strength,
or allows lukewarmness or distaste for the things
of God to creep over the soul. These are the
gnawings of the moth, overlooked by the sinner,
if he persevere in carelessness as to his conscience,
yet bringing in the end entire decay of health, of
understanding, of heart, of mind, unless God in-
terfere by the mightier mercy of some heavy chas-
tisemenl, to awaken him. — M.]
Ver. 13. Seek not thy consolation in the world,
when the consequences of sin make themselves
felt. It helps thee indeed, but only to drag thee
completely into its power, and to certain ruin. If
men would have the wounds of sin healed, they
must hasten' to the true Physician, and not to false
ones, whose help is of no avail.
[Matthew Henry : Those who neglect God
and seek to creatures for help shall certainly be
disappointed ; that depend upon them for support,
will find them not foundations but broken reeds ;
that depend upon them for supply will find them
not fountains but broken cisterns ; that depend
upon them for comfort and a cure will find them
miserable comforters and physicians of no value,
-M.] ^
Ver. 14. » Starke : Those who have an angry
God, concern themselves to no purpose about re-
sisting their enemies or other misfortunes.
Ver. 1 5. [Matthew Henry : When men begin
to complain more of their sins than of their afflic-
tions, there begin to be some hopes of them. And
this is that which God requires of us when we are
under his correcting hand, that we own ourselves to
be in fault, and to be justly corrected. — M.]
Chap. vi. ver. 1. The language of the repenting
sinner. How often does it come so late as this !
But 0 that it would always come ! How much
must intervene before it comes (much use of the
Lord's chastening rod) ! but how great also is the
gain ! Alas that it is so hard for men to decide so !
but what a blessed decision it is ! — M.]
Ver. 2. God revives us not only that we may
live before Him, i. e., to his glory and service, but
also live in the enjoyment of his presence and '
blessing.
Ver. 3. Delay is more disastrous in nothing
66
HOSEA.
than in turning to God. [Puset : We know in
order to follow : we follow in order to know. Light
prepares the way for love. Love opens the mind
ibr new love. The gifts of God are interwoven.
They multiply and reproduce each other, until we
come to the perfect state of eternity. — M.]
Ver. 4. Transient heats in religion do not ac-
complish the work which steadfastness must crown.
[M.iTTHEw Henry : God never destroys sinnei'S
till He sees there is no other way with them. — M. |
Ver. 5. Cramer : The Law is the ministry
which, through the letter, kills. He, therefore,
who is not slain and does not die to sin, cannot be
made alive through the voice of the Gospel.
[PuSET : God's past loving-kindness, his pains
(so to speak), his solicitations, the drawings of his
grace, the tender mercies of his austere chastise-
ments, will, in the day of judgment, stand out as
clear as the light, and leave the sinner confounded,
without excuse. In this life also God's judgments
are as a light which goeth forth, enlightening not
the sinner who perishes, but others, in the dark-
ness of ignorance, on whom they burst with a sud-
den blaze of light.]
Yer. 6. Wijrt. Summ. -. The means by which
we become partakers of the mercy of God, are not
our works and desert, but the true knowledge of
God and faith in Christ which works by love, in
which God has more delight and satisfaction than
in all outward works. And this is the sum of
the whole Christian religion, that we believe in
the name of the Son of God and have love to-
ward one another.
Ver. 7. Pfaff. Bibelwerk. Beware of trans-
gressing, by presumptuous sin, the covenant which
thou hast made with thy God. He is a great God
and not a man, with whom thou hast entered into
obligations.
[Pdsey : There, He does not say, where. But
Israel and every sinner in Israel know full well,
where. God points out to the conscience of sinners
the place and the time, the very spot, where they
offended Him The sinner's conscience and
memory fills up the word there. It sees the whole
landscape of its sins around. — M.]
Ver. 10. Pfafp. Bibelwerk : Woe to the
land, the city, or the church, where God sees noth-
ing but abominations and sins !
Ver. 11. Each one reaps what he has sown. If
thou dost become partaker in other men's sins,
thou wilt meet with their punishment. If the
captivity of God's people is certain, so is also de-
liverance. Bit, on the other hand also, the prom-
ise presupposes the threatening : no deliverance
without judgment upon sin ; salvation comes, but
only after a long and dark night.
2. Chiefly against the Court.
Chap. VII. 1-16.
1 When I would heal Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim is made manifest,
And the evil deeds of Samaria.
For they have vrorked deceit, and the thief enters (the houses).
A band of robbers plunders in the street.
2 And they will not say to their heart,
(That) I have remembered all their wickedness ;
Now their deeds have beset th(;m round;
They are before my face.
3 By their wickedness they have pleased the king.
And by their falsehood the princes.
4 All of them (are) adulterers,
(They are) like an oven heated ^ by the baker,
Who rests, stirring up (the fire),
From the kneading of the dough, until it is raised.^
5 On the (feast-) day of our king,
The princes begin in the heat^ of wine
He draws out his hand [goes hand in hand] with scorners.
6 For they draw close together ; like the oven is
Their heart in its craftiness ;
Their anger ^sleeps the whole night.
In the morning it burns like a flame of Are.
7 All of them are heated like the oven,
And devour their judges,
AH their kings have fallen.
And there is none among them that cries to me.
8 Ephraim mingles with the heathen,
Ephraim has become a cake not turned.
CHAPTER VII. 1-16. 67
9 Strangers devour his strength,
Yet he does not know it.
Gray hairs are also sprinkled over him,
And he does not know it.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face ;
Yet they do not return to Jehovah their God,
And do not seek Him with [in spite of] all this.
11 And Ephraim became a silly dove, without understanding.
To Egypt they called :
To Assyria they went.
12 As they are going
I will spread over them my net ;
As a bird of heaven I wUl bring them down.
I will chastise them,* according to the announcement to their congregatioa
13 Woe to them that they have wandered from me !
Destruction upon them, that they have sinned against me !
For I would have redeemed them*
But they spoke lies against me.
14 They did not cry to me with their heart,
For they shrieked upon their beds ;
For corn and new wine they distress themselves ; '
They apostatized from me.
15 And I iastructed (fhem),
I strengthened their arm ;
But they devised evil against me.
16 They will not return upwards' [to God],
They have become like a deceitful bow.
Their princes will fall by the sword,
On account of the rage of their tongues :
This ' (wUl be) their scorn in the land of Egypt.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1 Ver. 4. — rrnVS ia accentuated as Milel, probably because the Masorites took objection to the fem. form, '^^3^
irhich is elsewhere masculine. But the names for fire and anything connected therewith are in the Semitic languages
usually fem. Hence m5?3 is to be regarded as actually fem., and to be pointed rT~lV21 [See Green, H£b. trr.,
§ 196 c. — inUpn. VP'^ takes in the construct inf the fem. ending, like 7Hn (Ezek. xvi. 5). — M.]
[2 Ver. 0. — n^n is an example of a construct before a noun having a preposition. This may denote the direct
and powerful influence of the wine upon the revellers, or it may merely be an example of a poetical usage. Green,
§255,1. — D^^^V cLTT. Aey. Some assume a verb V2^, but Gesenius, Fiirst and most regard the form as Piel Part
9f t^-17 with X5 dropped. Houbigant would change the reading into D^1S7, but needlessly. — M.]
[8 Ver. 6. — Henderson objects, to the change of reading to DiJl'^QH, that this never occurs in the sense, ira, /wrw,
tonsm. But as anger is a frequent sense of the dual form, and as the exigencies of the ease seem to demand Another
reading, it seems reasonable to adopt the emendation. The conjecture has also the support of antiquity, as tbj Targum
renders I'lnT^-l'l and the Syr. t.0Cn^..N.,01. Only it is not necessary to retain the ^ — ; the form given in the
Exposition is probably the correct reading. — M.]
4 Ver. 12. — D'n"'D^N. This form is from the Hiphil T'D'TI for "I'^Cnh.
5 Ver. 13. — ■ D'^pW is a voluntaiive or optative : I would or would like to redeem them.
6 Ver. 14. — The LXX. have read ^"T^lisri*' : they wound themselves. [But authority vastly preponderates in fovor
f the received reading. — M.]
[7 Ver. 16 — v3? )s7. It is agreed that the Kamets is due to the pause and that the normal form is v^ Critics
*Te divided as to whether this should be regarded as a noun used collectively (they return to no-gods = idols) or as an
Rdverb : upwards = to heaven, where God is. The word means properly an elevation, summit ; hence the notion that
't might be used concretely = most High. In xi. 7 this certainly seems the true meaning. Again it might be used ad-
torbially, as in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. The best lexicographers (Gesenius, Fiirst) approve the former sense here ; some of the best
Expositors (Manger, Ewuld, Keil, and others) prefer the latter. The Anglo-American expositors, generally, agree with thje
Irst named class. Newcome prefers to read 7"'3?'l^ NV : that which cannot profit. — M.] — "jt — Ht air. Acv.
68
HOSEA.
EXEGETICAL AND CEITICAL.
Vers. 1, 2. 'When I would heal Israel, etc.
It was just when God attempted to heal them that
their corruption was displayed in its full e.\tent.
If it had not been so great the attempt would not
have been vain. The latter consisted in the chas-
tisements themselves, but also in the discourses of
the Prophet calling them to repentance. Now fol-
lows a description of their dreadful condition :
lying, theft, and robbery. In the midst of it all,
the greatest security, not a single thought of di-
vine punishment. Their deeds have beset them
round. This expresses evidently the boldness of
their sinning = their sins have so incre<i.sed as to
become mountains hedging them round.
Ver. 3. The situation is the more desperate as
the corruption extends to the highest ranks.
Ver. 4. They are all adulterers. The whole
people are such, not merely the king and princes,
though these are necessarily included. The adul-
tery in this connection (comp. ver. 2 : lying, thiev-
ing, and robbery, and ver. 5 ; debauchery) is to be
taken in its literal sense. The comparison of the
adulterer to a burning oven is here decisive ; which
does not suit adultery in the figurative application
= idolatry, but expresses well the burning of lust.
nQMD nn273, llterally : burning from the baker
= heated by the baker. This burning of the oven
is further described still more closely and figura-
tively, and that with relation to the increase of
the heat, in the following words : 31 n3tt'\
Wiinsche : Who rests, stirring up, fi-om the knead-
ing of the dough until it is leavened, i. e., when he
has kneaded the dough, he rests, namely from
kneading, which is the most fatiguing part of the
whole process of bread-baking, but then does
something else, which compared with the other is
resting, namely, heats the stove and stirs it up
from the time the dough is kneaded until it is
raised. During this time while the process of
fermentation is going on, the stove is being heated
60 as to become quite hot, i. e., hot enough for
baking. The Part, therefore is not used tor the
Inf. depending on HDCB^ = who ceases to stir up.
It would be strange if emphasis were to be laid
upon ceasing, leaving off, when the object is to
show that the heat increases. Apd Wiinsche re-
marks rightly that it would be out of place to
heat the oven before the dough was kneaded, and
then to cease heating it, but that the contrary
process is the one followed. [Henderson takes
T'SD in the sense of heating, as also does Gesen-
ius. His application is as follows ; " To place the
violent and incontinent character of their lust in
the strongest light, the Prophet compares it to a
baker's oven which he raises to such a degree of
heat that he only requires to omit feeding it dur-
ing the short period of the fermentation of the
bread. Such was the libidinous character of the
Israelites that their impure indulgences were sub-
ject to but slight interruptions." But it is evident
that the Prophet did not intend to call attention
to any interruption of indulgence (and if he had
the mode of conveying that notion would not
have been very natural), but to emphasize its con^
Btant commission. Horsley takes T'JJQ in the
sense of stoker, one who attends to the fii-e, and
makes it the subject of nDC£7'' : " the stoker de-
sists after the kneading of the dough until the
fermentation be completa," He then gives a most
fanciful application to the act of iiidulgence. For
a sufficient explanation of the images see the Doc-
trinal and Ethical section, No. 1. — M.]
Ver. 5. But they are not only adulterers ; they
are also drunkards. They ijre heated with wine as
well as with lust. The rulers here lead the way by
their example. In the day of our king = festal
day, probably birth-day. A banquet is referred to,
given by the king to his nobles. By the phrase,
our king, Hosea indicates his citizenship in the
kingdom of Israel.
^bnn • the LXX., Syr., Chald., and Jerome
they began. Others they are diseased. But the
Hiphil does not mean: to be sick — 31 TIE^O.
The king is the subject ; literally : draws out
[stretches out] his hand with. This means : he
holds out his hand constantly to them =keepa
company, goes hand in hand with them. Scorn-
ers, men who throw ridicule upon what is sacred, '
and is regarded as sacred. Such derision is spe-
cially natural in a state of intoxication. Hence
the connection in which it stands here with the
drinking-bout, a connection which is certainly not
fortuitous.
Ver. 6. The figure of the heated oven is again
taken up. But it becomes here an image of the
heat of anger which bums in their hearts, which,
being craftily concealed, does not at first make it-
self manifest, but which grows only the more sure-
ly, and at last breaks out in deeds of violence.
(Just so is it in ver. 4 with the heat of the hake-
oven.) The notion is evidently this, that the cor-
diality of the princes towards the king in the ban-
quet is only apparent, only the result of cunning.
It ends with an insurrection, with the murder of
the king, who has certainly richly deserved such
a lot. — 3T I^T^p- This is a difficult expression
Some : they have made their heart approach (re-
semble) an oven. But this is languid. Would
any one sa}', in giving an illustration, that the
object was only " approximately" like the image ?
Besides, 3 with "''ISri would be superfluous.
Keil : they have brought their heart into their crafti-
ness as into an oven. The cunning is compared
with the oven; the heart with the fuel. This clearly
gives a plain sense. It would be perhaps more
correct to detach 13"lp from what follows as form-
ing a clause by itself Simson : they (the con-
spirators) approach. Wiinsche, perhaps better :
they draw close together, namely, in the banquet,
at all events, as conspirators. The following
words then mean simply : like an oven is their
heart in their malice. Thus the malicious heart is
like an oven which only waits for the kindling of
a fire. — 31 '^/.''■in" ''3 i according to the Masor-
etic punctation ; the whole night sleeps their baker.
Baker would then = he who heats the oven, i. e.,
their heart inflames them. By the baker might
be understood passion (Ewald, Keil). This would
rather be compared to the fire. " The baker
sleeps " would then be explained as meaning that
the baker after kindling the fire, cared no more
about it. But it would not be exactly suitable to
conceive of " passion " as sleeping, that is, not
stirring up the fire. Simson refers " baker " to a
person, the leader of the conspiracy. But the fol-
lowing member of the verse creates most difliculty.
S^n introduces another subject, the oven. It is
1 therefore naturally suggested (Wiinsche) to change
the pointing into Dn?^) =their anger. This U
CHAPTEll VII. 1-16.
represented as fire, and this sleeps in the night,
i. c, it burns on, unperceived, during the whole
night, until in the morning it becomes a clearly
burning flame. So with their anger. " Night "
and " morning " allude primarily to the figure of
the fire, but probably also to the thing represented
itself, especially if it be supposed that at the end
of the feast, which has lasted the whole night, the
anger breaks forth in the morning in violent acts,
which are more particularly described in
Ver. 7. All of them, probably not merely the
princes, but the whole people, together with ihe
princes, who gave the impulse to the rest. They
devour their judges, i. e., the kings. The fol-
lowing clause : aU their kings fall, does not add
anything new, but only expresses what is meant
by the judges. This applies to the period succeed-
ing that of Jei'oboam II., when in swift succession
Zachariah was overthrown by Shallura, Shallum
by Menahem, and Menahem's son Pekahiah by
Pekah, and between Zachariah and Shallum eleven
years' anarchy prevailed. The Prophet alludes
here to sudi events, certainly to a number of such
events (perhaps also to earlier revolutions in the
succession), as the plural, judges, kings, plainly
shows. Yet the particular description in vers. 5,
6, suggest the conjecture that the Prophet had in
mind a special case, and then in ver. 7 gives a gen-
eral view. And there is none amongst them
who calls upon me. The reference probably is to
the kings. The sentence thus indicates briefly but
strikingly the complete estrangement from God,
the deplorable situation of these kings. Keil sup-
poses the whole nation to be referred to : no one is
Drought to reSection in the midst of these mourn-
ful circumstances, that he should return to the Lord.
Ver. 8. Ephraim mingles itself up with the
nations. This refers certainly not to the invasion
of the Israelitish possessions by the heathen, nor
merely to alliances with them (ver. 11), but in ad-
dition to something more profound, it supposes
that through idolatry heathen practices were fol-
lowed. Comp. Ps. cv. 35, 36, 39, " which passage
furnishes a commentary upon ours" (Wiinsche).
A oake not turned, and therefore burnt on one
side (while it is not baked at all on the other).
The idea is plain. [On the preceding sentence,
Henderson : " In Ps. cv. 35 a similar expression is
used of promiscuous intercourse with idolaters.
That such intercourse generally, and not specifi-
cally the entering into leagues with them, is meant,
appears from the following clause, in which, to ex-
press the worthlessness of the Ephraimitish char-
acter, the people are compared to a cake, which,
from not having been turned, is burnt and good
for nothing. . . . Such was the state of the apos-
tate Israelites ; they had corrupted themselves and
were fit only for rejection." — M.]
Ver. 9. Their being burnt declared figuratively
that strangers devoured their strength. This
is not merely an outward devastation by war, but
an inner consumption by the inroads of heathen
practices. Indications of old age also are appar-
ent in Israel as tokens of speedy decay.
Ver. 10. See chap. v. 5.
Ver. 11. A consequence of impenitence. Is-
rael is like a simple dove, which, not observing the
snare set for her, is caught in it (ver. 12). They
called out to Egypt ; they went to Assyria. As
Syria threatened Israel. The latter then turned
immediately to Egypt, to obtain help against As-
syria, and partly sought to gain the favor of As-
syria (chap. viii. 9). And after all they fell into
\he net of Assyria.
Ver. 12. It is the Lord who inveigles them into
destruction. According to the announcement
to their congregation = according to the oft-
repeated threatening against the people (comp. in
the Law, Lev. xxvi. 14 fS. ; Deut. xxviii. 15 if.).
Ver. 13. They spoke Uea concerning me
namely, that I would not help them. And they
in effijct, lie when they do not call out for help.
Ver. 14. And they did not cry out to me
with their heart, even if they did cry with the
mouth. Their cry was one of unbelieving despair.
^"inlSni, according to Fiirst, to distress them-
selves, parallel to ^^'' V.1N Others ; assemble them-
selves in crowds, i. e., with eager desire for corn
and wine. [See Grammatical Note.]
Ver. 15. They devise evil against me, name^
ly, in their apostasy.
Ver. 16. 73?, probably adverb = upwards. [See
Grammatical Note.]
A deceitful bow : a bow upon which the archer
cannot depend, which, when he is in the act of
shooting, he fears may cause him to miss his aim.
So God cannot depend upon Israel, is deceived in
them every moment, cannot reach the aim with
them which He desires. Others claim for IT^Q"'
the meaning : slackness, therefore, a slack bow,
which cannot carry the arrow to the mark. Each
meaning affords essentially the same result. The
princes are emphasized, because they were the se-
ducers of the people. This ( will become) a scorning
in the land of Egypt ; that is : the scorn of Egypt
will fall upon them for this reason, namely, on ac-
count of the falling of the princes just mentioned.
Not = because they placed their trust in Egypt
and fell notwithstanding (Keil), for this would
rather earn them the scorn of Assyria. They
would he ridiculed by Egypt because of the weak-
ness revealed in their fall, while they had magni-
fied their strength before Egypt.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1 . The Prophet assails the practices of the conn
without ceremony, and brands them with some
powerful strokes, as a course of life, in which the
nobles are as ready to carouse together as to con-
spire against one another. All discipline, as well
as all fidelity, is wanting. " Even when they hold
a feast in honor of their king, there is no end to
their gorging, lewdness, carousing, etc. The more
vilely they behave, the better they suppose they
shall celebrate the day of the king. On the other
hand, when they are dissatisfied with their king
they are as eager and anxious to murder him, as
they formerly were to drink his health until they
became intoxicated." The spirit which governs
these circles is aptly compared to a fire, for it is a
powerful passion by which they are driven about,
revealed in various forms, partly in the form of
sensual and fleshly lust, and partly in the form of
craft, rage, and party-intrigue. With the loss of
morality, frivolity goes hand in hand, partly as
consequence and partly as cause. The courtiers
together with the king are " scorners," or make
common cause with them. " The scorner, V2>
is the presumptuous, haughty, puifed-up (enlight-
ened) man, who sets himself above what is and is
regarded as sacred, and so practices his scornful
amusement." Comp. also vers. 16 : the insolence
of the tongue.
70
HOSEA.
2. The decay of the kingdom is already patent.
Ver. 9 : Gray hairs show themselves. But where
the mistake lies, namely, in apostasy from Jehovah,
those of the upper circles will not regard it (for it
is these that the Pro])het has specially in mind,
comp. also ver. 16). Therefore, instead of return-
ing to Him and seeking Him (ver. 10), the opposite
means are seized upon, which have a result just
the opposite of what they desire : help is sought
in the world-powers (ver. 11). Not merely the
vanity but the disastrous nature of such dealing
is now clearly expressed ; for Israel is just pre-
paring the way for its own ruin. It is like a
silly dove, which does not see the net, and so
straightway falls into it, i. e., the world-powers are
preparing its destruction. In truth, however, it is
God who employs them to punish his faithless
people (ver. 12). And thus will be fulfilled the
previous announcement of punishment by the
prophets (accordhig to the declaration to their con-
gregation, ver. 12). It is not yet particularly in-
dicated how the world-powers are to accomplish
their destruction, nothing being as yet said of a
captivity.
3. We may collect the other scattered strokes
delineating Israel's conduct towards God (for in
such brief touches are the moral and religious
views of our book exhibited). — Ver. 2 describes
the insensibility of the conscience, which in the
commission of evil deeds ignores God's omnis-
cience, while nothing is more certain than that
God knows them — they are before his face.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk: Ver. 1. When God lays
his hand upon the conscience and his Spirit chas-
tens it, then is first truly felt the greatness of
sin. 0, that we would subject ourselves to such
chastening of the Spirit, and we would be saved !
Ceamee : When a sinner is about to receive
help, it is with him as with many patients. They
often do not feel their disease and danger, until
the physician comes and reveals them.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk: Ver. 2. It is great sim-
plicity on the part of the ungodly to suppose that
God does not know their wickedness. Mark, soul,
the eyes of the Lord are like flames of fire, and
know even the most secret things of thy heart, and
accompany thee in all thy evil ways.
[Matt. Heney : This is the sinner's atheism.
As good say there is no God, as say He is eitlier
ignorant or forgetful ; none that judgeth in the
earth, as say He remembers not the things He is
to give judgment upon. — M.]
PrAFF. Bibelwerk: Ver. 4. Ye lustful men
nrho bum so in your lascivious desires, know that
a fire is prepared for you in the other world where
you will burn forever.
Pfafp. Bibelwerk: Ver. 7. What a deplor-
able situation men are in, when they have no longer
confidence to cry out to God for help in their dis-
tress, because conscience tells them that they have
made Him their enemy. But it is a great conso-
lation to the pious that, when there is none to take
their part, they have free access to God and his
help.
Ver. 8. Beware of heathenish desires and prac-
tices. As soon as thou dost admit them — and
they may obtain entrance in all kinds of seemingly
harmless shapes, even in a refined form — they in-
jure thy religious nature. The result is a stupe-
fying of the spiritual sense, the loss of spiritual
taste, then only remains an " unturned, insipid,
and disgusting cake."
[PusEY : Ver. 9. " Thy gray hairs are thy
passing-bell," says the proverb. — M.]
Pfaff. Bibelwerk: Ver. 10. Man, thy sins
condemn thyself. What ! wouldst thou exculpate
thyself? Turn only to thy conscience and ask it;
it will soon utter thy condemnation.
[Pdsey : Ver. 13. To be separated from God is
the source of all evils. Whoever seeks anything
out of God or against his will, whoever seeks from
man or from idols, from fortune or from his own
powers, what God alone bestows ; whoever acts as
if God were not a good God ready to receive the
penitent, or a just God who will avenge the holi-
ness of his laws and not clear the guilty, does in
fact speak lies against God. — M.]
Ver. 14. Is it the worst with thee when pros-
perity is pasf? To be vexed at the loss of tem-
poral blessings, is a mourning of this world, and
does not lead to life.
Matt. Heney : To pray is to lift up the soul
unto God ; this is the essence of prayer. If that
be not done, words, though never so well worded,
are but wind ; but if there be that, it is an accept-
able prayer though the groanings cannot be ut-
tered. — M.]
[PcsEY : Ver. 15. The creature can neither
hurt nor profit the Creator. But since God vouch-
safed to be their King, He designed to look upon
their rebeUions as so many eii'orts to injure Him.
— M.]
Ver. 16. Whither dost thou turnl Upwards
or downwards ?
[PnsEY : Like a deceitful bow. In like way doth
every sinner act, using against God in the service
of Satan, God's gifts of nature or of outward
means, talents or wealth, or strength, or beauty, or
power of speech, — God gave all for his own glory ;
and man turns all aside to do honor and servict
te Satan. — M.]
CHAPTER Vin. 1-14. 71
n. THE Judgment.
A. " Sowing the Wind brings foHh the Whirlwind as a Harvest," Galling DepentU
ence upon Assyria.
Chapter VIII. 1-14.
1 To thy mouth (set) the trumpet :
" Like the eagle (it is coming) upon the house of Jehovah,"
Because they broke my Covenant,
And sinned against my Law.
2 To me they will cry :
" My God/ we know Thee, (we) Israel.
3 Yet Israel has rejected the good ;
Let the enemy pursue him ! ^
4 They set up kings, but uot by me.
Made princes, but I knew (them) not.
Their silver and their gold
They made into idols for themselves.
That it [silver and gold] might be destroyed.
5 He has rejected thy calf, Samaria,
My anger is inflamed against them,
How long shall ye be incapable of purity ?
6 For that also [the calf] is from Israel,
The maker has formed it,
And it is no God,
For the calf of Samaria will become fragments.'
7 For they sowed wind and will reap a whirlwind,
It has no stalk,
(But) a sprout which will yield no meal ;
If it should yield (any).
Strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up,
Even now have they become among the nations,
Like a vessel, in which no pleasure is taken.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria ;
(As) a wild-ass going alone by herself,
Ephraim gave presents * (for) love.
10 Even if they give presents * among the nations,
I will now gather [carry] them together (thither).
And in a little they will have sorrow for the tribute of the king of the prinoes.*
11 For Israel has increased altars for sinning.
They became to him altars for sinning.
12 I presented to him a myriad' (precepts) of my Law,
(Yet) they are regarded as something strange.
13 My sacrificial offerings they sacrifice as flesh and eat (them) :
Jehovah has no pleasure in them,
He will now remember their guilt.
And will punish their princes ;
They will return to Egypt !
14 For Israel forgot his Creator
And built (idol-) temples.
And Judah increased the fortified cities : '
But I will send fire into his cities,
And it shall devour her palaces.'
72
HOSEA.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 2. — ^TI^W : my God. A distributive use of the singular pronoun. Each of the iBraelites ifi representai!
IB uttering the exclamation, and then all combined as making the protestation in common, Israel is In apposition tt
the subject of 71^3571% — M.]
[2 Ver. 3. — The rendering of Schmoller follows the reading IC-in*^ which has nearly as much authority ("forty-
seven of De Rossi's MSS., and two more by correction, eight of the most ancient- and sixty-two other editions, the Syr.,
Vulg., and Targ.") as ^D*^"l^ in the Textus Receptus, and is probably correct M.]
[8 Ver. 6. — C^n^K.', oTT. Aey. Its root does not exist in Heb. It is usually compared with Chald. D^tt? to
break in pieces. Henderson prefers to consider it = D^^^^tZ? flames. Arab.
^, to kindle a fire. — M.]
4 Vers. 9, 10. — ^^iHrT — "IDin*^. The Hiphil and the Kal have here the same meaning : to give presents.
6 Ver. 10. — Simson and others translate : king and princes, namely, those of Israel, referring to the tribute which
they pay. Here an asyndeton is assumed, or D'^"'Ci?1 is read, after the ancient versions and several codices.
6 Ver. 12. — 1D"1, According to the Kethibh = IS"! with JH rejected = 10000, a myriad. The Masorites, prob-
ably because they thought the expression too strong, would make the reading ^S7^, multitudes, from D"l, which how
ever does not elsewhere occur in the plural.
7 Ver. 14. — VH^B, n^ri2Q"nM. Both of these refer merely to Judah. In the former tlie people are thought
of and therefore the masc. suffix is employed ; in the latter the country, and therefore the fern. [It is possible, also,
that the latter refers to each of the cities regarded individually. — M.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. (Set) the trumpet to thy mouth.
Jehovah commands the Prophet, as the herald of
God, to proclaim with the trumpet of Israel the
impending judgment : " Like an eagle (it is com-
ing) upon the house of Jehovah.'* The judg-
ment will fall as swiftly as an eagle (comp. I)eut.
xxviii. 49). The house of Jehovah not=the
Temple, but Israel, as the people among whom
God dwells (should and would dwell), comp. ix.
8-15 ; Num. xii. 7 ; Jer. xii. 7 ; Zech. ix. 8.
Ver. 2. Every one will cry : " My God ! "
Israel is in apposition to the subject contained in
the verb [we know thee, we, Israel]. They rely
upon the knowledge of God, which, as his people,
they assuredly have. But it is a dead knowledge
which can bring no deliverance. — Vers. 3 and 4
show the position of Israel.
Ver. 4. They have set up kings, but not by
me. This refers to the self-authorized schism from
the royal house of David. AU the kings of Israel
were not from God (that the government of the
Ten Tribes was announced beforehand to Jero-
boam by Ahijah the Prophet, 1 Kings xi. 30 fF.,
and that Jehu was anointed king and commis-
Bioned by Elisha, do not contradict this, for God
makes use even of human sins to execute his de-
crees) ; and besides, according to chap. vii. 7, the
Prophet probably has in view the frequent violent
dethronements and usurpations individually. —
'"^r'l!' 1??^ : in order that it, namely, the silver
and gold, may be destroyed (comp. ver. 6). lUSsb
expresses the certainty of the result as if it had
been d<^signed. [Most have regarded Israel (col-
lectively) as the subject of this verb, but, as Keil
says, the same thing is more fully stated in ver. 6,
and the connection of the clause is clear. — M.]
Ver. 5. He has rejected thy calf, Samaria.
Samaria is mentioned as the capital instead of the
whole kingdom. The Calf in Bethel is meant.
[Henderson, with many Continental Translators,
renders : thy calf is an abomination, the verb be-
ing taken intrans' lively. This is better than the
translation of E. V., which is retained by Pusey
in its natural sense, and by Horsley with a most
astonishing application of the expression : " Here
God himself turns short upon Samaria or the
Ten Tribes, and upbraids their corrupt worship
by taking to Himself the title of Samaria's calf.
I whom you have so dishonored by setting up that
contemptible idol as the symbol of my glory —
now expressly disown you." The parallelism, as
well as the whole drift of the passage seems to
confirm the view adopted above. — M.] How
long wlU they be incapable of purity ? inca-
pable of walking purely before the Lord instead of
polluting themselves with idols.
Ver. 6. S^ri) is the predicate ; this also ^ the
Calf. It originated from men — ft-om Israel through
the maker — and is therefore no God.
Ver. 7_. This result is the natural harvest of the
evil sowing. The same image occurs in xii. 2.
n^~l is an image of vain human efforts, from
which ruin is developed, as naturally as the wind
becomes a tempest. Chap. x. 13; Job iv. 8;
Prov. xxii. 8 are analogous, where I'M, bS25?,
° ' ' V T ' T T '
and ilvlj? are the seed. The sowing of the wind
is_ first regarded as one which brings a harvest of
disaster and ruin, but afterwards, as one which,
like the wind (image of nothingness, from which
nothing can come), deceives the sower, brings him
in no harvest nnp.'Tia^ : a word-play. The
latter is literally meal, flour: perhtips = ears, as
bearing the grains from which the flour is made.
The following sentence declares that all their pros-
pects were blasted. Israel's efforts in every direc-
tion are fruitless. The judgment through Assyria
stands in the back ground already.
Ver. 8 is connected with ver. 7, but advancei
through the pret. 3? 7?3. Israel is now — already
— acttially swallowed up. The sequel shows how
far and by what means. Like a vessel, etc. ,
comp. Jer. xxii. 28 ; xlviii. 38.
Ver. 9. ib -113 S":;Q. Keil gives the mean
ing thus : While a wild ass, a silly animal, remains
CHAPTER VIII. 1-14.
73
alone by itself, in order to maintain its independ-
ence, Kphraim seeks to make alliances with the
nations of the world, that are unnatural and in-
compatible with its position. Yet such a compar-
ison by antithesis is somewhat forced. It is much
more natural to consider as the tertium comp. the
burning lust of the wild ass, and to attach tlie
sentence to the following, in which Ephraira is de-
scribed as a paramour. Wiinsche finds the tert,
comp. in the stubborn and intractable nature of
the wild ass : that Israel made a like exhibition in
going to Assyria in spite of all prophetic admo-
nition. [So Henderson and, to a certain extent,
Potocke, Horsley, Newcorae, and Pusey. There
is no reason why the two ideas should not be unit-
ed. — M.] The meaning of the following member
is clearly the same as in our phrase ; courting one's
friendship or love, and with this object giving him
presents, flattering bim, etc. So did Epliraim
court the friendship of Assyria ; but the expres-
sion is peculiarly pregnant . They presented love ^
they gave presents in order thereby to obtain love
>= they gave gifts for love.
Ver. 10. But this is all in vain. D^2|2S : I
will bring them together, namely, among the na-
tions, i. e., will carry them together thither. — The
following words again are very difficult. Accord-
ing to the Masoretic punctation : ^vH*!, they be-
gan. Tlierefore E. Tanchum, and, among the
moderns, Eichhorn, RosenmuUer, Hitaig, Keil :
They began to become small from the burden of
the king of the princes. Others, after the LXX.
(Symm., Theodot., Syr., Vulg.), deduce the word
from bin, and take it = to cease from, rest : they
will rest a little from the burden of the king and
princes : to be understood ironically = they will in
captivity be deprived of their kings, and will have
therefore to pay tribute to them no longer. Ewald
and Meier read ^ 'n^l, also from /^H : to wait,
abstain from anything = that they may cease a
little from paying this shameful tribute, i. e., that
they should wait a little before paying it. But was
it Jehovah's purpose only to relieve Israel a short
time from this tribute 1 Simson would therefore
explain ; In a little sorrow will seize them from
the tribute of the king and the princes ^ in a little
they will reap in sorrow the fruits of the tribute
which they intend to pay as their security, and
which makes them a prey to AssjTia. So also
Wunsche. [It will be noticed that K. V. takes the
eame view of the verb, but translates : they shall
Borrow a little for the burden. Henderson agrees
exactly ; they shall suffer in a little (so the mar-
ginal reading in E. V.) by reason of the tribute.
So also Cowles. Pusey thinks the meaning to be,
ihat they shall sorrow but a little now on account
of their burdens, in comparison with the great-
er trials of the captivity. — M.] The Tarious
views taken of D"'~itJ7 Tf^l2 are already apparent,
it is usually and probably correctly understood of
the Assyrian king, in the sense : king of kings.
[The native Assyrian word for prince, as lately
made out fi-om the inscriptions, is sarru, answering
to the Hebrew sar, and Professor Green (Pres.
Quarterly, July, 1872, p. 128) is inclined to suspect
that it explains this expression : king of princes,
" which would seem not to be an arbitrary or merely
poetic variation of the lordly title, ' king of kings,'
but to contain a designed allusion to the native
Assyrian word. And a like allusion may be found
in the words attributed to Sennacherib (Is. x. 8) :
'Are not my princes altogether kings?'" — M.]
Therefore (regarding MtS'D as = tribute) tribute
to the king, or tribute which he imposes. [See
Textual note.]
Ver. 11. Increased the altars, while Israel
should have only one altar.
Ver. 12. Myriads of my Law, hyperbole, to
express the almost innumerable individual com-
mands of the Law. [See Textual note.]
Ver. 13. "'S'^^ili according to Fiirst from a
root 3^n, to roast, formed by reduplication : a
sacrifice burnt upon the altar, a holocaust. It is
incomplete unless joined with njj?., literally, a sac-
rifice of what is burnt, a burnt-offering. My
burnt-offerings, i. e., those which should be burnt
for Me, they slaughter for meat and devour. There-
fore a complete profanation of the sacrifices.
They were concerned only about the flesh. [The
usual derivation from ^H^, to give, with the mean-
ing : offerings, gives substantially the same sense :
sacrificial offerings, and is, at least, as probable as
the other. — M.] They return to Egypt. Egypt
is a type of the land of bondage (comp. Deut.
xxviii. 68). Actual captivity in Egypt is scarcely
meant.
Ver. 14. Israel forgot his Creator. Comp.
Deut. xxxii. 15. Temples, perhaps idol-temples.
Keil : palaces. The assertion would then be sim-
ilar to that concerning Judah. But the notion is
that Israel builds idol-temples, while Judah does
not do that, but by increasing its fortified cities
upon which it relied, it showed no less that it was
forgetting God. Cities, Palaces, therefore refer to
Judah alone.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. In spite of all departure from God, the sinner
will often not quite abandon religion, worship, and
prayer. In his hypocrisy he often misuses the
most beautiful words (ver. 2) : " Thou art my
God," is otherwise the sum of all precious prayer.
Hypocrites compile from the Scriptures a little
book of compliments when they find some formulas
which are extolled there. They place themselves
behind these, while they are far from feeling their
power (Eieger).
2. To practice idolatry, in the grosser or in the
more refined sense, is to sow the wind, and the
whirlwind follows sooner or later, as the harvest.
When men forsake the living God, they build
upon themselves, upon their own power and wis-
dom, and the more self-inflated they become, the
more certain is their violent fall. All the more so
that the foundations of a moral life have been un-
dermined by forgetting the living God ; more place
is gradually given to vanity, thirst for pleasure,
and evil desires, even against their own inclination.
They are given up by the God to whom they would
not give the glory. There must come a dreadful
harvest of whirlwinds, though it may tarry long,
though the results of the sowing may deceive and
corrupt him long with their glitter and eclat. How
often has this been proved in the history of indi-
viduals and nations ! Compare the fate of the
Second French Empire.
3. " God prescribed to Israel myriads of com-
mands." How strongly this expresses the care of
God of his people, and the comprehensiveness of
his revelation ! Truly nothing is wanting to them ;
74
flOSEA.
In no way can they complain that they have been
meagrely supplied. All the greater is their guilt,
in regarding these commands as something
" strange," as though they did not concern them
at all, while they were issued solely for that peo-
ple, and designed for their good. On the other
side, the expression, " myriads of my Law," is cer-
tainly most significant as regards the Old Testa-
ment stand-point. All these myriads were then
received, but the Gospel was not yet given. The
one gospel, the one message : the Word became
Flesh, outweighs them all. The mercy of God in
Christ assured by that message has a force quite
different from all law. This mercy of the Gospel
is also regarded as something strange, though men
should regard it as most truly their own, i. e., as
answering their most intimate and their inmost
aeeds, which can be said of no law.
4. " They shall return to Egypt." See on ch. ix.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Vers. 2, 3. How ready men are in time of af-
fliction to depend upon their acquaintance with
God and their service of Him, and upon their re-
ligious life, and to found on these a claim for help,
and yet at other times they inquire after God so
little ! In afHiction we hear nothing else than :
my God.
WiJET. SuMM. : The cause of war and all its
resulting evils, is, that men reject " the good."
And the good is God and his Word, with faith
and obedience.
[PocooKE : God is simply, supremely, wholly,
aniversally good, and good to all, the Author and
Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing sim-
ply good but God ; notliing worthy of that title
except in respect of its relation to Him who u
good and doing good. Ps. cxix. 68. — M.]
Vers. 5, 6. Idolatry is man's foulest pollution
[Matthew Henry : Deifying any creaturt
makes way for the destruction of it. — M.]
Ver. 8. Pfaff. Bibdwerk: Sin has this bitter
fruit also, that those who serve it come to be de-
spised even by the world.
Vers. 9, 10. Trust in men or in earthly things
more than in God is by Him counted idolatry.
Trust in men must be most sorely repented of;
for not only is the desired help most frequently
not found, but those who trust in them are out-
wardly or inwardly still dependent upon them, and
will be heavily oppressed.
Ver. 11. It does not help to increase altars. It
depends on the one to whom the sacrifice is made.
Ver. 12. How richly has God remembered us
with direction ! What a rich treasure of the most
varied instruction we have in his Word ! Bat
what will it profit us if we regard it as something
" strange," when God in it addresses Himself di-
rectly to us ■? — The one Gospel is assuredly »
greater gift of God than the myriads of the Law.
Ver. 13. God is as strict a creditor toward im-
penitent sinners as He is a kind and indulgent one
towards the penitent.
[jVIatt. Henrt : A petition for leave to sia
amounts to an imprecation of the curse for sin,
and so it shall be answered.
PusEY : God seems to man to forget his sins,
when He forbears to punish them ; to remember
them when He punishes. — M.]
Ver. 14. Incomprehensible that man should for-
get his Maker ! but it is only too frequent. To
have been created by God, and' yet to build tern-.
pies to idols ; what a plain contradiction I
B. The carrying away into Assyria, Decrease of the People.
Chaptee IX. 1-17.
1 Rejoice not,^ Israel,
Unto exultation, like the heathen,
For thou hast committed whoredom, departing from thy God,
Thou hast loved the reward of whoredom.
On all corn-floors.
2 The threshing-floor and the (oil-) press will not nourish tliem,^
And the new wine will deceive them.
3 They will not remain in the land of Jehovah,
But Ephraim will return to Egypt,
And in Assyria he will eat (things) unclean.
4 They will not pour out wine for Jehovah,
For their offerings will not please Him ;
Like bread of mourning (their food will be) to them,
All who eat it will defile themselves :
For their bread is only for themselves,
It does not come into the house of Jehovah.
5 "What will ye do on the day of the assembly,
And on the day of the feast of Jehovah ?
CHAPTER IX. 1-17. 75
6 For, behold, they have gone away because of the desolation :
Egypt will gather them,
Memphis will bury them.
Their precious ' things of silver,
Thistles will inherit them ;
Thorns (will be) in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come,
The days of retribution,
Israel will discover :
The prophet is foolish.
The man of the spirit is crazed —
Because of the greatness of thy guilt,
And because the enmity is so great*
8 Ephraim is a searcher (after revelations) with my God :
(As to) the Prophet, the snare of the fowler
Is upon all his paths :
There is enmity in the house of his God.
9 They have wrought deep corruption ° as in the days of Gibeah,
He will remember their guilt.
He will visit (upon them) their sins.
10 I found Israel as grapes in the desert,
Like the early fruit on the fig tree in its first (bearing) I found your fathen,
Yet they went after Baal-Peor,
And consecrated themselves to shame,
And became an abomination, like their paramour.
11 Ephraim — his glory will fly away as a bird ;
No bearing, no pregnancy, no conception.
12 Even if they rear up their sons,
I will bereave them of men,
For, indeed, woe is to them.
When I depart from them !
13 Ephraim, like as I saw Tyre,
(Is) planted by the sea.
Yet must Ephraim lead out his sons to the murderer.
14 Give to them, 0 Lord : — what wilt Thou give ?
Give a barren womb and dry breasts.
15 All their evil is in Gilgal —
For there have I hated them ;
For the evil of their deeds
WUl I drive them out of my house,
Will not love them any more ;
All their princes are apostates.
16 Ephraim is smitten.
Their root is withered,
They will not bear fruit ;
And even if they should bear,
I will slay the darlings of their womb.
17 My God will abhor them,
Because they did not hear Him,
And they will be fugitives among the nations.
TEXTUAL ANB GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1 — The ancient Translators appear to have read 7^3 vM. [This is false grammatically, us 7M Is always
Wlowea by the future. — M.]
4 Ver. 2. — rrS. The people are here regarded as a woman. [Tanchum gives the role that " in continue! discourse
*hen a nation or people is spoken of either the fem. sufflx agreeing with iTT^ ! congregation, or the maso. agreeing
vith Dp : people, may be osed, as also that the singular may be used of them viewed as a body, and the plural when
76
HO SEA.
toey are regarded as con£isting of distinct individuals." So Ewald as to tlie gender, making the sufflx relate to " dU
treutose Gemet'n^.".— M.]
8 Ver. 6. — l^np is in the construct state with 7,
^ Ver. 7- — nSTI, The sentence continues as though a conjunction [because] preceded. The conjuDCtion is ha
plied in 7iJ.
[5 "Ver. 9. — For the asyndeton here, see note on chap. v. 2. It is best to take ^riPtt? intransitively, and not un-
derstand an object, e. g. Dn'^^D'H'^j which some supply. — M.]
** Ver. 13. — D'^'^DS'^ forms the apodosis which introduces a contrast to the protasis. S^^IH / = must lead
Ibrth. See Ewald, 237, '«. [The literal rendering is : But Ephraim (is) to lead forth, etc. — M.]
EXEGETICAL ANB CRITICAL.
Vers. 1, 2. v''3"7H intensifies the notion of
rejoicing ^ unto exultation (comp. Job iii. 22).
According to what follows it is rejoicing over a
bountiful harvest. It was this that Israel expected
and for which they would rejoice. But such joy
was to be taken from them. D'^SpS. Keil : " Is-
rael, after the heathen fashion, attributed the bless-
ing of harvest to the gods, and rejoices in it as in
a gift of the gods, after the manner of the heathen."
That this is the meaning is evident from what fol-
lows, in which I discover not so much the ground
why Israel should not rejoice, as an explanation
of the D"B3?3, especially in the second member :
thoK hast loved. The lover's reward is the reward
which the paramour gives to his mistress, or here
the idol to its servant, the people. The addition :
upon all corn-floors, shows what is regarded as
that reward : it is that which is laid upon these
floors, the fruits of harvest, which Israel considers
to be the gift of the idols, as their reward for serv-
ing them (corap. ii. 7-14). Presa : probably^
oil-press, as new wine is specified afterwards ;
comp. also ii. 10-24 ; corn, wine, and oil are there-
fore mentioned together.
Ver. 3 shows how this will be brought about ;
it is not owing to the failure of the harvest, but
to a captivity : thus they will lose their harvest
which had grown. Keturn to Egypt, etc. : Keil
is here undoubtedly correct when he says : " The
expulsion is dcsciibed as a return to Egypt, as in
ch. viii. 13 ; but Assyria is mentioned immediately
afterwards as the real land of banishment. That
this threat is not to be understood as implying
that they will be carried away to Egypt as well as
to Assyria, but that Egypt is referred to here and
in ver. 6, just as in viii. 13 simply as a type of the
land of captivity, so that Assyria is represented
as a new Egypt, may be clearly seen from the very
words of our verse, in which the eating of unclean
bread in Assyria is mentioned as the immediate
consequence of a return to Egypt, whereas neither
here nor in ver. 6 is there any allusion to a carry-
ing away to Assyria at all ; but, on the contrary,
in ver. 6, Egypt only is introduced as the place
where they are to find their grave. This becomes
still more evident from the fact that Hosea speaks
throughout of Assyria as the rod of God's wrath
for his apostate people (comp. v. 13; x. 6, 14).
Finally, it is clearly stated In xi. 5 that Israel will
not -eturn to Egypt, but that Assyria will be their
king.^ By the allusions to Egypt, therefore, the
carrying away into Assyria is simply represented
as a state of bondage and oppression similar to
Israel's residence in Egypt, or merely the threat-
sning of Deut. xxviii. 68, transferred to Ephraim."
They will eat (what is) defiled : partly because
Ihe legal prohibitions with relation to particular
kinds of food could be observed only with diffi-
culty in a foreign country, and especially because
with the cessation of the sacrificial rites in general,
the ofl^ering of the first-fruits must cease also, and
all food not sanctified by the oflfering of the first
fruits was unclean to Israel. This is completed
in ver. 4.
Ver. 4. ib ^2-1^;;. i^b] -. win not be well pleas-
ing to Him; therefore their sacrifices must be
taken as the subject in spite of the accents. The
meaning is : the sacrifices would not please Him,
and therefore none are brought. Israel could not
sacrifice to God in exile when He had withdrawn
from them his gracious presence. Like bread of
mourning to them (will be their food). Bread
that was partaken of where a dead body lay was
considered unclean, because the dead defiled for
seven days the house, and all that came in contact
with them ; therefore : aU who eat it will defile
themselves. Their bread will be Dtl7D37=for
the support of life, and therefore it must be eaten
by them, but it does not come into the house of
God to be consecrated.
Ver. 5. Festal days are no longer possible. To
attempt to distinguish between "^i^lQ and 2n
(the former = the three annual pilgrim feasts, the
latter = the other feasts, or, specially, the great
harvest-feast, that of Tabernacles), is arbitrary.
The expressions are probably synonymous. The
notion is only emphasized by the second expres-
sion. ll?la regards the feasts outwardly, as
gatherings ; 3n rather denoting the rejoicing, or
festal character of those occasions.
Ver. 6. They have gone away ; the prophet
sees them in the Spirit as already in banishment.
Iffijp, literally : out of desolation. On Egypt see
at ver. 3. [Keil : " Egypt is mentioned as the
place of banishment, in the same sense as in ver. 3.
There they will all find their graves. Pb or F]b,
as in Is. xix. 13; Jer. ii. 16; xliv. 1 ; Ezek. xxx.
13-16, probably contracted from '^Sp, answers
rather to the Coptic Membe, Memphe, than to the
old Egyptian, Men-nefr, i. e., mansio bona, the pro-
fane name of the city of Memphis, the ancient
capital of Lower Egypt, the ruins of which are to
be seen on the west bank of the Nile, to the south
of Old Cairo." Memphis was a celebrated bury-
ing-place of the Egyptians. The Anglo-American .
Commentators generally assume a literal allusion
to Egypt. — M.] D^ppb TCnn = the costli-
ness of their silver [see Gram, note], probably =
their houses filled and decked with silver, comp.
the parallel Dn^brtS. The growth of thorns
and thistles is an image of utter desolation (comp.
Is. xxxiv. 13).
CHAPTKR IX. 1-17.
77
Vers. 7, 8. The Prophet is foolish. This is in
lense dependent upon ^^f.^ False prophets are
meant, who flattered the people, promising them
only good. These will be shown to be fools. Even
the false prophet is a man of the spirit, but it is
an evil spirit that possesses him ("lp.B7 Hi"), 1
Kings xxii. 22). On account of the greatness
of thy guilt, this will happen, namely, that men-
tioned at the beginning of the verse. HDlCltp^,
ambush, enmity, namely, against God and his
prophets, as is explained in ver. 8. Keil : a searcher
is Ephraim with my God. Hp^ is used of the
" looking out " of the prophet while waiting for a
divine revelation. The meaning is : Israel searches
out divine revelations along with " my God," i. e.,
the God of the prophet. He trusts in his own
prophets, not in those inspired by Jehovah. Oth-
ers find in HS^ the notion of lying in wait. God
would then be the object of the lying in wait of
an enemy. He would be so in the person of the
prophets, for whom, according to the following
hemistich, snares were set {Ewald, Umbreit, Mei-
er). But the prep. D^ would not suit. The no-
tion: lying in wait for God, is also strange. In
the second hemistich S"'^^ could be the false
prophet. The snare of the fowler is upon all
his paths would -^ he brings the people to ruin by
all his actions. A snare is in the house of his
God, would then be = in the house of the god of
the false prophet. But it is better to understand
the verse of the enmity which the true prophet
must everywhere meet = As to the prophet, the
snare, etc. "In the house of his God = in the
temple.
Ver. 9. -"inptt? ^p'^JDy.rT., literally, they have
made deep, they have wrought corruption = they
have wrought deep corruption as in the days of
Gibeah, when the shameful deed was done (re-
corded in Judges xix. ff.) to the Levite's concu-
bine, which resulted in the almost complete exter-
mination of the Tribe of Benjamin. Such conduct
must be visited with punishment. Comp. viii. 13.
Ver. 10. Israel sinned grievously not only in
Gibeah but earlier also, when God yet took such
delight in him. His disposition now is shown to
be that which he ever had. So much the more
deserved is the punishment. Like grapes, etc.
= As men prize grapes, etc., so did I prize thee.
In the desert applies both to the grapes and to
the finding, since grapes can be found in the
desert, only when one is in the desert. An allu-
sion to Deut. xxxii. 10. In its beginning, that
is, when it begins to bear. Baal-Peor is here local,
according to Keil, since vM is wanting ; there-
fore : to the place of Baal-Peor ; elsewhere : to
the house of Baal-Peor. ^"1^3*^ the same word,
used designedly, as that employed to express con-
secration to Jehovah. They became Nazarites to
Baal-Peor, to shame. The worship of Baal-Peor
is alluded to. [See Num. xxv. 1-5.] The worship
of Baal was then Israel's crowning offense, and
the old Baal-Peor worship is now renewed.
Vers. II, 12. They shall increase no longer.
The unchaste worship of Baal may be referred to,
Ivhose natural punishment is the decrease of the
population.
Ver- 13. Difficult. Keil : Ephraim is the ob-
ject of ''O'''^"?! ""d precedes on account of the
emphasis laid upon it=Ihave selected Ephraim
for a Tyre = I would make it as glorious as Tyre.
[Comp. Gen. xxii. 8 for a similar use of i^'lj'^.
— M.] To describe its glory more particularly,
we have the addition : planted in a meadow, a
place favorable to growth. Wiinsche : Ephraim is
the subject to be connected with " planted " =
Ephraim is planted in a meadow. The interven-
ing clause he translates : like as I look upon Tyre ;
and the meaning is : Ephraim blooms like the
lordly Tyre, whei-ever men may look. But this is
clearly unnatural. The meaning would rather be :
Ephraim is as when I look upon Tyre, i. e., when
I look on Ephraim, it is as when I look on Tyre.
Others (Ewald) by changing the reading to
n^^l27: in shape, as to form, outward appear-
ance. Others take TlU in the sense of the Arabic :
a palm = Ephraim, as I beheld (it), is a palm.
[The opinion approved above is apparently that
entertained by the translators in E. v. It is that
approved by most expositors, and is the most ob-
vious sense suggested by the words. — M.]
Ver. 14. According to many expositors, this is
an intercession of the prophet ; May the Lord not
let the mothers bring forth, rather than that the
sons should be destined to death. But an interces-
sion would scarcely suit in such a severe announce-
ment of judgment. Therefore others consider it
a prayer that other punishment may be inflicted.
An important element in the punishment is the
unfruitfulness of marriages. The thought of ver.
II would then be essentially resumed.
Ver. 15. It cannot now be shown how all theii
evil was in Gilgal. Comp. for the rest, ch. iv. 15.
[Henderson ; " Gilgal, being one of the chief places
of idolatrous worship, the wickedness of the nation
might be said to be concentrated in it." This is the
usual explanation. — M.] From my house =
out of my congregation (viii. I).
Ver. 16. Tile prophet beholds the future as al-
ready present (comp. ver. 11) ; only that here th6
image of a tree which can no longer put forth its
shoots, is first employed. In the last member,
however : and even if they should bear, no fig-
ure is employed.
Ver. 17 completes the whole, by giving the
ground of the punishment, and stating that pun-
ishment clearly to be banishment among the na-
tions, when the people should be fugitives.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The judgment stands here altogether in the
foreground, and the punishment which the people
are to expect is that they will be carried away into
Assyria. That event is here indicated as " a re-
turn to Egypt," not literally, but rather symbol-
ically (ver. 3). The captivity is regarded not so
much as an outward fact, but according to its in-
ternal aspect, as the direct negation of that which
God had done to Israel in leading them out of
Egypt. Several features in the Exodus made it
of special significance to Israel. One was the
great and undeniable mercy of God. Viewing it
more closely, it was a merciful liberation of Israel
from bondage, from complete subjection to a for-
eign power. It was thus the condition and the
beginning of Israel's existence as an independent
nation. But not only so : God thus brought this
people under special obligations to Him. As Ha
78
HOSEA.
had owned them to be his so expressly and em-
phatically in Egypt, and separated them from
Egypt, they became by his leading them forth
justly and legitimately his inheritance. And al-
though this specific relation of Israel towards God
did not assume its normal form until the giving of
the Law, yet the leading of Israel out of Egypt
lay at the foundation of their exaltation to become
his people. Finally, it was the condition of, and
the first step towards, their introduction into that
conntrj' which God had promised to give to Israel
as his people, and had therefore a fundamental sig-
nificance in their history. Now the Assyrian Cap-
tivity is the direct contrast to this, and is therefore
represented as a " return to Egypt." It is as sig-
nal a display of God's displeasure and wrath as
the former was of his mercy. It is the loss of free-
dom, a reduction to a state of bondage, and a sur-
render to the power of a foreign enemy. Israel is
only free through his God, and remains so only so
long as he serves Him ; by apostasy from Him, he
therefore forfeited that freedom, and therefore at
last must lose it, and forego an independent exist-
ence. This surrender to the power of the heathen
stands further in the strongest contrast to Israel's
relation to God as his people. They are thus real-
ly dismissed from this position by God, and aban-
doned by Him as his people (comp. vers. 15, 17).
They are in fact made a " Not-My-People." Israel
ignored the Law given at Sinai, and Jehovah ig-
nores the deliverance from Egypt ; and, lastly, the
Assyrian Captivity is the loss of that country in
which Israel's position as God's people had its ma-
terial basis, as the deliverance from Egypt loolced
towards the possession of that country. Comp.
ver. 3. And as the Promised Land was essentially
one of divine blessing, the loss of this blessing is
naturally referred to with special emphasis. If Is-
rael has, like the heathen, ascribed such a blessing
to false gods, it cannot enjoy the land presented
to it as God's people, but as it became like the
heathen, it shall return again into their countries.
With the loss of the " Land of Jehovah," however,
is united, as a peculiarly distressing consequence,
the loss of the sacrilicial service, and of the sanc-
tification in life thereby conditioned. Israel is sent
away into the land of impurity. In this the Cap-
tivity is like a return to Egypt. Already in this
we hear the sigh of the banished after the Holy
Land. Those against whom the objurgatory dis-
course is primarily directed will, it is true, feel
least the impossibility of serving God. And yet
even they cannot deny their Israelitish character,
and least of all in a strange land. That which
they now do not wish to do, or to be able to do,
will hereafter be the occasion of their bitter sorrow
— and thus it ever is.
2. " All nations rejoice over and enjoy a rich har-
vest (comp. Is. ix. 2), because they see in the boun-
tiful harvest a sign and pledge of the divine favor,
demanding gratitude to the Giver. If now the
heathen ascribe these gifts to their gods and thank
them after their manner, they do this in the igno-
rance of their hearts, without being specially guilty
in so doing, because they live without the light of
divine revelation. If, on the contrary, Israel re-
joiced in the blessings of harvest like the heathen,
and ascribed tliera to Baal (ii. 7), God could not
leave unpunished this denial of his gracious ben-
efits " (Keil). It amounts to the same thing when
one generation ascribe^ such blessings partly to
their own labor and partly to " nature,' and ac-
tordingly its joy is purely " natural," altogether
levoid of gratitude to the great Giver, and man-
ifests itself necessarily in all kinds of self-indul-
gence.
3. When the judgment comes, the falseness of
the false prophets becomes manifest. By these are,
without doubt, to be understood those who, aping
the position of Prophets of Jehovah, came forward
as the pretended announcers of the divine will, and
as the advisers of the people, especially of the rul-
ers, but in their fiattery of the people would pro-
nounce good and justify everythmg, and therefore
predicted prosperity and deliverance (Ezek. xiii.
10), and never uttered a word of earnest rebuke.
They were trusted only too well. On the con-
trary, the true Prophets had to meet everywhere
snares and enmity. Men know too late who are
their true friends, and who their false.
4. The true prophet must, it is true, enter into
God's designs, not merely of mercy, but also of
righteous judgment ; must announce them, so far
as they have been revealed ; and he may even de-
sire their fulfillment, in order that a limit may be
set to sin, and God's glory be spread. Yet it must
be observed that when the prophets invoke judg
ment, they do not implore the destruction and death
of the individual sinner, but only the " political "
death, the destruction of a godless kingdom, be-
cause it had filled up the measure of its sins and
thus became amenable to judgment, concerning
which there could be no doubt in the prophet's
mind.
5. With respect to Israel's conduct towards God,
we are to observe the retrospect of former times
(vers. 9, 10, comp. x. 7 ; xi. I, 2). The sins of
the present are thus shorn of their individuality
and shown to form part of a whole complexity of
sin. These are only a mode of manifestation, a
new phase, of the same spirit, which was before,
and had been always, displayed. As with the dis-
plays of God's love to Israel, so with the sins of
Israel against God. Instead of an atomizing and
mechanical view of this subject, we have a dynamic
one, which alone is justifiable in the ethical sphere.
From this conception of the evil, according to
which its several manifestations of a constant fun-
damental tendency in the minds of a single nation,
no great step is needed to reach the assumption of
a constant disposition to evil in mankind gener-
ally, of hereditary sin, in which the individual with
his special oflenses only confirms and realizes the
sinful disposition of the race.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
WtiET. SuMM. ; Vers. 1, 2. Sincere Christians
should, in the blessings of God, so rejoice in the
Lord, as to acknowledge that all good is from
Him alone, to whom they must therefore give
thanks, and so use them as not abusing them, but
employ them to God's glory. Then will God the
Lord not cease to do them good.
Ver. 3. Starke : That is the Lord's land
where God is truly worshipped and honored.
Vers. 4, 5. Pfafp. Bibelwerk: When the
measure of iniquity is full, God at last takes away
the lamp of his Word from its place. Beware,
then, yon who have the truth, lest darkness fall
upon you.
[PusEY : It is in human nature to neglect to
serve God when He wills it, and then to neglect
to serve Him when He forbids it. The more
solemn the day and the more total man's exclu-
sion, the more manifest God's withdrawal. — M.]
[Ver. 6. Matt. Henbt : Those that think pro
CHAPTER X. 1-15.
79
Bumptuously to outrun God's judgments are likely
enough to meet their deaths when they had hoped
to save their lives. — M.]
Ver. 7. We usually discover too late who are
our true friends and who our false.
Pfafp. BIbelwerk : False prophets are a token
of God's wrath burning over a church or nation.
[PuSET : The man of the world and the Chris-
tian judge of the same things by clear contrary
rules, USD them for quite contrary ends. The slave
of pleasure counts him mad who foregoes it ; the
wealthy trader counts him mad who gives away
profusely. In these days profusion for the love
of Christ has been counted a ground for depriving
a man of his property. One or the other is mad,
and worldlings must count the Christian mad, or
they must own themselves to be so most fearfully
(Wisdom V. .3-6). The sinner first neglects God;
then, as the will of God is brought before him, he
willfully disobeys Him ; then, when he finds God's
will irreconcilably at variance with his own, or
when God chastens him, he hates Him, and hates
Him greatly. — M.]
Ver. 8. Let it not offend you, if, for the sake of
the truth, you must suffer persecution. "Even
so persecuted they the prophets who were before
you."
Ver. 12. When God is graciously disposed to-
wards us. He is our Light, our Way, our Life, our
Love, our Comfort, our Joy, our Shepherd, our
Physician, our Bridegroom, our Father, and our
Redeemer. If He departs from us, all this is
gone, like as when the sun sets and darkness cov-
ers all.
Spuk : When the divine wrath has begun to
burn, it rises, so to speak, by degrees. And God
commonly proceeds by beginning at what is most
external to us, whose loss we would not deeply
feel, but ever advances further towards that which
is dearer and of more moment, until at last He
strikes at our very selves. If God is not gracious
towards us, He is angry ; He can sustain no in-
termediate relation.
Ver. 15. God refuses at last to grant to unfaith-
ful children even the privileges of his house. He
at the same time disinherits them. When God
ceases to love us we are lost. Hence nothing is
more necessary than the prayer : Withdraw not
thy love from us. Nothing is more precious than
the power to say : I am persuaded that nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Ver. 16. Whole families, even whole nation!
die out through God's judgments !
C Devastation of the Seats of Worship. Destruction of the Kingdom.
Chaptbe X. 1-15.
1 Israel is a thriving vine ^
Which sends forth its fruit ;
As its fruit abounded,
It multiplied altars ;
According to the prosperity of the land,
The better they made their images.
2 Their heart is smooth : now will they make expiation :
He will cut down their altars, he will destroy their images
3 For now they will say :
We have no king,
Because we did not fear God,
And the king — what will he do for us.
4 They speak words,
Swearing ^ falsely and contracting alliances :
And justice grows like the poison-plant
In the furrows of the field.
5 For the calves ^ of Samaria,
The inhabitants of Samaria will tremble.
For its people mourn for it.
And its idol-priests wUl tremble for it,
For its glory, that it has departed from it.
6 Itself* will be carried to Assyria,
As a present to the warlike king :
Shame will take hold upon Ephraim,
And Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.
7 Samaria ' is destroyed,
Its king is like a chip on the surface of the water.
80 HOSEA.
8 The high places of Aven are devastated,
The sin of Israel,
Thorns and thistles will grow upon its altars,
Then they will say to the mountains : Cover us !
And to the hills : Fall upon us !
9 Since the days of G-ibeah, thou hast sinned, Israel !
There they stood :
The war against the sons of iniquity " did not reach them m Gibeah,, I
10 As I please, I wUl fetter them,'
And the nations will gather themselves against them,
When I bind them for their two offenses.
11 For Ephraim is a well-trained heifer,
Which loves * to thresh :
But I will pass over her fair neck :
I will yoke Ephraim,
Judah shall plough,
Jacob [Ephraim] shall harrow.
12 Sow for yourselves according to righteousness,
And reap for yourselves in the (like) measure of mercy I
Break for yourselves (new) soil !
For it is time to seek Jehovah,
Until he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 (Yet) ye have ploughed wickedness,
Ye have reaped iniquity,
Ye have eaten the fruit of lying :
Because thou didst trust in thy way,
In the multitude of thy heroes.
14 And the noise of war " has risen among your tribes,**
And all thy fortresses are destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle,
The mother is dashed upon her children.
15 Thus has Bethel" done to you,
For the evU of your evil [your great evU],
In the early morning [soon] the king of Israel shall be utterly destroyed.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — ^53 la always fem. except here and in 2 Kings iv. 39. It is masc. here as relating to Israel. "17 U
not strictly pleonastic here, it having the force of the poss. pronoun. : its fruit. — M.]
a Ver. 4. — n*l^H. though an inf. absol.. is here conformed to n"~l3 instead of Pl^W
t' t t
s Ver. 5. — Wunsche : ni^DV. The fem. is surprising, since the calves which were worshipped, really three-year-
old steers, appear elsewhere always masc. It cannot be deemed far-fetched to suggest that the fem. is employed some-
what contemptuously and s.arcastically."
4 Ver. 6. — *in'lS with the passive. According to Ewald, § 299 rf, the active sense pervades the passive throughout
in finch a case as this ; thus 72V here = one leads it. Eiirst is of a different opinion. According to him the prim-
ary notion of mS is beings essence, and it therefore serves to emphasize the subject. [The former is the prevailing
and preferable view. Comp. Green, Gr., § 271, 4 a. The opinion of Fiirst seems to have been based upon his theory
that there is an affinity between jHIW (iHS) and Ci?**^, and some other words of similar radicals and significations. —
M.]
fi Ver. 7- — n37^, "With a fem. suffix, because P'^Tp^, as being a city, is fem. On the other hand HTp^^ ^"
a masc. form because it stands at the beginning of the sentence. The construction here, according to the Masoretio
punc4:ation is either an asyndeton : Samaria and her king, or the latter is explanatory of the former ; Samaria, namely,
her king (= the whole kingdom). Wunsche adopts the probably preferable view that HD^'^ begins a new sentence.
[6 V«r. 9.— m7P transposed from n^TO. One edition (the Brisian) and many MSS. have the commoD torm
This would be the only case of the occurrence of the transposition. — M.]
» Tar. 10 — D^QKX 1 marks tie apodosis The verb ;» from "1DN [with daghesh compensatiTe. -M.].
CHAPTER X 1-15.
81
[B Ver. 11. — "'W^nW. The ^ Is paragogio, with the fcm. part. n3nK. — M.]
[9 Ver. 14. — DSpl. The S is either epenthetic, or it is merely a mater Uetimis, which is most prohable ; see
eteen, Br., § 11, 1. — M.]
[10 Ver. li.— A number of MSS. and early editions read rja^a instead of ^''SlUS. The ancient Versions ar«
claimed as having followed this reading also ; but it is more probable that they rendered'the plural as sing., the nouD
being a collective one. — M.]
10 Ver. 16. — Some suppose the 5 ^ have been omitted before bNTT'S, and the latter to be local.
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. Comp. Ps. Ixxx. 9-12. There Is also
an allusion to cli. ix. 10, and yet the image is quite
differently applied. Israel is represented here not
so much as beinjr jjleasant in itself and of worth
in the sight of Jehovah (and is therefore not com-
pared to fi-uit), but from the stand-point of its
fruitfulness, which, however, was of the wrong
kind. Hence even Its fruitfulness will be taken
away from it (ch. ix. 16). ~i7.'13i according to
Purst = blooming (LXX., Syr., Aquila), and
thereafter according to Keil : climbing, thriving,
after the primary idea of '\)p3. : to pour out, to
run itself out, here = climb upwards. [Fiirst com-
pares the Arab, laklca : to bloom. If this sense is
the correct one, this is the only case of the occur-
rence of this verb. — M.] The meaning : empty,
is unsuitable. ^Jt? • to place, set = prepares,
furnishes fi-uit for itself.
Ver. 2. Their heart is smooth. The expres-
sion is elsewhere employed of the tongue, lips,
words ^ deceitful, false, not sincere (devoted to
God). The explanation: divided, is false, for the
Kal means : to divide, transitire. ^T^P.^ is prop-
erly: to cut off the head by striking the neck.
[Henderson: "It is properly a sacrificial term.
It is here, with much force, used metonymically,
in application to the destraction of the altars on
which the animals themselves were offered." For
the force of ^SJtt'^^. see on ver. 15. — M.|
Ver. 3. They will then see that they have no
king any longer, because they forsake Jehovah, i.
t., none appointed by God, and none, therefore,
who can help them. ^?P? '■ to do = to profit.
Ver. 4 explains especially the smoothness of
the heart of ver. 2. They speak words, mere
words, without sincerity. The following infinitives
avouch the statement. The covenants are such as
want truth; they were concluded (with foreign
nations) only for the sake of an expected advan-
tage, not from real friendship. tii^^~), poison,
here = poison-plant. l3QK?p. Most take this =
judgment. A force far-reaching and seizing upon
everything, is supposed to be described. But the
divine judgment cannot be compared to a vile
plant outgrowing everything else. Hence we must
remain by the meaning : justice. The thought is
manifest: If justice prevailed, the land would be
like a well-appointed field, but it is now like one
that is neglected, and in which therefore poison
plants spring up, because justice was prostrated.
By a somewhat bold figure justice, when falsely
sdministered, when perverted and abused, is com-
pared to a poisonous plant. It has been changed
Into it, as it were. Comp. Amos vi. 12. [Hen-
derson adheres to the former explanation ; I'usey
approves the latter. It is also preferred by Cowles,
who illustrates it from Amos v. 7 ; vi. 12, and sup-
poses that Hosea adapted the image from its use
by his predecessor. — M.]
Ver. 5. The punishment can therefore not lin-
ger. Already the inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the golden calves. Keil : The plural iTiv?!?
stands here as indefinite and general, without our
being obliged to infer that several golden calves
had been set up in Bethel." A sing, at all events
immediately follows. Wiinsche: "TheProphe*
is thinking of all the calves in the northern king
dom which were imitations of tlie chief golder
idol erected at Bethel. By these imitations aL
Isi'ael had, in a certain manner, become a Beth
Aven." Beth-Aven. Seech, iv. 15. Its people,
— its priests. The sufBxes refer to the idol-god.
What a strong accusation ! The people are named
the people of the calf-god. •1^''3^ usually^ to
rejoice, but here (employed for the sake of the as-
surance with i^/t^ ~ ''T'> '° writhe in anguish,
to mourn, parallel to 73S. Gn its aooount, also
refers to the calf, and is more nearly explained by
the words, for its glory, i. e., the glory and the
divine nimbus which were associated with the calf-
worship. This glory will depart from the calf,
where it cannot give protection from the enemy,
and will itself be carried away.
Ver. 6. Itself also, namely, the golden calf. [See
Gram. note]. Its counsel, namely, that which it-
self gave to itself, namely, to apply "to Assyria. [On
the phrase: warlike king, see ch. v. 1.3. — M.]
Vers. 7, 8. The kingdom of Samaria falls along
with its gods. [See Gram, note.] The image of
a chip on the surface of the water denotes the
untraceable disappearance, and probably also the
violent destruction = as a chip upon the water is
driven on by the stream and so disappears. j"T1Z2|1
1?.*!? are literally : the heights of evil. But Aven,
in allusion to Beth-Aven = Bethel ; for its high
places were heights of evil, since the image-wor-
ship which rose in Bethel = Beth-Aven, was prac-
ticed there. The sin of Israel is in apposition
to the high-places, etc. Those high places were
the sin of Israel, because it was by means of them
that Israel sinned. Then they say to the motrn
tains, etc. This expresses the hopelessness of de-
spair. They would rather be buried by the moun-
tains, than undergo the afflictions of such a time.
Applied in Luke xxiii. 30 and Rev. vi. 16.
ver. 9. From the days of Gibeah. These
days, referred to already in ch. iv. 9 (see that pas-
sage), are regarded as the beginning of Israel's sin-
ning. Others take the words comparatively :
more than in the days of Gibeah. [So Cowles :
This opinion is not common. — M.] The follow-
ing words are difficult. Ewald : There they (the
Israelites) stood. Should not war against the
sons of impiety reach them in Gibeah ■? Keil :
There, that is, in the same sin, they stood, i. «.,
remained ; the war against the sons of iniquity
did not reach them in Gibeah, that is, the war
82
HOSEA.
once waged by the other tribes of Israel against
the tribe of Benjamin, on account of the infamous
deed of the men of Gibeah, did not reach the Ten
Tribes, i. e., they were destroyed by no such war
like others of the Israelites, though they did not
less deserve such a fate, therefore God will pun-
ish them now. But the translation is forced.
Wiinsche perhaps explains better, though much
might be said against his translation also : They
stood there — that war might not reach them in
Gibeah — beside the sons of iniquity. The pas-
sage accordingly says in what the sin of Israel in
the days of Gibeah had consisted, namely in this,
that they, the Benjamites, had stood by the Lev-
ites in Gibeah = the sons of iniquity against the
rest of the Israelites. Esth. ix. 16; viii. 11 are
cited in proof that TtyS with 737 has the sense
of standing by [assisting], [The translation as-
signed above to Keil, which is also that of E. V.,
is approved by Cowles. Instead of being "forced "
it is evidently the most simple and natural. Hen-
derson translates : shall not the war against the
unjust overtake them in Gibeah ? See Textual
note. — M.]
Ver. 1 0. "'HJ^*? • in my desire = when or as I
will. [Keil : " An anthropomorphic description
of the severity of the chastisement."] To take
part in the infliction of chastisement, nations
will be gathered against Israel. The reference is
to the war against the sons of iniquity (ver. 9).
[This reference is not clear unless the construction
of Ewald and Henderson given above be adopted.
— M.] The last hemistich is difficult. The
Kethibh is DHiD^'l?- According to Fiirst from
T^P in the sense of nothingness = ^''M, therefore
in the concrete : idol-image. Keri DnlSW =
sins. According to the first explanation, idol-im-
ages = calves. The latter is probably correct as
referred by Keil to the double sin of apostasy from
Jehovah and from the royal house of David. The
whole clause would therefore be: When I bind
them to their two transgressions (namely, by pun-
ishing them) so that they must drag them, so to
speak, as an oppressive burden. The sense may,
however, be simply : on account of their two
transgressions. The image of the heifer in the
next verse is anticipated here. [The explanation
last given is now usually followed and is the most
probable. Raschi and Ewald translate: before
their two eyes, i. e., openly. The rendering: fur-
rows, in E. V. follows the Targum and the ma-
jority of the Rabbins. — M.]
Ver. 11. nn'2^P, taught, trained for work,
Wiicli loves to tliresli : According to many eX'
positors this refers to the circumstance that thresh-
ing is the lighter work, in which, besides, the
heifer may eat at her pleasure, and hence is an
image of the pleasant and prosperous condition of
Israel. According to others the tert. coinp, is the
treading, and hence the victorious power and do-
minion of Israel, as under .Teroboam II. would be
represented with the accessory notion of a violent
Ireatment of those who had been subdued. But
now the situation of Israel would be different.
[This is the more common and certainly the pref-
erable explanation. So Henderson, Cowles, and
other English Expositors. — M.] I will pass
over her fair neek — in a hostile sense = I will
place a yoke upon her. H^lti : beauty, alluding
to her fatness. S''?"'^^ : I will cause to be driven
= I will yoke, namely, for ploughing and harrow-
ing. The compulsory endurance of severe toil
appears here in complete contrast to the preced,
ing situation. Jadah shall share the same fate.
This is mentioned only incidentally and in com-
parison vrith Ephraira ; but the similar lot of the
former is constantly alluded to, Jacob, here men-
tioned along with" Judah, probably = Ephraim.
ib shall harrow for himself, forcibly expressing
strongly that this toil is not spared him. [So
also Keil ; but this explanation seems unnatural.
Others, as Fausset, translate : break the clods be-
fore him ; but the preposition must be unduly
forced to make it convey such a sense. The best
way is to regard it as a pleonasm. Comp. Gen.
xii. 1 ; Job xv. 28 ; Sol. Song ii. 1 7, and many
other passages. — M.]
Vers. 12, 13. The image of ploughing and har-
rowing leads to that of sowing and reaping. But
the discourse turns from the threatening, which
holds out the prosj^ect of punishment, to an ex-
hortation to return (in order to escape punish-
ment), which is then (ver. 13) supported by an al-
lusion to the present conduct of the people (under
the same figure). According to righteousness.
The divine righteousness, by its being sown, i. e,,
by its operation, should be their determining
principle, be their norm and standard. "^QH is
then to be understood of the mercy of God. The
harvest will, if they sow thus, be determined by
the mercy of God (not merely by desert), shall be
bountiful and of good quality ; this mercy itself
shall be the harvest. Keil understands i^l^^^ **•
mean justice towards their fellow-men , "^PD of
(condescending) love (towards the despised), and
explains the clause thus : sow righteousness as the
seed ; the fruit will be love. But ~l?tj has too
clearly the signification " the divine reward of Is-
rael's religious and moral sowing " (WiinscheJ.
31 ^"T'3, to plough new soil. The words go back
now beyond the sowing. Israel does not merely
need to scatter the true seed ; it needs a new soil
'and must therefore begin anew. The explanation
of P7.? is again difficult. It could be taken in
the sense of salvation, blessing, so that the be-
stowal of salvation and blessings would bo the
consequence of seeking the Lord. In not a few
passages this signification is most appropriate, and
the usual meaning will not suit here. We expect
the mention not of a moral quality, but of its con-
sequences. Keil explains : " God rains righteous-
ness not merely in giving the power to gain it, as
He gives rain for the growth of the seed (comp.
Is. xliv. 3), but also because He himself must
create it and inform the soul with it by his Spirit "
(Ps. li. 12). This in itself is quite true, but is it
proper to speak of raining or pouring out righte-
ousness ■? This differs altogether from the expres-
sion : to pour out the Spirit. [This figurative ex-
pression would be quite characteristic of the style
of Hosea. It would be only another instance of
the boldness and freedom of his imagery. Tha
figure is double, including also a metonymy, in
which righteousness, the eflfect of the outpoi>ring
of the Spirit, is put for the cause itself. Many,
following the Syr., Targ., and Vulg., take n^V
= He will teach. — M.]
Ver. 13, as it now stands, says that iniquity
CHAPTER X. 1-15.
83
has been ploughed ; iniquity is the soil which they
cultivated, and the seed and the haiTest corre-
sponded to it. From wickedness there resulted
wickedness. One step further still than the har-
vest is taken in the following words : Ye have
eaten the Iruit of lying = the fruit which de-
ceives. The result of this conduct is nothing, no
proiit but disaster and ruin. The cause is still
more specially indicated ; in other words, the false
conduct of Israel is characterized : since thou
didst trust, etc., namely, instead of in Jehovah.
Ver. 14. Among thy peoples. People either
= military host, or as in the Pentateuch = tribe.
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. This fact
is not known from history, and the explanation is
therefore uncertain. According to the usual opin-
ion Shalman is a contraction for Shalmaneser, the
name of the Assyrian king who destroyed the
kingdom of the Ten Tribes ^ (2 Kings xvii. 6).
Fiirst understands an older Assyrian king before
Pnl, since the name Shalmaneser never appears
shortened to Shalman, and the Assyrians never
engaged in a destructive battle with Israel, and
Shalmaneser destroyed Samaria forty years later
(after Hosea). Beth-arbel, according to him, is
Beth-arbel near Gargamela, made famous later by
the victory of Alexander the Great. Keil sup-
poses that the Prophet, since the conquest of such
a distant city would scarcely have been known to
the Israelites, could not have held up the destruc-
tion of this city before them as an example, and
would therefore understand the Arbela in Upper
Galilee, between Saphoris and Tiberias, mentioned
in 1 Mace. ix. 2, and later by Josephus.
Ver. 15. The subject of T^'WV is either Shal-
man {if= Shalmaneser) or Jehovah, of whom the
Assyrian ting is the instrument, or (as the Tar-
gum and also Keil) Bethel, because that city pre-
pared the way for the ruin which befell Israel.
Evil of your evil = the most extreme evil (corap.
Ewald, § 313 c). "'HlSa : in the early morning,
probably = early, not : at the time when prosperity
shall seem to be dawning or near (Keil). There is
not the remotest hint of this in the context. The
king of Israel, naturally collective = the kingdom
of Israel.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. "In the midst of the calf-worship established
by Jeroboam, the Israelites still would keep before
them the God of Israel ; but this resulted in a di-
vided heart, a halting between two opinions (ver.
2). And when their prosperity became under-
mined by God's judgments, the smiting of a guilty
conscience told them of their sin ; but that was not
a repentance unto life. The improvement of cir-
cumstances which the Israelites sought in the
schism of Jeroboam cost them dear. Por, since
he led them away from the fear of God, the hel p
which was to have been expected from his govern-
ment was already undermined. The sinner awak-
ened by chastisement discovers this deception of
sin much more readily than he discovers his obli-
gation to return to God with a contrite heart"
(Eieger).
2. One chief element in God's judgment upon
Israel was the destruction of the seats of worship
\comp. ch. viii.), and hers, more particularly, the
1 [The Assyrian monuments show that it was Sargon,
the son of Shalmaneser, who destroyed Samaria. The pas-
carrying away of the idol-gods by the enemy (vers
5, 6). Both the nothingness of idolatry and the
great guilt of Israel are here unmistakably exhib-
ited. With this are connected the destruction of
the kingdom (vers. 7, 15) and the conquest of the
country. Freedom is lost ; instead of it comes
slavery (ver. 11). The anguish of the judgment
is most forcibly depicted (ver. 8) in expressions
which, in Luke xxiu. 30, are employed to set forth
the distress occasioned by the destruction of Jeru-
salem, but, in Rev. vi. 16, to describe the terror of
" the great day of the Lord.'' Thus the description
of the judgment announced by Hosea is of such a
character as to be a type of the final judgment,
even though Hosea himself does not designate it
" the day of the Lord." The distress of a late
repentance is expressed in ver. 3. It is a part of
the judgment, since it consists in vain self-re-
proaches, all too late. In our chapter again tlie
necessary connection between the judgment and sin
is emphasized by the image of the sowing and the
reaping : from an evil sowing nothing can come but
an evil harvest. The expected reward must only
be a manifest deception : " the fruit of lying."
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. This was the result of God's mercy.
God makes the vine and also gives the growth and
the precious fruit. And as long as God's favor
lasts, so long are men like such a plant. A beau-
tiful image of a life blessed by God, and as true of
nations as of individuals. But it is a deplorable
thing that man usually cannot bear his prosperity,
and that, instead of being led by God's goodness
to repentance and nearer to God, he rather forgets
Him (see at ch. ii. 9). The fruits are not given
back to God. Thus is God often defrauded of the
fruits which men owe to Him ; and " idols," th»
world, and the flesh, enjoy what are his.
[Matthew Henbt : What we do not rightly
employ we may justly expect to be emptied of. It
is a great affront to God and a great abuse of his
goodness, when, the more mercies we receive from
Him, the more sins we commit against Him. — M.]
Ver. 2. The state of the heart is the source of
the evil. As long as this does not belong to Him,
so long will men rob Him of his own. God will
have the heart as his alone, and suffers none to
share that possession.
Vers. 5, 6. [Pdset : Without the grace of God
men mourn, not their sins, but their idols.
Fausset : Separated from God all human
power is weakness, and all apparent stability fluc-
tuating and perishing as the foam. The fear of
God is the only true basis of solidity and perma-
nence. — M.]
Ver. 8. A fearful expression of the despair
with which impiety shall at last end ; a type cf
the anguish of the lost at the last judgment.
[FAnsSET : Surely it is infinitely better to pray
to Jesus now to "cover " our transgressions with
the blood of his atonement, than through neglect
of this to have to cry to the mountains at last,
" Fall on us and cover us." Our prayer to Jesus,
if offered in faith now, shall surely be heard ; but
prayer to the mountains then shall be in vain. —
M.]
Ver. 11. BERLENBtTROEK BiBLE : The pride
which exalts itself and does not fear before Him
sage cited above simply speaks of " the king of Asiyri»." —
M.]
84 HOSEA.
who is the God of the whole earth, must be abased.
0, that Ephraim would submit himself and his
neck to the yoke of the gentle and humble Lamb !
Ver. 12. Beklenburgek Bible : When a man
redeems uncultivated soil he restores it to the one
to whom it rightly belongs. For he is the only
one who can redeem it. We have received from
God his soil, and as we have no strength to make
it profitable, it remains untilled. But as soon as
God sees that we would break up this uncultivated
ground, and we, feeling our inability, seek help in
Him, He ploughs it Himself with the ploughshare
of the cross. Then He sows righteousness in it,
and makes it fruitful in itself, that it may bear
much fruit in Christ.
[Matthew Henky : Let them break up the
fallow ground ; let them cleanse their hearts from
all corrupt aflfections and lusts which are as weeds
and thorns, and let them be humbled for their sins,
and be of a broken and contrite spirit in the sense
of them ; let them be full of sorrow and shama
at the remembrance of them, and prepare to re-
ceive the divine precepts, as the ground that is
ploughed is to receive the seed that it may taka
root. See Jer. iv. 3.
Fausset : Grace used well is rewarded gratui-
tously with more grace. — M.]
Ver. 13. The fruit of sin is ever the " fruit of
lies." For sin always deceives those who serve it
Going in our own ways and trusting to human
power is shown especially to be deceptive.
[Fausset ; Only when we mistrust ourselves
and trust in the Lord and his righteousness alone,
are we safe, justified, and blessed. — M.]
III. MEECY.
Chapter XL
God cannot utterly destroy Israel, whom He has always loved, though they have so basely
requited Him, but will again show Mercy unto them.
Chaptek XI. 1-11.
1 When Israel was a youth, then I loved Him,
And out of Egypt I called my son.
2 They [the Prophets] called them ; so (often) they turned away from them ;
They sacrificed to the Baals,
They burnt incense to the idol-gods.
3 And I led Ephraim along,^ —
He took them " upon his arm ; —
Yet they knew not that I healed them.
4 With the bands of a man I drew them,
With cords of love ;
And I was towards them,
As those that would raise the yoke-strap over their jaws,
And I reached out to them to eat.°
5 They will not return to the land of Egypt,
But Assyria,^ it is their king,
For they refused to return.
6 And the sword goes its rounds in their cities,
And destroys their bars [defenses],
And devours them for their devices.
7 And my people incline to fall away from me ; '
They [the Prophets] call them (to look) upwards,
All together they refuse to raise themselves.
8 How should I give thee up, Ephraim ?
How should I surrender thee, Israel ?
How should I make thee like Admah,
Set thee like Zeboim ?
My heart is turned within me ;
My repentings are kindled together.
i I will not execute the fierceness of my anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim :
For I am God and not man ;
CHAPTER XI. 1-11.
85
In the midst of thee is a Holy Oae,
And I will not come in wrath.
10 They will follow the Lord :
Like a lion He will roar ;
, Yea He will roar, and children from the sea will come trembling [hasten] ;
11 Will hasten like a bird from Egypt,
And like a dove from Assyria :
Then wUl I make them dwell in their houses, saith Jehovah.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 3. — ""n b3~iri, from 7''2"nri = b'^SIH, Hiphil from 73T : to make to walk, to lead, constraecl with 7,
[Comp. Jer. xii. 5 ; xxu. 15, and see Ewald, § 122 a, Greeu, § 91 a. The corresponding Syriac {shargel) means ; to miB'
lead.— M.]
2 Ver. 3. — nnp instead of Dnpb.
T 't t 't :
8 Ver. 4. — tOWl, usually regarded as first fat. Hiphil, from nt23, instead of tDMI =» and I inclined myself. Otbera
take it to be an adverb ; softly, gently. V^H would then be beat connected with it : and gently towards them, I gart
them food. b^aiH for b''3SS.
4 Ver. 5. — "l^t^WI is adversative. M*in emphasizes Assyria in contrast to Egypt.
6 Ver. 7. — "^nn-lCi?^, The suffix is here used in a subjective sense = apostasy from me.
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. Jehovah calls to mind the love which
He had displayed to Israel ages before. Bui it was
rewarded with unfaithfulness, and they must be
the more severely punished. See Ex. iv. 22 f. Is-
rael was Jehovah's first-born son, because they were
chosen as the people of his inheritance. Hence the
love of God, which redeemed them from Egypt,
iu order to give to their fathers the Land of Prom-
ise. On the citation of this passage in Matt. ii.
15 f., see the Doctrinal Section.
Ver. 2. They called, namely, the prophets.
As the prophets called, so (15) they refused to
listen — turned away from their (the prophets')
faces. Q^7??> seech, ii. 15. [Henderson: "The
use of the verb : to call, iu the preceding verse,
suggested the idea of the subsequent messages
which had been delivered to the Israelites by the
prophets, to which Hosea now appeals, in order to
conti-ast with the means which had been employed
for their reformation, the obstinate character of
their rebellion." — M.]
Ver. 3. A further description of the love of
God displayed towards Israel, chiefly ia the march
through the wilderness. He took them upon his
arms. The sudden transition to the third person
is to be explained from the fact that it is the
prophet that is speaking in the name of Jehovah,
and that this can therefore easily pass over into a
discourse by Jehovah. Comp. Deut. i. 31 ; Ex. xv.
26, for the same thoughts.
Ver. 4. AVlth bands of a man = such as those
with which men, especially children, would be led,
opposed to ropes, with which beasts are tied,=
cords of love in the next hemistich. " This image
leads on to the similar one of the yoke laid upon
cattle to yoke them in for work." In this image
gentle treatment is implied ; for comparison is made
ivith one who takes the yoke, or rather the strap
with which it is secured, and which passes through
the mouth, and draws it back over the jaws so that
the animal may eat conveniently. Jehovah in his
conduct towards Israel is like such a gentle master.
Literally : I was to them as those who raise the
yoke over their jaws. But the opinion of Keil is
far-fetched, who thinks that there is a definite al-
lusion to the commands laid upon the people,
which God had made light for them, partly by
many displays of his mercy, and partly by the
means of grace in their religion. The tert. comp.
is simply the gentleness, the kind consideration
shown to them in his dealings towards them.
[Though, of course, this general reference includes,
with other manifestations of kindness, the special
application made by Keil. For the construction
and rendering of the last clause, see the Gram-
matical Note. — M.]
Ver. 5. They shall not return to the land of
Egypt. An apparent contradiction of ch. viii. 13 ;
ix. 3. But, as may be seen there, Egypt is in those
passages only a type of the land of bondage. But
here Egypt is employed in the literal sense, just as
in ver. 1, to which our verse alludes. " The people
of Jehovah shall not return to the land from which
He called them, in order that it may not seem as
though the design of the exodus and the march
through the desert were frustrated through their
impenitence. But they shall enter into another
bondage." To return, namely, to Jehovah.
Ver. 6. n vni., from v^PI, to describe a circle,
to move in a circle, as it were, to make the rounds ;
spoken of a sword = to rage. Their bars, the
bars of the strong cities = their gates. These will
be destroyed, and the cities be captured, and laid
waste. [Others, as Gesenius and Cowles, take the
word in a metaphorical sense, which is frequen t :
rulers, defenders. But the former is preferable, as
being more directly connected with the strong cities.
E. V. adopts the first derived sense of the word :
branches. Calvin, following the same view, inlter-
preted branches as = villages, the branches of the
cities. In this he is followed by Fausset. — M.]
Ver. 7 returns again to the sin of the people.
NvW is here used intransitively : hang over, to
incline. b^'bS : above (comp. vii. 16). They
(the prophets) call them. DZ31~1^ here probably
intransitive (the strengthened Kal) = raise them-
selves, strive to rise. [The passage may be thus
86
HO SEA.
paraphrased : " My people are bent on turning
away from me. Though the prophets call upon them
to look above (to the Most High), yet with one
accord they refuse to raise themselves up." — M.]
Ver. 8. Still Jehovah cannot utterly blot out
his people. The love with which He has loved
them still endures and breaks forth strongly. How
could I give thee up, etc. This is still at first a
continuation of the threatening. Chastisement
even to utter destruction, is justified = how I
should, how just it would be to give thee up ! But
with this expression thus justifying the punish-
ment, the threatening is exhausted and satisfied.
It is just the contemplation of the great measure
of the suffering which would really be deserved
which leads to the feeling that such punishment,
however justifiable, cannot be executed, and that
it shall be restrained = I should do this, but how
terrible it would be ! no, it cannot be. Thus the
threatening having reached its climax, brings it-
self to its end. Others translate : how should 11
= how should it be possible, that, etc. 1=1 can-
not do so. But then there is no transition from
ver. 7 to ver. 8. [This, the most common view,
is certainly correct. There is no need of any
intermediate words between the threatening and
the relenting. The true theory with regard to
the relation between God and the people is this,
that God must be considered as all the time melt-
ing with love towards the people whom He must
reject. Hence the frequent and seemingly unpre-
pared words of promise in the book, suddenly ap-
pearing after long denunciations. No transition
IS needed. It is supplied by that constant yearn-
ing love of which wrath and mercy are the nega-
tive and the positive poles. The other view has to
encounter the very difSculty which it seeks to
obviate. For the transition would only be more
abrupt from the justification of extreme punish-
ment to its abandonment ; and the difficulty is
greater, because such transition would occur in
the middle of a verse, and not with the beginning
of a new one. — M.] Like Admah, — like Ze-
boim : comp. Dent. xxix. 22, where these two cities
are expressly mentioned, as having been destroyed
together with Sodom and Gomorrah, which in
Gen. xix. 24 stand alone. My heart is changed
within me — so that wrath has disappeared. [For
a like use of the preposition /?, comp. Jer. viii.
18 ; Ps. xlii. 6, 12 ; xliii. 5. — M.]
Ver. 9. I will not return to destroy Ephraim.
" After my heart has been once changed with the
resolve not to punish, I will not change it again.'*
This is supported by the consideration that God is
God and not a changeable man. 1^3?5 • ^""^
is here probably = glow, heat of wrath. [E. V.
has: into the city, which would have been ^^^72,
and which gives no pertinent sense. This render-
ing is now almost universally abandoned, but it is,
strange to say, approved by Pusey and Fausset,
the latter of whom speaks of the other translation
as held " needlessly." — M.]
Ver. 10. The consequence of the Lord's com-
passion ; He will call, and the people, following
Him, will return home from banishment. They
(hall go after the Lord. This probably involves
both the changed, converted heart, and the walking
in God's ways thence resulting. 'Wm roar like
a Uon. The point of comparison is not the terri-
fying influence of the sound, but its extent. It
reaches far and near. Thus must the cry be when
it calls the people to their restoration. Or is it
implied that these displays of mercy towards Israel
are coupled with judgments upon the heathen ?
Hosea does not allude to this elsewhere. Trem-
bling will be a consequence of this call, but it im-
plies chiefly haste united with anxiety not to neg-
lect the summons, and therefore the eagerness
of obedience. Hence also the comparison with
birds.
Ver. 1 1 . From the sea = from the west, as
well as from Egypt and Assyria. The notion is :
from all quarters of the earth (comp. Is. xi. 11).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1 . Israel became "God's son," by virtue of their
being chosen as God's peculiar people, according
to Ex. iv. 22 f. The bestowal of this privilege,
confirmed by the deliverance from Egypt, and
sealed by the ratification at Sinai, forms the first
step in God's redemptive work, wliicli is completed
by the incarnation of his Son for the redemption
of the world. The whole development and lead-
ing of Israel as God's people terminate upon
Christ not as though Israel were begotten as the
Son of God, but in such a way as that the relation
which the Lord of Heaven and earth established
and preserved between Himself and this people
prepared and foreshadowed the union of God and
Man, and laid the way for the Incarnation of his
Son by training this people as a vessel of the Di-
vine mercy. All the important events in Israel's
history bore upon this, and thereby became types
and actual prophecies of the life of Him, in whom
the reconciliation of God and man should be ef-
fected, and the union of God with the human race
unfold itself as a Personal Unity. In this sense is
the second half of ver. 1 quoted in Matt. ii. 15, as
a prophecy of Christ (Keil). But here we must
stop. The further ]-emark of Keil, in justification
of the reference of this passage to Christ, goes too
far and is not direct, when he says that it was made
" because the residence in Egypt and the leading
out from it had the same significance in the un-
folding of Christ's life, as they had for the people
of Israel. As Israel in Egypt, free from contact
with the Canaanites, grew into a nation, so was
the child Jesus concealed in Egypt from the en-
mity of Herod."
2. There is here presented to Israel in an aifect-
ing manner the love with which God had assumed
the care of them in their beginnings, " when they
were still young," and made them what they were.
And such love is represented as being so tender,
all-considerate, helpful, and advancing, that it finds
its image only in the love of a father or mother to
a child. Jehovah called Israel his son in their
early days, when He brought them out of Egypt.
Ex. iv. 22 f. He had always acted towards them
as became that relation, and displayed to them the
love of a father toward his child, even his young-
est child. As Jehovah's love and faithfulness to
Israel in the years of their manhood finds its fit-
ting symbol only in the love and faithfulness of a
husband, so his love and care of Israel in their
childhood is compared with the solicitous, tender
love of a father. So much the more inexcusable
then is the conduct of Israel towards God, the op-
position which they displayed towards Him from
the beginning. This base ingratitude character-
ized them continually, and does also in the present.
Their present conduct is only the direct continua-
tion of the former. Observe the description of
such conduct of Israel toward their God in ver. 2 ;
CHAPTER XI. 1-11.
b7
idolatry before the very eyes of the God who had
displayed such love to them ; ver. 7 : failure to rec-
ognize God's purposes of salvation ; see also vers.
7, 9. A special proof of Jehovah's love was the
Bending of the prophets ; they call the people up-
wards = that they should return to God, but they
will not raise themselves; they remain below,
averse from God.
3. No wonder, therefore, if a people, who reward
so basely and mistake the love of God, are visited
by Him with the severest judgments (comp. vers.
6, 8). But retributive and punitive justice finds
in our Prophet, as we may satisfy ourselves in
eveiy chapter, where accusation and threatening
are pealed forth incessantly, such appalling e.xpres-
sion, that we can no longer decline the question :
" Are not these things spoken revengefully 1 is it
not a spirit of vindictiveness that has inspired
such words 1 " It cannot be claimed that human
revenge bears any part here, for it is not the offer-
ing of personal injuries of which the prophet an-
nounces the punishment, but he is indignant in
God's behalf, over Israel's sins against God, and
announces their punishment. In this, moreover,
it is to be borne in mind that the prophet was never
a mere passife organ (as the mechanical inspira-
tion theory would have it) of the prophetic utter-
ances, that his own faculties certainly were not at
the time overborne, but were elevated, and that
these announcements of judgment in the midst of
a ruined generation are to be regarded as energic
expressions of the life of faith, faith in the Holy
One of Israel. On the other hand, the subjec-
tivity of the prophet is not to be unduly empha-
sized, as though his purely human feelings and
emotions were really the source of these threaten-
ings. We must hold to the truth that the prophets
were heralds of that which was revealed to them by
the Spirit of God (comp. ch. vi. 5), and that their
separate efficiency was exerted only by completely
entering by faith into this divine revelation, in their
affirmation of it through faith. But the question
then assumes this form : Though the Prophet
himself does not merit the reproach of a selfish
spirit, should not this reproach so much the rather
fall upon God Himself, whose (conscious) organ
the prophet was t But it is evident that the retri-
bution announced is to be sent in a spirit of strict
justice ; it is to be a punishment of sin justly de-
served. The punishment is closely related to the
sins rebuked, and in close connection with them ;
it is punishment and not vengeance, which usu-
ally exceeds the measure of desert. But certainly
we are not merely to trace back these threatenings
to a dead law of just recompense; the punishment
is not merely in accordance with the moral order
of the world, according to which sin is followed by
its own punishment. It is a personal action, as
certainly as the infliction and the threatenings pro-
ceed from a personal God. And thus the course of
action is not and cannot be unaccompanied by per-
sonal " jrddos" or feeling. But this feeling is the
emotion of love, love grieved, vilely disowned and re-
jected. It is true that it must be angry, that it can-
not be content without being reciprocated, but must
be most intimately stirred up, and the greater, the
more deeply seated it is, the more it seeks the good
of its object, the more conscious it is that it has
neglected nothing, and has been to blame in noth-
ing. For this very reason the punishment assumes
the appearance of revenge, and even wears its gar-
ments, while in truth it is only sin that is meeting
with its deserved punishment according to an inner
ttecessity, and not as the consequence of arbitrary
passion. And as this love of God is unselfish and
pure and seeks only the good of its object, so this
" revenge " of God bears, so to speak, its correc-
tive, that is, its aim in itself. The threatening
has, then, a fearfully wide range, and is uttered
with a violence which has something painful in it,
since the Holy God, free, on his part, from all
blame and neglect, appears against the sinner,
upon whom alone the responsibility lies. But He
does not simply display his anger ; He does not
cease to love. His wrath does not find its satisfac-
tion in itself by the punishment or destruction of
the unfaithful loved one. Actual destruction,
which vengeance would demand, is never under-
taken. In the background of the threatenings
stands the full and fiowing stream of love in assur-
ances of mercy and compassion, which, though
made in expectation that the people will return,
are yet made before such return takes place, and
for the purpose of promoting that end. How little
the Law, though proceeding from God's well-inten-
tioned love towards Israel, realized its aim, is man-
ifest ; Israel had completely broken the covenant
founded upon it, and instead of showing them-
selves to be worthy of the promises attached to it,
only rendered themselves amenable to the curse,
which they must bear unto the uttermost. Thus
love appears in the form of free grace, compassion-
ating the unworthy and coming forth to meet
them, so leading to the stand-point of the New
Covenant. Hence all these promises, rising up be-
hind the severe threatenings of judgment, are
rightly to be regarded as Messianic, even though
they are not outwardly marked as such. That an
actual annihilation of Israel is not intended, but
that the prediction of punishment — thus reveal-
ing its origin in pure love which thinks of its ob-
ject alone, and thus being distinguished from all
self-avenging — halts before the last step is reached,
has notably been clearly expressed already by the
Prophet in his reference to the " remnant " that is
still left. It finds in our chapter also its clear expres-
sion in ver. 8. Jehovah could and should give up
Israel like Admah and Zeboim (not merely destroy
the kingdom, deliver it over to Assyria), but He
will not do BO ; and just when the threatening
reaches its height, the assurance of fullest mercy
breaks forth, and is expressed beautifully in vers.
8-n . If God's love in the beginning of his inter-
est in Israel was something great and exalted (vers.
1-4), it is something greater now, as being in the
form of compassion (vers. 9, 10), in which He
refuses to give up his people, all unworthy as they
had become of the love He had shown them (comp.
ver. U). A return to Jehovah is then announced
as the fruit of this compassion, and the removal of
the state of subjection to punishment by a restora-
tion to the inheritance they had trifled away is
promised as its manifestation. No further descrip-
tion of the future deliverance is as yet given.
4. As to the fulfillment of this promise, see the
remarks on chs. i. and ii. It may sufiSce to repeat
here that we are not to hold to any fulfillment
which would contradict the actual course of God's
revelation. Hence we must not think of a future
return of the external Israel into their own land
from Assyria, if it were only from the considera-
tion that Assyria exists no longer, and Israel is no
longer in bondage to such a nation, and we cannot
take the one (Israel, the Holy Land, the return)
as literal, and the other (Assyria, captivity) as fig.
urative. We must rather say, from the stand -point
of the fulfillment of the Old Testament, i. e., from
the stand-point of the New Testament, and in ac-
88
HO SEA.
cordance with the actual course of events : the
compassionate mercy of God towards his faithless
people, which the Prophet sees win the victory over
wrath, has heen revealed in Christ — but still as
being far greater than he sees it ; what is clear to
him is only the uicia of that which in Christ has
actually occurred, and what is still going on, in
the forgiveness of sin and deliverance from its
curse through free grace. The Prophet hopes for
this in behalf of his people Israel, but only because
they are God's people. I3ut it will be true of all who
shall become God s people too, even though they
be not of Israel ; they will experience this compas-
sionate favor of God, which is essentially identical
with the love, in which God has chosen to Him-
self a people (from the nations), and completes it
so that it realizes its purpose in spite of the breach
of the covenant on the part of men, manifested in
opposition to the Law and apostasy from God.
The voice of mercy, which shall resound so pow-
erfully, and towards which those hasten who stand
under God's judgment, has reached far and wide
through the Gospel, and will again be sounded
forth, when Christ shall gather his own from all
ends of the earth, and portion out to them the
everlasting inheritance which they had forfeited
by sin.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. Thou also hast experienced such love
of God from thy childhood's years, in temporal
and yet more in spiritual things. This love of God
is an incontestable truth. It is as important as it
is necessary to be reminded of it continually.
RiEGER : God delights to trace back in his
Word and in m.an's conscience everything to its
first beginning.
[Fausset : God, by sending the Spirit of his
Son into the hearts of his people (Gal. iv. 6) as
the spirit of adoption, calls them his, while they
are still in the Egypt of this world. Indeed He
separates them to Himself from the womb, and
calls them by his grace, as He did Paul ( Gal. i. 1 5.
— M.]
Ver. 2. RiEGER : God is ever calling men back
to their first love : but one goes to his farm, an-
other to his merchandise, and most to their world-
ly idols.
Ver. 3. God's condescension to all our needs
He knows our weakness and treats us accordingly.
We must be led along and taken by the arm ;
else we do not advance, but stumble and fall every
moment.
Ver. 4. Starke : God throws over us tha
cords of love even to-day, when He calls us through
the preaching of his Word, gives us his sacra-
ments, promises and supplies us with every good
thing, and visits us with precious afflictions : so we
would pray that God would draw us further still
after Himself.
RiEGEE : God directs us according to our weak-
ness and the riches of his love. And when He
must press us with a yoke. He gives us something
with it that helps us to bear it, and leaves us at
least food and clothing. And He would warn us
against falling back in our pride upon our own
help, and neglecting to wait for his counsel. But as
Israel was always inclined to turn again to Egypt,
and would seek help there against God's judg-
ments, so does self-sufficient man always act, re-
sorting to everything rather than submit to the
counsel of God.
[Fausset : The Son of God becomes man, in
order to draw men as such by the #ords of sym-
pathy, as partaking of a common nature with us.
His bands of love sit so lightly on those who wear
them that they are no hindrance to us in enjoying
all that is really good for us, and which God has so
richly laid before us. — M.]
Ver. 7. We are called upwards continually:
and yet we will not go ! All calling upward is
then in vain ! Our flesh draws us downwards like
a weight of lead, and neutralizes the drawings of
the Spirit upwards.
Vers. 8, 9. Starke : God is disposed, when
angry, quite differently from men. Men are intent
upon vengeance, but God upon reconciliation.
RiEGER : The thought that we have to do with
God and not with man, makes it often difficult to
our terrified conscience, to seek and believe in the
forgiveness of sins. But this is merely a motive to
the divine magnanimity to bestow richer favors
upon us.
[Matthew Henkt : Those who submit to tha
influence may take the comfort of God's hoU'
ness.]
B. SECOND DISCOURSE.
Chapters XH.-XIV.
I. Accusation.
Chapter XII.
1 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit ;
And Judah still yacillates with God,
"With the faithful holy One.*
2 Ephraim feeds upon the wind and pursues the east wind ;
Every day it increases violence and lying,
And they make a covenant with Assyria,
And oil [as a gift] is carried to Egypt.
CHAPTER Xn. 1-15. 89
3 Jehovah has a contest with Judah
And (He has) to punish Jacob according to his ways,
According to his works he will reward him.
4 In the womb he seized his brother by the heel,
And in his (manly) vigor he strove with God.
5 He wrestled against the angel and prevailed,
He wept and made supplication unto Him :
He found him in Bethel and then He spoke with us.'
6 And Jehovah, God of Hosts,
Jehovah is his memorial (name).
7 And thou, turn thou unto thy God,
Observe mercy and justice.
And wait upon thy God continually 1
8 Canaan — in his hand (are) the balances of deceit :
He loveth to oppress.
9 And Ephraim says : surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself.
All my gains shall not discover transgression " in me,
Which (would be) sin.
10 Yet I, Jehovah, am thy God,
From the land of Egypt,
Still I make thee dwell in tents.
As in the day of the Feast (of Tabernacles).
11 And I spoke to the prophets.
And multiplied visions,
And through the prophets gave similitudes.
12 Is not Gilead iniquity ?
Surely they have become wickedness.
In Gilgal they sacrifice buUs,
Their sacrifices also are like heaps ^
On the furrows of the field.
13 And Jacob fled to the fields of Aram,
And Israel served for a wife, and for a wife kept (sheep).
14 And Jehovah led Israel from Egypt by a prophet,
And by a prophet was it guarded.
15 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger ; *
He [God] vfUl^ leave his blood upon him,
And will return to him his disgrace.
TEXTUAL AND GBAMMATICAL.
1 7er. 1. — D*^t27i"in: it* an intensive piural [plural of majesty], like D^nvW, and therefore coupled with a giDg.
l4jectiTe [comp. Pa. Til. '10].
p Ver. 6. — !l3Sy. Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus, Syr. et al. render : with llim, as if they had read "IZSJ?.
But there is no variety of reading in the MSS. For the propriety of the reading in the Text., comp. the Exegetical B»
marks. — M.]
8 Ter. 9. — VW is perliaps employed as a word-play upon the preceding ^IS.
4 Ver. 12. — D'' VS, • word-play with bsbs.
t Ver. IB. — D^impPI is here used as an adverb. [Comp. Qreen, § 274, 2 «.
[« Ver. 15. — V2"lS. is the subject of DtSHswell as of 2""2ri. — M.]
EXEQETICAL AND CMTICAL.
Ver. 1. Epkraim has surrounded me with
lying. Israel's conduct towards Jehovah was ly-
ing and deceit. He reckoned upon attachment
tnd fidelity, and might well do so, as being their
rightful Lord. But instead of this they turn
away from Him and to idols, and seek help in the
heathen, and not in God. They surrounded Him :
It was no isolated act ; it was the general prac-
tice; He was treated so by all Israel. T!J. Tha
meaning is uncertain. The word occurs only be-
90
HO SEA.
sides in Gen. xxvii. 40; Ps. Iv. 3; Jer. ii. 31.
Probably = rove about, vacillate, therefore : and
Judah. vacillates still with God = does not re-
main faithful to Him. Others see here rather a
commendation of Judah, and take ^^~l = mi,
to tread down, subdue : prevails still with God.
Liiwe accordingly explains the last hemistich dif-
ferently from the usual method. He joins \'^)$?.
also to ^^!l^^, and translates : faithful towards
the Holy One". The connection of the clauses
might justify such a view. But such a contrast
between Judah and Ephraim, in wliich Judah is
as strongly commended as Ephraim is accused of
unfaithfulness, is hardly suitable here. Jehovah
has a controversy with Judah (ver. 3), comp. iv.
1 ; not to speak of the character and course of
conduct ascribed to Judali in x. 11 ; v. 5, 10, 12,
13, 14. Judah is indeed differently characterized
from Israel, but the difference lies in the term:
vacillate. It could not be said that the former
was firm and faithful. The two words are there-
fore to be taken together = the faithful holy One.
God is called holy in strong contrast to the con-
duct of Judah.
Ver. 2. n^"1 an image of nothingness, vanitj',
D^Ti^: east wind, a hot wind coming from the
Arabian desert, which dries up everything in its
course. [Comp. Job xxvii. 21. See the appendix
to Delitzsch on Job. — M.] As in the case of
n^"', the destructive, and not merely the unprofit-
able, is here the tert. comp. The second member
thus probably contains an inference from the first
= because Ephraim loves what is vain, it pursues
— certainly without meaning it — that which en-
tails destruction. Lying and violence, probably
towards their neighbors, especially if we compare
ver. 7, where they are admonished to preserve
mercy and justice. Bear oil to Egypt, namely,
as a gift, in order to win the alliance of Egypt ;
comp. 2 Kings xvii. 4. At one time help is sought
in Egypt against Assyria, and at another in As-
syria against Egypt.
Ver. 3. Jehovah has a contest = has sins to
reprove ; comp. iv. 1. This time the controversy
is with Judah. In distinction from Judah, Jacob
denotes, as in x. 11, the kingdom of the Ten
Tribes, Israel. The name Jacob forms a tran-
sition to the allusion to the patriarch Jacob (vers.
4,5).
Vers. 4, 5. In the womb, etc. Jacob was to
be a type of his descendan ts by his struggling for
the birth-right, and his wrestling with God in
which he prevailed through prayer and supplica-
tion. That .Jacob's conduct is not held up here
to the people as a warning example of cunning
and deceit, but as one of earnest striving after the
birth-right and its blessings, is apparent from the
wrestling with God mentioned in the second mem-
ber of the verse (comp. Gen. xxxii. 23-29). The
two members of the verse form a close parallel and
at the same time a climax — 4a; in the womb ;
4 6: in manhood ; i a: but seizes the heel, a
secret, indeed, not an open struggle as was only
possible in the womb, but 4 6; he wrestled, in the
full sense; 4 o; with his brother; 4 6; with God.
There is something also in the two names chosen,
which also indicate a climax ; Jacob from seizing
the heel, and the more honored name Israel from
wrestling with God. The sti'uggle with God is
wore particularly described in ver. 5. God ap-
peared to him in the form of an angel. ''^.'^ is
taken from Gen. xxxii. 39. He wept and prayed
to him. These words indicate the nature of the
conflict, the weapons with which he conquered.
At Bethel he found him. At the very place
where idolatry and moral corruption prevail, Jacob
found God. This shows the issue of the conflict,
and alludes to Gen. xxxv. 9 ff., where God be-
stowed upon Jacob his name Israel and renewed
the promise of blessing. And then He spoke
with us, namely, with Jacob ; what God then
promised to Jacob applies to us, his children. The
mention of the conflict with God and especially
its issue, in ver. 5, show clearly that Jacob is not
here referred to as a warning example of deceit,
but that something typical is discovered in his ac-
tion. See the Doctrinal remarks.
Ver. 6 then more specially marks the God who
spoke, as Jehovah, God of Hosts, — scarcely with-
out the design of placing Him, the only true God,
in contrast to the gods now worshipped in Bethel.
While God is specially designated Jehovah, in view
of his revelation of Himself to Israel, He is called
" God of Hosts " to show his supreme exaltation.
And Israel could prefer idols to such a God as
this ! [The second member of the verse : Jeho-
vah (is) his memorial, means that Jehovah is
the name by which Israel was to remember Him.
Comp. Ex. iii. 15 ; Fs. cxxxv. 13. — M.]
Ver. 7. For this reason Ephraim is exhorted to
return to this God, an admonition further ex-
plained in the words which follow ; observe
mercy and justice, and waJi upon God continu-
ally. Israel is now far from doing this.
Vers. 8, 9. This passage again begins with a
description of the sinful conduct of Israel, which
is made incisively by calling Israel Canaan, with
an allusion also to the appellative signification of
the word : merchant. They are like a dishonest
merchant, who aims to become rich by deceit, from
which results the oppression of the poor. This
deceit is not to be taken out of its literal sense, as
in ver. 1 (of idolatry as deceit practiced towards
God), but is according to the context to be under-
stood literally. The very opposite is practiced of
that which is required in ver. 7, mercy and justice.
TlW here = means. 1?^?^ = the results of labor.
No injustice which would be sin = would en-
tail punishment. In all his labor they would not
be able to discover anything worthy of punish-
ment.
Ver. 10. God reminds the deluded and pre-
sumptuous Ephraim (in order to bring home to
it the folly and injustice of its insolent speeches),
how He had been its benefactor since leaving
Egypt, and had led it hitherto as a Father, as
once He had done in the wilderness. " Not merely
during the forty years wandering through the des-
ert had the people enjoyed the wondrous protec-
tion of their God ; even now — ^^i — they still
experienced his mercy. The expression ' dwelling
in tents ' accordingly alludes not merely to the
privations and toils of the temporary wanderings
in the wilderness, but also specially to the abun-
dant blessings of God in the present (comp. 2
Kings xiii. 5)." ^??'^^3 = the Feast of Tabernacles.
As in the days of the feast = as the yearly dwell-
ing in tents in a literal sense at the Feast calls to
mind that protection afforded them in the desert.
Others take the dwelling in tents to be a threat.
But this does not suit the beginning of the verse^
CHAPTER Xn. 1-15.
91
nrhich is an allusion to a deed of divine mercy
(comp. xiii. 4).
Ver. 11 continues to call to mind what God had
done to Israel. 7^ : " because the divine revela-
tion, descending from heaven, reached to the
prophets" (Keil). I spoke: probably a general
reference, specified in the following clauses. —
^B^W: to compare, to use figurative language.
[Henderson : " In such language, including met-
aphor, allegory, comparison, prosopopoeia, apos-
trophe, hyperbole, etc., the prophets abound.
They accommodated themselves to the capacity
and understanding of their hearers by couching
the high and important subjects of which they
treated under the imagery of sensible objects, and
invested them with a degree of life and energy
which could only be resisted by an obstinate de-
termination not to listen to religious instruction.
— M.]
Ver. 12. The intermediate thought is probably :
all was vain ; Israel apostatized from his God.
Therefore the punishment must come. " Gilead
and Gilgal represented the two parts of the north-
ern liingdom. Gilead the eastern, Gilgal the
western." QW is difficult here. " When " is un-
suitable. Hence it is probably to be taken as an
interrogative particle : Is not Gilead, etc. Gilead
is here called 1!JW, directly (vi. 8, a city of those
who work iniquity) ; worthlessness, iniquity. "TjN
yea, surely = altogether. M1.t£7 parallel with J.1N.
The moral ruin has its counterpart in the physical
= become a nothing, be annihilated. [It is better
to take both words as relating to moral corrup-
tion : iniquity, evil. The expressions are virtu-
ally synonymous, and the combination is inten-
sive.— M.] D^"1^t?, accusative, not : to the bulls.
This sacrifice was no sin in itself, but it was so as
being done in Gilgal in honor of the idols. See
iv. 15 ; ix. 15.
Vers. 13, 14. The great deeds of God for Israel
are once more referred to, the ancient times being
again recalled. There is again an allusion to
Jacob, and as vers. 4, 5 referred to his actions, so
here we have his misfortunes, his humiliation ; how
he had to take to flight, serve for a wife, and that
by keeping sheep. We are then to supply : And
yet I have guarded and blessed him. To this
then would follow in ver. 14, a further example of
God's care. But more probably ver. 14 is to be
taken together with ver. 13, and then is seen in
that servitude of the progenitor the beginning
of the bondage of his immediate descendants in
Egypt. The sense would then be : and how has
God concerned Himself for Israel (in the name Is-
rael the person of Jacob and the nation would be
united), and defended them ! Comp. Deut. xxvi.
5 ff., where the bondage in Egypt is connected im-
mediately with Jacob and even with his flight to
Mesopotamia. By a prophet : The greatness of
God's deeds is still more clearly shown : God
raised up and employed a prophet specially for
this object. Ifvers. 13 and 14 are taken together
lOtpa perhaps alludes to "l^itS, ver. 14 ; from
protecting he came to be protected. It is also pos^
sible that the second ^^?5? forms a contrast to
the second ntS?N5i one being a mark of humili-
lition, the other of exaltation.
Ver. 15. Instead of acknowledging what God
had done to the nation, and thanking Him thero-
for humbly (which according to Deut. xxvi. 5
ff., was to be done by the yearly offering of the
first-fruits), Ephraira bitterly excited God's aneer.
Therefore the Lord would punish them, "'"''plj =-
his blood-guiltiness. 2?t2^, to leave alone, opposite
to taking away or forgiving. His disgrace, prob-
ably that which Israel casts upon God.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
The way in which Jacob is mentioned in this
chapter is peculiar. In vers. 4, 5 mention is made
of two events recorded in Genesis : that which,
according to Gen. xxv. 26, he did in seizing his
brother's heel in the womb, and that which, ac-
cording to Gen. xxxii. 24, he did as a man. These
two are placed in mutual relation : and the expres-
sions which describe them are clearly parallel.
Moreover they form a climax. They were anal-
ogous ; but the second was an essential advance
upon the first (as really as manhood is an advance
upon pre-natal existence). Hence the first is
only briefly indicated ; forms only the starting-
point. The stress is laid upon the second, upon
which the discourse dwells longer (ver. 5). If it
should excite surprise that just these two events
should be made prominent and compared as they
are here, it must be remembered that in Genesis
the two names of the patriarch are said to have
been connected with them, and in such a way as
that the second is an advance upon the first. Ac-
cordingly we can briefly indicate the meaning of
this reference to Jacob thus ; He who was a Jacob
(holder of the heel) even in his mother's womb,
became afterwards in his manhood an Israel, a
wrestler with God. The former was, so to speak,
the beginning of the latter ; the latter the comple-
tion of the former. The Prophet sees in the rec-
ord of that seizing of the heel, something signifi-
cant, namely, an allusion to the precedence which
Jacob, although the second-born Kara <l>imii, should
have, by the free elective favor of God, over the
first-born ■k*o by nature had the preeminence ;
that he received the divine promises, and even that
the action was regarded as an (unconscious) striv-
ing of the embryo itself after the possession of
that which the divine favor had in store for it.
Then what the embryo did unconsciously by
struggling, as it were, for the possession of the di-
vine promise, the man did consciously with higher
powers by wrestling with God Himself. The
Prophet evidently regards the possession of the
divine promises as the end and object of the con-
flicts. Having striven after it in his mother's
womb, he gained it from God as a man. Ver. 5
shows how the Prophet understood this struggle
with God, or what he regarded as its essence : it
was humble but persistent supplication, showing
how nearly the matter lay to his heart. This
wrestling in prayer had the desired result : he pre-
vailed. The Prophet finds the proof of this in
Gen. XXXV. 9 ff. For there in Bethel, Jacob not
only had his name Israel confirmed, but the prom-
ise was given, which declared )iim to be the chosen
of God : " He spoke with Him." But the Prophet
says : " with us." This shows that Jacob, in vers
4, 5, does not mean the individual, but that the
Jacob who afterwards proved himself an Israel,
becomes an ideal personality, i. e., a type of the
true Israel, the true people of God. This pictura
of the true Jacob-Israel, struggling for the possesr
92
HOSEA.
lion of God's gracious promises, and therefore of
the divine blessing, is held up to the shame of the
present degenerate Israel, who tread under foot
God's election of grace, and defy his judgments.
What a contrast does the victorious conflict with
God present to the course of Israel seeking to As-
syria and Egypt for help I Hence the warning of
ver. 7 : to return to God and to confide steadfastly
in Him. Jacob is mentioned in ver. 13 in another
way. It is not his conduct towards God that is
there alluded to, but God's dealings with Him — -in
raising hira from his humiliation. And yet not
him really ; for more clearly itill than in vers. 4,
5, the person of Jacob and the people of Israel
flow into one another, or rather the former is a
type of the latter. What is said in ver. 13 of hu-
miliation by flight and servitude, refers primarily
to the person of Jacob, but it is to be understood
as that by the person the people proceeding from
him are thought of So in ver. 14, the deliverance
of Israel from Egypt, and their preservation in the
desert, are marked as the exaltation following, by
divine grace, that humiliation. Thus what is here
said falls under the point of view elsewhere held
by our Prophet of the love which God had shown
to Israel in ancient times (comp. also ver. 10),
with which Israel's present conduct is then sharply
contrasted (comp. ver. 15). But it is mentioned,
as something special, that this gracious deed of
God was brought about by a prophet. This mani-
festly serves to make it appear greater. God or-
dained a prophet for the special task of helping
Israel. In ver. 11, also, Prophecy appears as an
element of God's gracious dealings with Israel.
In vi. 5 prophets were distinguished as the preach-
ers of repentance and judgment sent by God. In
our chapter they appear more generally, as the
organs of God's revelation to Israel, as the tokens
that God stood constantly towards his people in a
living relation (as already in Amos ii. 11). The
sending of Moses falls under this point of view :
in him as a Prophet Gfld entered into a living and
gracious relation with Israel and showed Himself
to be their God.
HOMIUiTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. How sad it is that God must so com-
plain of his people ! and yet how often is it neces-
sary ! He is faithful and true, so well dJKposed,
and we are so insincere towards Him ! pretending
to serve Him, and yet only serving Him with the
lips while the heart is far from Him !
Vers. 4, 5. Stabke : God's blessing is to be
obtained not by desert, but by weeping and en-
treaty. Tears and prayers are the true method of
struggling with God.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk : Great victory and blessing
are to be found in prayer; for prayer can ever
overcome God. Only struggle on, my soul, and
persist until thou dost reach to the very heart of
God, and thou wilt certainly receive an answer
from Him, if not always outwardly, yet always in
the Spirit.
[Fausset : Tears were the indication of one
whose words of prayer were no feigned words, but
whose heart was deeply moved by the sense of his
great needs, and whose feelings were excited by
vehement and longing desires. Therefore at Bethel
" he found God," because God first " found him,'
«Dd moved him so to weep and supplicate. And
there God spake not only with him but " with us,"
whosoever of us follow the unconquerable faith of
his tearful prayers.
PnSET : There He spake with us, how, in ouj
needs, we should seek and find Him. In loneli-
ness, apart from distractions, in faith rising in
proportion to our fears, in persevering prayer, in
earnestness, God is sought and found. — M.]
Ver. 6. In the name Jehovah, Israel had the
security that God was their God, and they his
people. " Our Father " is the same for us ; for
God is our Father as the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and that Name is the security of our bless-
edness.
Ver. 7. How easy is conversion, when we are
not converted to a strange God, but to our own
God, who helps us towards Him ! But it is just
as certain that all who have departed from God
need to return. Turn unto God ! is the most nat-
ural, but also the most pressing cry. True con-
version must be attested by its fruits. Men are
converted truly to God, when they trust in Him
constantly.
Lange : Faith, love, and hope must abide to-
gether.
[Matt. Henry : Let our eyes be ever towards
the Lord, and let us preserve a holy security and
serenity of mirid under the protection of the di-
vine favor, looking without anxiety for a dubious
event, and by faith keeping our spirits sedate and
even ; and that is waiting on God as our God, in
covenant, and this we must do continually. — M.j
Ver. 8. The chief distinction of the Canaanit-
ish character is the earthly mind, which leads of
necessity to unrighteous deeds. Avarice is a root
of all evil, and a mother of unrighteousness.
[FAnssET : How much deceit is practiced by so-
called Christians of the trading world, who are
" Christians " only in name ! — M.J
Ver. 9. Staeke : Those who infer the posses-
sion of divine favor from outward prosperity make
a great mistake. Much deceit and injustice is
done in trade and intercourse with men, and when
God does not punish at once, every one supposes
that he who practices them is not guilty.
[Fausset : None are more blind to their spir-
itual danger than those eager in pursuing gain.
The conventional tricks of trade and the alleged
difficulty of competing with others save by prac-
ticing the usual frauds, are made the excuses for
usages, which, whatever else they gain, end in the
eternal loss of the soul ! In regard to spiritual
riches the soul is never so poor as when satisfied
with its own imaginary riches. — M.]
Ver. 10. Staeke : We should diligently call
to mind and never forget the benefits which God
bestowed upon our forefathers.
[PnsEY : The penitent sees in one glance how
God has been his God from his birth until that
hour, and how he had all along offended God.
The Feast of Tabernacles typifies this our pilgrim
state, the life of simple faith in God, for which
God provides; poor in this world's goods, hut
rich in God. "The Church militant dwells, as it
were, in tabernacles ; hereafter we hope to be re-
ceived into everlasting habitations in the Church
triumphant. — M.]
Ver. 13. A man may be chosen by God's grace,
and an heir of God's promises, and yet may sufiel
distress and humiliation. In the fullest measur<
was this realized in the Son of God Himself. Whfil
else then can we expect ?
CHAPTER Xin. 1-15. 93
n. The Judgment of God's Anger.
Chapteb XIII.
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling ; •
He exalted himself in Israel,
Then he transgressed through Baal and died.
2 And now they continue to sin.
They made for themselves idols of their silver,
Images according to their understanding [as they pleased]
All of them the work of artificers ;
To them men who sacrifice " are speaking (in prayer),
They kiss the calves.
3 Therefore will they be like the morning cloud.
And like the dew, which soon passes away,
Like chaif which is whirled ' out of the threshing-floor,
And like smoke from a window.
4 And (yet) I am Jehovah, thy God,
From the land of Egypt,
And thou dost not know a God besides me,
And there is no Saviour except me.
5 I knew thee in the desert.
In the land of droughts.
6 According to their pasture [as they fed] they were satisfied,
They were satisfied, and their heart was uplifted,
Therefore they forgot me.
7 And (so) I became * as a lion to them.
And as a leopard I lurked in the path.
8 I will attack them like a bear * robbed of her whelps,
And rend the inclosure of their heart,
I will devour them then like a lioness ;
The wild beast of the field shall rend them.
9 It has destroyed thee,' Israel,
That thou (hast been) against me, against thy Help.
10 Where ' then is thy king,
And he (who) will help thee in all thy cities ?
And thy judges * of whom thou saidst :
" Give me a king and princes ? "
11 I give thee a king in my anger.
And will take him away in my wrath,
12 Ephraim's guilt is bound up.
His sin is treasured away.
13 The pains of a travailing woman shall come upon him :
(But) he is an unwise son ;
Because at the (right) time ' he would not enter the opening of the wombi
14 Should I redeem them from the hand of hell ?
Should I free them from death ?
Where are thy plagues, O death ?'
Where is thy destruction, 0 hell ?
Repentance shall be hidden from my eyes.
15 For (though) among (his) brethren he may be fruitful
An east wind will come,
A breath of Jehovah rising from the desert,
And his spring shall dry up and his fountain be parched ;
He [Assyria] shall plunder the treasure of all the costly vessels.
94
HO SEA
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ter. l.-nn~l, 4:7. \ey. = ^21?! [Jer. xlix. 24. Targ. Sn"in"l.-M.]
[i! Ver. 2. — ^^S TI^V. This construction is to be explained on the principle laid down by Bwald, § 287 g, that
the subordinate word in the construct may sometimes denote the individual or Individuals of the class denoted by th»
principal word. For an example of the same construction in addition to the one given in the exposition, see Micah t. 4,
DTM ^D^DD. those of men that are anointed. — M.I
T T -. . :'
[8 Ver. 3. — "IJJDV See Green, § 92 i>. — M.]
[4 Ver. 7.— ''nW''. 1 is inferential, Green, § 287, 1. — M.]
[6 Ver. 8. — 3'^ here means the female bear, and yet, being of the common gender, it may be joined with a part,
masculine. Comp. cxliv. 14 for a parallel case. — M.]
[6 Ver. 9. — TirintJ?. We have here the third sing. Piel. There is no ground for assuming a substantive : destruc-
tion, as Henderson does. — M.]
7 Ver. 10. — "TIM. A particle of interrogation. It is dialectical, and occurs only here and in ver. 14. It is »
n*S : where, and is strengthened by M1SM = 'aMf'em, Trore : when then?
[8 Ver. 10. — Supply ''nK before Ty"itpQti7.
[9 Ver. 13. — ny must be taken here adverbially : at the (right) time. — M.]
[10 Ver. 15. — S'^nD'^ A ciTT. Aey. The form W"1D is supposed, with probable correctnees, to have been chosen bH
•tead of the usual niQ. in order to conform to □"'S~'DS, of which It is the root. — M.]
T T ' • T . V '
BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. 'When Ephraim spoke, etc. An al-
lasion to the high respect paid to Israel, ^^f^? is
here intransitive [comp. Ps. Ixxxix. 10 ; Nah. i.
5]. The reference is to the unrighteous desire for
predominance cherished by Ephraim, which led at
last to the schism from the House of David. But
internal declension wns immediately connected with
this. The worship of Baal evidently began really
with the calf-worship according to the view of the
Prophet. He cannot allow it to be maintained
that the latter was the worship of Jehovah. And
died : They died spiritually, and then outward
ruin comes also. [This view of the whole verse
is approved by Henderson, Pusey, and most recent
Expositors. — M.]
Ver. 2. All their former transgressions were
continued. OnDW DH Dnb. This is difficult.
mW ''H'yt is not = who sacrifice men, for hu-
T T ■• ; ,
iman sacrifices were not offered in the calf-worship,
Ibut = those among men who sacrifice, according
-So the analogy of DIN ^^i■'?*^. (Is. xxix. 19).
Keil renders : of them they say (those of the men
that sacrifice) ; they kiss the calves. But this
is linguistically harsh, for " they kiss calves "
would be oratio ohliqna, and Dn^ would mean :
of them, namely, of the images. It is besides un-
natural. To whom should the offerers " say "
that they kiss the calves 1 They certainly per-
form SKclt actions, and it is that is the conduct
here rebuked, but their saying that they do so' is
a very remote idea. We are therefore obliged to
take CP"7PW here absolutely as it is nowhere else
employed = speak in prayer. This is just the
thouglht that is suitable here. It had been previ-
ously -said that these images are purely the work
of men ithemselves, and yet — how cutting is the
"epmoof ! — they speak with these very works of
theiT 'hands, they kiss them, as though they were
■Jef-h and Hood.
V«r..a. The punishment of this is swift destruc-
tion. As to the figures of the morning cloud and
the early dew, see on ch. vi. 4. Here there are
added other comparisons ; the usual one of chaff,
and, besides, that of smoke, which escaped by the
windows since there were no chimneys.
Vers. 4, 5. As contrasted with Israel's idolatry
Jehovah points again to what he had done for Is-
rael long ago, at first with the same words as
those employed in xii. 10, but afterwards more
fully. I knew thee, with the accessory notions
of love and compassion.
Ver. 6. The goodness of God is abused. Ac-
cording to their pasture, i. e., in the land given
them by God. The complaint rests upon Deut.
viii. 11 ff. (comp. also xxxi. 20; xxxii. 15 ff.).
That against wliich they were there warned, haS'
been done.
Vers. 7, 8 therefore describe the punishment, in
accordance with the figure of the pasture, in which
Israel is the fliock. The flock will be rent as by
wild beasts (comp. also, v. 14). "'in.^-li and I be-
came to them : the punishment had already begun
and would be continued. The inclosure of their
heart = their breast.
Ver. 9. It has destroyed thee, O Israel, that
thou wert against me, thy Help. The second
clause gives the cause of the first. 3 is then to
be taken in the sense of "against ; " that thou
against me, against thy help. According to the
sequel the special reference is to the falling away
from the House of David. [So Ewald, Keil, and
most of the recent Continental Expositors agree
in adopting the above explanation. Pusey and
Noyes among the Anglo-Americans also prefer it.
The others generally hold to the rendering of the
E. V. The two chief objections against the lat-
ter view are that it demands a very roundabout
rendering of ^nritT, and that the second 5 is
most naturally to be taken in the same sense as the
first, and therefore cannot be a Beth essentice. — M.]
Ver. 10. Israel had indeed a king, but not one
who could help them, or defend their cities (against
Assyria). And thy judges, probiibly = the princes
who surround the king, " the ministers and coun-
CHAPTER Xin. 1-15.
95
sellers appointed by the king, who along with him
exercise the highest judicial and executive author-
ity." Give me a king and princes ; not without
allusion to the request of the people in the time
of Samuel. On the case of Jeroboam, they re-
peated this ancient demand, at that time reproved
by the Lord, in a still more sinful way.
Ver. U. I give thee a king in my anger, not;
I gave thee, because the expression is not to be lim-
ited to the elevation of Jeroboam, but refers gen-
erally to the kings of Israel. When they separated
from the House of David and set up their own
kings, God punished them, because in doing so
" they forsook his worship, and gave themselves
over to the power of their ungodly kings." And
will take him away. This refers not merely to
the dethronement of one king by another, but to
the kingdom generally, which God would over-
throw in his anger. The anger of God stands
therefore at the beginning and at the end ; giving
kings and taking them away, are both an evidence
of his displeasure.
Ver. 12 shows that the taking away of the king
is inevitable : '* seruata sunt ad vindictam omnia pec-
cata eorum " [Henderson : " The metaphors are here
borrowed from tlie custom of tying up money in
bags and depositing it in some secret place in order
that it might be preserved. The certainty of pun-
ishment is the idea conveyed by them. Comp., for
the former, Job xiv. 17 ; for the latter, Deut. xxxii.
34; Job xxi. 19." — M.J
Ver. 13 describes the punishment under the im-
age of birth-pangs, in which, however, the pains of
the mother are not so much thought of as the pres-
sure which the child must suffer. And yet, though
there is distress in child-birth, it does not tend to
destruction, but to birth, to a new life. So also
here. But death does follow if the child is not
pressed out into the, vagina in consequence of the
labor, so as to come into the world alive : So is
it with Israel. Under God's judgment they put off
a return to Him, and will not be born again ; that
judgment must therefore be their destruction.
Ver. 14, according to the common view, intro-
duces a promise without any preparation. Yet,
though we cannot be surprised at the occurrence
of sudden transition in our Prophet, a promise is
evidently quite unsuitable. We would from the
foregoing words rather expect a mention of the
punishment reserved for their guilt, or a description
of their pains. It would then be surprising if a
promise were introduced ; and the fact is that
threatening is here unmistakably becoming strong-
er, until ch. xiv. 1. To be sure, if ver. 14 be re-
garded as a promise, ver. 15 must bear the same
character, as they are connected by " for." But
the change would be only the more violent, taking
place in one and the same verse, and Keil only im-
ports his notion into the passage, when he, for this
reason, makes a distinction, and refers the begin-
ning of the verse to those who walk in the foot-
steps of the faith, etc., of their progenitor, and
the rest to Ephraim who had become changed into
Canaan [a merchant]. But, besides, the second
part of ver. 15 manifestly presupposes the begin-
ning of the same verse, the image of the blasting
wind presupposing that of the fruit-bearing, or the
former is chosen with direct reference to the latter ;
the judgment is regarded as a devastation by
ncorching wind, because Israel is conceived of as a
fruitful tield. Under any other view members of
H verse, which are connected in meaning, would be
sundered. If therefore ver. 15 throughout is noth-
ing but threatening, its beginning with " for " ar-
gues the same character for ver. 14. The begin-
ning of ver. 14 is then to be explained as a ques-
tion, though without the particle of interrogation :
JTrom the hand of hell should I deliver them '! The
second member contains an energetic negative re-
sponse. Nay, even death and hell are summoned
and charged to inflict and execute the judgment
upon them. T'.!?^ as in ver. 10 = where (see far-
ther in the Doctrinal Section, No. 4).
Dn3 : either repentance or compassion. The
former is most suitable: it is not to be supposed
that I repent of this threatening, that I recall it.
■ Ver. 15. 3T ^^^i"! "'3 alludes, with a play upon
the name Ephraim (W'lQ^ and C3''SnDS), to their
fruitfulness, in order to represent the judgment as
a scorching wind destroying that fertility. He
will spoil. " He," i. e., the enemy presented under
the image of the parching wind, Assyria. The
treasure of all precious vessels, is to be sought
especially in the chief city, Samaria, which is
named immediately hereailer.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1 . Apostasy from Jehovah, which appears here
also as Israel's chief sin, brought death upon
them : they died (ver. 1). This conception sounds
the depths of the subject. Outwardly regarded,
they lived long, even after they gave themselves
up to the worship of Baal (just like a fruitful tree,
ver. 15), but in truth inwardly they were dead.
For true life consists in union with .Jehovah : idols
can give no life, Israel owed its life to Jehovah
alone (ver. 4). Therefore, ver. 9 : " It has destroyed
thee that thou hast been against me, thy help."
What God had done for Israel from the beginning
is here again (vers. 4, 5) made prominent, and the
deliverance from Egypt with the leading through
the Desert appear again as the fundamental act of
mercy, for through them Israel became "living."
Their present conduct towards God was a base and
ungrateful ignoring of those deeds in the presump-
tion of a prosperity which they owed to their God
(ver. 6). A people who are inwardly dead cannot
long outwardly survive. That God whom they had
forgotten and from whom they had turned away,
would and must at last show them that He had
not forgotten them (ver. 12) by destroying them
without sparing. This is indeed the (mly means
of bringing them to life. For that and that alone
is designed by God in their case ; see ch. xiv. This
must ever be kept in view if we are to understand
the threatenings aright, which are reproduced here
in a peculiarly intensified form : vers. 7, 8, vers. 12
to ch. xiv. 1. But how true and striking is such
a description seen to be, when we remember that
this divine judgment is executed by the invasion
of a foreign conqueror ! With what can his attack
be better compared than with the attack of devour-
ing beasts, or, after another image, with a scorch-
ing wind that destroys everything in its course "!
How often has that been repeated in the history of
the nations !
2. The whole (temporal) kingdom was a divine
system of punishment and chastening. At the re-
quest of the people. He granted them a king, but
with the expression of his displeasure at their de-
sire because it proceeded from unbelief and vanity,
and with the declaration that they would lose their
freedom by its realization. But, at the same time,
this kingdom of Israel might become a blessing if
HO SEA.
it with its king would obey God. Nay, God, by
establishing the throne of David in Zion, even con-
nected the most precious promises with this Ivirlg-
dom, if the liing were entn-ely one with God and
should gather about him a nation obedient to God.
But the people with their king followed more and
more decidedly a course opposed to God by sep-
arating (in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes) from
the house with which God had connected his prom-
ises, and so forsaking the king which God had
given them, they must therefore be punished by
having this self-erected kingdom taken away, and
the punishment is all the greater that they shall
never return to a state of freedom, but must lie un-
der the much viler bondage of foreign rulers until
they return to the king whom God had promised
to raise up from the House of David.
3. The passage in ver. 14 is and remains diffi-
cult, and, although in the light of the context we
cannot regard it as containing a promise, yet the
view which regards it as such is in so far to be
respected as the beginning of the verse especial-
ly, taken by itself, makes it appear natural. For
this reason, probably, the LXX. translate in this
sense, and the Apostle Paul, freely following them,
cites these words (in connection \vith Is. xxv. 8 ;
1 Cor. XV. 55), in the sense of a challenge indeed,
but in the same with the implication that death
and hell should reveal their impotence, and there-
fore in the sense of a promise. But this will not
compel us to explain the words otherwise than as
the context requires, and we find this in accord
ith any but the simply mechanical theory of in-
spiration. But it is still to be kept in mind that
in one passage the possibility of a redemption from
death and hell is presupposed even if its accom-
plishment is refused by the threatening. But it
corresponds with the character of the New Testa-
ment that it has changed the threatening into a
promise. While the Old Testament summons
death and the underworld to execute judgment
upon their servants, the New Testament rather
shows them conquered and powerless, so much so
that they must even yield up the prey which they
already have, and so far Paul had internal justifi-
cation to convert the Old Testament threatening
into a promise, or rather into a pisan of triumph,
and thus in the Spirit chose the true course. For
the view of ver. 14 as containing a promise, we may
cite further the beautiful remarks of Rieger :
" Outward ruin becomes to many a path upon
which they rush suddenly down to death and hell,
and with their hardened hearts thoy prefer to be
lost beyond redemption in death and hell rather
than turn to God with contrite hearts, and yield
themselves up to trust in Him. Therefore God's
promise comprehends the whole ruin, the whole
abyss of destruction into which the sinner rushes,
so as to subdue proud unbelief by the promised
redemption from death and hell, and make men
driven to extremity well disposed towards God.
0, that all to whom sin has become their destruc-
tion would allow themselves to be rescued by this
hand offered them at the brink of death and hell,
especially as we can behold more fully in the New
Testament the victory which God has given us
through Christ Jesus, and thus more easily gain
its consolation."
HOMELBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. Geelaoh: Pride comes before a fall.
See how the sins of pride and false worship lead
to spiritual and eternal death ! With sin there
came not only guilt but also the seeds of death,
and so the heart and life-blood are consumed. On
the other hand, with the new righteousness comes
new life into dead souls.
[Fausset : Sin separates from God, the true
life of the soul. Let all professors of religion ever
remember this, that sin, habitual or unatoned
for, and spiritual life cannot coexist in the sama
individual (Rom. viii. 6). — M.]
Ver. 4. Pfafp. Bibelwerk : Since God has
showered down upon us so many blessings from
our youth up, and since all that we have we owe
to his goodness, it is vile ingratitude to rely, not
upon Him, but upon human power, false wor-
ship, and the like. We have only one God and
Redeemer. Besides Him we must know no other.
[Matthew Henry : It is a happy ignorance
not to know that which we are not to meddle with.
Whatever we take for our God we expect to have
for our Saviour, that is, to make us happy here and
hereafter. As where we have protection we owe
allegiance, so where we have salvation, and hope
for it, we owe adoration." — M.]
Ver. 6. Peaff. Bibelwerk : So is it with the
ungodly. They misuse God's blessings and be-
come secure, forgetting the gracious Giver, when
they should rather erect an imperishable monu-
ment to Him in their souls. See thou, too, 0 my
soul ! whether thou art thankful to thy Saviour,
whether thou dost bring home to thyself rightly
and constantly the blessings which God has given
thee, both temporal and spiritual, whether thou
dost praise and live for the gracious Giver with
mouth and heart and a holy walk.
[PusET : They who follow God for Himself,
things of this sort are not called their pasture, but
the Word of God is their pasture, according to
Dent. viii. 3. In like way, let all think themselves
blamed, who attend the altar of Christ not for the
love of the sacraments [ordinances] which they
celebrate, but only to live of the altar. — M.]
Ver. 9. It is the conduct of men towards God
which determines their woe or weal. God alone is
our true Help ; therefore everything that resists
Him must be lost ; and there is no greater folly
than to rise up against Him.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk : God is guilty of no man's
destruction, but only man himself
Ver. U. Pfaff. Bibelwerk: It is a great cal-
lamity to a country when the Lord gives it a
prince in his anger that he may be the instrument
of his vengeance.
[Fausset : God often punishes men by giving
them their wish . — M.]
Ver. 1 2. God can and would remit our sins ; but
He can also retain them, and must do so as long as
we remain impenitent ; and as long as God retains
them all hope of being freed from them is vain.
Ver. 14. So far can the love of God be changed
into wrath that He, to whom it were easy to save,
does not do so, but delivers over to death and de-
struction, nay, even, as it were, invokes the powers
of destruction to execute his wrath, without his
repenting or recalling his purpose. Even in this
God has assuredly purposes of salvation. He pun-
ishes so severely only to open the eyes, when and
since all other means have failed. [See the Exe-
getical and Doctrinal Remarks. — M.]
Ver. 15. When God withdraws his hand all
prosperity disappears, and that often suddenly, be-
fore men are aware.
[Matthew Henet : See the folly of those thai
lay up their treasures on earth, that lay it up ui
CHAPTER XIV. 1-10. 97
pleasant vessels, vessels of desire, so the word is,
on which they set their affections, and in which
they place their comfort and satisfaction.
PtJSET : Such are ungodly greatness and pros-
perity. While they are fairest in show theii
life-fountains are drying up — M.].
m. JExhortation to Return : Promise of Complete Redemption,
Chapter XIV.
1 Samaria will suffer punishment,^
Because she rebelled against her God ;
They shall fall by the sword,
Their sucklings shall be dashed to pieces,
Their pregnant women ^ shall be cut open.
2 Eeturn, O Israel, to Jehovah, thy God,
For thou hast fallen through thy transgression.
3 Take with you words
And return to the Lord and say unto Him :
" Forgive all (our) iniquity ° and receive (what is) good [acceptable],
And we shall render unto thee our lips (as) oxen [as our sacnficeii].
4 Assyria shall not help us,
We will not ride upon horses.
We will no more say : our God, to the work of our hands,
(O Thou) in whom the orphan finds pity : "
5 1 will heal their backsliding ;
I will love them readUy,*
For my anger is turned away from them.
6 I will be as the dew to Israel :
He shall bloom as the lily,
And shall strike his roots like Lebanon ! '
7 His shoots shall go forth.
And his glory shall be like the oUve,
And his fragrance like Lebanon !
8 Those that dwell under his shade shall revive [produce] corn once more.
And shall bloom as the vine,
His renown (shall be) like tlie wine of Lebanon.
9 O Ephraim, what have I to do any longer with idols ?
I answer and regard [watch over] him.
I am like a green cypress ;
With me is thy fruit found.
10 Who is wise, that he may understand these things ?
Discerning, that he may know them ?
For the ways of the Lord are direct.
And the righteous walk in them ;
But transgressors stumble thereon.
TEXTUAL AND GEAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 1. — Dt^^ri . From the notion of auffering puniahment is derived the signification ; to be desolated, waste
•D^ty. [The reverse would be the order if any connection between the verbs existed. But there is none what-
ITer. The latter meaning in all likelihood arose from the similarity in form between the two words, the one form nat-
urally suggesting the other. But it is not to be inferred from this that the words are cognate. The roots are not
at all related, but belong to families essentially distinct. Jiirst, however, holds to the affinity. But see the forms in
Arabic and Ethiopic related to D12?S, and compare the radically difierent notions which lie at the basis of their pre
Vailing significations respectively. — Al.]
S8
HO SEA.
• Ver. 1. — rT^*irT = nnn. The masc. yerb. with a fern, substantive is anomalous. According to Ewald it ia to
be explained from the fact that the fem. termioations of the plur. imperf. are but seldom employed. [The suggestion of
Henderson is worthy of consideration, that the anomaly was occasioned by the form of ■'lt£7L3"i'^ immediately pr»
•eding. — M.]
• Ver. 3. — 7i3? Sti?n" /3 v3 precedes for the sake of emphasis, and becomes an adverbial notion [ = taki
• T T • T T
away our iniquity altogether.]
4 Ver. 5. — n3"I3 is an adverbial accusative [spontaneously, voluntarily, readily].
5 Ver. 6. — Newcome prefers to read HDH V, as more consistent with the context. But this cannot be admitted,
though it was the one followed by the Targum.' See the exposition for the propriety of the image. — M.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. Samaria sliall make expiation, etc.
ntrwri, from CCTS, to make atonement, to suffer
punishment. [Rendered in E. V. : shall be deso-
late, conip. the remarks in the Text, and Gram.
Section. — M.] It is unnecessary to join this
verse to eh. xiii., although it is natural!}' con-
nected with it. The fbregoiny' threatenin^s con-
verge here first into the prophecy " concerning the
destruction of Samaria becansc of its apostasy
from its God," and then upon this groundwork is
based the exhortation to return, and the promise
of renewed mercy conditioned upon repentance.
[Henderson : " For the concluding jiortion of the
verse, comp, 2 Kings viii. 12 ; xv. 16 ; Amos i. 1.3.
That such cruelties were not unknown among
other nations, see Iliad, vi. 58, and Horace, Carm.
iv. Od. 6." — M.]
Ver. 2. nirr; TS, even unto Jehovah [liter-
ally : until, as far as, «i!to Jehovah. — M.]
Ver. 3. Take with you words : They are not
to come to Jehovah empty, but at the same time
need take nothing more than words, no outward
gifts. The words they are to use are now named,
DItO ni^'l : and accept good, namely, what now
follows : the sacrifices of the lips. [The true idea
of the phrase seems to be : receive what is good,
pleasing, acceptable. For this sense of 31t2, comp.
Num. xxiv. 1 ; Deut. vi. 18. I find the meaning
of the passage admirably expressed by Ewald :
" The people must first return to God's love. The
Prophet does not merely exhort them to this
course; he shows them also in what manner it
should be made; how and in what spirit the peni-
tent are again to draw near to God's favor; name-
ly, not with outward, even though imposing sac-
rifices, with bulls, c. g., but with words, with the
lips, i. e., with the living promises of the spirit
that struggles after mercy and offers what is good."
The English exjjositors have, for the most part,
followed the rendering of E. V. : and receive us
graciously. Horsley (who is strangely ojjposcd
by Henderson " on the ground of jihiiology ") and
Pusey recognize and adopt the natural and true
construction. — M.j Literally: and wo will ren-
der as bullocks our lips, i. e., we will offer to thee
for our sins the confession of our guilt and the
promise of our return instead of sacrificial oxen
(comp. Ps. 11. 17-19 ; Ixix. 31 f. ; cxvi. 17; cxii.
2).
Ver. 4 follows immediately with such a vow, no
longer to rely upon Assyria, no longer upon war-
like power (horses) generally, no longer to serve
idols. '^? ~lti'^ : Thou, through whom, etc.
Reliance upon God's compassion is that upon
(fhich the whole prayer of penitence is based.
Ver. 5. The promise of mercy follows as an
answer to such a prayer of penitence. Heal their
apostasy = the calamities which it has entailed.
n2"13 [spontaneously] expresses God's perfect
readiness to bestow such love.
Vers. 6 ff. The effects of this love of the Lord
are rich blessings upon Israel : Jehovah Himself
will become to Israel like a refreshing dew, and
the consequences of this would be that they should
bloom anil strike root and send forth branches, or
that they should flourish and de\'elop a vigorous
life. Like Lebanon, not simply like the cedars,
but like the mountain itself, rooted as deeply and
firmly. Like the olive [ver. 7] with its evergreen
leaves and rich fruitage. His fragrance like Leb-
anon with its cedars and aromatic shrubs.
Ver. 8. Here from Israel as a whole, compared
to a tree, are distinguished the members of the
peo])Ie, as those who flourish vigorously beneath
the shadow of the tree. ^Z11t£?^ is to be joined
with •Vn)' in an adverbial sense = again. The
latter word = live again, become fruitful. They
themselves shall even become like a vine, produ-
cing wine as precious as that of Lebanon. O
Ephraim ! what have I still to do with idols ?
= I will have nothing more to do with idols, i. e.,
"I have now no longer to plead with thee on ac-
count of idols, as during the whole course of this
prophecy Jehovah's claims to honor as against
idols have formed the predominant theme. This
is all done away upon the ground on which this
promise rests, that Israel has returned to tne
Lord " (Schmieder). I have answered and will
regard him (Ephraim) = will concern myself,
care for him. God lastly compares Himself to a
green cypress. In Him the people are to find
their fruit, i. e., the fruit which shall nourish them.
[The English exjiositors, generally, adopt the ren-
dering of the E. v., chiefly because the words of
the first line do not seem to them suitable as ut-
tered by God. But if they are held to assert that
God would not have anything more to do with
idols, would not come any longer into competition
with idols for the affections of the people and so be
brought into connection with them, they are seen
to be suitable, and just what would be expected at
the close of this book. And it would be altogether
unnatural to introduce Ephraim as uttering this
single exclamation in the midst of an extended
passage in which God is the speaker. Finally, it
IS a most a^J^nrary principle which would require
the insertion of the supplied words, or of any other,
in a sentence in which the sense would be complete
without an ellipsis. Manger carries such an un-
warranted license to an ex'treme when he supposes
that the whole verso forms a sort of dialogue,
thus : —
Ephraim ; "What have I more to do with idols T
God : I have answered him and will regard him.
Ephraim : I am like a green cypress.
CHAPTER XIV. 1-10.
99
God : From me is thy fruit found.
Upon tliis it is obvious to remark, that if the
rerse is a dialogue, and it were necessary to indi-
tate who the speaker is in liis first utterance, it
would be just as necessary to give a similar intima-
tion at the beginning of his next response. — M.]
Ver. 10. Who is wise, etc. An epilogue to
the whole Prophetic Book. H^S refers to all that
precedes, to the chidings and threatenings concern-
ing sin and idolatry. For right are the ways of
the Lord. This the crowning declaration, conip.
Deut. xxxii. 4. The ways wliich God is said to
follow are straight, i, e., direct, leading to the ob-
ject. The righteous walk upon them, and are
thereby righteous. But transgressors stumble
thereon, i. e., they deviate from them, and are
thereby transgressors, and at the same tune the
consequences of such deviation are recorded : they
fall into ruin.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. It is clearly manifest here that the severe
judgments announced as impending upon the
kingdom of Israel have not their object in them-
selves, but are only means to an end. The king-
dom in its present foi'm must assuredly be de-
stroyed, for it is utterly corrupt. But this is not
to be done because God has turned Himself away
from his people or desired to do so, or because his
love for them is extinguished, but only because it
is the only means of making room for something
new, for the regeneration of his people.
2. Repentance, a return to God who had been
forsaken, is to be the fruit of these judgments
(comp. ch. ii. 18, 19), because it was their only de-
sign to lead to repentance, to make its necessity
dear to the hearts of the people, and to prepare
them for it through the severity of the wrath of
God which they experienced, through their condi-
tion as " orphans " (ver. 4). The essential element
of such a return was the prayer for forgiveness of
guilt, involving both confession of aud sorrow for
sin, and in connection therewith the vow of a
change of life. Rieger ; " When the sinner re-
solves to return unto the Lord, the Spirit of Grace
makes his soul willing. I said, I will confess my
transgression to the Lord. 0 how good it is if only
the sullen silence is broken and he begins to speak
with God from a heart freed from deceit. The
highest instance of the honor which he can give to
God in sincerely returning to Hira, is to reject all
help in men which he had sought before, and all
ereaturely consolation, to sanctify God the Lord
in his heart, and to seek mercy like a helpless or-
phan, as our Lord Jesus has shown us that we are
all orphans, teaching us to seek our Father in
Heaven, like orphans who have no father on
earth."
3. It is significant how " words " are emphasized
as an expression of such repentance, and as ex-
plained by the contrast to " sacrifices," literal offer-
ings of animals, every external legal service. Such
sacrifices are not needed ; " words " are suflaoient ;
these are the true sacrifices well pleasing to God ;
and yet they must be words that express a right
state of mind within. (On the other hand it must
be remembered that words are no guarantee of a free-
dom from outward lip-service.) It cannot be said
with certainty from this brief remark, whether the
Prophet contemplates the sacrifices as entirely done
away, as in the expected time of the coming re-
demption. The main object is to speak of Ihe re-
turn to God, and it is clear that he regards this aa
a going forth of the heart, which does not need
the intervention of any saeriflce, and therefore aa
a prayerful and penitent approach to Him without
the medium of an offering. The idea is certainly
at once suggested that if mercy can be found with-
out sacrifices, there is no need of them afterwards
in the state of grace.
4. Such a return presupposes the restoration
of God's favor, which is manifested by the promise
of a condition of rich blessing. On this promise
a restoration into their own country is not indi-
cated as a special element, although it is evidently
assumed, as exile from their country is to be re-
garded as the punishment that was decreed, ac-
cording to the threatenings of chaps, ix.-xi. The
promise in our chapter presents, so to speak, the
positive side, after the negative has been shown.
Punishment slmll not merely be taken away ;
blessing shall be restored to them, through which
alone a return to their country is to be gained.
From the fact, however, that here at the close of
the Book such a return is not promised, it is to ba
inferred that in the picture of the future redemp-
tion which the Prophet sketches, such return is
not of itself the most important element, i. e., the
Prophecy looks beyond it and towards something
greater connected with it, a complete manifesta-
tion of God's favor to his people,-which finds its
expression in a state of rich and wondrous blessed-
ne.''s. This we designate the Messianic character
of the prophetic promise. It is therefore clear that
we are not to seek the fulfillment of this promise
in premessianic time ; apart from the considera-
tion that it did not then appear. The Messiah
Himself, according to the statement of the prom-
ise, did not accomplish it as consisting in the glori-
ous bloom and vigor of the people ; nor will He
do so, simply because He has already brought a
still higher disclosure of God's mercy, and will
yet introduce a more glorious display, in which
the whole believing people of God will enjoy (out-
ward and inward) blessedness, as the nation of Is-
rael will no longer be the object of special favor.
5. The promise here made to the people of Is-
rael, that of full bloom and prosperity, and vigor,
through the influence of God's grace — still chiefly
in a temporal sense, — shall be fulfllled for all be-
lievers as God's true people in a higher sense: they
shall be perpetually bedewed with power from
God. The favor of God is ever fresh and bloom-
ing for them, and they enjoy its fruits without in-
termission, as they themselves become like a liv-
ing, firmly-rooted, wide-spreading, never-fading,
sweet-smelling tree. All this has its beginning
even now, as surely as the divine favor brought to
us through Christ is a reality, but shall only find
its complete perfection when the kingdom of God
shall have attained its complete realization.
6. " It is the object of the Prophet Hosea and
of all Prophecy, in the spirit of ver. 10, to alarm
and to warn the apostate, to confirm and to com-
fort the converted, and to glorify the Lord"
(Schmieder). Only the ways of the Lord are
right. Then inevitable destruction must befall
him who departs from them. True wisdom is to
regard them, and all the prophetic Scriptures are
like an uplifted finger, which warns against any
departure from them, and at the same time like
an outstretched finger which points to the way
upon which the righteous must walk.
100
HOSEA.
HOMILBTICAL AND PKACTICAL.
Vers. 2-9. Fkanke : He who would read what
is sweet and agreeable, should read the close of
all the Prophets. They are like a choir of sing
ers, one singing one part, another another ; but at
last they all dwell upon one note. The glory of
Christ's Church at last is the finale.
Ver. 2. This is the key-note of all Prophecy ;
it always conies back to this. This warning is
the most needed and the weightiest of all. All
God's judgments have this as their aim. They
cry out earnestly : Return. 0 that we might hear !
It is well to hear when God calls through his
deeds ; but it is better to hear his Words. " To
thy God," not to a strange God, but to One from
whom so much good has been experienced, and
who remains, the God of mercy and our God, even
when He must punish us. Beturn ! (1) the ob-
ject ; to the Lord, thy God ; (2) the reason : be-
cause thou hast fallen through thy iniquity.
[Matt. Henkt : Sin is a fall, and it concerns
those who have fallen by sin to get up again by
repentance.
FAnssET : God assures us that He is the God
of his people, and invites us not merely to return
towards, but never to rest until we have reached
even up to Himself — to be satisfied with nothing
short of Himself. — M.]
Ver. 3. Words are nothing unless they come
from the depths of the heart. But when they
come from thence, as did the Publican's prayer,
and David's psalm of confession, then, though
seemingly slight and less than " sacrifices," they
are in truth as great and naturally more than all
merely outward offerings, since they are measured
according to the disposition of the heart. All
grief over sin avails nothing without the prayer
for forgiveness addressed to God. Not repentance
but forgiveness, gives rest and peace.
[PusET : What other good can we offer than
detestation of our past sins with burning desire of
holiness t
Pausset : What so cheap as words ? And yet
words such as God requires are not natural to
fallen man. The Spirit of God alone can teach
such words. In Gospel times we have no longer
burdensome literal sacrifices to offer, but we have
an offering continually to render which is more
acceptable to Him (Ps. Ixix. 30, 31), the thanks-
givings of unfeigned "lips," sanctified through the
offering of Christ once for all. — M.]
Ver. 4. God is gracious to orphans. 0 that all
orphaned ones might turn to God's mercy !
\PTJ8Er : He is indeed fatherless who hath not
God for his Father.
Ver. 5. PnSET : Steadfastness to the end is
the special gift of the Gospel. In healing that
disease of unsteadfastness God heals all besides.
— M.]
Ver. 6. Starke : God alone can truly revive
the heart. Let him who needs comfort and re-
freshing seek them in God.
Ppaff. Bibelwerk : See how believers bloom
In tlieir holiness, strike root, bring forth fruit, and
diffuse fragrance all around ! Art thou also such
a fruitful tree displaying such vigor of spiritual
life?
[Fausset : All that is beautiful, solid, harmon-
ious, and enduring shall be found in harmonious
unison in the " trees of righteousness," etc. (Is.
Ixi. 3).
P0SEY : Such reunion of qualities, being be-
yond nature, suggests the more, that that wherein
they are all combined, the future Israel, the Church,
shall flourish with graces that are beyond nature,
in their manifoldness, completeness, unfadingness.
— M.]
Ver. 9. 0 that God could speak thus of us,
finding in us no idolatry, nor needing to plead
with us any longer because of our idols ! What
better thing could we wish than that God would
regard us in mercy ? In Christ this is realized.
In Him he is also as an evergreen tree of life to
believers ; his mercy never ceases, and from its
fullness they may all receive grace for grace. He
is for them an evergreen tree of life, but also one
whose fruit never fails, and ever nourishes.
[Matt. Henky : God will be to all true con-
verts both a delight and a defense ; under his pro-
tection and influence they shall both dwell in
safety and dwell at ease. He will be either a sun
and a shield, or a shade and a shield, as their case
requires.
PnsET : Created beauty must at best be but a
faint image of the beauty of the soul in grace;
for this is from the indwelling of God the Holy
Ghost. — M.]
Ver. 10. God's ways are direct; we must there-
fore not follow roundabout or crooked courses,
but go straight forward in faith and labor; a
straight course makes the best runner. Eighte-
ousness brings a blessing ; unfaithfulness a curse,
remains the simple and infallible rule of living,
attested by God's word, and confirmed by expen-
ence.
Luther : Let us thank the merciful Father of
Jesus Christ, for these greatest gifts, that He has
revealed to us these direct ways, and pray that
He would guide by his Holy Spirit those that
walk therein, and preserve us to eternity.
[Matt. Henry ; God's discovery of Himself,
both in the judgments of his mouth, and the judg-
ments of his hand, is to us according as we are
affected by it. The same sun softens wax and
hardens clay. But of all transgressors, those cer-
tainly have the most dangerous fatal falls that fall
in the way of God, that split on the Rock of Ages,
that suck poison out of the balm in Gilead. Let
sinners in Zion be afraid of this.
PusEY God reveals his ways to us not that we
may know them only, but that we may do them.
The life of grace is a life of progress. Every at-
tribute or gift or revelation of God, which is full
of comfort to the believer, becomes in turn an oc-
casion of stumbling to the rebellious. With this
the Prophet sums up all the teaching of the sev-
enty years of his ministry. This is to us the end
of all ; this is thy choice, 0 Christian soul, to walk
in God's ways, or to stumble at them. — M.J
THE
BOOK OF JOEL.
EXPOUNDED
OTTO SCHMOLLER, Ph. D.,
DRACH, WtJKTKMBKES.
ntANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITS ADDITIONAL NOTES AND ANEW VERSIOS
OF THE HEBREW TEXT,
JOHN FORSYTH, D. D, LL. D.,
CHAPLAIN AMD PKOFK380E OF ETHICS AKIl LAW IN THE UNITKP STATBS
KILITABT ACADEMY, WEST POINT, N. T.
NEW YORK:
CHAELES SCRIBNEE'S SONS,
btered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1874, bjT
SCEIBNEB, AeMSTBONG, AUD COMPANY,
Sa the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashingtoB.
JOEL.
INTRODUCTION.
I. Fhe Person and Time of the Prophet.
The name Joel, /Mi'', i. e., Jehovah is God, is one of frequent occurrence in the Old Testa-
ment, having been borne by many persons mentioned in sacred history. For this reason
our Prophet, whose name is found only in the title of this book, is distinguished as " The
son of Pethuel." This is the only direct notice of him, and all the other incidents of his
personal history must be inferred from the book that bears his name. He certainly hved in
the kingdom of Judah, for in the call to the people to meet in the temple for the purpose of
humiliation and repentance, Zion, and Jerusalem, and Judah alone are mentioned, ii. 15, 23,
32; iii. 1, 6, 16, 18. Of these localities he speaks not in the tone of a stranger, but as one
who was personally identified with them. He makes no allusion whatever to the state of
things in the kingdom of Israel. It is, therefore, highly probable that he resided and proph-
esied not simply within the limits of the kingdom of Judah, but specially at Jerusalem.
Again, the way in which he speaks of the temple, the sacrifices, and the priesthood, raises
the presumption that he was himself a priest.
The Time in which he lived is nowhere expressly stated, and cannot be fixed with ab-
solute certainty. But we may determine it approximately from the relation between him
and Amos. The latter begins his prophecy (i. 2) by a quotation from Joel iii. 16, and
there is also a close resemblance between Amos ix. 13 and Joel iii. 18. Hence it may be
inferred that Amos had the prophecy of Joel before him when he wrote his own. Now
the time when Amos flourished may be easily fixed by the inscription and by the contents
of his book, namely, in the days of the Judaic King Uzziah, and of the Israelitic King
Jeroboam II. Joel, therefore, cannot belong to a later period. The design of his prophecy,
and the condition of things which it imphes, warrant the inference that he lived at an earlier
day. Ewald justly says, " A later prophet would not have been so deeply moved as Joel
was, by the terrible visitation of locusts and drought, as to call for a solemn act of national
repentance on this ground alone. He would rather have seized the opportunity to point out
and impress upon the people their spiritual defects, and while exhorting them to repentance,
he would have told them specially of the sins from which they should break oft", and return
to the Lord." In Joel's days there is no eviden(;e of the general corruption of manners
that obtained in the times of Amos and Hosea. He makes no marked reference to par-
ticular sins. He does not speak of idolatry ; on the contrary, the worship of Jehovah seems
to have been maintained in the temple, at least in comparative purity. Israel, indeed, is
exhorted to repent, but is at the same time encouraged by precious promises. He does not
exhibit the heathen nations as the instruments of God's judgments on his own people ; on
the contrary, he ever sides with the latter, and he predicts the evils that shall overtake
the heathen for what they have done to Israel. He makes no allusion to Assyria. The
captivity of Israel by that power was an event beyond the horizon of the prophet. This-
much then is certain: that as the worship of Jehovah was still kept up in his day, Joel'
eould not have belonged to the times of Joram, nor Ahaziah, nor Athaliah. He must have
lived before or after their day We cannot, however, place him very long before thesa
i JOEL.
kings, as this would not consist witli the reference to the invasion of Judah by the adjacent
nations (iii. 3-6), which implied a weakened condition of the kingdom, nor with his probable
allusion to the pillaging of Jerusalem by the Philistines and the Arabians in the reign of
Joram. Again, the revolt of Edom, which did not occur earlier than the time of Joram,
must be taken into account. Nor must Joel be separated too far from the days of Amos.
For as Amos speaks of drought and locusts as judgments which God was about to inflict,
we may infer that he had in view the same calamities as those described by Joel. It is
natural to suppose that they came upon the kingdom of Judah to which Joel belonged, and
that of Israel, which was the special field of Amos. Again, Amos speaks of the PhiUstines,
the Tyrians, and Edom (ch. i.), and of their hostility to Israel, in a strain very similar to
that employed by Joel (ch. iii.). Both prophets charge them with the same sin, and de-
nounce against them the same punishment. Their sin was that of capturing Israelites and
selling them as slaves ; and although Joel names the Grecians as guilty of this crime, and
Amos the Edomites, yet it is plain that they both had in view the same events. On this
ground, Bleek holds that Joel, though older than Amos, was his contemporary, and places
him in the time of Uzziah. Others think that as he nowhere alludes to Syria, whose capital
Damascus is named by Amos (i. 3), nor to the invasion of Israel by that power under
Hazael, in the days of Joash, he must have flourished in the early part of that reign, be-
tween B. c. 870-850. Certainly if he lived in the time of Joash it must have been in the
early part of his reign, while he was still under the healthful influence of Joihada the high
priest, for at a later day he introduced the worship of Baal. To this view Bleek objects
that while Joel might have been expected to refer to the Syrian invasion if his book had
been written very soon after that event, there would be no reason for naming it if he wrote
it in the days of Uzziah, fifty years after it happened, since Syria was remote from Judah,
and separated from it by the then existing kingdom of Israel. But to this it may be re-
plied that Tyre and Sidon were also separated from Judah in the same way. Hence as
both prophets refer to the same heathen nations, while Damascus is mentioned by Amos
alone, this difference becomes all the more remarkable, and seems to warrant the inference
that Joel could not have lived during the Syrian invasion. Though the events detailed by
Joel, on account of which the nations concerned in them would be punished, must have been
in the view of Amos, yet there must also have been other occurrences, such as the war with
Syria, nearer to his time, and more immediately affecting the kingdom of Israel to which
he belonged. Hence if Amos prophesied about B. o. 810, Joel must have done so about
B. c. 850. But while Joel was older than Amos, it does not follow that he is the oldest of
the prophets whose writings we possess. He has many points of contact with Obadiah
(comp. Ob. 10, Joel iii. 19 ; Ob. 11, Joel iii. 3 ; Ob. 15, Joel i. 15, ii. 1, iii. 12, 17 ; Ob. 18,
Joel iii. 8). It is a question which of these two prophets is the elder. It is not im-
probable, though by no means certain, that Joel had before him the book of Obadiah, when
he wrote his prophecy. But we shall not pursue the discussion.
[WUnsche, the most recent expositor of this book,' fixes the time of Joel as somewhere
between B. c. 860-850, and the grounds on which he bases his opinion are these : —
1. Joel charges the Philistines with having invaded Judah, captured the inhabitants, and
«old them as slaves. Now according to 2 Ghron. xxi. 10, this happened under Joram, B. C.
•889-883. And they sufiered the punishment predicted for their crime, under Uzziah, 2
Chron. xxvi. 6. Hence Joel could not have written this book before B. c. 889, nor later
than 732.
2. The Phcenicians, i. e., those of Tyre and Sidon, who in the days of David and Solo-
mon were the allies, had in later times become the enemies of Judah. They too had been
guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Grecians. Joel predicts that they also shall he
punished for this crime, — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah, B. c. 811-759. This
proves that Joel must have prophesied before the days of Uzziah.
3. The Edomites (iii. 19), are ranked among the enemies of Judah. They came from the
same stock as the Jews, and on account of their sin against their brethren, their country was
to become a perpetual desolation. From 2 Kings viii. 20, comp. with 2 Chron. xxi. 8, we
learn that they became independent of Judah in the time of Joram, B. c. 889-883. Thej
were again subdued, and their capital city Petra captured, B. c. 838-811, though the southern
and eastern parts of their ten-itory were not conquered until the reign of Uzziah, about
B. C. 830. The prophet must have exercised his ministry, therefore, prior to the latter date.
1 [Die Weisyigungrn des Propketen Joel, iibersetzl und erkldrt, tod Dr. Aug. Wunsohe. Leipzig, 1872. ' Terj
elaborate work. — J. F.]
INTRODUCTION.
4. The fact that no mention is made of the invasion by the Syrians of Damascus, proves
that Joel was one of the early prophets. This occurred in the latter part of the reign of
Joash, B. C. 850-840.
5. The high antiquity of Joel is proved by the fact that he makes no reference to the
Assyrian invasion of the two Jewish kingdoms in b. c. 790. On the other hand, Amos
clearly alludes to it (vi. 14).
6. Another proof is derived from the relation between Joel and Amos. The latter was
certainly well acquainted with and used the writings of the former.
7. The mention of the Valley of Jehoshaphat is a circumstance leading to the same conclu-
sion. It took this name from the memorable victory there gained over Moab and Ammon.
The way in which Joel refers to it shows that this event must liave been a comparatively
recent one, and that the memory of it was still fresh.
On these grounds we conclude that in fixing the time of this prophet, we cannot take for
our terminus a quo an earlier date than B. c. 890, nor for our lenninun ad quern a later one
than 840. It most probably falls between b. c. 860-850. Joel therefore is the oldest of the
Minor Prophets. — F.]
Of the Ministry of our Prophet, i. e., as to the way in which he exercised it, we know
nothing beyond what may be gathered from this book. Whether he first appeared simply as
a preacher, or worked at the same time in other ways, cannot be determined. From what
we know respecting the other prophets, it is more than probable that his prophetic teachings
were originally oral, but if so, they must have been soon reduced to writing in the form in
which we now have them. That he exerted a, commanding influence on the popular mind is
clear from eh. ii. 18, especially if this verse be taken in a historical sense. But in any
view of it the passage shows that the prophet was conscious of his power ; for he not only
exhorts the nation to repentance, but imperatively demands it, and he does so with the
evident assurance that he will be obeyed. For this reason we are inclined to think that he
belonged to the order of the priesthood, and that his exhortations were, in the first instance,
addressed to his brethren in that office.
n. Of the Book.
There can be no question that the book bearing the name of Joel was written by himself.
Not only is there no ground for doubt on this head, but all the positive evidence in the case
is strongly on the same side ; as, for example, the perfect unity that marks the book, one
chapter fitting into another with the most complete exactness. Even if we admit, what
some assert, that ch. ii. 10, etc., belongs to a later date than the other parts of the book, our
remark holds good, for it is most closely connected with what precedes and follows it.
Whether we have the discourses of the prophet precisely as they were delivered (supposing
it to have been orally), or only the substance of them, is a point which cannot be de-
termined, and is really one of no practical importance. Most probably we have them in the
latter form, as the high finish and poetical diction of the book, specially in the first two
chapters, suggest the idea of literary elaboration, rather than that of a simple reporting of
oral discourses.
[Of the Style of the Prophet, the chief characteristic, says Dr. Pusey, is perhaps its sim-
ple vividness. Everything is set before us, as though we ourselves saw it. This is alike
the character of the description of the desolation in the first chapter, the advance of the
locusts in the second, or that more awful gathering in the valley of Jehoshaphat described in the
third. The prophet adds detail to detail ; each clear, brief, distinct, a picture in itself, yet
adding to the effect of the whole. We can without an effort bring the whole of each pic-
ture before our eyes. Sometimes he uses the very briefest form of words, two words, in his
own language, sufficing for each feature in his picture. One verse consists of five such pairs
of words, i. 10. Then again the discourse flows on in a soft and gentle cadence, like one
of those longer sweeps of an .aiohan liarp. This blending of energy and softness is perhaps
one secret why the diction also of this prophet has been at all times so winning and so
touching. Deep and full, he pours out the tide of his words with an unbroken smoothness
carries all along with him, yea, like those rivers of the new world, bears back the bitter rest-
less billows which oppose him, a pure strong stream amid the endles s heavings and tossings
of the world. Poetic as Joel's language is, he does not much use distinct imagery. For
his whole picture is one image. They are God's chastenings througb inanimate nature, pic«
6 JOEL.
turing the worse chastenings through man. Full of sorrow himself, he summons all with
him to repentance, priests and people, old and young, bride and bridegroom. The tender-
ness of his soul is evinced by his lingering over the desolation which he foresees. It is
like one counting over, one by one, the losses he endures in the privations of others. Na-
ture to him seemed to mourn ; he had a fellow feeling of sympathy with the brute cattle
which, in his ears, mourn so grievously ; and if none else would mourn for their own sins, he
would himself mourn to Him who is full of compa;ssion and mercy. Amid a wonderful
beauty of language he employs words not found elsewhere in the Holy Scripture. In one
verse (i. 16), he has three such words. The extent to which the prophecies of Joel reappear
in the later prophets has been exaggerated. The subjects of the prophecy recur ; not, for
the most part, in the form in which they were delivered. The great imagery of Joel is much
more adopted and enforced in the New Testament than the Old, — of the locust, the out>
pouring of the Spirit, the harvest, the wine-treading, the wine-press. To this unknown
Prophet, whom in his writings we cannot but love, but of whose history, condition, rank,
parentage, birthplace, nothing is known, nothing beyond his name, save the name of an un-
known father, of whom, moreover, God has allowed nothing to remain save these few chap
ters, — to him God reserved the prerogative, first to declare the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost upon all flesh, the perpetual abiding of the Church, the final struggle of good and
evil, the last rebellion against God, and the Day of Judgment.
The tone of Joel's writings, says Wtinsche, indicates deep rehgious feelings, heartfelt ex-
perience, and warm sympathy. His moral ideas are lofty and pure, and testify to the relig-
ious knowledge and the holy life of the prophet. His poetry is distinguished by the soaring
flight of his imagination, the originalit\r, beauty, and variety of his images and similes. The
conceptions are simple enough, but they are at the same time bold and grand. The perfect
orcier in which they are arranged, the even flow and well compacted structure of the discourse,
are quite remarkable. In his energy, power, and dignity, Joel reminds us of Micah ; in hie
vivacity and lifelike freshness he resembles Nahum ; in his originality and directness, in the
bold range, and sublime strain of his ideas, he falls but a little below Isaiah ; in his enthu-
siastic zeal for true religion, and his clear, earnest, penetrating insight into the moral dis-
orders of his times, he resembles Amos. Joel threatens and warns ; he descends into the
innermost recesses of human nature, and he drags into the Ught of day, corruption, false-
hood, and lukewarmness in the worship of Jehovah. Of our Prophet, Urabreit finely says ;
The Prophetic mantle which enrobed his lofty form, was worthy of his majestic spirit;
its color is indeed dark and solemn, like the day of the Lord which he predicts, yet we see
sparkling upon it the stars of the eternal lights of love and grace. — P. ]
The Occasion of this book was a terrible visitation of Judah by locusts and drought
The prophet describes the devastation produced, and viewing it as the beginning of a great
judgment day of the Lord, he calls upon the priests to appoint a day for national humiliation
and prayer. This must have been done, since he, by divine authority, promises tlie people
the richest blessings for the present and the future, as well as complete deliverance from all
their enemies.
The book consists of two Parts, which must be carefully distinguished. They are as
follows : —
Part I. includes chaps, i.-ii. 17 ; Part H. extends from ii. 19 to the end of ch. iii. They
are connected together by the historical statement (ii. 18, 19).
Part I. The plagues already named, are described as a divine judgment. The call to
repentance.
Ch. i. The unprecedented plague of locusts and drought is described, and those on whom
it fell are called upon to lament over the desolation of the land caused by it ; one of tlie worst
results of it being the necessity for suspending the daily sacrifices. For this reason the
priests are required to mourn themselves, and to summon all the inhabitants of the land to
ioin with tlicm in their lamentation.
Ch. ii. This visitation is simply a token that a great judgment day of the Lord is com-
ing. The army of locusts, of which a graphic picture is given, is the host of the Lord, sent
to do his will (vers. 1-11). Still the threatened judgment may be averted by timely re-
pentance (vers. 12-14). Hence the priests should appoint a day of humiliation and prayer,
and should beseech the Lord to have mercy upon the nation as beino- his own people (vers
14-17).
Part II. contains promises : (1 ) For the present (ii. 18-27). God will deliver his people
ESfTEODUCTION.
from the plague and amply repair the evil done by it, by new blessings, and so prove that
Israel is his people. (2.) For the future still greater things are promised. The day of the
Lord is surely coming, but to Israel it shall be a day of salvation, and a day of terror only
to Israel's foes. This day shall be introduced by the outpouring of God's Spirit upon the
whole people. There shall be at the same time terrible signs in the heavens and the earth,
from which there is safety only in Zion. But there, all will be perfectly secure (ch. iii. 1-8).
The day itself is described as one of deliverance for Israel, and of destruction for their ene-
mies, i. e., " the nations." These nations are reproached for their crimes against Israel, and
shall be punished on account of them (vers. 9-16). Infliction of the punishment. The
Lord assembles Israel and the nations, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. At first it seems as if the
nations were on the point of storming the holy city, but then and there, amid terrible signs,
they are annihilated by the Lord at one blow. The dawning of Israel's salvation described
(vers. 17-20). Uninjured by their enemies, protected by their God, who dwells forever in
the midst of them, his people enjoy the richest blessings.
What Joel says of the locusts is not to be taken simply as an allegory, nor as a merely
figurative description of the hosts of war. Nor is the first chapter a prediction ; on the
contrary it describes his own experience.
Importance of this Book. We find that it was held in high consideration by the latsr
prophets. We have already mentioned the use made of it by Amos. It is also quite plain
that Isaiah used it (comp. Is. xiii. 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, and Joel, ii. 1-11 ; iii. 15, 16). That other
later prophets had the book before them will be obvious to any one who examines a Bible
with parallel references. Delitzsch, therefore, justly says, " Among the prophets who flour-
ished fi-om the time of Uzziah to that of Jeroboam, Joel unquestionably holds the position
of a type or model, and after Amos, there is not one whose writings do not remind us of
him." We may even claim for Joel (and Obadiah also if we regard him as one of the
earlier prophets), a sort of fundamental significance for the whole series of later prophets,
not only on account of his clear and precise prediction of the coming of the day of the
Lord, but also because of the way in which he connects Israel with it. Even God's cove-
nant people must look well to see how they stand, for in that day, repentance alone can help
them, if this is wanting, if Israel departs from God, escape from the coming judgment will
be impossible, — a truth which the later prophets exhibit with an ever-growing emphasis and
distinctness. The prophecies of Joel are, it seems to me, fundamental in another sense,
namely, in the promises they give respecting Israel's future. Though Israel must first suffer
on account of their sins, yet the prophet anticipates with confidence the time when they
shall return in penitence to God, and predicts that they shall win a glorious triumph, while
all their enemies, t. e., the world, shall be utterly destroyed. Thus Joel (uniting himself, as
it were, with Obadiah in unfolding and confirming the prophetic promises on this head),
fixes with an assured faith the position of Israel, as God's own people, and foretells their
glorious victory over all their foes, though the latter may, for the present, bring upon them
much shame and sorrow. What the eye sees cannot be an object of faith, which has to do
irith things for the time being invisible. Accordingly Joel has given a key-note (much
more full than that of Obadiah's), which was repeated by the later prophets ; he unfurled a
standard, so to speak, which shall never cease to wave on high. The later prophets would
witness the deep humiliation of God's people by the nations, i. e., the world power ; they
would have to announce the total overthrow of the commonwealth of Israel, the annihilation
of its political existence, as a well-deserved punishment for their sins. But notwithstand-
ing this, all that Joel had promised would be reaUzed ; the day of the Lord was surely
coming for the heathen, — a day of fearful recompense to them, but to his own people a day
of deUverance and eternal salvation. So we find that in spite of the denunciations against
the chosen people on account of their apostasy, in spite of the judgments to be inflicted
upon them through the agency of the heathen, the faith and hope of the prophets in regard
io the future of Israel are never shaken. They perpetually recur to the promise that the
i^ord will not cast off his people. A remnant shall survive. In this remnant Jehovah will
be glorified, and will show that his ultimate design was not to destroy his people, but to
bestow upon them fresh favors, yea far higher ones than their fathers enjoyed. This prom-
ise becomes more and more closely allied to the hope of a Messiah, and gives to it a more
and more positive shape. This hope of a Messiah is the sohd basis of all other hopes of
Israel's future and glorious destiny. Joel, indeed, does not in express terms describe this
Messianic foundation, as it may be called, but he has a general conception of it, and for this
8 JOEL.
reason we have said that his prophecy may properly be called a fundamental one, i. e., with
reference to those on the same subject, in later times.
in. Literature of the Book (exclusive of Commentaries on the Minor Prophets as a whole)
Sebast. Tuscani, Erem. Augustin. Comment, in Joel, Colon., 1556 ; Joel cum Adnot et Ver-
sione trium Rabbin, per Gilb. Genebrand, Paris, 1563 ; Eli Schadseus, Synopsis Joel, Argent,
1588 ; F. Bunny, Enarratio in Joel, Lond., 1588, 1595 ; J. Mathiie, Prcdectiones in Joel, Basil,
1590 ; S. Simonidis, Comm. in Joel, Cracov, 1593 ; Sol. Gesner, Comm. in Joel, Viteb., 1614 ;
J. H. Ursinus, Comm. in Joel, Francov., 1641 ; Ed. Pocock, Comm. in Proph. .Joel, Lips., 1695 ;
Haseus, /oeZ Illustrata, Bremen, 1697; J. J. Schurrman, Proph. Joel, Wesel, 1700 (also
Holland version, 1703) ; Sam. Chandler, Paraphrase and Critical Comment, on Joel, London,
1735; C. F. Bauer, Introd. in .Joel, Wittemb. 1741; G. N. Richter, in Joel, Viteb., 1747;
Baumgai-ten, Auslegung des Joel, Halle, 1756 ; P. Conz, Dissert de Charact Poet Joels, Tub,,
1783 ; J. Buttner, Joel olim Hebrceus, Coburg, 1784; J. E. Eckerman, Joel metrisch ubersetzi
und erklarlj'L-aheck. und Leipzig, 1786 ; Susti, Joel vbersetzt und erkldrt, Leipzig, 1792; A,
Svanborg, Joel Latine Versus, et Nolis philol. illustrata, Upsal, 1806 ; F. A. Holzhausen,
Comment, 1829 ; K. A. Credner, 1831 ; A. Wunsche, Die Weissagungen des Propheten Joel,
iiberselzt und erklarl, Leipzig, 1872. Among practical expositors, may be named, J. Died-
rich, der Proph, Joel, kurz erkldrt, Leipzig, 1861.
THE PROPHET JOEL.
PART FIRST.
THE JUDGMENT AND CALL TO REPENTANCE.
Chapters I. l-II. 17.
SECTION I.
Complaint of the Desolation of Judah by Locusts and Drought.
Chapter I.
1 The word of Jehovah which came to ' Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye ^ old men.
And give ear* all ye iahabitants of the land!
Hath such * a thing been in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers ?
3 Tell it' to your children.
And your childreu to their children,
And their children to another generation.
4 What the palmer worm ' hath left, the locust hath eaten,
And what the locust hath left, the beetle hath eaten,
And what the beetle hath left, the caterpillar hath eaten.
5 Awake ' ye drunkards,^ and weep,
And cry out ^ all ye drinkers of wine
On account of the new wine (or must),^"
For it is cut off (removed) from your mouth.
6 For" a people^ hath invaded" my land,"
Mighty and numberless ;
Their teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And they have the jaw teeth of a lioness.
7 They have laid waste my vine,"
And barked (or broken) my fig trees ;
They have made it quite bare,'° and cast it away ;
Its branches are made white.
8 Lament '^ like a bride ^'
Girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 Cut off is the meat offering and the drink offering from the house of JehoTsh t
The priests mourn
The ministers *° of Jehovah.
10 The field is wasted,*"
The land moumeth,^^
For the corn is destroyed,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil ^ fails.
11 Be ashamed ye husbandmen,
Howl ye vine-dressers,
10 JOEL.
For the wheat and for the barley^' ;
Because the harvest of the field hath perished.
12 The vine is dried up,
And the fig tree faileth,
The pomegranate, also the palm, and the apple tree (quince)
All the trees of the field are withered,
So that joy is dried up^* from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves and lament, ye priests,
Cry out ye ministers of the altar ;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth
Ye ministers of my God,
For the meat offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify a fast,
Appoint a solemn assembly,
Gather the elders.
And aU the inhabitants of the land
In the house of Jehovah your God ;
And cry unto Jehovah.
15 Alas for the day !
Because the day of Jehovah is at hand ;
It will come like^ a tempest from the Almighty (Shaddai).
16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes ?
Joy and gladness fr-om the house of our God ?
17 The grains '^ (seeds) are rotten ^' under their clods,^'
The garners are destroyed.
The barns^' are broken down.
Because the corn is withered.
18 How the beasts groan !
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
Because they have no pasture ;
Even the flocks of sheep perish.
19 Unto Thee, O Jehovah, will I cry,
For the fire hath devoured all the pastures of the plain,
And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 Even^ the beasts of the field ^^ cry nnto Thee
For the streams of water are dried up.
And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the plain (wilderness).
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — The preposition 7M indicates direction, and lite tlie Arab. Jf includes ordinarily tlie (ermtnwi «l
|Win. Sept. OS eyevyjfh} irpos 'Ict),jA.
a Ver. 2. — D*^3)7^rT. Tlie Heb., unlike the Arab., has no proper Tocative, and hence the simple noun with or Trlth
pat the article takes its place.
8 Ver. 2. — ^li^tSH, denom. verb from ^TK : it is stronger than U^t^, but is only used in poetry.
4 Vei. 2. — The dagesh In the second DS-T is the dag. forte conj.
6 Ver. S.-~ n^vl\ The fem. sufflx, which according to a peculiar Heb. idiom stands for the neut., has tor its ant^
Kdent /nKT. The prep. 7^7 denotes the object of the discourse ; it is used like the Lat. super^ and Gr. inrip.
CHAPTER I 11
0 Yer. 4. — There is little difference of opinion in regard to the etymology of the nameB of the insects mentioned io
this Terse. — DJ3 from the same root = to cut off. n^T'^j *^® most common name for locust, from rm"), to multiply.
pv*] from the same root, to lick up. ^^pHT from 7Dn, to consume. Expositors are, however, very much divided
fts tfl whether these terms are names of the locust at diflerent stages of its growth, or of different species of insect. Bp,
Newcome renders them, the grasshopper ; the locust, the devouring locust ; the consumiog locust. Hitzig, Keil, and
others regard them as simply poetical epithets of one and the same species of locust. It is hardly possible to give thai*
exact equivalents in English.
7 Ver. 5. — ^^**pn from "^^p, to cut off, to separate, then to arouse, or awaken ; the opposite of the onomatopoetio
word 0*3*^ *^ anore, to sleep heavily.
8 Ver. 6- — D*^"li2t£?, from "iDtt?, a strong drink made of honey, raisins, dates, and other fruits. Hence the word ^
DOtorioufi drunkards.
9 Ver. 5. — ^ v'^^"*nl, from the onomatopoetio V V**, to howl, complain,
10 Ver. 5. — D'^OV ia the fresh sweet juice of the grape, and other kinds of fruit, as the pomegranate. Song of Sol.
Tlii. 8, and is to be distinguished from tE7TT^.n, new wine, strictly so called. The former must have been a favorita
drink of the old Hebrews.
11 Ver. 6. — "^"D makes the connection between this and the preceding verse.
12 Ver. 6. — *^i!l denotes a heathen, hostile people, and differs from D5?, though the distinction between the two
words is not always observed. See Text, notes on Obadiah, ver. 1-
18 Ver. 6. — ^V n V^, lit. gone up, upon, perhaps with reference to the fact that Palestine is higher than the coutt'
tries around it ; but the word is often used in the more general sense : to approach, to enter, etc., where the region is a
Level one.
14 Ver. 6. —"My land," "'S^M, i- e-, not the land of Jehovah, nor simply the native land of Joel, but the land
with which he was allied as the prophet of the Lord.
'5 Ver. 7. — *^3^3, " my vine," — not the vine of the Lord, but of the Prophet speaking in his name
18 Ver. 7. — ?lt£?n lit., " peeling it have peeled it," i. e., completely.
17 Ver. 8. — ''bSl., imper. fern, of H^W, and an. A.ey., like the Chald. and Syr. )^ j« The more usual form ill
7^V^rT. Many expositors, without reason, take it as a denom. from ^M, God-
18 Ver. 8. — The proper Heb. word for virgin is HZ^b^ The word here used denotes a bride, i. e., a young woman
cflpoused. See Is. vii. 14 ; Matt. i. 2-3.
19 Ver. 9. — '^pnWI^, IVTmisters, from rT^tt?, to serve. It denotes free and honorable service, e. g-., of the temple,
in contrast with *1'^V which denotes the enforced service of slaves.
- T
20 Ver. 10. — mtl? "Tltt?. A paronomasia. The root T7tt7 has in Kal first the intrans. sense to be strong, nex^
the trans, sense, to use strength, i. e., to waste, to desolate. H^B? denotes specially wheat or barley fields, then woodlaml,
fle.ls where cattle fodder ; rTiQ*TS, farmland generally.
21 Ver. 10. — n^^W, the Sept. and Arab, versions take this as an imper., and render it " Mourn ! 0 land."
22 Ver. 10.— in!^'^, from the root "ini?, to be clear, i. e., the oil newly pressed and clarified; as distinguished
from T^U?, fat.
28 Ver. 11. — nt2n"b^. The prep, bl?, as in vers. 5, 7, marks the cause. ntOPT and n"li^t£7 are the two
kinds of 'J3'7 : the one kind of grain being used as food by men, the other chiefly by cattle, though the very poor used both
24 Ver. 12. — tt?^5n"'^5. We have here what is called con^tructio pregnans= VTC^ tt^^D"^ P^^) ^°^ ^^
withered and fled away.
26 Ver. 15. — *TCil?D. The expression is regarded by some as a sort of proverbial one. 'D is not pleonastic, nor tho
BO-called 5 veritath^ but indicates likeness in quality or degree.
28 Ver. 15. — " From Shaddai — the Almighty." The Rabbins, Raschi, Abarbanel, and Maimonides see in this nama
1 profound mystery, because it is a noun compounded of the insftp pronoun, t27, with pattach notat, and '^^^ or "^^T
if) hold. The rendering of the Sept., Kal «s TaKanrtopCa e/c TaKanrwpCav rj^et, is wholly inadmissible.
27 Ver. 17. — The three a.Tra$ A.eyo/ji. words in this verse, render it both as to etymology and grammar, one of tho
most diflicult in the whole book, Willi?, according to Aben Ezra and Kimchi, means " rotted ; "' " perished," New
come ; "dried up," Pusey, WUnsche. Some light is cast on the sense of HiT^D, by the Syr. JLl^-O^ seed, corn
ftnd the Chald. TiD, grain. In form the word is the Paid participle of ^^D, The third word, niD15^, is prob
fcbly ftom the root Pl*!^ — found only in Judg. v. 21, — which in all the dialects has the sense of to bear or carry away
The Arab. |^ ^j^^^ denotes the breaking up of the soil by the plough. 715*1.73, therefore, may be a lump of soil,
a clod, such m is thrown up by the plough. So the old Jewish expositors have understood it. In m*13^Q we havo
another aTro^ Key. — yet there can be little doubt as to its meaning. The D local is prefixed. Newcome renders ii
"fltore-housw ' Tregelles, ' granaries, or cells for keeping grain."
12
JOEL.
28 Ver 20. — D3 here as in ver. 13, marks an increase of the general calamity.
29 Ver. 20. — The construction of the fern. sin^. with the plur. noun is common in poetry, and ia proper he» >eoailM
nlXDn^ is used in a coUective sense. This term denotes domestic cattle. — F.]
EXEGETICAL.
Vers. 2-4. (Hear this ye old men, — ) the eater-
piUaa: hath eaten. A call is made upon the inhab-
itants of Judah, and especially the old men, to tes-
tify that an unheard-of thing had happened, — an
event to be told to their posterity, namely, tlie
complete desolation of the land by successive
swarms of locusts.
Ver. 2. (Old men.) They are named because
their memory goes back the farthest. The calam-
ity might well be deemed extraordinaxy if they
could recall nothing like it. IrLhabitants of the
lEuid, i. e., of Judah, as is evident from what fol-
lows ver. 14, ii. I. DH^ refers to what is stated
in ver. 4. In vers. 2, 3 there is an allusion to
Exod. X. 2-6, where the plague of locusts in Egypt
is spoken of
Ver. 4. Swarms of locusts come, each one de-
vouring what its predecessor had left. This, how-
ever, is not described in a dry, prosaic way. As
the locusts appear four times, they bear four dis-
tinct names. Their proper name is n?~'W, the
others are poetic ones. These names are not used
fiimply to denote the changes which the locusts
undergo, nor their invasion of the land during
successive years, as this would not consist with
the statement that what one kind had left, another
had eaten. The preterite ^?^ is to be taken in
its proper sense. The whole chapter speaks of
something that has actually happened. The des-
olation is described in detail, one feature of it
after another being depicted in such a way as to
arouse those affected by it to earnest prayer.
Verses 5-7. Awake ye drujakards. — Its
branches are made white. The drunkards are
called upon to mourn, to show poetically how
complete is the desolation of the vineyards. At
the same time, this is to be regarded as a punish-
ment for the sins of the people, who are summoned
to repent, though this last idea is not yet explicitly
expressed.
ver. 6. The locusts are represented under the
figure of a hostile army. They are not to be re-
garded as a type of such an army, as if the pas-
sage was simply allegorical. Yet the idea of en-
mity to Israel implied in the word '^ij — a heathen
people, — must not be lost sight of, for these locusts
actually ravage the land of Israel. Hence there
is no ground for taking Hyl? otherwise than as a
preterite, nearly in the sense of a future, as pre-
dicting something to come. ''-"?^ is the land of
the prophet as speaking in the name of the people.
Jehovah himself does not speak directly, comp. v.
13. The arms of these invaders are their teeth,
which grind like those of a lion. The jaw-teeth
of the lioness protecting or avenging her young
are added by waj^ of clima.x.
Ver. 7. The vine and fig tree. These are added
because they are among the most valuable of fruit
trees, comp. Hos. ii. 14. nQ!J|77 is properly that
which is broken off, t. e., a fragment of Mfood,
splinter, chip. HCti^q, made bare, by barking or
paring, so as to peel off. The bark is thrown
nway ; and the whole vine is made white or
Blanched by the barking of it.
Vers. 8-10. (Lament like a bride, — the oil
faUs.) The lamentation of the drunkards is sim-
ply a prelude to what follows. It would be a mis-
take to suppose that sensual pleasures and enjoy-
ments alone are meant. The thing at stake was
so much greater than these, that the whole land
had cause to mourn.
Ver. 8. Judah is here regarded as a wife, and
hence the fitness of comparing this lamentation to
that of a young bride mourning the husband of
her youth. Certainly no judgment could be more
severe than one that made it impossible to present
" the meat and drink oiferings." Hence the priesta
had reason to mourn ; and Judah, in danger of
losing the visible emblems of the presence of his
God, is fitly compared to the young wife who had
lost her husband. These offerings could not be
presented because everything was destroyed. [The
corn, wine, and oil were essential ingredients of
these offerings, and every sacrifice would be imper
feet without them. The locusts and the drought
combined must also have caused a great dearth of
the animals used in sacrifice. — F.]
Vers. 11-12. Be ashained, ye husbandmen, —
from the sons of men. The husbandmen and
vine-dressers are next addressed. The worst fea^
ure of the desolation, already mentioned, is not
again noticed until we come to ver. 13. In ver.
11, ^©■'2n, ^b^'Vn are imperfects. E7''nrt,
from ti7^3 (perhaps to distinguish it from tt^^Sin
the Hiphil of tf^lj, here without the 1 which pre-
cedes and follows it), to be ashamed, to grow pale.
Going into their fields and finding nothing there,
they are ashamed.
Ver. 12 adds the reason for their lamentation.
Besides tiie vine and the fig, other noble trees are
mentioned which may have been under the special
care of the vine-dresser ; as well as the trees of the
field generally. ptCttJ W'D.h here also the Hiph.
of tI7-"l3, to grow paler. Joy becomes, as it were,
ashamed ; she withdraws herself, and is no more
seen.
Vers. 13-17. Gird yourselves and lament ye
Priests, — the ooru is withered. The discourse
returns to what had been complained of in ver. 9,
as the worst feature of the calamity, namely, the
inability to offer sacrifices. Here (ver. 13) the
priests are again called upon to lament the want
of materials for the temple service. " Gird your-
selves," I. e., with sackcloth or hair-cloth. " Pass
the night," i. e., even in the night-time their
lamentations on this account should continue.
[They should weep between the court and the al-
tar. See 1 Kings xxi. 27. There was nothing
strange in this direction, for there was no inter-
mission in the temple service by day or night. See
Ps. cxxxiv. 1. — ¥.] "Ministers of my God,"
the God whoso prophet I am. [The suffix of the
first person shows that the prophet, on the one
hand, stood apart from the priests, and on the
other, stood in a very near relation to God as his
organ, and therefore elevated far above all other
ranks and conditions of men. — Wiinsche.^ F.]
1 [Wiinsche thinks that this circumstance shows that
Joel could not have belonged to the priestly order. Bu»
this would be overstraining the sense of "my." — F.J
CHAPTER 1.
13
The phrase " your God," is immediately afterward
ased, and repeated in ver. 14, hence it must not
be supposed that the prophet intended, or was
obliged to separate himself wholly from the priests.
There must be fasting as well as lamentation.
This was to be observed not by the priests alone ;
on the contrary, the whole people must be assem-
bled in the temple, and there in the midst of these
masses the priests should cry unto the Lord.
" Sanctify a fast," because fasting was held to be,
in the popular estimation, a holy, religious service.
rr^'^V ^S-in. The word n^^? ordinarily de-
notes a religious assembly, one to observe a great
festival. Fiirst thinks that it comes from "l^^j
to fix, tc settle, i. c, a fixed time,i hence to pro-
claim a fast day. The " old men," — not the
elders in the official sense of the term, as one
might perhaps infer from the E. V. — who had
been called upon (ver. 2) to testify that no such
calamity had ever before happened, must be pres-
ent in this assembly, as well as those who are to
hear their testimony. pSJ, to cry out as an ex-
pression of want, or distress. The substance of
this " cry," or complaint, is presented in the verses
that immediately follow. This complaint probably
extends as far as ver. 17, in which the desolation of
the land is set forth as the ground of the lamenta-
tion. Ver. 18 seems to begin a new section, in
which the cries of the lower animals are repre-
sented as mingled with the complaints of men.
Ver. 15. Alas for the day, i. e., the present time
of desolation. This cry of distress is caused by the
nearness of the day of the Lord, The character
of this day may be learned from its results. It is
close at hand; it is coming as a desolating scourge
fi'om the Almighty, and its effect will be such as
to show that it could come only from Hira. That
this terrible state of things had already begun is
evident from ver. 16. The meat is cut off; the
voice of joy and gladness is no longer heard in the
temple. Why f Because it is not possible to pre-
sent there the usual thank-offerings. Besides the
invasion of the locusts which had eaten up every
green thing, there was an unusual drought (ver.
18) which had greatly intensified the calamity
that had befallen Judah. In consequence of these
things the granaries were empty, the barns had
gone to ruin, for the corn had failed. The ques-
tion arises, how is the passage from ver. 13 and
cnwards to be viewed. It is commonly taken to
»e a new section, the subject of which is the call
to repentance. Keil thus explains its connection
with the preceding context : " Lamentation and
mourning alone will not bring release from the ca-
lamity : with these must be conjoined repentance
and prayer to Jehovah, who can avert every evil."
But though this view seems to be favored by vers.
14, 15, it really mistakes the prophet's train of
thought. The call to repentance does not come for-
mally into view until ch. ii. 1 2, though the way had
been prepared for it, ii. 1. Now the description of
the day of the Lord in ii. 2 has a relation to what
is said in i. 15, so that the call to repentance may
be said to have its root and nothing more, in this
earlier section. The special design of ch. i. is to
lay a foundation for what is to follow, by exhibit-
ing the magnitude of Judah's distress, and the spe-
tial reason for repentance. The intensity of the
Tiouming showed the magnitude of the judgment.
1 [Tlie etymology of ttie word is riglit, but the sense
irliicii Purst suggests is au arbitrury one, and does not ac-
sord witli its evident meaning in tile many passages in
The priests (ver. 13) and the people at large (ver.
15) are alike called upon to recognize the judg-
ment, and to return to God who had sent it. This
passage and ch. ii. 1 5 seem to be exactly alike in
purport, but there are differences between them
which should not be overlooked. They differ in
regard to the motive and the object of the proposed
fasting and humiliation. In ch. ii. 15 the priests
are charged to call a solemn assembly, because in
this way they might hope for God's mercy. In ch.
i. 14 the ground of lamentation is the suspension
of sacrifices, which not only affected the public
worship of God in the temple as conducted by the
priesthood, but also the immediate interests of the
people themselves. They also differ in the object
proposed. In ch. ii. 15 the priests in the people's
name and behalf beseech the mercy of the Lord.
In vers. 14, 15 they cry to Him, "Alas." They
bring their complaint before the Lord, because this
great calamity bears upon their relation to Him as
his ministers, depriving them of the means for
carrying on divine service, and hence they cry out,
" the day of the Lord is near." So thorough ia
the desolation that one may well say " the day of
the Lord is at hand." Things have this look.
But as yet there is no word about repentance, con-
fession of sin, and return to God. The calamity,
in its unequaled magnitude, and far-reaching ef-
fects, just now fills the prophet's mind. He nat-
urally regards it as coming from God's hand, but
he here says nothing about the cause of it. The
reason for deeming it a divine infliction is only
implied in the connection between the devastation
and what the day of the Lord would bring.
Vers. 17, 18 show that the prophet is not yet
exhorting the people, but is still describing the
great calamity. It would be strange, therefore, for
him to introduce in ver. 13 a topic so entirely new,
as repentance. Nor do we find in these verses the
proper motives for such an exercise. Logically,
then, these two passages are quite distinct, the one
being a call to lamentation, and the other a call
to repentance. When the prophet, in i. 14 and ii.
15, exhorts the priests to appoint a fast and call
a solemn assembly, he does not mean that this
should be done twice, at two different times. The
one call is simply a repetition of the other, but in
a different sense. He wishes the people to fast,
and to meet in the temple, to mourn there with
the priests, and that tiey should also manifest
their penitence by prayer for mercy offered by the
Ijriests as their representatives.
Vers. 1 8-20. How do the beasts groan, — the
pastures of the wilderness. The beasts of the
field must suffer equally with men. This fact is
used to illustrate the magnitude of the calamity.
But as these dumb animals cannot describe their
sufferings, the prophet himself becomes their inter-
preter, and as if sharing their distress, exclaims.
To Thee, O Jehovah, do I cry — for help. That
this appeal is in the name of the beasts of the field
is evident from ver. 19. The flame, the Are, vers.
19, 20 = the fierce heats that produced the drought.
The beasts include domestic and wild animals,
THEOLOGICAL.
1. We may here discuss the question whether
the visitation of the locusts is to be regarded a.s an
allegorical prediction of an invasion of the land by
a hostile people, as most of the older expositors,
wliich it occurs. It has the same sense here as in Ler.
xxiij- 3-6 ; Num. x3ix. 36 ; Deut. xvi. 8 j 2 Ghron. vii. &
Nell. Tiii. 18. —F.]
14
JOEL.
and more recently Hengstenberg and Havernick
take it to be. They think that the prophecy of the
desolation of the land begins in chap. i. If this be
so, as there is no formal mention of the future, we
must suppose that the prophet sees the .approach
of the calamity so vividly, that he pictures the fu-
ture as a present reality. While this view may be
admissible, it is not natural. On its face, the text
describes not a future, but a present fact, and there
13 no exegetical necessity for assigning to it any
other sens3. We may also remark that the call to
the old m-'n to testify whether such a thing had
happened in tlieir day, and to the people generally
to transmit the account of it to their children,
would have no significance, if the event were a fu-
ture one. Chap. i. certainly describes a devasta-
tion that had actually happened, and as no foreign
foe had as yet invaded the land, it must have been
caused by locusts and drought. It needs no proof
that the word " people " (ver. 6) does not necessa-
rily denote a real nation. Again, the devastation
caused by locusts would be an inadequate type of
an invasion of the land, since one of the essential
features of the latter would be wanting, namely,
the shedding of blood. The picture of the calam-
ity in no way suggests the terrors caused by an
inroad of foreign foes. The chapter simply treats
of the damage done to the products of the earth,
and the complaints of men in consequence of it. —
But as regards chap, ii., the question whether the
visitation of locusts is to be taken in an allegorical
sense, is not so easily settled. Here the coming of
" the day of the Lord " is for the first time dis-
tinctly announced, and in this connection there is
a renewed mention of the destruction caused by
locusts and drought. That this latter event should
be made the theme of a prophetic discourse, is no
way surprising, because Holy Scripture teaches us
that all public calamities are divine dispensations
designed to awaken men to a sense of their sins,
and to bring them to repentance. What more
natural, then, than that the prophets should, in
God's name, threaten such calamities, and when
they did come, interpret and apply them so as to
arouse the people to penitence, so that they might
escape still heavier judgments 1 A clear illustra-
tion of this is found in Amos vi. 6, and as he closely
follows Joel, we may regard it as settled that the
latter prophet had these calamities before his mind.
But the prophet is a poet as well as a preacher of
repentance ; and so he presents a most vivid poetic
picture of the great misfortune which had befallen
Judah. In its surpassing magnitude, God's chas-
tising hand was all the more manifestly displayed,
and his voice was all the more distinctly heard
calling his people to repent.
2. The memory of extraordinary events should
be preserved in the popular mind. They thus be-
come a tradition, or a history. Thus only can
there be a continuous life in the case of individuals,
of families, and of nations. This basis of history,
namely, the remembrance of the experience of for-
mer generations, in the case of Israel is essentially
a religions one. Here, events are manifestations
of God, — of his mercy, or his judgment. As such
they should never be forgotten, in order that the
revelation of God to the consciousness of a nation
may be maintained in an ever-living freshness.
3. Terrible as is the scourge which strikes at
\he means of subsistence in a land, in the prophet's
eye this is not its worst result. In this case, for
example, the greatest evil produced by it was the
loss of the sacrifices in the house of God. The
Temple was the visible sign and pledge of God's
dwelling in the midst of Israel as his people. But
it was such only while divine worship was kept up
in it, according to the due order, by the priests
as the representatives of the people. The daily
morning and evening sacrifice formed an essential
part of this service ; and on its continuance de-
pended the continuance of God's covenant relation
to his people [i. e., not really, but visibly, — F,].
The suspension of the one suspended the ether.
Hence no greater misfortune could happen to Is-
rael than the inability, caused by famine, to supply
the Temple with the materials for these sacrifices.
Joel, realizing fully the necessity of these offerings
for the purpose before named, turns to the priests,
here and in chap, ii., entreating them to call upon
God themselves and to endeavor to bring the peo-
ple to repentance. Such, in any case, was their
present duty. How it might be in the future will
be disclosed in chap. iii. Meanwhile it is manifest
that no merely formal service would meet the exi-
gency. Only true repentance would avail.
HOMILETICAL.
Vers. 1-2. [Henry : The greatness of the judg-
ment is expressed here in two things: (1.) It was
such as could not be paralleled in the ages that
were past; in history, or the memory of any liv-
ing. Those that outdo their predecessors in sin,
may justly expect to fall under greater and sorer
judgments than any of their predecessors knew.
(2.) It was such as would not be forgotten in the
ages to come. We ought to transmit to posterity
tiie memorial of God's judgments as well as of his
mercies. — F.]
Ver. 3. How necessary it is that our children
should be taught the will of God, and what his
purpose is when He chastises us, so that the fear
of his holy name may be deepened in our hearts.
Ver. 4. Here we learn the omnipotence of God,
and how vainly human power is arrayed against
Him, since He can employ the smallest and mean-
est insect to do his will.
Ver. 5. Ye drunkards who consume God's
kindly gifts in intemperance and sin, know that
your sin carries a curse with it, and that God can
easily cut off the wine from your mouths, and
punish you with years of famine.
[PusEY : All sin stupefies the sinner. All in-
toxicate the mind, bribe and pervert the judgment;
dull the conscience, blind the soul, and make it
insensible to its own ills. God arouses those who
will be aroused by withdrawing from them the
pleasures wherein they offended Him. Weeping
for things temporal may awaken the fear of losing
things eternal. — F.]
Vers. 6-8. The Christian Church is God's
vineyard. If at any time it yields not good fruit,
but only wild grapes, it shall be laid waste.
[Robinson : Prevailing sins are often visited
with corresponding judgments. The Lord in his
righteous dealings withholds those gifts of his
providence which have been abused. He takes
from an ungodly people the means of gratifying
their lusts, and leads them to repentance by afflic-
tions which are not capriciously ordered, but with
exactest wisdom are suited to their character. Ba
assured, the prosperity of the Church depends not
on a grand ceremonial, or crowds of admiring
devotees, or the countenance of the state, however
desirable these things may be, but only on the fa-
vor of God, whose blessing, and whose Spirit will
be withdrawn, if we defile his sanctuary with su
perstitious rites. — F.]
CHAPTER I.
15
Ver. 9. No greater sorrow can befall the teach-
ers and hearers of the Word, than the cessation
of divine worship. Want of the means of liveli-
hood must exert a very prejudicial influence on
the public service of God. Under the old economy
there would be, of necessity, a failure of tithes and
offerings. So now, when people have a hard and
constant struggle for the bare means of subsist-
ence, they will be far behind others in knowledge of
the truth, in the proper training of cliildren, and
in mutual love.
Ver. 10. How quickly the Lord can turn all
human joy into sorrow ! How comes it then, O
sinner, that thou cleavest so closely to temporal
things which may be taken away at any moment ?
What reason have we to praise the goodness of the
Lord, who gives us fruitful seasons, and fills our
hearts with gladness 1
Ver. 1 1 . Husbandmen are too apt to desire the
blessings of the field through avarice, or for the
sake of their own carnal enjoyment. Therefore
God sometimes sends them a sad instead of a joy-
fiil harvest-time.
Vers. 9-12. [Scott : We are so dependent upon
God in everything, that no human wisdom or power
can provide plenty when He pleases to send scar-
city ; without his rain, the seed even must perish,
the trees of the field must wither, and all our tem-
poral joys must sicken and die, and such judg-
ments are emblems of the great day of retribution.
How stupid then are sinners who are insensible
nnder such judgments, or only mourn with a re-
bellious and imhumbled sorrow.
PusET : The vine is the richness of divine
knowledge, the fig the sweetness of contemplation
and the joyousness in things eternal. Well is the
life of the righteous likened to a palm, in that the
palm below is rough to the touch, and in a manner
enveloped in a dry bark, but above it is adorned
■with fruit, fair even to the eye ; below it is com-
pressed by the enfoldings of its bark, above it is
spread out in amplitude of beautiful greenness.
For so is the life of the elect, — despised below, beau-
tiful above. — F.]
Vers. 13-14. Who shall blame God's ministers
when they complain of the declension of religion ?
Who would not weep when he thinks of the miser-
able condition of many churches.
Fasting is one of the ways of deepening and
manifesting repentance, sanctioned by Holy Scrip-
ture. When properly observed, the result will be
to stimulate us to cry more earnestly to God. Un-
der great calamities, men should be taught to look
to God, not only in a general way, but they should
be told to seek Him in special and appropriate exer-
cises of penitence and prayer.
[Henry : They that are employed in holy things
are therein God's ministers, and on Him they at-
tend. A people may be filling up the measure of
their iniquity apace, and yet may keep up a course
of external performances in religion. As far as
any public trouble is an obstruction to the course
of religion, it is to be on that account more than
any other, sadly lamented, especiaUy by the Lord's
ministers.
PnsET : The fast which the Lord approveth is
that which lifteth up to Him hands full of alms-
deeds, which is passed with brotherly love, which
is seasoned with piety. What thou subtractest
from thyself, bestow on another, that thy needy
neighbor's flesh may be recruited- — F J
vers. 15-18. When God punishes. He seeks our
improvement; but if this does not follow. He will
utterly destroy. — The sufferings of the lower an-
imals are caused by the sin of man.
[Henht. Though it is common for the heart
not to rue what the eye sees not, yet that heart is
hard indeed which does not humble itself when
God's judgments are before the eijes. If when God's
hand is lifted up, men will, not see, when his hand is
laid on they shall see, — The house of our God is tha
proper place for joy and gladness ; when David goes
to the altar of God, it is to God my exceeding joy ;
but when joy and gladness are cut off from God's
house, either by corruption of holy things, or the
persecution of holy persons, when serious godliness
decays, and love waxes cold, then it is time to cry
to the Lord, time to cry Alas I — F.]
Vers. 19, 20. It is one of the special duties of a
teacher of the Word to be constant in prayer to
God. — God hears the cries even of dumb animals.
Then, 0 my soul, trust Him in all thy troubles,
and know that He will listen to thy cries as much
more readily than to theirs, as thou art of more
value than they. The prophet, in his appeal to
God, is not ashamed to be found in fellowship with
the beasts of the field. So the Divine Spii-it, by
way of arousing our faith, points us to the fact that
God feeds the young ravens, and gives the cattle
their food. Yet how readily can God turn all our
joys into deepest griefs ! How unexpectedly can
He do this, an^ by what feeble means ! How pre-
posterous, then, for any to regard their earthly
possessions as secure, and to boast of them ! How
plainly God shows us that we live only in and
through his blessing, that everything we possess is
his gift. How thankful we should be when He per-
mits us to enjoy fiiUy what He has bestowed upor
us !
[Henkt : The prophet stirs them up to c^ to
God.
(1) By his own example. He would not put
them upon doing that which he would not resolve
to do himself; nay, whether they would do if or
no, be would.
iSToTE. — If God's ministers cannot prevail to
affect others with the discoveries of divine wrath
yet they ought to be themselves aff'ected Avith them ;
if they cannot bring others to cry to God, yet
they must themselves be much in prayer. In times
of trouble we must not only pray, but cry, must be
fervent and importunate in prayer ; and to God,
from whom both the destruction is, and the salva-
tion must be, ought our cry always to be directed
(2) By the example of the inferior creatures.
The beasts of the field do not only groan, but they
cry unto Thee. They appeal to thy pity, according
to their capacity, and as if, though they are nol
capable of a rational and revealed religion, yet they
had some dependence upon God by natural instinct
Much more will He put a favorable construction
on the groanings of his own children, though
sometimes so feeble, that they cannot be uttered.
Scott : God will hear the united prayers of the
remnant of his servants, and often for their sakes
will rescue a guilty nation from impending destruc
tion.
PuSET : 0 Lord, to Thee will I cry. This is tna
only hope left, and contains all hopes. From the
Lord was the infliction ; in Him is the healing,
The prophet appeals to God by his own Name,
the faithful FulfiUer of his promises, Him who Is,
and who had promised to hear all who call upon
Him. Let others call to their idols, if they would,
or remain stupid, the prophet would call unto
God, and that earnestly. — F.]
16 JOEL.
SECTION n.
ne Day of the Lord cometh ! Repentance alone can avail to meet it Hence the Do-
mandfor a Day of Public Humiliaiion.
Chaptee II. 1-17.
Blow the trumpet^ in Zion,
Sound ^ an alarm on my holy mountain.^
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
Because the day of Jehovah cometh/
It is nigh at hand.
l A day of darkness and of gloom,^
A day of clouds, and of thick mists,'
Like the morning ' dawn spread upon the mountains ;
So shall come a people numerous and mighty,
The like of which hath never been before,
And the like of which shall not come again,
In the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them,
And behind them a flame burneth ;
Before them the land is as the garden of Eden,'
And behind them a desolate wilderness,
And nothing shall escape them.
4 Their appearance is like ° the appearance of horses,
And like horsemen shall they run.
6 Like the noise of chariots, on the tops of mountains ^' they shall leap
Like the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble.
Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people ^^ are in pain,
All faces gather paleness.'^
7 They shall run like mighty men,
They shall climb the wall like men of war ;
And they shall march, each one in his way,
And they shall not turn aside '^ from their paths.
8 And no one shall press upon another.
They shall march each one in his path ; ^^
And though they rush-'' upon the dart, they shall not bt wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro la the city.
They shall run upon the wall ;
They shall climb upon the houses,
Thej- shall enter behind the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth trembleth,
The heavens quake,
The sun and the moon shall be darkened,
And the stars withdraw their brightness,
11 AnA Jehovah shall utter his voice before his host,
I'or his army is very great.
For he that executes his word is mighty ;
For great is the day of Jehovah, and very terrible,
And who can endure it?
CHAPTER n. 1-17. 17
12 Yet even now,^° saith Jehovah/''
Turn unto me with all your heart,
With fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation,
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments.
And return to Jehovah your God,
For He is gracious and merciful.
Slow to anger and of great kindness,
And repenteth Him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth?^* He may return and repent
And leave a blessing behind,
A meat-offering and a drink-offering
For Jehovah your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Sanctify a fast.
Call a solemn assembly ;
16 Gather the people.
Sanctify a congregation,
Assemble the old men,
Gather the children.
And those that suck the breasts ;
Let the bridegroom desert his chamber,
And the bride her closet ;
17 Between the porch and the altar,
Let the priests weep, ,
The ministers of Jehovah,
And say,
Spare thy people, O Jehovah,
And give not thy heritage to reproach.
That the heathen should rule over ^' (or use a bye-word against) them |
Wherefore should they say among the heathen ( — the peoples)
Where is their God ?
CRITICAL AND TEXTUAL.
1 Vw. 1. — The *1Q1tt7 of the Hebrews, according to Jerome, was a metal Instrument In the shape of a horn, and
hid a tone of extraordinary power. Its root, "lDCi7, to be bright, refers either to the metallic glitter of the instru-
Euent, or its clear ringiog sound.
2 Ver. 1. — " And sound." And is omitted in the Vulg., Sept., Arab., Chald., and five MSS. omit 1. There is more
energy in the passage without it.
8 Ver. 1. — " Ho(y moKwJam." ''277" is a noun, lit., "mountain o/ my Aoiiness." The adject. ti7i7p is only ap-
plied to persons and never to things.
< Ver 1. — " Tlie day — cometh." The perf. K5 is used as the present to express the certainty of the event.
6 Ver. 2. — " Darkness and gloom." H 75N is often connected with tj2?n, to express a kind of climax. Its root
•x. ft
is not used in Heb., but we find it in the Arab. /Lsi.
6 Ver. 2. — " Oouds and iMck mists." ^Q'^V, formed apparently from F]'''!!?, a cloud, and 7QH, to be dark,
oorreaponding to the Greek hpipurj. Here, too, a gradation is marked.
7 Ver. 2. — " Like the morning dawn," etc. The Vulg. renders it, " as the morning spread upon the mountains, a
people much and mighty," but the accents will not admit of this. Newcome has it, '< like the dusk," but this suggests
evening rather than morning. It properly means the gray of the morning, while the sun is still far below the horizon.
U is one of the names of the Nile, from the turbid color of its water.
8 Ver. 3. — " Eden." ^^T^?, an old Semit. word, found also in various dialecta in the sense of pleasure, like the Qr,
ijSov^. In the sing, with zere on the penult., it alwa3^8 means Paradise. With seghol on the penult., it is the name of m
Bart of Mesopotamia. In the plur. form it denotes pleasures. Ps. xxxvi. 9 ; 2 Sam. i. 24.
9 Ver. 4. — " Is like." D is here used Trapa^oXiKtas compar., and not, as Theodoret supposes, smranKuis intena.
]i: Ver. 5. — " On the tops 0/ mountains," eta. ''Wi^T/V must be connected with 'J^nj?."].'), they shall leap, an*
not with 7ip3 ; the latter union ie forbidden by the accents, and by the use of the word " cliariots," whose " nolH *
M only heard on level ground.
18
JOEL.
U Tcr. 6. — " Peoples.'" The plural form D^BS? is used, not as Credner supposes, with reference to the two tribe*
of Judah and Benjamin, but simply to denote people generally.
12 Ver. 6. — " Paleness.^ "l^^SD is variously understood. The Sept. render the clause (05 wp6^ Kau^axvVpa?, aa
the burning of a pot. The Chald., Syr., Vulg., Arab., " become like a pot or have the blackness of a pot." But there ia
nothing in the nature of the thing, or in the etymology of the word, to warrant the " blackness " of our E. V, Cramer
explains rather than translates the words : " all faces contract their muscles." The root of the word is ~)SQ, to be beau-
tiful to glow : and it literally means '' ruddiness." This gathers, or withdraws itself, and the countenance becomes pala
18 Ver. 7. — " TJiey shall not turn aside.^^ ^^ti^^S?*^ is variously explained. Many expositors take it in the sense 01
perMrtcre, as if it were ^^inTi?^, to bend. Others get its meaning from the Arab. JajLo, to split, or divide. Out
M3., Be Ross, has the reading, 't^t^^ri'', they strike not out behind, like horses. The sense is, they move in a compact
mass, bending neither to the right nor the left, forwards nor backwards.
14 Ver. 8. — " Each one in his path;' lit., the mighty one, "IDS, used here poetically for £DN.
16 7er. 8. — " Though they rush," etc. The meaning of this line is plain enough, t. i-., nothing can arrest their march j
but the renderings of it are various, growing out of the senses given to "Tl??, Be Wette renders it : " Und zioischen
"Waffen stiirzen sie hindurch, brechen den Zug nicht ah." — Wiinsche : " TJnd hinter dem Wurfpiess fallen sie, nichl brechen
tie ab." On the whole, I prefer the rendering of Tregelles : " Though they rush," etc.
16 Ver. 12. — ^^ Yet even 7ioto." Credner, without reason, supplies a 1)3^^7 after riTH^ DSI,
17 Ver. 12. — " Saith JehovaJi." DS3 is most frequently used as the part. pass, constr. = " the voice of Jehovah is.*
18 Ver. 14. — " Who knoweth." The interrogative particle DS is omitted here as in Jon. iii. 9. The question ii
expressed only by the tone. Holzh. takes the phrase 3?Tl^ ^T2 to = every one knows, i. e., it is quite certain; but
this sense is too absolute.
19 Ver. 17. — " Rule over." The primary meaning of vtl^Q is to make like, and in its nominal form it has the
sense of similitude, parable, proverb, song. Scholars have been a good deal puzzled how to reconcile the signification of
making like and ruling, which last sense the word undoubtedly has in many places. When used in this last sense it is
usually followed by D, rarely (Wiinsche says never) by 7I? or vH, Tregelles renders it in this place, "to sing a song
Of derision," and De Wette, " spotter," which, I think, the context fovors. Pusey and Wiinsclie insist on the sense of
onrE. V. "rule over." — F.]
EXEOETICAL.
This portion of the prophecy consists of two
parts. The first is contained in vers. 1-11, in
which the prophet explains more fully than he had
before done, the misery that was coming on the
land, a harbinger of the great and terrible day of
the Lord. The second part includes vers. 12-17,
and declares that timely repentance would secure
God's gracious help, and therefore that the priests
should earnestly deal with the people to this end,
Ver. 1. Blow the Trumpet in Zion. This is
a call to the priests. They must give a signal of
alarm from Zion, which is to be understood not in
the local sense, but as including the whole of Jeru-
salem. Then comes the more precise locality, " the
holy mountain." The design of this signal is to
arouse the inhabitants of the land, and to apprise
them that an event of terrible magnitude is close at
hand. The Day is the judgment day of the Lord.
There is i climax in the clauses announcing its
approach, ' it is coming," " it is near," i. e., its
coming is ;ot an event of the far distant future,
but it will be very soon.
Ver. 2. The Day is one of darkness. Four
terms are used to show how intense it will be. See
Ex. X. 22; Dsut. iv. 11. It will be darker than
that of Egypt, and than that of Sinai. Here the
" darkness " is to be understood in a literal sense,
for by the vast swarms of locusts, the sun would
be obscured (ver. 10, and Exod. xiv. 15). That
the prophet had these swarms of locusts in view
is evident from what follows. "intpS belongs to
the following 3"! 05. As the early morning
dawns upon the mountains, so this " people "
'omes. " This," says Keil, " is to be understood
of the shining caused by the reflected rays of the
lun from the wings of a swarm of locusts."
[Some, says Dr. Pusey, have thought that there is
here an allusion to the appearance which, the in-
habitants of Abyssinia well know, precedes the
swarm of locusts. A sombre yellow light is cast
upon the ground fi'om the reflection, it is thought,
of their yellow wings. But that appearance seems
to be peculiar to that country. — E.] The image
naturally exhibits the suddenness and universality
of the darkness, when men looked for light. As
to the meaning of "TIK', expositors are greatly
divided. Bauer thinks that the points of compari-
son are the quickness with which, and the wide
extent over which the dawn spreads itself. Cred-
ner's view is, that as the morning light overspread-
ing the hills is a symbol and pledge of life and
joy, so these clouds shall come overspreading the
land with darkness and misery. [ Wiinsche takes
it in the sense of the " morning gray," i. e., the
time when the morning is wrapped in a sort of
darkish or dusky gray ; the meaning being, that
the nature of this " day " will be made known,
just as the gray dawn of morning proclaims the
coming day. — E. | There hath not been ever
the like. The phrase seems to have been borrowed
from Exod. x, 14, — a passage on which the
prophet, in a general way, seems to have had his
eye, — where the same thing is said of the plague
of locusts sent upon Egypt.
Ver. 3. A fire devoureth. This description is
based on what had been already experienced,
namely, that the desolation caused by locusts had
been attended usually by drought and terrible
heat. But now the heat grows into a fierce flame,
analogous to the awful displays when God re-
vealed Himself at Sinai. So here, the army of
locusts is God's host, ilto^'bc. That which has
" escaped," namely, the " fire," or the desolation
caused by it, has not remained in the land. [This
CHAPTE]^ II. 1-17.
19
It a strained sense. The exposition of Newcome,
Pusey, and Wiinsche is more natural and sensible.
" There is nothing that has escaped it, i. e., this
army." Pusey adds, " the word being used else-
where of the persons who escape, — captivity, or
captives, — suggests in itself that we should not
linger by the type of the locusts only, but think
of enemies more terrible, who destroy men. — JF.]
Vers. 4, 5. Their appearance — in battle ar-
ray. The entrance of this fearful host is de-
scribed, The head of the locust has a certain
resemblance to that of the horse. Their celerity
of movement is compared to that of horsemen ;
and in ver. 5, the noise caused by their leaping is
likened to that made by chariots on rough moun-
tain roads, so that their appearance is somewhat
similar to that of an army advancing in battle ar-
ray. Their noise in devouring plants and herbs
is also compared to the crackling of flames in a
field of stubble. [Pusey : The amazing noise of
the flight of locusts is likened by those who have
heard them, to all sorts of deep sharp rushing
sounds. The prophet combines purposely things
incompatible, the terrible heavy bounding of the
scythed chariot, and the light speed with which
these countless hosts should in their flight bound
over the tops of the mountains where God had
made no paths for man. — P.]
Ver. 6. Before them the peoples, etc. H'^OIS
here has the usual sense of "peoples," "nations,"
since the day of the Lord would not be confined
to one country. All faces lose their glowing color,
i. e., the blood retires from the cheeks, so that they
grow pale. V-?i? is here to be taken in the sense
of HPH in ver. 10 and iii. 15.
Ver. 7. They shall run, etc. With resistless
power they advance and march toward their goal.
They run to attack. In like manner they climb
the wall. ^5y =^ to change or shift the way, i. e.,
to turn from one's waj' and go into that of an-
other, so that the latter is liindered. [Pusey :
They are on God's message and they linger not.
Men can mount a wall few at a time ; the locusts
scale it much more steadily, compactly, irresistibly.
The picture unites the countless multitude, con-
densed march, and entire security of the locusts
with the might of warriors. — F.]
Vers. 8-10. And no one shall press, etc.
Those behind shall not press upon those before.
No weapons can stop the advance of this host ; or
arrest its march. They rush through, or between,
or under the darts, or swords. They go forward
as if no obstacles were in their way. Of course
this does not mean that any attempt was actually
made to oppose their progress, but simply that it
would be vain to resist them, by the means ordi-
narily used to arrest an army (ver. 9), comp. Ex.
X. 6. The picture in vers. 7-9 is perfectly true to
nature. Jerome {in loc.) says, "We have our-
selves lately seen this very thing in this province
(Palestine). When the locusts come and fill the
whole space betweeen earth and sky, they fly in
perfect order, as if obedient to a divine command,
so that they look like the squares of a pavement.
Each one holds its own place, not diverging from
it even so much as by a finger's breadth. To these
locusts nothing is impenetrable, fields, meadows,
trees, cities, houses, even their most secret cham-
bers." The accounts of more recent observers
agree with this description. There is a design in
Ihis picture so elaborate in its details. The more
terrible the visitation of locusts appears, the more
eertain would it be, that when the day of the Lord
came, this host would become God's instrument in
the infliction of his judgment. What follows in
ver. 10 is fully consonant with the fact, though
there is some rjietorical amplification, as the
prophet, once for all, sees in the swarm of locusts
not a mere natural phenomenon, but an evidence
of the coming of the day of the Lord. The view
we take of an event naturally gives a certain col-
oring to the picture of it, and a certain climactic
amplication is proper, when the event is one that
surpasses all ]jrevious experience. Before them,
or it, i. e., this great and mighty peojjle. The
earth trembles. What more natural than that
heaven and earth should be terrified by such a host,
— one so dreadful in fact, so much more dreadful
when viewed as the host of an avenging God f
This most awful effect cannot, indeed, be gsen or
heard, like these marching hosts and the noise they
produce ; it can only be felt, and thus all the wilder
scope is given to the terrified imagination. The
obscuration of the sun, moon, and stars is real,
but this darkness becomes more fearfully impres-
sive, since the locust swarms appear as a tempest
cloud of divine wrath. (Comp. Jer. xiii. 10 ; Ezek.
xii. 7 ; Mark xiii. 24.)
Ver. 1 1 . , And Jehovah shall utter his voice.
Probably a real event is referred to, — a thunder-
storm in connection with the coming of the locusts.
The prophet hears the thunder not so much with
his outward ear as mentally, recognizing it as a
manifestation of God. Only such displays of
power as those described in vers. 10, 11, would be-
fit the greatness of the host sent to do Jehovah's
will, and the terribleness of the day of the Lord
that was coming, — a day so terrible as to wring
from the prophet the inquiry, " who can endure
it ? " See Jer. x. 10 ; Mai. iii. 1.
Vers. 12-17. Yet even now, etc. Though
the anger of God is so clearly revealed that men
may see his day coming, yet He says. Turn unto
me, and thus points out the way in which his an-
ger may be averted. If they repented, they would
escape these judgments, and find God gracious.
With aU your heart. This is the most essential
thing, and so is named first, yet this hearty re-
pentance will also manifest itself outwardly. But
the prophet warns the people that a merely ex-
ternal repentance will effect nothing (ver. 13),
comp. Ps. li. 19; Ezek. xxxvi. 26. Such repent-
ance, however, as that described in vers. 12, 13,
will avail, because " He is gracious" (Ex. xxxiv.
6; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16). Therefore is there hope
that He will avert his judgments. Who know-
eth. That God is such as He is here described is
beyond a doubt, but whether, under present cir-
cumstances. He will display his mercy, is not so
certain. This depends on the conduct of the peo-
ple, and hence the prophet would have them to
bear in mind, that pardon would not come to them
as a matter of course, and that their repentance
must not be of an easy and formal kind. He will
return. Jehovah is conceived of as on his way
from heaven for the purpose of judgment ; but He
may stop, and return to heaven. Leave behind
Him, i.e., when He returns to heaven (Hos. v. 5).
A blessing, i. e., an abundant harvest, so that
there may be no lack of those offerings, the mate-
rials of which had been destroyed by the locusts (h.
9-13). Instead of a day of judgment (involving
a greater desolation than any as yet experienced.)',,
there was hope that God would give another crop
to replace the one destroyed (ver. 5). Since re-
pentance opened such prospects of blessing, t'ue ;
priests shou d s^ pamon the people to meet for tiilti -
20
JOEL.
purpose of humiliation and prayer, and they
should themselves, in the name of the people, im-
plore God's mercy.
Ver. 16 repeats what was said before in i. 14,
but more in detail. Sanctify a congregation, i.
e., call a meeting of the congregation for sacred
purposes. No age should be excepted, because the
entire people deserved punishment and needed to
repent. Even the joy of the bridegroom and the
bride must give place to penitential mourning.
What the priests should do, when the people were
assembled, is defined in ver. 17. They shall stand
between the porch and the altar, i, e., imme-
diately before the entrance to the sanctuary and
turning toward it, they should pray to God, ap-
pealing to Him in behalf of the people as his own
covenant people.
[Pusoy : The porch in this, Solomon's temple,
fvas in fact a tower in front of the Holy of holies,
of the same breadth with the temple. The brazen
altar for burnt-offerings stood in front of it. The
space between the porch and the altar, became an
inner part of the court of the priests. It seems to
have been a place of prayer for priests. It is
spoken of as an aggravation of the sins of those
twenty-five idolatrous priests, that here, where
they ought to worship God, they turned their
backs toward the temple of the Lord to worship
the sun. Here Zechariah was standing, when the
spirit of God came upon him, and he rebuked the
people, and they stoned him. — E.]
THBX)LOQICAL.
1. The day of the Lord (i. 15 ; ii. 1 ; iii. 4-14),
is a phrase used only by the prophets. If, as some
think, Obadiah is the oldest, the phrase occurs first
in Ob. 15, and next in the above marked places
in Joel. If this view of the relative ages of these
prophets be correct, we may assume that the
phrase was introduced into prophetic language by
Obadiah. Certainly Joel uses it in a way to show
that he regarded the idea expressed by it as one
well known to those for whom he prophesied,
though, as Ewald suggests, the expression may be
here presented in its oldest and simplest form. "As
the king of a vast empire, — Ewald adds, — may
for a time so completely disappear from the view
»of his subjects, as to be the same as if he had
iceased to exist, and then suddenly reappear among
rthem, in the fullness of his power to hold a long
Belayed assize, so the Invisible One may put oftj
. or seem to put off the day when He will appear as
the Supremo Judge. The idea of the " day of the
Lord " is closely connected with that of Jehovah
as iking, who as such has a "day "for men, — a
day in the pregnant sense of the word, a day for
judgment. Jehovah as king must and will, in
due 'time, suddenly and miraculously judge and
gubiue all who are in rebellion against Him. He
will subject all things to his own holy and right-
eous (Control, thus showing that his will is the
only amd absolute rule ; and will rectify all that is
now (disorderly in the condition of things on the
earth. As Israel was then the kingdom of Jeho-
fan m a, special sense, " the day " for Israel as
God's (people, would be the epoch of their perfect
and glsiious deliverance from all their enemies.
This itppear? in ch. iii. The " day " is that one
on w'hioli Jehovah sits in judgment on all his foes,
and whea Israel's prosperity begins. Yet it is even
for Issael a day of judgment, — one that shall
vaake it. manifest whether they are faithful or not
to their obligations as God's people. If not, even
they shall be destroyed, unless timely repentance
intervenes. This view is presented in chaps, i.-
ii. Thus while the ultimate result of the judg-
ment will be the salvation and glory of Israel, the
immediate design of the day of the Lord is the
punishment of the heathen as the enemies of his
people, and of the latter as well if untrue to their
covenant relat'on. Hence all the predicates th.tt
describe the day, mark it as one of judgment. It
is " great and very terrible " (ii. 11 ; iii. 4) ; " jaik
and gloomy" (ii. 2; Amos v. 18; Is. ii. 12). In
the announcement of this " day," Israel is not so
much consoled, as warned against self-conceit and
security, — a warning all the more earnest on ac-
count of the uncertainty of its conjing. Hence
men should be always ready for it. Still, Joel
does not as yet seem to know how far the king-
doms of Israel and of Judah may be faithless to
their calling as God's people, nor what divine
judgment shall overtake them. He sees them, on
the one hand, menaced by judgments, but on the
other hand, by their penitence averting them, so
that actually these judgments In their destructive
power fall upon the heathen alone, while Israel
and Judah are redeemed and glorified. The
mrrVQV is the ^^epa roV Kvpiov of the New
Testament. Joel, however, does not use the phrase
" day of the Lord " with reference to the hope of
Messiah's coming, since we find no such hope in
any part of his prophecy.
2. The next question is this, — Considering the
" day of the Lord " as one of menace to Israel,
how was it regarded by the prophet himself? We
begin by s.aying that the " day," as viewed by Joel,
was not marked by a series of events, but by a
single, sudden, and conclusive act. And therefore
Keil applies modern speculative notions to the ex-
position of the phrase, when he says, "each partic-
ular judgment by which God chastises his own
people for their sins, or destroys the enemies of his
kingdom, m.ay be regarded as a moment in the ' day
of the Lord.' " If so, why should Joel connect the
approach of that day with the visitation of locusts 1
As already mentioned in ch. i. the allegoric signifi-
cation assigned by some to the locusts {i. e., hos-
tile hosts), has arisen out of the union of two he^
erogeneous things. This allegoric sense may be
found in those other prophets, one of whose chief
themes was the judgment to be inflicted upon Is-
rael by means of heathen nations — a judgment
which then appears as " the day of the Lord" for
Israel. But the verbal text will not admit of this
principle of interpretation in ch. i. The objection,
however, does not hold in ch. ii., where the prophet
describes the entrance of swarms of locusts into the
land as an actual event, and also designates it as
the coming of the day of the Lord. Some inter-
preters take the locust visitation as a presage and
a symbol of an invasion by hosts of a different
kind, partly on the ground that it is denoted as
the coming of the day of the Lord, and partly from
the use of the term " northern " in ver, 20, which
cannot be applied to the locusts. There is, how-
ever, not much force in the first of these consider-
ations, for while there is, in a general way, an ob-
vious analogy between the swarms of locusts and
an invading army, much is here said about the one
that will not apply to the other. The reference to
Is. xiii. is move to the purpose, for he quotes th«
very words of Joel, and describes the judgment of
Babel in terms that show that he understood (ho
locust invasion in an allegoric sense. But though
CHAPTER II. 1-17.
21
the language of the two prophets is so similar, it
does not follow that they refer to the same events,
nor that their words are to be understood in pre-
cisely the same sense.
But there are positive difficulties in the way of
the allegoric interpretation of this chapter. For
example, what can be meant by " driving the lo-
custs into the sea " (ii. 20) 1 Again, the question
arises, if Israel is threatened by an enemy, by what
qne? The word " northern " proves nothing. It
is strange, on this thclry, th».t while Joel describes
the judgment on Israel by some foe, he gives us
no hint even by which to identify him. There is
no indication that the heathen nations were to be
the chosen instruments for this purpose. On the
contrary, what they do against Israel is exhibited
as a crime which shall bring down God's judg-
ments on their own head. This method of ex-
position also overlooks the differences in the times
when the several prophets lived. In Joel's days,
the great empires had not yet appeared as the spe-
cial instruments of God's judgments on his cov-
enant people. In this character they had not yet
come within the range of the propliet's vision.
He knew, indeed, that Israel's sins deserved, and
would receive chastisement, but he had not yet
been told that the heathen nations would be God's
agents in inflicting it. Whenever they are named,
it is as being themselves the objects of wrath, while
Israel appears as a penitent and the recipient of
God's mercy.
But it may be said that while the prophet de-
scribes a real locust visitation, he sees in it, at
least to a certain extent, a type of the " day of the
Lord — a day of judgment ; or in other words,
what the land had already experienced might
warn its inhabitants that they would have a still
more bitter experience when that " day " arrived.
But the difficulty is that if we suppose one event
to be in any sense formally typical of the other,
we find in the minutely detailed account of the
type much that in no way corresponds with the
antitype. The darkness, the terror, and the des-
olation produced by the locusts might be in them-
selves typical, but these are the features on which
the least emphasis is laid by the prophet.
The view which we prefer is this. The land
had been desolated by locusts to an unparalleled
extent. The prophet had reason to fear that this
was the harbinger of a worse calamity of the same
sort. He sees in the visitation the beginning of
the day of the Lord. The locust army is led by
God himself, and hence the lively colors of that
picture of it which, he draws. The plague of lo-
custs and the day of the Lord are not to be taken
as two distinct things. They differ, not like the
type and the antitype, but as the beginning and
the end of the same thing. And so he says, " the
day of the Lord cometh, it is near." He sees its
approach, still he hopes that the repentance of the
people in answer to his earnest appeals, will ward
off Its further effects, — that Israel, warned and
taught by the earlier and merely relative judg-
ment, may escape the final one, and that the en-
emies of God's people alone shall be overwhelmed
by it. The day of the Lord in the highest sense
of the words, did not, indeed, come with the ca-
lamity by which Israel was then chastised, but
each preliminary judgment was really the pre-
cursor and pledge of the absolute and final one.
All that we can affirm is that the prophet saw in
this locust visitation not merely a natural phe-
nomenon, but the finger of God. In these terrible
icenes he hears the voice of the Living God call-
ing his people to repentance. As God's messen-
ger he reiichoes the earnest appeal, knowing that
ere long He will come to judge his people, though
the exact time of his coming none can tell.
3. The plague of locusts was a punishment of
the nation's sins. The prophet, therefore, demands
hearty repentance, and a return to God. He, hew-
ever, does not name the sins which had brought
down this chastisement. There seems to have
been no one prevalent form of corruption at that
time, and, in particular, there is no distinct trace
of idolatry. But this shows how earnest God is
in punishing sin, since not only do gross iniquities
awaken his displeasure, but also sins of the heart,
though there may be no outward disjilay of them.
His love to his people also appears, since He sum-
mons them to repentance, in circumstances, in
which, without such a call, they might have sunk
into a condition of dangerous security. The earn-
estness of the prophet is also shown by his recog-
nizing these calamities as divine judgments for
sin, and his evident belief that although the peo-
ple might outwardly seem to be in the right way,
they might really be at the same time ripe for
punishment. The repentance he demands, should
consist essentially of turning with the whole heart
to God, and which would outwardly manifest it-
self by fasting, weeping, and rending the gar-
ments. These were expressive symbols, and on
this very account there was danger of putting
them in the place of the inward feelings which
they implied and represented. Against this mi*
take he warns the people, " rend your hearts and
not your garments." But even their sorrow for
sin, however real, would be of no avail without an
actual turning to God. The repentance which Ha
demands, is such as both has its seat in the heart,
and displays itself in the life. Prayer for pardon
is a prominent feature of the public solemn hu-
miliation described in ver. 17. As the whole land
had been already chastised, and was still threat-
ened with a severer infliction, the repentance suited
to the occasion was not simply that of individuals,
but of the whole nation as such. Of course, this
national penitence has its root in that of individ-
ual men, but it does not rest there. As Israel
had only one legal sanctuary — the Temple, — all
public religious ceremonies must take place there,
and through the ministry of the one priesthood.
The public fast-day demanded by the Prophet is a
Biblical precedent for the observance of similar
days in Christian times and lands. They are as
proper under the New Economy as they were un-
der the Old. In this penitential prayer, there is
not only an appeal to God's mercy, but a declara-
tion that his honor is concerned in the continued
existence of Israel as his people. To abandon
Israel wholly would give occasion to the heathen
to blaspheme, as if God had been unable to save
his people, or had forgotten his promises to do so.
This relation, and these promises were not de-
signed, nor did they really tend to beget a sinful
security, but to keep alive in the hearts of God's
people an humble faith and hope. Israel bows
under God's hand, but at the same time trusts
Him as his God. TUs relation of ancient Israel
is repeated, but in a far higher form and degree in
the sonship of God's people under the New Cove-
nant.
Repentance is necessary. It alone can help, yet
the punitive justice of God has also its influence
for good. For while it is certain that the right-
eous Lord will punish sin, his grace, and pity, and
patience are no less certain. And so if there b«
•Z'l
JOEL.
no defect in the repentance of the sinner, forgive-
ness will not be wanting on the part of God. This
truth is most emphatically expressed in ver. 18,
where a rich promise immediately follows a se-
vere menace. Yet the observation of Eeiger is
a very just one, namely, that the ti'ue penitent
must and will leave wholly in God's hand the
mitigation of the temporal punishment which he
may have brought upon himself on account of his
Eius.
HOMILBTICAL.
"Ver. 1. Slow the trumpet. It is the office of a
minister of God's "Word, when great calamities are
imminent, to sound an alarm, and call men to re-
pentance. The day of the Lord, etc. All the
remarkable judgments with which God visits in-
dividuals, or a land, are harbingers of the final
judgment of the world, and whatever there is of
the terrible in the former, will be found in the lat-
ter, in a far higher degree, by godless sinners.
How stupid the security of those who, in the face
of such events, with ruin impending over their
heads, are not disturbed even for a moment. The
day of the Lord cometh. fl) Nothing is more
certain than the fact of its coming. (2) But
nothing is more uncertain than the time of its
coming. The call to prepare for it should be con-
tinually sounding. It does not come so quickly,
perhaps, as we in our impatience often wish, but
it will come more quickly than the secure imagine.
Its delay is not designed to beget wantonness in
men, but only shows — as we should gratefully
own — the long suffering of the Lord, who de-
sires not that any should perish ; God warns men
often, and for a long time, but at last the decision
will come. We should not be hasty in predicting
when the day of the Lord will come, but we should
be reminded of it in all the visitations of his provi-
dence, and we should try to put ourselves in the
light of that day. As the special divine judg-
ment:' will find their completest accomplishment in
that last great day of wrath, they are so described
as to fill men's minds with a wholesome terror,
and to convince them how utterly unable they
shall be to endure it.
[PcsET : Ver. 1. The trumpet was wont to
sound in Zion only for religious uses : to call to-
gether the congregations for holy meetings, to
usher in the beginnings of their months, and their
solemn days with festival gladness. Now, in Zion
itself, the stronghold of the kingdom, the holy
city, the place which God chose to put his Name
there, which He had promised to establish, the
trumpet was to be used only for sounds of alarm
and fear. Alarm could not penetrate there, with-
out having pervaded the whole land. Good is the
trouble which shaketh carnal peace, vain security,
and the rest of bodily delight, when men, weigh-
ing their sins, are shaken with fear and trembling,
and repent. — F.]
Ver. 2. A daif of darkness. A day of judgment
is a manifestation of God's wrath against sin, after
the measure of his grace which seeks to save and
bless them has been exhausted. Hence darkness
is its proper symbol.
[Henry • Extraordinary judgments are rare
things and seldom happen, which is an instance
of God's patience. Let none be proud of the
beauty of their grounds any more than of their
Bodies, for God can soon change the face of both.
-F.]
Ver. 6, The people tremble. A'l ever-growing
dread will accompany and enhance the terrors of
approaching judgment. Men in their wanton se-
curity are all the while preparing the material of
such fear.
[Henkt : When God frowns upon men, th«
lights of heaven will be small joy to them. For,
man by rebelling against his Creator, has forfeited
the benefit of all his creatures, None can escape
the arrests of God's wrath, can make head against
the force of it, or bear up under the weight of it.
Pdset ; The judgments of God hold on their
course, each going straight to that person for
whom God, in the awful wisdom of his justice, or-
dains it. No one judgment or chastisement comes
by chance. Each is directed and adapted, weighed
and measured, by infinite wisdom, and reaches
just that soul for which God appointed it, and no
other, and strikes upon it with just that force
whioii God ordains it. — F.J
Ver. 11. Very great is his army. God can use
any creature as his instrument to do his work.
How many and mighty the hosts which He can
send again^st men ! The smallest things can be-
come his agents to produce the greatest results.
The mightiness of God, and the weakness of men,
are here most distinctly displayed. Who can en-
dare? No one who does not turn in penitence to
God. This is a most momentous question, which
we should often and seriously ponder. 0 what a
creature is man ! How proud when trouble is at
a distance ! How powerless and despairing when it
overtakes him !
Ver. 12. Yet also even now, etc. These words
introduce the exhortation to repentance, to guard
the people against the notion, that, when the
prophet called on them to repent, and assured
them that they would escape punishment if they
did so, he was speaking in a sort of formal way,
and in his own name. Both the exhortation and
the promise come from God. When repentance
enters, then comes help and hope. Repentance
alone can ward off divine judgments. It is not
enough that repentance be strong in its outward
manifestations, as fasting and weeping, it must
also be deep-seated, hearty, and not superficial.
Turn unto the Lord. A call that is both needful
and salutary, though, alas, too often unheeded.
Grief for sin is only the half of repentance, it
must be accompanied by a real turning to God.
Only thus, 0 man, shalt thou obtain pardon ; only
thus will there be an actual turning away from
sin. Sinner ! despair not on account of thy mis-
deeds. Is God's wrath against sin very great 1
His grace in pardoning it is greater still. So rich
is the grace of God that the prophet is at a loss
for words adequately to describe it. How re.idy
God is to repent Him of the evil ! Make a trial
of his readiness and see. He who does not seek
God's grace as a penitent will never know how
great it is. How much more willing is God to
leave behind Him a blessing rather than a curse.
No one would ever truly repent unless grace planted
in the heart the seeds of faith and hope. Though
a gracious hope grows slowly, yet the wavering
heart will often be, in a secret way, sustained by
it, and such a soul will better apprehend it than
one filled with overmuch confidence.
[Jeremy Taylor: Although all sorrow fol
sins hath not the same expression, nor th? same
degree of pungency and sensitive tro'iMi, yet it is
not a godly sorrow, unless it rcallv produces these
effects; i. e. (1), that it makes us really to hate,
and (2) actuallv to decline sin; and (3) produce!
in us a fear of God's anger, a sense of the guilt of
CHAPTER II. 18-32.
23
his displeasure; (4) and then such consequent
trouble as can consist with such apprehension of
the Divine displeasure ; which, if it express not in
tears and hearty complaints, must be expressed in
Tvatchings and strivings against sin ; in patiently
bearing the rod of God ; in confession of our sins ;
in perpetual begging of pardon ; and in all the
aAural productions of these according to our tem-
per and constitution ; it must be a sorrow of the
reasonable faculty, the greatest of its kind.
, PuSET : Although the mercy of God is in itself
one and simple, yet is called abundant, on account
of its divers effects. For God knows how in a
thousand ways to succor his own. — F.]
Ver. 14. A meat-offering, etc. God's glory and
our salvation are so intimately conjoined, that the
pardon of the guilty is facilitated thereby, since
the salvation of the sinner redounds to the glory
of God.
[Hehrt : Now observe : ( 1 ) The manner of the
expectation is very humble and modest. Who
knows f Some think it is expressed thus doubt-
fully to check the presumption of the people, and
to quicken them to a holy carefulness. Or, rather,
it is expressed doubtfully, because it is the removal
of a temporal judgment that they here promise
themselves, of which we cannot be so confident, as
that God is gracioits. (2) The matter of the ex-
pectation is very pious, they hope God will return
and leave a blessing behind Him, not as if He were
about to go from them, and they could be con-
tent vrith any blessing in lieu of his presence, but
behind Him, i. e., after He has ceased his contro-
versy.
PnSET : God has promised forgiveness of sins
to those who turn to Him. But He has not prom-
ised, either to individuals or churches, that He will
remit the temporal punishment which He had
threatened. He forgave David his sin {against
Uriah). But the temporal punishment of his sin
pursued him even on the bed of death. God often
TTSits the penitent soul, and by some sweetness with
which the soul is bathed leaves a token of his re-
newed presence. — F.]
Vers. 15, 16. Sanctify a fast — Gather the peo-
vle. Fasting is a refined external discipline, pro-
motive of prayer and piety. Only we must take
cai-e not to make a merit of it. — The people.
By penitence and prayer, an entire community
may be saved from a great calamity. — Children.
Parents should be aroused to a deeper sorrow for
their sins by the thought of their young children,
who are also members of God's Church, and in-
cluded in his covenant. As little children share in
the calamities caused by the sins of their parents,
their common distress should be presented before
the Lord, and deliverance from it asked. — The
Bride. In seasons of general distress and danger,
we should abstain from the most innocent enjoy-
ment.
[Henry : It is good to bring little children, as
soon as they are capable of understanding any-
thing, to religious assemblies, that they may be
trained up betimes in the way they should go. —
Private joys must always give way to public sor-
rows, both those for afiliction, and those for sin.
Robinson : It is very consolatory to observe,
even in the midst of this terrific visitation — the
last harbinger of the Saviour's coming — an invi-
tation of mercy. If men will then but seek the
Lord with their whole heart, in deep humiliation,
and turn away from their sins, He will be inquired
of. At the eleventh hour, when the time for work
is all but gone, they may find admission into hia
vineyard. Happy is it when outward afflictions
of any kind lead us to true repentance. — F.]
Ver. 17. Let the Priests. The special duty of
the priesthood was to exhort the people to repent-
ance, to stand between them and the Lord and
pray for them, and hence it is the duty of every
Christian, as a spiritual priest, to stir up his fellow
Christians to repentance, and to pray for them. —
Spare Thy People, — a petition full of humility
and confidence, i. c, " look upon our needs, but
remember also thy glory, 0 Lord ! " What we
need is God's mercy. We can appeal to what his
grace has made of us. There is the strongest an-
tithesis between God's people and the heathen,
just as there is between God and idols. — Where
is their God. God will never abandon his people,
— a truth full of comfort to them, though it
affords no ground for carnal security. On the con-
trary, it is fitted to stimulate us to be faithful to
Him, as He is faithful to us.
[Heney : Ministers must themselves be affected
with those things wherewith they desire to affect
others. — The maintaining of the credit of the na-
tion among its neighbors, is a blessing to be de-
sired and prayed for, by all that wish well to it.
But that reproach of the Church is especially to bt
dreaded and deprecated which reflects upon God.
-F.]
PART SECOND.
THE PROMISE.
Chapters H. 18-III. 21.
SECTION I.
Annihilation of the Locust Army. Separation of the Damage done by it, hy a Rich
Chapter II. 18-27
18 Then Jehovaji will he jealous' for his land.
And will pity his people.
{J4 JOEIi _______
19 And Jeliovah will answer and say unto his people,
Behold I will send ^ you the corn,'
The new wine, and the oil ;
And ye shall be satisfied * therewith,
And I will no longer make you
A reproach among the heathen. *
20 And I will remove far from you the northern " host,
And will drive him into a dry and desolate land ;
His face (or his van) toward the east sea,
His rear towards the west sea.
And his stench shall arise,
And his ill savor shall ascend,
For He has done great things.'
21 Fear not, O Land,
Be glad and rejoice,
For Jehovah hath done great things.
22 Fear not, ye beasts of the field ! '
For the pastures of the wilderness have sprung np,
The tree beareth her fruit,
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.'
23 0 ye children of Zion rejoice and be glad
In Jehovah your God ;
For He gives you the former rain ^ in just measure,
And sends you, in showers, the early and the latter rain, as aforetime.**
24 And the threshing floors shall be full of corn.
And the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore" (or replace) the years'^
Which the locust, the cankerworm, the caterpillar and tl e palmerworm have d*
voured.
My great army which I sent against you.
26 Then ye shall eat in plenty '^ and be satisfied,
And shall praise the name of Jehovah your God,
Who hath dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And '* ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And I Jehovah am your God, and none else.
And my people shall never be ashamed.
CRITICAL AND TEXTUAL.
1 Vtr. 18. — SDp with 7 or ^ = to be jealous for some one out of love.
5 Ver. 19. — nbtlj, more lit., "am Bending."
- T '
8 Ver. 19. — ^n^n : the article ia used to give prominence to the products which the Lord promises to send.
4 Ver. 19. — S~1S Dri373Jl7. The sing. Sl'W is here used collectiTely.
6 Ver. 20. — " Niirlhern:' SobmoUer insists that ''plO^n should be tendered " destroyer." See Exeget. note oa
ilia Ter.
6 Ver 20. — niti)3?7 7"''13n, lit., "he has magnified to do." Schmoller renders it : " er hat grossgethtm." Th«
"^me phrase occurs iu Ter. 21, which shows that it cannot be taken in the sense of boasting. It is synonymous with tin
mii^'^b sbsa (Juag. xiii. is), and s^ibenb nbv, a. 26.
' Ver. 22. — " Fiftd " >'JW is not the plur. for Clti? but the sing. = nltP, Moording to the analogy of ''ItD
•>l. Jtevl 12
CHAPTER n. 18-27.
26
8 Tw. 22. — /^Tl 103, "EiTe strength," like the Lat. edere fiuctum. The metaphor is one In which the cans* k
put IbT the effect. Only used here and in Ps. i, 4. '
9 Ver. 23. — nnlTSH, " the early rain," from m**, Jecit, perhaps because its season was post jactam sementem.
Keil renders it " a teacher for righteousness." But the word when so used is followed by D, more rarely by /K, or
"JC Ewald and Umbreit take H^iQ in the sense of "early rain," but render the phrase "rain for righteousness,"
t. f., as a sign of their being again received into the divine righteousness. But this is a strained sense ; better, " ac<
cording to right," i. e., in just measure, as the ground requires.
10 Ver. 23. — " Aforetimt." : ^ WH"^3 . There seems to be an omission of 3, The Sept. render it KaOwi eiinptKrOev \
the Syr., ut antea ; the Vulg., shut in principio. The Chald. and Arab, iiave the reading "as in the month Nisan."
11 "Ver. 25. — The primary meaning of D^tZ? is " to be whole," but it is here used In the sense of " replace, or mak«
good."
la Ver. 25. — " Years," C*DU^ the plur. form used, perhaps, only in a poetic sense, as in Gen. xxi. 7 ; Ps. xlv. 9,
10 i 1 Sam. XTii. 48.
IS Ver. 26. — " Eat in plenty," lit., "cat an eating, or eat to eat," etc. Wiinache renders it : " Und ihr wurdet essen,
158671 und satt werden." The Heb. often has the infin. abfiol. as the object complement of the finite verb, wliich some
times follows and sometimes precedes it.
14 Ver. 27. — The 1 here indicates the logical consequence from what precedes.
latEQETICAL.
The second part of this chapter is wholly occu-
pied with promises to Judah. The first part, which
18 so full of menaces, had also revealed God's mer-
cy in case of repentance, but only in a general
way, affording only a glimmering of hope. Now,
however, the promises given by Jehovah Himself
flow forth like a full, broad stream. This transi-
tion occurs suddenly in ver. 18. The promise,
which takes the form of an answer of God, is
grounded upon a seeming change in the Divine
purpose. A declaration so positive as this, intro-
duced by the imper. consec, as an actual fact, of
course implies that the condition on which the
change in the Divine purpose was based, had been
fulfilled, i. e., that the day of fasting and prayer
had been duly observed, and that the promise is
God's answer to his people's penitential prayer.
Our book, therefore, is in point of time divided
into two parts, an earlier and a later one.
Ter. 18. Then wiU the Lord, etc. N5[7 with
7 = to be jealous for some one, i. e., to be zealous
for his welfare out of love for him.
Vers. 19, 20. Renewed fertility is promised by
the removal of the cause of the desolation. Behold
Isend you. This carries us back to ch. i. 10, 11.
n^tO ! because the growth of grain depends upon
the fertilizing rain.
Ver. 20. ""iiS-^n, not the northern of the E.
V. and other versions, for the locusts never invade
Palestine from the North, but the destroyer. The
word comes from TlQ^, the name of the woll-
kno\vn Egyptian god 'Typhon, from whence also
comes the i rufavmis (Acts xxvii. 14). [This is
a fanciful and groundless rendering. The word
occurs in one hundred and fifty other places in O.
T., and in all of them its sense is clearlj' that
given to it here by our E. V. The term ''3iD5fil,
Bays Wiinsche, according to the Masor. punctua-
tion, can have no other sense than that of " north-
ern," or " northerner." The allegorists use the
word as a proof of their theory, that the Chal-
dseans, or Syrians are meant. Bat there is not,
Bither in what precedes or in what follows, tht
slightest trace of a hostile invasion of .Judah bv
litherof these nations. The word, therefore, nmst
refer lo the locusts. Nor is the designation of
them as " northern " an arbitrary one, since their
movements were wholly dependent on the wind.
— F.] Into a land dry and desolate, one in
which this army will find nothing to destroy, but
will itself perish. The land referred to is the des-
ert of Arabia, on the southern border of Judaea.
The two ways in which the locusts would be de-
stroyed are mentioned : they would be driven ir.co
the desert, and into the sea. Two seas are named,
in which this army should perish, namely, the
vanguard in the east or Dead Sea, the rear in the
west or Mediterranean. We need not, however,
suppose that the destruction of these two divisions
of the locust army occurred at the same time.
[His stench. Jerome says of the locusts of
Palestine, when the shores of both seas were filled
with heaps of dead locusts which the waters had
cast up, their stench and putrefaction were so nox-
ious as to corrupt the air, so that a pestilence was
produced among men and beasts. The s.ame fact
IB attested by many modern travellers. — P.]
Vers. 21-23. Fear not, O Land. As in ch. i.
the land and its inhabitants were called upon to
mourn in view of coming judgments, so now they
are called upon to I'ejoice over the destruction of
the hosts that had laid waste the country. Here,
the address is that of the prophet ; while in ver.
25 the Lord himself speaks. 'The subject and ob-
ject of the joy are stated (ver. 21) in a general
way. The latter is described in the words : Jeho-
vah hath done great things. The perfect tense
is here used like the German present, to denote aa
action, which being absolutely certain is thought
of and presented as one already accomplished.
What is here said of God's doings is not to be
limited to that special time or occasion, but ex-
presses a universal truth.
Ver. 22. Even the beasts of the field should no
longer be afraid of wanting their supplies of food.
The picture of blessing which begins with verdant
pastures, ends with trees laden with fruit.
Ver. 23. Men are called upon to rejoice. Chil-
dren of Zion may be taken in a general sense for
the inhabitants of Judah, .since Zion represented
Judah. The former or early rain. It fell after
autumn, and seems to be so called from nn^,ject*,
because its season was post Jactam sementem. It
was the chief need after the devastation and
drought, and hence is named with special emphasis
The latter rain fell about harvest, towards the
end of April. Hence its name from ^U^^ coUeyit
pC?S';-T corresponds to the 1?"'^rTS (iii. 1)
26
JOEL.
the material blessings first, then the spiritual.
fPusej" : It may be, at the first, i. e., as soon as
ever it is needed, or in contrast to the more exten-
sive gifts afterwards ; or, as at the first, i. e., all
shall, upon their penitence, be restored as at the
Srst. These lesser variations leave the sense of
the whole the same, and all are supported by good
authorities. It is still a reversal of the former
sentence, that, whereas before the rivers of water
were dried up, now the rains should come, each in
his season. — F.] "The rain shall comedown,"
here specially opposed to the drought, but, per-
haps also a symljol of blessing in general. [So
far as this special act may be generalized, it may
rather be said that it begets and keeps alive the
consciousness that the Giver of all good is again
in the midst of his people. — F.]
Vers. 24-27. And the thresMng floors, — my
people shall never be ashamed.
The effects of the rain are first briefly, and then
more fully described. The years, i. e., the prod-
uct of the years which the locusts had devoured.
The plural form of the word does not imply that
the visitations of the locusts described in ch. i. were
in successive years ; it only means that the results
of a single visitation would be felt for several yeai's,
and that as long a time would be required to re-
pair the mischief done by the locusts. The names
of the four kinds of locusts given in ch. i. are re-
peated here, only that the generic name HSIW
holds a prominent place.
Vers. 26, 27. A beautiful conclusion ; it treats
of the redemption of Israel from the Ireathen, and
thereby of the vindication of God himself. This
is the fundamental idea that repeatedly recurs.
This conclusion forms the point of transition to
the new and higher promises in ch. iii., which fully
display the truth that '* Jehovah is in the midst of
Israel, that He is their God and none else," and
therefore that his people can never be put to
shame. While this promise is in a negative form,
It really includes much more than the literal sense
of the words ; it means that God's people shall
not only not be ashamed, but that they shall be
glorified forever, and that all the powers of this
world that have opposed them shall oe utterly con-
founded.
THBOLOQICAL.
The greatness of the promise shows the power
and importance of repentance, and the magnitude
of God's grace. It is a confirmation of what is
said (ii. 12). The punishment God inflicts is con-
verted into a blessing ; his zeal against us is
changed into zeal for us. God's dispensing bless-
ing is the proof that He is in the midst of Israel ;
that Jehovah and none else is their God. Jeho-
vah is in the midst of Israel, the centre and source
of spiritual life. It is solely through Him, that
Israel is what he is. The proof that God dwells
with Israel is his blessing him ; for the very object
of his communion with Israel, and the choice of
him to be his people, is to bless him. In dispens-
ing blessings, God manifests his name, his power,
his bounty, and distinguishes Himself from all
false gods, who being dead cannot do that ; while
Israel being thus blessed is distinguished from the
heathen, standing far above them who have no
such God. Hence, too, the punishments inflicted
apon Israel are in strong contrast with tliose
irhich overtake the heathen. If Israel is unfaith-
"ul so that his God disowns him, it is quite natural
that if he repents, he should regain the blessing ;
the honor of God and of his people require this.
Upon this fact, repentant Israel grounds his prayei
for pardon, and the promise given corresponds to
the prayer. When God sends blessings to his peo-
ple, whom his judgments have brought to repen^
ance, the right way is, to rejoice in and enjoy them,
with humble gratitude indeed, but at the same time
with the confession that they come wholly from
Him. Then, the humiliation endured vrill have
produced its proper fruits.
HOMILBTICAL.
Ver. 18. And Jehovah was jealous fi)r hi ptopk.
Penitential and believing prayer secures a graciouj
answer ; sometimes in the way of v/arding off' the
temporal evils with which God visits men. Be-
fore we call, God will answer, and while we are
speaking. He will hear.
[Henrt : God will have an eye (1.) To his
own honor, and the reputation of his covenant
with Israel, by which He had conveyed to them
that good land ; now He will not suffer it to be
despised or disparaged, but udlt be jealous for the
land and its inhabitants, who had been praised as
a happy people, and therefore must not lie open to
reproach as a miserable people. (2.) To their dis-
tress. He will pity his people, and will restore
them their former comforts.
PnsET ; Before, God seemed set upon their de-
struction. It was his great army which was ready
to destroy them ; He was at their head giving the
word. Now, He is full of tender love for them,
wliich resents injuries done to them, as done to
Himself. — F.]
Ver. 19. / loill send — corn. It is God who averts
the failure of crops, and scarcity of food. These
evils neither come nor cease by accident. God
gives us our daily bread. He opeus his hand, and
we are satisfied with food.
Ver. 20. I mil remove the northern. When God
has alarmed his people and brought them to re-
pentance. He often pours out his wrath upon those
who were his instruments in the infliction of chas-
tisement.
Ver. 21. Fear not. How kindly God can speak
to the heart ! How powerfully can He console !
It is easy for Him to do great things.
[PnSEY : Before, they were bidden to tremble;
now they are bidden fear not. The enemy had
done great things ; now, the cause of joy is, that
God had done great things ; the almightiness of God
overwhelming and sweeping over the might put
forth to destroy. — F.]
Ver. 23. Rejoice in the Lord. Joy in God is the
right kind of joy. From Him comes every bless
ing. Yet how often do we receive joyfully enough
the gift, without rejoicing in the Giver ? Certainly
he who does not know God, cannot rejoice in Him.
[SooTT : The sons of Ziou can never have so
great a cause to fear, but they must still have a
greater to " rejoice in the Lord." lie gives us all
our comforts, and enables us to use them wth
thankful hearts. The wisdom, truth, and iove of
his dispensations toward us deserve our highest
admiration ; and He will never leave his people to
be ashamed of their confidence in Him. — F.]
Ver. 25. I will restore. How great is the bounty
of God ! It seems as if Ho were anxious to re-
pair some injury which his preceding judgments
had caused.
Ver. 26. Ye shall be satisfied. What a blessed
result ol humiliatiou when our being satisfied and
CHAPTER II. 28-32.
27
praising the Lord become and remain so united in
us, that we can never again misuse God's gifts to
feed vain conceit, luxury, tyranny, but shall main-
tain unmoved fear, love, and trust in God.
[PusEY : It is of the punishment of God when
men eat and are not satisfied ; it is man's sin that
they are satisfied and do not praise God, hut the
more forget Him. And so God's blessings become
a curse to him. God promises to restore his gifts,
and to give grace withal, that they should own
and thank Him. — F.]
Ver. 27. I am in the midst of Israel. Blessed is
the people in the midst of whom the Lord dwells.
Every fresh blessing should be a proof to us that
God is in the midst of us. But we must be God's
people, if we would hope to have Him dwelling in
the midst of us. He is only in the midst of Israel.
God's people can never be put to shame ; therefor*
let us see that we belong to them.
[Henky : We should labor to grow in our ac
quaintance with God by all providences, both
merciful and afflictive. When God gives to his
people plenty and peace, He thereby gives them tc
understand that He is pleased with the'ir repent
ance, that He has pardoned their sins. — P.]
SECTION n.
Hereafter, on " the Day of the Lord" the Enemies of Israel shaU be destroyed, whih
the Lord reigns in Zion guarding and blessing it.
Chapter II. 28-32.
[In the Hebrew text and in Schmoller, these verses form Chap. III., while Chap. ni. of E. V. is numbered Chap. IT
We prefer to keep the order of the E. V. — F.]
The promise, which up to this point has reference to the present and the near future, now takes a
higher and wider range. It brings into view the day of the Lord, the result of the coming of which
shall be, on the one hand, the overthrow of the world-power, and on the other, the full blessedness of
God's people, through his dwelling in the midst of them. Ch. ii. 28-32 may be regarded as the intro-
duction to the closing chapter, which describes the fulfillment of the promise. The grand events, which
are the harbingers of the coming of the day of the Lord, are described. Zion is pointed out as the only
place of safety ; but even amid the terrors of that day, God's people will have no reason to fear. The
third chapter describes the judgments to be inflicted upon the enemies of God's people, while the latter
shall receive the richest blessings from the Lord, who sits enthroned on Zion.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward,'
That I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
And your sons and daughters shall prophesy ;
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions ;
29 Even ^ upon the men servants and the maid servants,
In those days, will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will give signs ^ in heaven and on earth.
Blood, and fire, and columns of smoke ;
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass that whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
As Jehovah hath said ;
Even among the remnant ■" whom Jehovah shall call.
CRITICAL AND TEXTUAL.
1 T«r. as. — " Afterward." ] ^"''nnN is clearly identical with the formula used by the later prophets. n^nnN^
S''p*i7, " the last days."
2 Ver. 29. — " Even." The " also " of B. V. hardly expresses the emphasis of Q3.
S Ver. 30. — " Signs." C^'HS'lIO denotes not " signs," but rather prodigies, miraculous signs of coming events.
4 Ver 32 — " Remnant." Tl'tl^^'D properly means " deliverance, escape." Here the abst. is used for the oon*
Bchmoller and WUnsche render "the escaped."
28
JOEL.
EXUQETICAL.
Ver. 28. And it shall come to pass, etc.
What is here said of a general outpourins; of the
Spirit, while connected with the foregoing prom-
ise, holds out to Israel the prospect of a grander
dispensation of divine grace and of richer bless-
ings than those promised in the preceding chapter.
God will manifest Himself in such a manner as
He has never done before. But this outpouring
af the Spirit is viewed by the prophet as con-
nected with the great day of the Lord, and as a
ijgn of its coming. But he thus views it only be-
cause he sees in that day, a day of judgment on
Israel's enemies, and a day of salvation to Israel,
through God's dwelling in Zion. If vers. 28, 29
be considered as containing a new promise, ver.
30 would begin a new subject, which would be
contrary to the tenor of the prophet's discourse, as
it is evident that these verses are closely connected.
Ver. 28. Afterward, i. e., after what had been
before announced in ver. 23 ; it is more indefi-
nite than the last days, although, in general, the
meaning is the same. Joel apparently imagines
that the events which he here describes, will hap-
pen in no very distant future. "75ti7, to pour,
primarily refers to rain, or a heavy shower of rain ;
It here denotes the communicating of something
from above, and in great abundance. This last
idea is illustrated in the extent of the gilt, — to
" all flesh," and the nature of the gift, — the spirit
of prophecy in various forms. P^TItVlsn. In
contrast with God, to whom the P^l belongs, kot.
i^., man appears as ""i'^ " flesh." This term des-
ignates man not simply as a being in want of this
" Spirit," but also as one naturally fitted to re-
ceive it, just as the dry ground is fitted to receive
the rain. — All flesh. How is this general expres-
sion to be understood ? It is clear from what fol-
lows that there is no limitation of sex, age, or
condition, and that not merely particular individ-
uals, but that all are to share in this divine gift,
— a fulfillment of the wish of Moses (Num. xi.
29). The connection and the train of thought re-
quire us to extend the " all " to mankind gener-
ally. — Shall prophesy. This is explained by
"prophesying," "dreaming dreams," "seeing vis-
ions." In this enumeration the most important
thing comes first, t. e., the proper prophetic func-
tion or power. S23 means, not simply to predict
future events, but generally to announce the reve-
lations of God, 'I'he whole people will be the
vehicle through which these highest spiritual utter-
ances will be made, and as all barriers will be then
fcroken down, woman is named by the side of man.
To this prophesying are conjoined, in a sort of
secondary way, other modes of divine manifesta-
tion, " dreams," " visions." As there is to be no
difference of sex, so there is to be none of age, in
regard to the sharing of this spirit. Even those
who would seem to be unfitted for it shall receive
it — "old men and children." Why, it may be
asked, shall " old men dream dreams '> " Because
they are better fitted for " dreams," just as younL,
men, or children are for "visions," though the ve-
verse of this would seem to be more natural. But
the condition of things ])redictc(l by the prophet
would be every way extraordinary! — And the
•ervants. This is added as something very .sin-
gular, CJ-I 'and even." Nay, something unheard
of shall then happen, namely, that slaves as well
as freemen shall partake of this Spirit. In othei
words, this social distinction shall then be abol-
ished. The Jewish interpreters could scarcely com-
prehend how this could be, and hence the Sept.
make the servants and hand-maidens, " God's,"
lirl roils So6\ovs ko! tos SoiiXa? fiou ; so too Acl!
ii. 16.
Ver. 30. I will show wonders. Wliat shall bs
the form of these phenomena of nature ? It is idlii
to try to answer the question. Tliey are evidently
such as had never before been seen, though they
may somewhat resemble the plagues of Egypt.
There will be " blood " and " fire," and " pillars of
smoke." The color of blood appears in the moon ;
both sun and moon are obscured ; and there are
signs of a hiding of the face of God who rules in
heaven, and consequently of his anger. These
signs will be of a nature to awaken terror, and all
the more, as the day approaches, for it would seem
from vers. 28, 29, 30, that there will be hardly an
interval between the sign and the day. Its men-
acing aspect becomes so much the more prominent
inasmuch as God will then manifest Himself, not
merely in a general way, but as bringing on a
special crisis. The obscuration of the stars is of-
ten mentioned in connection with the day of judg-
ment (Ezek. xxxii. 7; Am. viii. 9; Matt. xxiv.
29; Mark xiii. 24; Luke xxi. 25). Before the
day of the Lord oome. Hence these appearances
are signs of the coming of this day. Its actual
coming and its importance are set forth in ch. iii. ;
lierc it is described only in a general way. Ver. 32
goes on to state that for Zion it will bring neither
judgment nor destruction. Here its tempest will
cease. But there is, at the same time, an implied
exhortation to comply with the condition of safety.
Ver. 32. And it shaU come to pass, — whom
the Lord shall call. To call on the name of
Jehovah is to confess Him, to worship Him who
has revealed, and is revealing Himself to Israel.
AVhosoever, 73 with a special emphasis, to teach
that the day of the Lord will not bring destruc-
tion to all, though it may have that look. There
will be complete deliverance to those who call on
the name of the Lord, and to none else. The rea-
son is given, because in Mt. Zion is " deliverance."
As Jehovah had said. This seems to point to
some positive prophetic promise. This divine
promise of safety to all who call on the name of
the Lord, based on the promise concerning Zion
and Jerusalem, shows how closely related were
these two pl.aces. They are set forth as the place
where the Lord dwelt in his sanctuary with his
people, and where his name is known. The call-
ing on the Lord is wholly confined to Zion and
Jerusalem, though it would be of no avail to any
one to be in Zion unless he called on the Lord.
Deliverajice. Many take this term in a concrete
and collective sense, i. e., " the delivered," but the
other is the more natural interpretation. The
remnant, or " the escaped ; " there shall be among
them those whom the Lord calls. T^'HtD is one
who has escaped from the field of battle, or one
who has been saved from the fate of most others,
and so implying that the number is small. This
" remnant " is evidently to be added as a new class
to those before mentioned as delivered by calling
on the name of the Lord, the idea being that thcj
had been overtaken by the calamity , and though
delivered, their escape had been a very narrow one,
and hence noticed as the result of the Lord's spe-
cial and merciful call. Who are they ? Not thos<
CHAPTER II. 28-32.
29
already in Zion and Jerusalem ; but those who
were called to come there, i. e., not to these local-
ities merely, but to communion with the God who
calls and who is enthroned in Zion. This mani-
festly means that some of those who would be
properly liable to the judgment, would escape it
and share in the salvation promised to Zion. Who
are they ? Not the inhabitants of Judah living
outside the walls of Jerusalem ; — a sense of the
words entirely too limited and local. Besides, Zion
and Jerusalem must be taken as including all the
inhabitants of Judah wherever resident. It may,
perhaps, be infeiTed from ch. iii. that they are the
Israelites scattered among the nations, whom the
Lord promises (iii. 16) to bring again. Yet they
can scarcely be described as the "remnant," or
the " escaped," since their deliverance is the very
object of the judgment which falls upon the heathen
world. Why not understand by the " remnant,"
the heathen t They are both far off', and liable to
the judgment. It would still be true that while
the heathen world in general will be the object of
the judgment in the day of the Lord, some of
them will escape through the mercy of Jehovah.
This is certainly only a faint indication of the
calling of the Gentiles. This last fact is not dis
tinctly announced, the heathen as such not having
been as yet named. There is a close resemblance
between ver. 32 and Ob. 17, so that if the latter
was the earlier prophet, we might suppose that his
words had been modified by Joel. Obadiah says,
"there shall not be any remaining of the house
of Esau," in the day of the Lord. Joel also says,
that this day shall be one of judgment to all out-
side of Zion, for all the heathen. But he does
hot mean that none of them shall escape, for he
admits it to be possible that Jehovah might call
some of them. Joel thus takes a step in advance
of Obadiah, and indicates, though it may be ob-
scurely, the work that should be done by later
prophets.
[Pusey : Ver. 28. All flesh is the name for all
mankind. The words all flesh are in the Penta-
teuch, and in one place in Daniel, used in a yet
wider sense, of everything which has life ; but, in
tio one case, in any narrower sense. It does not
include every individual in the race, but it includes
the whole race, and individuals throughout it, in
every nation, sex, or condition, Jew or Gentile,
Greek or Barbarian, i. e., educated or uneducated,
rich or poor, bond or free, male or female. On
all was to be poured the Holy Spirit. — Ver. 29.
St. Peter, in declaring that these words began to
be fulfilled in the day of Pentecost, quotes them
with two lesser differences: "I will pour out of
my Spirit and upon Mi/ servants and Mi/ hand-
tnaidens." The words declare something in addi-
tion, but do not alter the meaning, and so St. Peter
quotes them as they lay in the Greek, which, prob-
ably, was the language known by most of the
mixed multitude to whom he spake. The words
" My Spirit," express the largeness and fullness
of the gift. The words " of my Spirit," express,
in part, that He who is infinite cannot be con-
tained by us who are finite. The words " the ser-
rants," mark the outward condition. The words
" my servants," declare that there should be no
Vfference between bond and free.
Ver. 32. Call upon the name of the Lord. To
•all on the name of the Lord is to worship Him
*s He is, depending upon Him. The name of the
Lord expresses his true Being, that which He is.
For the name rendered, The Lord, expres.ses that
"" " and that He alone is, the self-same the un- 1
Be
changeable; the name rendered God is not th«
special name of God. — F.J
[WUnsche : Ver. 28. My Spirit. The Spirit o.
God is the divine analogue of the spirit of man.
It is the true life principle of men ; the source of
physical life in the world of nature, of spiritual
life in the sphere of religion, of all goodness, tnith,
rectitiTde, and beauty. Whatever the human mind
thinks, feels, wills, fashions, in regard to any one
of these objects is, in one sense, an outflow of the
Divine Spirit. The prayer that ascends to heaven
from a devout heart, the self consecration, the
holy enthusiasm which distinguished the prophets,
and fitted them to proclaim to the people God'f
judgment and his mercy, — all these are expres
sions and gifts of the Divine Spirit. All flesh
The word is used in Heb. to denote the totality of
living being on earth, beasts and men (Gen. vi.
13 ; vii. 15, etc.) ; and then in a more limited
sense, for the human race. The connection shows
that, here, it is taken in the latter sense. Cred-
ner, however, gives it the wider meaning so as to
include the irrational animals, and refers in con-
firmation of his view to the prediction of Isaiah
xi. 6-9, concerning the " wolf and the lamb, the
leopard and the kid," etc. But this friendly union
of wild and tame animals is not represented by
the prophet as the result of men's enlarged knowl-
edge of God. Man alone is the image of God ;
he alone is a fit organ of the Divine Spirit ; ha
alone has the capacity to receive the gift here de-
scribed, which, therefore, cannot be extended to the
lower forms of animal life.
Ver. 32. As Jehovah hath said. There is no ref-
erence here to a lost prophecy (Meier) ; nor to an
older writing of Joel (Ewald) ; nor to Obadiah
(Keil). The meaning simply is that Joel, the per-
son speaking, had a divine revelation of the fact,
that where God's throne is, there his true worship-
pers shall also be. Shall call. The word has a
pregnant sense, conveying the idea that the " de-
liverance" depends not on the worshippers of God
alone, but also upon God himself Only those
whom the Lord calls or chooses, and who call
upon or choose Him shall be saved. Most of the
older and later expositors take " call " in a predes-
tinative sense. The Chald. has quos dominus del-
tinat. — F.]
THEOLOaiCAL.
1. From the very first the prophets point to a
great decisive Hereafter. In their being able to
do this lay their strength. Living in the present,
their eyes were ever turned to the future, or rather
the end, the consummation of all things. Hence
the power of their exhortations and promises to
their contemporaries. Their influence would have
been very frail and feeble, if they had not had a
firm faith in a future, when the salvation of God
should be fully realized.
2. Outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all
flesh. It is evident from the context that the
prophet himself did not suppose that this " out-
pouring " would extend beyond the people of Is-
rael. This was its field (ver. 27). Here God will
reveal Himself; here in the day of the Lord the
judgment will take place, here all nations shall be
gathered. The whole of ch. iii. shows that the
prophet considered the heathen world as the en-
emy of God's people. He does not put the heathen
on the same footing with Israel, but on the con-
trary he directs attention exclusively to the high
position of Israel as God's people. It presupposes
80
JOBIj.
the conversion of the heathen, and their reception
among God's people. As he nowhere predicts
such a conversion, his promise of an outpouring
of the Spirit upon ail flesh cannot here include the
heathen ; even if we refer the phrase " whom the
Lord shall call," to a selection of the heathen, it
is all the more evident that the " all flesh " can-
not include them. For the calling of individual
heathen could not have the same prominence that
would belong to the out-pouring of the Spirit on
the whole heathen world. Joel might have as-
sumed that some called out of the heathen world
would partake of the blessing given to Israel. To
Israel the promise was of something not only
great but new, namely, the impartation of the
Spirit to persons of all ages and conditions. Pour-
ing out as a symbol of this impartation was never
before used to denote the gift of the Spirit. Thus
far only individuals in particular localities had re-
ceived it. The gift was, indeed, a necessary result
of the covenant relation in which Jehovah stood
lO Israel, but hitherto his Spirit had come only on
individuals, fitting them to become divine messen-
gers. Such a limitation, however, did not accord
with the true idea of God's people, which implies
that they should all be partakers of his Spirit.
This should be fully realized in the future. Every
barrier shall be broken down, and the reception of
this Spirit shall be limited neither by age, sex, nor
condition. It would come in the form of pro-
phetic dreams and visions, giving those who re-
ceived it a deeper insight into divine things, and
make them organs of divine revelation.
This promise, as given by the prophet, is two-
fold. On the one hand, it will thus be seen that
Jehovah is in the midst of Israel. On the other
hand, this general outpouring of the Spirit will
be a preparatory warning of the coming of the day
of the Lord. That day will be one of immediate
and decisive manifestation of God, and its ap-
proach will be heralded by new and startling events
fitted to excite in the minds of men eager expecta-
tion, and to rouse them to seek salvation before it
was too late. These warnings may consist of ex-
traordinary phenomena in the world of nature, or
of similar phenomena in the.sphere of mind. From
the spirituality of the religion of Jehovah we might
expect that occurrences of the latter class would
predominate. Perhaps we may go farther and say
that the object of these remarkable events, of this
prophesying, of these dreams and visions, is the
day of the Lord itself It is clear that by this gen-
eral outpouring of the Spirit the way would be pre-
pared for such a result of the day of the Lord as
must redound to the glory of Israel. Since Jeho-
vah thus recognizes Israel as his people, by making
them all individually organs of his revelation, He
must, while blessing them, resist and punish their
enemies. This double aspect of the day of the
Lord, as one of judgment, and of redemption, is
here very distinctly declared. The deliverance of
individuals will not come to them as a matter of
course. If they escape the terrors of that day, and
share in the salvation of God's people, it can only
be by their complying with the conditions on which
it is secured.
When shall this promise of a general outpour-
ing of the Spirit be fulfilled 1 From the phrase
" after this," the prophet seems to have regarded
it as connected with the promise given in the earlier
i»art of the chapter. But it does not follow that
ac looked upon it as near at hand. The prophets
often connect promises relating to the present, very
dosely with those pertaining to the far distant fu-
ture. In this respect Joel and the later prophets
agi-ee. The latter represent the gift of the Spirit
in its fullness to the covenant people, as a promi-
nent feature of the Messianic age, or of the New
Covenant. Jer. xxxii. 15; Ivi. 13; Ez. xxxvi.26;
Zech. xii. 10. Hence we should, perhaps, designate
this prophecy as in a general way Messianic, though
Joel does not speak directly of the Messiah, and
we should look for its fulfillment after the advent
of Messiah. Thus St. Peter (Acts ii. 17J saw its
accomplishment in the miracle of Pentecost. He
expressly refers the )5"^rny — ^'' ^ais eiTX<^Tais
ri/iepuK, to the Messianic age. He distinctly recog-
nizes the Messiah as the mediator through whom
this rich and general bestowment of the Spirit
should come. Like the prophet, he understood the
" all flesh," to mean, in the first instance, the cov-
enant people, though he declares that the promise
extended also to those who were " afar ofl:" Joel
only intimates that the latter will escape, but does
not say, in so many words, that the Spirit will be
given to them. Peter evidently regarded — as Joel
did — this outpouring of the Spirit as a sign of the
Day of the Lord, i. e., in the New Testament sense oi
the term, as a day of Parousia, and so quotes vers.
28-32. As he saw one part of the prediction accom-
plished, he naturally looked for the fulfillment of
the other. There can be no doubt that the Apos-
tles, at least for a time, thought that thQllapovaia,
or the Coming of the Lord, was nigh at hand, and
such prophecies as the one before us, would tend
to confirm them in that expectation. On the day
of Pentecost, Peter saw the Spirit poured out, not
indeed on " all flesh," even in the limited sense of
all Israel, but he was sure that the promise of it
embraced the whole covenant people, and so he
opens to all the prospect of the gift, on condition
of repentance.
But though the wonders of Pentecost were the
first and literal fulfillment of this prophecy, they
by no means exhausted its meaning. The only
effect of the outpouring of the Spirit recognized
by Joel, is the prophetic, and on this memorable
day, it certainly appeared in an ecstatic form. But
we need only to look into the Epistles of St. Paul
to discover that the influence of the -jru^vfia ayiov
which Christ gives is not exhausted by such re-
sults ; on the contrary, the grandest eflect of it is
the regeneration of the whole man. This deeper,
ethico-religious conception of the gift of the Spirit,
founded on the declarations of the later prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, is certainly the New
Testament one. Joel's idea of the close connection
between the outpouring of the Spirit and "the
day," is in one sense a mistaken one, since the
" outpouring " came, but not the " day," yet in
another vie\v it is perfectly correct. The two are
most nearly related. With Messiah have come the
eirxaTai T)ij.4pat ; and the gift of the Spirit is, and
will continue to bo, a sign of the Day of the Lord,
a proof that God is in the midst of his people, and
will give them the victory over all their enemies. —
Finally, we must not overlook the limits of the
field of the Spirit's operations as described by Ho'
sea. He, indeed, considered Israel alone as God's
people, and that on Israel alone would the Spirit
be poured out. But as we know from the New
Testament that Christ's disciples are not limited
to Israel, neither are God's people, so we are sure
that this outpouring of the Spirit is confined to
them, t. e., to the spiritual Israel, to all who, by
faith, are made one with Christ. All such partaks
of the Holy Ghost.
CHAPTER n. 18-32.
31
[In this somewhat prolix and verbose disserta-
tion, the author confounds two quite distinct ques-
tions, namely, What is the real meaning of the
prophecy — whom does it embrace, — and when
and how will it be completely fulfilled f and How
far did Joel comprehend the real purport of the
prophetic promises, which he was inspired to utter ?
This last question it is impossible to answer, be-
cause Joel has left no explanation of his predic-
tion, We have nothing but the prophecy itself.
Therefore we have no means of determining wheth-
er he took the " all flesh," as meaning simply Is-
rael, or in its wider sense. After all, the question is
one of no practical importance. The grand inquiry
is. What is the meaning of the prophecy ■? — j?.
WuNSOHE ; Credner is clearly wrong when he
says that Peter made a false application of this
prophecy. No man can deny that on the day of
Pentecost, the prediction of Joel began to be ac-
complished. We say designedly, " began to be
accomplished," for although the Christian Church
has been growing in divine knowledge, and has
been working for the common good of all sexes,
ages, and classes, more than eighteen hundred
years since that day, the prophecy is not yet fill-
filled. There are predictions, which have found
their fulfillment in particular historical events ;
and there are others which embrace the entire field
of humanity, and Joel's belongs to this latter class.
Its complete accomplishment will be the history of
the kingdom of God on earth, down to the end of
time. — F.]
3. Let us now consider what the prophet teaches
in regard to the condition of deliverance, in this
" terrible day of the Lord." It is not sharing in
those extraordinary influences of the Spirit, whose
results are involuntary, but "calling on the name
of the Lord," a free act, which every one who
pleases can perform. There is something to be
done by each individual for himself, and all are
exhorted to do it. Spiritual gifts do not necessa-
rily involve spiritual regeneration. So we find to
have been the case in New Testament history, with
the miraculous xoip^o'/'-a'ra, which at first predomi-
nated, but gradually disappeared, giving place to
a more natural and tranquil, a purer and deeper
spiritual life. The condition of deliverance is
stated in ver. 32, and all are exhorted to fulfill it.
External membership with the people of Israel 'will
not, of itself, secure salvation; but the condition
is one so simple and easy, so really within the
power of every one, that the verse has more the
aspect of a promise than an exhortation. There
is no real need that any one should be afraid of
the coming of the " terrible day." Its terrors may
be escaped by simply calling on the Lord in Zion
and Jerusalem, the place of worship. Therefore
no one need ask, Where shall I find the Lord on
whom I must call? for the Lord Himself has
named the place of his abode.
This alone is necessary, " to call on the Lord."
To do this, it is not absolutely requisite that one
should belong to Israel. This is plainly taught by
the words just quoted. Hence Paul bases upon
them the equal rights of Jews and Gentiles 1 But
Joes this exposition suit the context, in which the
rophet so expressly connects the deliverance with
^ion and Jerusalem'? If we look carefully into
the matter, we shall find that it does. Zion is the
place where God has revealed Himself. Without
luch n revelation as that made in Zion, neither
tailing on the Lord, nor salvation, would have
been possible. Zion then (not in the local sense)
.8 the seat and centt e of salvation ; because here
I'
God has manifested Himself. Paul knew that a
Greek, simply as such, could not call upon thf
Lord, since he did not even know the Lord who
had revealed Himself in Israel. Those who would
call upon Him, as Paul teaches, must believe irj
Him, and this implies that He had been preached
to them, and this was done by those who made
known to the heathen the God who has manifested
Himself in Zion. Paul denies that conformity to
the Jewish law is a condition of salvation. All this
shows the Apostle's deep insight into the real
meaning of Scripture. His heart beat for those
afar off; he feels, and discovers instinctively, that
the barriei'S which had separated Jew and Gentile
were broken down by the very prophetic word
which made salvation dependent on one thing
alone, a thing within the reach equally of the Gen-
tile and the Jew. He evidently took the words
" whosoever shall call," etc., in a sense large enough
,to embrace the whole Gentile world. On exeget-
ical grounds, as we have seen, we are authorized
though not compelled to give them this breadth of
meaning. In the last clause of ver. 32 the phrase
occurs, " whom the Lord shall call," and it con-
veys the idea that salvation is not a matter of
right, but of grace alone. With regard to all who
are afar off this divine call is the cause of deliver-
ance. If they had not been thus called they must
certainly have perished, so that they owe their es-
cape solely to the gracious call of God. But it is
at the same time clearly implied that this call be-
comes effective and saving only when the man him-
self turns to the Lord.
HOMILETICAL.
Ver. 28. Afterward. A prophetic word of pro-
found meaning. When 1 The prophets them-
selves did not know. Yet these promises were,
for the present, a light shining in a dark place.
But what kings and prophets of old desired to see
and saw not, we see, who live in the times of ful
fiUment. To us the Afterward has become Now.
To many, it is only a Once, a Formerly. They
forget that the fulfillment of these prophetic words
never grows old, but has a perpetual Now, which
it becomes us to comprehend and improve until
the Lord comes. For as that Afterward has be-
come a Now, in Him in whom all the promises are
yea and amen, so He still points us to a moi'e dis-
tant Afterward, when there will be nothing new in
distinction from the old, except as sight is distin-
guished from faith, and the end from the begin-
ning.
/ ivill pour out my Spirit. True fellowship with
God implies the participation of the Spirit of
Gfod. So long as this privilege is confined to in-
dividual communion with God, on the part of men,
it must be simply an object of desire and hope,
notwithstanding the means used to extend it.
Blessed privilege of the New Covenant, that in
Chri.st every one may receive the Spirit of God.
All special privileges are done away ; all separat-
ing walls are broken down. The lowest as well
as the loftiest can now aspire to be taught by the
Spirit of God, and so to become a oo-worker with
God. How wonderful the condescension and the
grace of God ! (See Gal. iii. 28.) How plain is it
that the religion of the Old Testament, though it-
self far from attaining this end, foreshado-ived it,
and revealed the way to it.
[Henry : God hath reserved some better things
for us, the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of
32
JOEL.
fflory, and the happiness of true believers in both.
We often read in the Old Testament of the Spirit
of the Lord coming like drops, as it were, upon
the judijes and prophets whom God raised up for
extraordinary services, but now, the Spirit shall
be poured out plentifully, in a full stream.
PnsET : God alone can be poured out into the
soul, so as to possess it, enlighten it, teach, kindle,
bend, move it as He wills, sanctify, satiate, fill it.
The prophetic word circles round to that where-
with it began, the all-containing promise of the
large outpouring of the Spirit of God ; and that,
upon those whom the carnal Jews at all times
would least expect to receive it. It began with in-
cluding the heathen ; it instances individual gifts,
and then it ends by resting on the slaves. The
order of the words is significant. He begins /
will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and then in
order to leave the mind resting on these same great
words. He inverts the order and ends, and upon the
servants, etc. It leaves the thoughts resting on the
great words " I will pour out my Spirit."
Robinson : A Christian even now, animated
and influenced by the Holy Ghost is a wonderful
being, as superior to the rest of mankind, as man
is superior to the beasts of the field. But what
win he be then 1 There have been mighty men
amongst us, a Milton, a Boyle, a Newton in a
former age, and some in the present, who, with
the highest gifts of genius, have been endowed
with eminent gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit;
but who shall saj' in that future dispensation, to
what heights of wisdom and knowledge and power
man may be advanced ? Every discovery in science,
every progressive improvement, such as the present
age has developed, are prophecies and earnests of
that glorious time here promised. — F.]
Ver. 30. Show wonders. The New Covenant
has brought salvation, but it also brings sifting
judgments corresponding to the greatness of this
salvation. The question now is, how men will
deal with it; and most certain is it that God will
remove everything opposed to Him and his king-
lom. Hence, with the salvation in Christ, there
was need of this last separating judgment. Great
displays of God's grace and great judgments
often go together, the latter preparing the way
for the former. So was it in tJerusalem. Those
who despised the kindly tongues of flame on the
day of Pentecost, had blood, fire, and vapor of
smoke as the symbols of destruction. So is it
now. Those who quench the Spirit, despise proph-
esyings, and give themselves up to the flesh and
the world will find " that day " all the more terri-
ble, and that their damnation slumbereth not.
The best thing is to be always ready for that day
of God. If we delay until it actually comes, it
may be too late.
[Henry : The judgments of God upon a sinful
world, and the frequent destruction of wicked king-
doms by fire and sword, are prefaces to and pres-
ages of the judgment of the world in the last day.
PasEY : Each revelation of God prepares th«
way for another, until that last revelation of his
love and of his wrath in the great day. — i\]
Ver. 32. Whosoever calleth. Happy they who
are found watching and praying when the Lord
comes. We may escape the judgment, therefore
we should not despair. All that is necessary is
believing prayer to God. For every one who con-
fesses God, He will confess. But such escape we
must earnestly seek for ourselves. The coming o)
Christ has two aspects ; to the godless, it will be
a day of condemnation and wrath : to believers,
a day of redemption and refreshing. In Zion and
Jerusalem, i. e., in the God who is there revealed,
is redemption. He who believes in Christ is in
Zion, for he confesses Him as the God of Zion
To Him belongs the glory of our salvation. Ex-
amine thyself to see thy real condition. The abil-
ity to stand in the judgment will come, not from
any outward excellence, nor even from gracious
privileges or preeminence. The remnant. God de-
sires not to destroy, but to save. Hence his con-
stant and gracious call to all who are afar off, to
come and be saved. E^en the heathen, who be-
long not to his chosen people, can obtain salvation,
Not indeed unless He calls them ; but if He does
call and they yield to it through his grace, they
share in the gifts of his people. Art thou among
the called ones of God ? Hast thou heard his
call ? Thou mayest be called and yet perish at
last. Many are called, few chosen. God calls aL,
but He, in turn, will be called upon in faith.
[Henry : This is ground of comfort and hope
to sinners, that whatever danger there is in their
case, there is also deliverance for them, if it be not
their own fault. And if we would share in this
deliverance we must apply ourselves to the Gospel
Zion, to God's Jerusalem. It is the praying rem-
nant that shall be the saoed remnant. And it will
aggravate the ruin of those who perish, that they
might have been saved on such easy terms. Those
only shall be delivered in the great day that are
now effectually called from sin to God, from self
to Christ, from things below to things above.
Scott : The Gospel calls men in general to
partake of its blessings, and of that salvation
which is revealed and placed in the Church ; and
" whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord"
Jesus, as the Son of God and the Saviour of sin-
ners, shall be delivered from the wrath to come.
This is the happy case of that remnant of every
age and people whom the Lord calls by his regen-
erating Spirit ; all things shall work together for
their good ; they may look forward with comfort
for the day, when nature shall expire in convul-
sions, assured that then their eternal redemption
shall be perfected. — F.]
SECTION III.
The Day of the Lord hringsfuU Salvation to Israel and the Destruction of his EnemieM
Chapter in.
1 For behold, in those days,^ and at that time
"When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem :
CHAPTER in. 33
2 That I will gather all the nations,
And will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat ;
And there will I deal with (or Judge) them," for my people, and my heritage," Israel.
Because they scattered them among the nations,*
And divided my land.
3 And they cast lots for my people.
They bartered a boy for a harlot,
And sold a maiden for wine,^ and drank it.
4 And, also, what have ye to do with me, Tyre and Sidon,
And all the borders ^ of Philistia ?
Would you retaliate ' upon me,
Or render me a recompense ¥
Soon and swiftly * will I bring your recompense on your own head.
5 Because ye have taken away i^j silver and my gold.
And have brought into your temples my goodly desirable things,"
6 And ye have sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the sons of Javan,
That ye might remove them far away from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise '" them up out of the place where ye have sold them.
And will return your retaliation on your own head.
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah,
And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation.
For Jehovah hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim this among the nations,
Declare (sanctify) a war.
Arouse the mighty ones.
Let all the men of war draw near, come up.
10 Beat your mattocks '' into swords.
And your pruning-hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Hasten " and come.
All ye nations round about, and assemble yourselves ;
Then Jehovah shall bring down " thy mighty ones.
12 Let the nations arise and come up
To the valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
13 Put in the sickle,"
For the harvest is ripe ;
Come, tread,
For the wine-press is full.
The vats overflow.
For their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.
For the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
And the stars withdraw their shining,
16 And '* Jehovah will thunder out of Zion,
And from Jerusalem he will give forth his voice,
So that the heavens and the earth shall shake ;
But Jehovah will be a refuge for his people,
And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
34 JOEL.
17 And ye shall know that I Jehovah am your God,
Dwelling in Zion my holy mountain ;
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
And strangers shall no more pass through her.
18 And it shall come to pass that in that day the mountains shall drop down with new
wine,
And the hills shall flow with milk,
And all the river beds of Judah shall be full of water,
And a fountain shall flow forth from the house of Jehovah,
And shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation,
And Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.
For their violence against Judah's sons ;
Because they shed blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall dwell '^ forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation ;
21 And I will avenge their blood, lohicli I have not avenged,
And Jehovah will dwell in Zion.
TEXTUAL AND aRAMMATICAL.
I Ver. 1. — ThoPie dnys, i. e., preiiminently. In Heb, the personal and demonstrative pronouns sometimes take the
article, thus rendering the expression all the stronger and more emphatic.
= Ver. 2. — '^ClbQlUDl. For the construction see Josh. iv. 2 ; 9 Chron. xxii. 8 ; Is. iii. 14 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 22. In
the latter place H^ is used for ttlP,
3 Ver. 2. — "^n^ri^l my peculium. The word expresses more than "^^^j niy people. Israel is in apposition
with both terms.
* Ver. 2. — The nations, i. e., the neighboring: ones. See ver. 12.
B Ver. 3. — For wine, "2 is here the ^ of price, and according to the rule is placed after verbs of buying and selling.
8 Ver. 4. — Borders^ tlip'^Zi3 lit., circles, referring to the five subdivisions of Philistia, namely, Gaza, Ashdod,
Ashkalon, Gath, and Efcron.
■^ Ver. 4. — Would you retaliate. Wiinsche renders the clause, " Wolht ihr ein Thun niir vergelten^''^ and adds that
it is variously explained. The meaning depends on the sense attached to 5^3, The ground sense of its radical Byllable
D3 is fullness, accumulation. The primary meaning of ^^33 is the same. It is used — (1) Intrans., to be full, or
complete, specially of fruit, to be ripe. (2) Trana., to complete, to make full, i. e. : fa) To wean, or to take from milk
(Gen. xxi. 8 ; 1 Sam. xxii. 24 ; Is. xxviii. 9). (b) To ripen with special reference to fruit, (c) To do something mth the
hands, i. fi., to finish it. (d) To recompense what has been dune by another, so that its end and aim is accomplished, —
something done, in a moral sense, for which men are responsible. It is construed both with ^ E^nd py.
s Ver. 4. — Soon and swiftly. See Is. v. 26. Pocock takes both the words adverbially.
^ Ver. 6. — Goodly desirable things. Newcome renders the phrase desirable and goodly. Q'^DIt^n = not simply
"good things," but " good" in a pregnant sense, optima.
1^ Ver. 7. — Tioillraise. D'n'^i'?3. Hiph. of theintrans. "l^!'» to be hot, hence to be watchful. One Kenn. MSS.
has DI'^S'^p I am calling, or will call them as witnesses.
II Ver. 10. — Maitocls. tllD'^lTll^^ This was an instrument of husbandry having an edge that needed to be sharp-
ened from time to time (1 Sam. xxii. 20). All the older versions render it " ploughshares," which Tregellcs favors.
12 Ver. 11. — T^^^, a a-rro^ Ae-y, perhaps used for "C^H or yiS^- The Sept. renders it truraflpotfeo-fle. Vulg.
erumpite; Gesen., Meier, and others, " haKten." For the use of the *1 to show the close connection between the two
imperatives, see Mic. iv. 13. Kimchi, Ewald, Meier, and others take the following ^^-J^TD as an anom. Niphal im-
perative for 'nisiiipn,
13 Shall bring doton, lit,, " hath brought down." What He will do is spoken of as done.
!■* Ver. 13. — Pp'?, the sickle, from the root p^3 J hence the dag. fort.
15 Ver. 16. — But Jehovah. 1 is here clearly antithetic.
ifl Ver. 20. — "^"^^ is not to be underetood in a passive sense, ^* habitariy^'' but actively, i. e., shall dwell in and
possess the land.
CHAPTER III.
35
EXBGETICAIi.
Vers. 1-3. For behold in those days, etc. The
*^l3 in ver. 1 gives the reason for the thought that
deliverance can be found only in Zion, in the day
of the Lord, for then shall aU heathen nations be
judged. In those days, i. e., the days that shall
come, the "afterward" of the previous chapter.
The signs of the event belong essentially to the
event itself; but the time is more exactly deter-
mined by the statement "when I shall bring
again," etc. This distinctly shows that the object
of the day of the Lord is, the deliverance of the
people of God. The judgment of the heathen
world is simply a means to that end. Bring: back
the captivity, or to return the captivity, means
to make an end of it. This phrase, from the use
here made of it to designate the epoch of judg-
ment as a terminus technicus for a restitutio in
integrum promised to God's people, may have been
borrowed from some more ancient prophecy. The
condition out of which the captivity is brought ap-
pears from the close of ver. 2. But the conclusion
of the chapter shows, that the captivity is not
simply to end, but that its termination involves a
positively new and higher order of things. Judah
and Jerusalem, a. e., Judah generally, Jemsalem
Bpecially.
Ver. 2. All nations. In the first instance, of
course, all those that have offended against Israel ;
yet these are representatives of the heathen world
in general, whose position towards God's people is
essentially the same. The valley of Jehosha-
phat. According to 2 Chron. sx., Jehoshaphat
by the miraculous help of the Lord gained a great
victory over a Gentile army, in a valley, which
subsequently for this reason took the name of that
king. Does the prophet here mean that valley ?
Keil and many others say, no. They insist that
the valley of the prophet is an imaginary one, in
or near Jerusalem, and is called the valley of Je-
hoshaphat =" Jehovah judges," because of its
being the place of judgment. The valley certainly
stands in close relation to Jerusalem., for in ver. 16
it is said that Jehovah, who there judges, shall ut-
ter his voice from Zion and Jerusalem. But in
this case there is no need of applying a merely
geographical measure. Johovah may judge in a
valley far distant from Jerusalem, and yet have
his dwelling in Israel, in Zion, and Jerusalem.
(See 2 Chrou. xx. 15-17, where the Lord, while
contending for Israel is, at the same time, regarded
as being in his sanctuary in Jerusalem.) If the
phrase is to be taken in a symbolic sense, it might
be asked, why Joel should have fixed upon a
"valley" as the place of judgment, and should
have given it the name of a well-known king ?
He was undoubtedly thinldng of the great event
under Jehoshaphat. The name of this monai'ch
was significant, and he calls the place "valley of
Jehoshaphat," because he was reminded of that
fortunate king who was victorious over Israel's
enemies, and because of the peculiar significance
of the name Jehoshaphat ■= Jehovah judges. By
way of anticipation he tells what they have to ex-
pect, who are gathered there. To the question,
does he mean that well-known valley then, we an-
swer, yes, and no. Yes, because he evidently had
in view the spot on which Jehoshaphat won his
victory. No, because he as evidently goes on to
describe a more than common battle fought on a
spot which could be identified on no map. The
multitudes gathered there are too vast to be as-
sembled in any ordinary valley. In painting this
prophetic vision there can be no doubt that Joel
had in his mind the historical narrative in 3
Chron. xx. Deal with. E. V. Plead with, 1 e.
to charge with crime, with the design of punish-
ing it. Taking the word in its full sense of argu-
ing a cause, it implies that the nations argue their
ovni cause, and attempt to vindicate themselves,
though, of course they could have no ground to
stand upon, since Jehovah is alone and always
in the right. My people, my heritagre. There-
fore what the nations did to Israel must be crimi-
nal. They have scattered. The prophet here
has in mind what he afterwards more fully de-
scribes.
Ver. 3. They not only scattered God's people,
but treated them with the greatest contempt.
This, however, is only mentioned as pars pro toto.
At least in ver. 19 the prophet looks beyond what
was immediately before liini, and names oppres-
sions which Israel had long before experienced, so
that it is evident that he is thinking of the heathen
world in general, and of its hostility to God's peo-
ple. A special reference to the future Exile is nob
to be assumed, as this does not yet come into the
prophet's horizon.
[Pusey : ver. 1. For, behold. The prophet by
the for shows that he is about to explain in detail,
what he had before spoken of in sum. By the
word behold, he stirs up our minds for something
great, which he is to set; before our eyes, and which
we should not be prepared to expect or believe. —
Ver. 2. Valleij of Jehoshaphat. It may be that
the imagery is furnished by that great deliverance
which God gave to Jehoshaphat when Ammon, and
Moah, and Edom came against hhn^ and Jehosha-
phat appealed to God, and God turned their swords
every one against the other. And they assembled
themselves in the valley of J3e7'achah (blessing) ■, for
there they blessed the Lord. 2 Chron. xx. 21. That
valley, however, is nowhere called the valley of Je-
hoshaphat. It continued, says the sacred writer, to
be called the valley of Berachah unto this day. And
it is BO called still. Southwest of Bethlehem and
east of Tekoa are still three or four acres of ruin
(Robinson, Pal., iii. 275), bearing the name of Bo-
reikut (Seetzen's Map: Bitter, Erdk., xv. 635;
Wolcott, Excurs. to Hebron^ p. 43). The only val-
ley called the valley of Jehoshaphat is the valley of
Kedron, encircling Jerusalem on the east. The
valley was the common burial-place for the inhab-
itants of Jerusalem. (Williams, II. C, ii. 523;
Thomson, Land and Book^ ii. 481. — Ver. 3. Cast
lots. They treated God's people as of no account,
and delighted in showing their contempt towards
them. They chose no one above another as though
all alike were worthless. A girl they sold for an
evening's revelry, and a boy they exchanged for a
night's debauch.
Wiinsche : ver. 3. According to the then prev-
alent custom, the prisoners of war were sold aa
slaves. My jieople. We are to understand by this,
not the people as a whole, but only the portion
taken captive. But the mistreatment of this part
of the covenant people, in the view of the O. T.
prophets, was a mistreatment of the whole body.
-F.]
Vers. 4-8. And also what have ye, etc. After
speaking of the crimes of the heathen in general,
against Israel, the prophet turns to the nei^^hbor-
ing nations, Tyre, Sidon, and the borders of Philis-
tia, i. e., the five small Philistine principalities.
He, suddenly, as it were, remembers those who-.
36
JOEL.
had comimtted such crimes against Israel as those
already mentioned. The question, in fact, espe-
cially concerns them. With the genus comes the
species which is included in it. In a lively descrip-
tion, we 3&nd ourselves in the midst of the nations
(comp. ver. 11) with whom the process of pleading
by Jehovah is carried on. For afterwards there
is no more pleading, but a decision. They are
represented as claim mg to be right ; but any pre-
sumptive claim of theirs to do what they had done
is denied, in the first instance, by the general ques-
tion, ^' what have ye to do with me ? " a question
more fully answered afterwards. Their right to
inflict injury upon Israel, or to retaliate for injuries
inflicted upon themselves, is denied. They are the
persona on whom the retaliation shall come, and
that swiftly. Vers. 5, 6 prove the righteousness
of the retribution, by a reference to the crimes
committed, while vers. 7. 8 declare the certainty
of it. Ver. 5 alludes, without doubt, to the pillag-
ing of Judah and Jerusalem by the Philistines
and Arabians under Joram. 3 Chron. xxi. 17.
They then carried off the treasures of the temple
and the palaces of the city, the latter being desig-
nated as '"Mine," because they belonged to those
who were among God's people. The Philistines
were the immediate perpetrators of tlie robbery,
but the Phoenicians, the inhabitants of Tyre and
Sidon, were also involved in the guilt of it, for
they bought the captives and sold them to the
sons of Javan, or the Greeks of Asia Minor. In
Tcrs. 7, 8, there is a promise that these enslaved
captives shall be brought home again, and that, in
retaliation, the same thing shall be done to these
enemies of Israel, which they have done to Israel.
Jehovah will sell them into the hands of the chil-
dren of Judah, who will again sell them to the
Sabseans in Arabia Felix, This prophecy was ful-
filled by Alexander the Great and his successors,
under whom many Jewish captives were liberated
and restored to their own land, while various parts
of Philistia and Phoenicia were brought under Jew-
ish rule.
[Pusey: ver. 4. What have ye to do with me.
These words declare that those nations had no part
in God, He accounts them as aliens. But the
VFOrds convey besides, that they would, unpro-
Toked, have to do with God, harassing his people
-without cause. — Ver. 5. M/j silver. Not the sil-
vper and gold of the temple, as some have thought.
.At least, up to the Prophet's time they had not
■ dmie this. God calls the silver and the gold, which
^e through his providence had bestowed on Judah,
jmy£Uver ajul my gold. — Ver. 6. And ye have sold,
•^fcc This sin of the Tyriana was probably old and
jnveftyerate. As they were the great carriers of the
-world's traffic, so they were slave-dealers, and in
ilbe ^earliest times, men-stealcrs. The Greek anle-
IristooD tradition exhibits them as trading and sell-
ing^wosaen from both Greece and Egj'pt, As their
tEaidfc feecame more fixed, they themselves stole no
more, ^mt like Christian nations, sold those whom
otihseas siole or made captive. Even from the times
of -iliE Judges, Israel was exposed in part to the
viofietaoB and fraud of Tyre and Sidon. Sisera's
arEBj tfiiaae from their territory, and Deborah
speai;k3s <of " a damsel or two " as the expected
pre^ c£ft:each man in his host. In Joel, the Philis-
tin^MS .-and Tyrians appear as coml^ined in the traf-
fic. iEn Amos, the Philistines are the robbers of
man^ithePhoBnicians are the receivers and the sell-
ers. ;S*rrflaably such acts were expressly prohibited
by 'the "Ibrotherly covenant," or treaty between
SoBomon .amd Hiram, king of Tyre. For Amos
aa^3 ±hat Tyre forgot that treaty, when she sold
wholesale the captive Israelites whom the Philis-
tines had carried ofi; The temptation to Tyriau
covetousness was aggravated by the case with which
they could possess themselves of the Jews, the fa-
cility of transport, and, as it seems, their value.
The wholesale price at which Nicanor set the Jews
his expected prisoners, and at which he hoped to
sell 180,000, shows the extent of the traffic; and
their relative value, £3 14.1. Gcf., as the average
price of each of ninety slaves in Judaea, implies a
retail price at the place of sale above the then or-
dinary price of man. — Ver. 8. / will sell your
sons — the Sabceans. Tyre was taken by Alexan-
der, who sold 13,000 of the inhabitants into slav-
ery. Sidon was taken by Artaxerxes Ochus, and
it is said above 40,000 perished. The Sabaeans are
probably mentioned as being the remotest nation
in the opposite direction, a nation, probably, the
partner of Tyre's traffic in men as well as in their
other merchandise, and who would as soon trade
i?i Tyrians, as with Tyrians. They were, like the
Phoenicians, a wealthy merchant people, and, of
old, united with them in the trade of the world^
the Sabteans, sending forth their fleets across the
Indian Ocean, as the Tjrrians along the Mediter-
ranean Sea. Three fathers of distinct races bore
the name of Sheba, one a descendant of Ham, the
other two descended from Shem. The Shemite
Sabaeans were, some descendants from Sheba the
tenth son of Joktan ; the others from Sheba, son
of Abraham and Keturah. The Sheba of the
prophet appears to have been the wealthy Sheba
(descended from Joktan) near the Red Sea, They
too had distant colonies whither the Tyrians could
be transported, as far from. Phoenicia as the shores
of the -^gean are from Palestine.
Wunche: Tyre^ lit., Rock. Though Tyre was
historically a younger city than Sidon, from its
rapid growth and great importance as a commer-
cial centre, it is nsually mentioned first when the
two cities are named together. There were two
Tyres, namely, the Old, built on the main land»
and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar after a siege of
thirteen 3'ears, and the N"ew, built on a rocky island
about a mile from the shore. Sidon comes from
"mT) to fish. Its founders were probably fisher-
men. — Desirable things — Your temples. If by the
first phrase the prophet means the rich adornments
of God's temple, and by the latter the heathen
temples, the crime here charged is the double one
of spoliation and profanation. — Javan. Credner
regards this as the name of a city in Arabia Felix.
Hitzig places it in Jemen, and thinks it to be the
same as the one mentioned Ezek. xxvii. 19. Schrd-
der takes the word in the sense of distant, unknown
nations. But it is undoubtedly the name of the
Greeks of Asia Minor. — F. ]
Vers. 9, 10. Proclaim this. The prophet has
already spoken of the gathering of the nations ia
the valley of Jehoshaphab, where Jehovah will
plead with them. "We have heard the accusation and
the sentence ; and now comes the swift execution
of it. Proclaim this. What ? If it be Prepare
(sanctify) war, and this is to be proclaimed to the
heathen, those charged to bear the message should
be the heralds of the heathen. But the contents
of the message show that it is directed not to the
heathen but to Israel. No one shall remain behind,
nor feel himself weak, nor withdraw from the holy
contest, which is to bring ** decision." It must be
considered, then, as a summons to Israel. The
battle described is no common one. It is a battle,
in which Jehovah Himself shall be present as a
judge deciding the fate of the heathen, and help-
CHAPTER III.
37
tag Israel to win a glorious victory over thera.
The suramoner is Jehovah Himself, or the prophet
speaking in his name, who, in his vivid description
of the contest, feels himself to be present at it.
Proclaim this must, then refer to what was said be-
fore, namely : that Jehovah will recompense the
heathen for their crimes against Israel, and that
Israel shall be fully avenged. For the counterpart
of the proposed change of the implements of peace
into the instruments of war, see Is. ii. 4 ; Mic.
iv. 3.
[Wiinsche : Proclaim, lit., sanctify. The use of
this word shows that this great and decisive war
is a holy and a righteous one. Credner, Hitzig,
Keil, and others regard this as addressed not to
the Jews, but to the heathen nations, i. e., to their
heralds who are, at the bidding of Jehovah, to sum-
mon these nations to a war against Israel. But
on this supposition the use of the word " sanctify "
is inexplicable. — F.]
Vers. 11-16. Hasten and come. Now the na-
tions are summoned to collect speedily, as if they
were about to accomplish something against Is-
rael, while really they are rushing to their own
destruction. Kouud about. The reference is not
to the immediat* neighbors of Israel, but the ex-
pression is used because God's people is regarded
as holding a central position among the nations.
The prophet, however, cannot think of the assem-
blage of the nations without offering a prayer to
Jehovah that He would cause his mighty ones to
come down, where the gathering occurs, in the
valley of Jehoshaphat. Thy mighty ones. Ac-
cording to Keil they are the angels as heavenly
hosts. But if in ver. 9 they are men (Keil refers
that version to the heathen), they must also be men
here. The idea of the angels coming from heaven
to help is not Joel's. It is Israel who fights, un-
der the command of Jehovah (comp. Judges v. 13).
Thy affords no proof against this exposition, since
Israel is God's people, and Israel's mighty ones
are God's.
Ver. 12. Here Jehovah himself speaks, and the
whole verses may, therefore, be regarded as a kind
of answer to the prophet's prayer. Jehovah sum-
mons the nations to awake and to come up (n?J7
here means to ascend) to the valley of JehosCa-
phat. For though the gathering place is a val-
ley, and Israel's mighty ones go down into it
from Zion, yet the heathen come up to the valley
of Jehoshaphat, because, being near to Jerusalem,
it is on a higher elevation than the territories
{«. g., Philistia) of the neighboring nations. The
reason why they are to come up to this valley is
found in the meaning of the name Jehoshaphat =
"Jehovah sits there to judge." He does not en-
gage directly in the contest ; He does not lead the
army, but He sits on a throne to judge, — to pro-
nounce the sentence, and to execute it by means
of his mighty ones. At the same time he renders
essential aid by those terrible phenomena of nature
spoken of (vers. 15, 16), which mark the contest
as " the day of the Lord," the result of which is
the utter destruction of these enemies. How Jeho-
vah will execute the sentence pronounced by Him
as Judge, is explained in ver. 13, for the exhorta-
tion here addressed to the " mighty ones," while
the two armies front each other in battle array, is
given by Jehovah. This is evident from the fact
that the battle is to be the execution of a deserved
sentence. Hence the attack and the fight are no
more spoken of, but the result simply, represented
by the figure of cutting down ripe corn. Of a
threshing and winnowing of the corn thus cuf
down, as Keil suggests, there is no hint ; for with
these enemies of Jehovah there could be no separ-
ating the wheat and the chaff. The only point in
the figure on which attention is fixed, is the "cut-
ting down " what had been before standing. Then
comes a new and stronger simile to represent the
destruction of these enemies. They shall not only
be " cut off," but " crushed," or trodden like
grapes in the wine-press. The overflowing " full-
ness of the vats " is significant (Keil denies it).
It represents the general blood-shedding which
shall be proportioned to the " greatness of their
wickedness." The execution itself is not formally
described, but it is plainly enough indicated in ver.
14. Multitudes, or as some render it " tumult."
The "mighty ones" are now to engage in their
bloody work, amid the uproar of battle. The
noise expressed or implied is not, as Keil supposes,
that of nations rushing together, for they are al-
ready assembled, and now, the moment is one of
judgment, or " decision." The valley is the val-
ley of Jehoshaphat, the " valley of decision," the
phrase being immediately followed by the words
" for the day of the Lord is come." This shows
that what had been commanded (ver. 13) is now
being accomplished, and that the contest involve
the judgment and destruction of these enemies
This catastrophe is the " day of the Lord," whicl
is attended by those awful phenomena described
(vers. 1.5, 16), by which Jehovah displays his om
nipotence, and really determines the issue of the
battle. The " darkness," before noticed as a pres-
age of " the d,^y," now introduces it. "Thun-
der " = an immediate display of God's power.
" Giving forth his voice," lit., "roaring," i. e., of
the lion in pursuit of prey, denotes God's design
to punish and destroy. Of course Joel has in his
mind not an ordinary thunder-storm, but a far more
terrible one. Israel had been previously threat-
ened with a day of punishment marked by similar
presages, in connection with the visitation of lo-
custs, but it had passed away. Now, however,
the storm overtakes and destroys the heathen,
while Israel is not only protected by Jehovah from
the judgments that overwhelm the enemies of God,
but is introduced into new and far higher privi-
leges than ever before were possessed.
[Wiinsche : Ver. 12. Sit to jud(/e. This pos-
ture of the judge was common to the Hebrews,
Greeks, and Romans. In Latin, sedere is often
used in the sense of judicare (Liv. iii. 46) ; so in
Greek KaBi^^iv. The decision of a judge made by
him standing, was generally deemed to have no
legal force. All nations. The " all " is limited by
"roundabout." Hengstenberg, Keil, and others
understand by it all the nations who have become
in any way related to the kingdom of God, i. e.,
all the nations of the earth, as before the final
judgment, the Gospel of the kingdom will be
preached throughout the whole world. Credner
supposes that the meaning of the double image
used in ver. 13 is, that as songs of gladness, dan-
cing, and other signs of joy mark the harvest and
vintage, so the Jews will find the highest enjoy-
ment in the day of judgment of their enemies.
But there is no ground for supposing that tho
covenant people will have any such feelings.
Pusey : Ver. 13. In tself, the harvest as well
as the vintage, might des.,ribe the end of this world
as to both the good and the bad, in that the wheat
is severed from the chaff and the tares, and the
treading of the wine-press separates the wine
which is stored up from tho husks which are caa
38
JOEL.
Bway. Yet nothing is said h«re of storing np
Bught, either the wheat or the wine, but only of
the ripeness of the harvest, and that the vats over-
How because their wickedness is great. The harvest
IS sometimes, though more rarely, used for destruc-
tion ; the treading of the wine-press is always used
as an image of God's anger ; the vintage, of de-
struction. It seems probable then, that the ripe-
ness of the harvest and the fullness of the vats are
alike used of the ripeness for destruction. — Ver.
14. The prophet continues, as in amazement at
the great throng assembling upon one another,
multitudes, multitudes, as though, whichever way he
looked, there were yet more of tliese tumultuous
masses. It was one living, surging, boiling sea;
throngs upon throngs, mere throngs. The word
rendered multitudes suggests, besides, the thought
of the hum and din of these masses, thronging,
onward blindly, to their own destruction. — F.]
Vers. 17-21. And ye shall know. Jehovah,
by his judgment of Israel's enemies, proves Him-
self to be Israel's God ; and from Zion, his dwell-
ing place, all strangers and unclean ones are ban-
ished. "This is the immediate gain to Israel, but
other benefits are consequent upon it (comp. Rev.
xxi. 27). A time of extraordinary prosperity fol-
lows.
Ver. 18. Wine and milk flow in richest abund-
ance. The mountains and the hills, i. e., the nat-
urally sterile districts, become very fruitful, and as
this result depeuds on the supply of water, the
brooks shall not become dry. Vale of Shittim, or
Valley of Acacias, now quite dry, — for in such a
soil the acacia grows, — shall be watered by a
fountain flowing from the house of the Lord, and
shall become fruitful. This description, of course,
is not to be taken in its merely literal sense. As
the blessedness originates with Jehovah, the fertil-
izing stream is represented as coming from the
Temple, the dwelling-place of God. What a con-
trast between the state of things here depicted,
and the condition of the land after its devastation
by the locusts !
Ver. 19. To render Israel's blessed condition
the more conspicuous, the picture of the desolated
heathendom is placed beside it. Egypt and Edom
are specially mentioned on account of their vio-
leuce against Judah's sons, namely, shedding
their blood. It is uncertain, what precise instances
of this are referred to. Egypt's sins were prob-
ably those of the olden time (Ex. 1. 16). Eor that
of Edom, see Amos i. 11 ; Ob. 10. They, however,
like the Phoenicians and Philistines in another
place, are here taken as representatives of the en-
emies of Israel. (Comp. in ref to Edom Is. xxxiv.
63; .Jer. xlix. 7; Ezek. iii. 5.)
Ver. 20. Wholly different shall be the condition
of Israel. Judah and Jerusalem shall dwell for-
ever, i. e., they shall be inhabited.
Ver. 21. While Israel is thus blessed, it will be
proved that the wrong committed against him has
been fully avenged, or as some take the word, an-
nulled, i. e., by having been punished ; and the all-
embracing assurance is repeated, Jehovah shall
dwell in Zion.
[Pusey : Ver. 18. A fountain shall come forth out
of the house of the Lord. The existence of a large
supply of water under the Temple is beyond all
question. While the Temple Mas still standing,
mention is made of an ever-flowing fountain under
it, as well as pools and cisterns for preserving
rain-water. One well acquainted with the local-
ities says, " The pavements had slopes for the sake
(f a flush of water in order to cleanse away the
blood from the Tictims. For on festival occa-
sions many thousands of animals were slain. But
of water there was an unfailing supply, a copious
and natural fountain within gushing over ; and
there being moreover wonderful underground re-
ceptacles, in the substructure of the temple, and
each of these having numerous pipes, the several
streams inter-communicating." The same writer
relates that, more than half a mile from the city,
he was told to stoop down, and heard the sound
of gushing waters underground. The natural
fountain, then, beneath the Temple, was doubtless
augmented by waters brought from a distance, as
required by the " diverse washings " of the priests,
and to carry off the blood of the victims. Whence-
soever this water was supplied, it furnished Jeru-
salem with an abundant supply of water. The
superfluous water was carried off underground to
what is now " the fountain of the Virgin," and
thence again to the " pool of Siloam." Thence it
carried fertility w the gardens of Siloam. The
blood of the victims flowed into the same brook,
Kedron, and was a known source of fertility. That
little oasis of verdure was a fit emblem of the Jew-
ish people, itself bedewed by the stream which is-
sued from the temple of God. But it made no
sensible impression out of or beyond itself Here-
after the stream, whose streamlets " made glad the
city of God," should make the wildest, driest spots
of our humanity " like the garden of the Lord."
Vallet/ of Shittim, or acacia-trees, is a dry valley,
for in such the eastern acacia or sandal-wood
grows. This wood is very strong and of incredi-
ble lightness and be.auty. Of it the ark of God was
made. — Ver. 19. Egijpi a desolation. Brief as Joel'g
words are, they express an abiding condition of
Egypt. They are expanded by Ezekiel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Zechariah. But the three words of
Joel are more comprehensive than any prophecy,
except those of Ezekiel. They foretell that abid-
ing condition, not only by the force of the words,
but by the contrast with an abiding condition of
bliss. The words say, not only that it shall " be
desolated " as by a passing scourge, but it " shall
pass over into that state ; " it shall become what it
had not been, and this, in contrast with the abid-
ing condition of God's people. Yet when Joel
threatened Egyjjt, there were no human symptoms
of decay ; the instruments of its successive over-
throws were as yet wild hordes, or had not the
beginnings of being. Egypt would not become
barren except by miracle. Even now it recovers
whenever water is applied. Nothing could deso-
late Egypt exce[)t man's abiding negligence or op
pression. No passing storm could annihilate a
fertility which poured in upon it in ever-renewing
richness. Egypt is alike prolific in its people, and
in the productions of the earth. Yet with these
powers implanted in nature unimpaired, the pop-
ulation is diminished, the land half desert. Per-
sians, Macedonians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, and
Turks, have tried their hands on Egypt. Strange
that selfishness or powerlessness for good should
have rested upon all ; strange that no one should
have developed its inherent powers. One long
prosperity, and one long adversity. One scarcely
broken day, and one troubled night. And that
doom foretold in the mid-day of its prosperity by
these three words, Egypt shall he a desolation —
Edom a desolate wilderness. Its ancient capital,
and its rock-dwellings long unknown, have been
within the last forty years, again revealed to us.
The land is almost the more hopelessly desolate,
because it was once artificially cultivated. Edoffi
CHAPTER ni.
39
was the centre of the intercourse of nations. The
tiill-sides, and mountains, once covered with earth
and clothed with vineyards, are now bare rocks,
Yet the traces of former fertility are innumer-
able : every spot capable of sustaining vegetable
life was carefully watered and cultivated. The
ancient inhabitants seem to have left no acces'
sible place untouched. They have exhibited equal
art and industry in eliciting from the grand
walls of their marvelous capital, whatever the
combination of climate, irrigation, and botanical
skill could foster in the scanty soil afforded them.
The desolation began soon after the captivity of
Judah, and Edom's malicious joy in it. In Joel's
time, not the slightest shadow was cast on her fu-
ture. No human eye could tell that she would be
finally desolate. But God said by Joel, " Edom
shall be a desolate wilderness," and so it is! —
Ver. 21. I will cleanse her blood. The word ren-
dered cleansed, is not used for natural cleansing,
nor is the image taken from the cleansing of the
body. The word signifies only to pronounce in-
nocent, or to free from guilt. Nor is blood used of
sinfulness generally, but only of the actual guilt
of shedding blood. The whole then cannot be an
image taken from the cleansing of physical defile-
ment, like the words of Ezek. xvi. 9, " then washed
I thee with water," etc. Nor, again, can it mean
the forgiveness of sins generally, but only the pro-
nouncing innocent the blood which had been shed.
This the only meaning of the words, falls in with
the mention of innocent blood, tor shedding which,
Egypt and Edom had been condemned. In pun-
ishing the shedding .of it, God declared the blood
innocent, whose shedding He punished. — F.]
THEOLOaiCAL.
1. Three topics are discussed in this chapter ;
the enmity of the " nations " against Israel ; the
punishment of the nations ; and the new happi-
ness of Israel.
(1.) The enmity of the nations against Israel.
How does the prophet regard this 1 Is the hos-
tility only accidental, exhibiting itself simply in
some particular acts t Or has it a deeper ground,
namely, in the antagonism of the nations as
heathen against Israel as God's people, or the an-
tagonism between idolatry and the worship of the
true Godi The mere words of the prophet would
not lead us to suppose that he regarded it in the
latter light. He speaks only of acts of pillage,
carrying away captives, shedding of blood. Nor
must we interpret ver. 5 as if *-he acts described
were directed against the Temple as such ; nor
are they the necessary and exclusive offspring of
heathenism But we may and must say that these
acts of injury appeared to be the outgrowth of the
religious antagonism between the Gentiles and Is-
rael. The people of Israel were God's people, and
enmity against the former was in fact enmity
igainst God's people, and God himself That
the prophet so, regards it, vers. 4, 5 plainly show.
This hostility of the Gen tiles or nations, though
in one sense accidental, really reflects an inward
and profound hatred. Hence the general expres-
sion, "all ye heathen, or Gentile," although, in
point of fact, Israel had been injured only by
some of them. Thus Israel stands on one side,
md all the heathen or Gentiles on the other, in
the attitude of antagonists. What one of the lat-
ter does, they may be all expected to do, and so
nay be held responsible for it, inasmuch as they
constitute one whole. Therefore, if Israel is to
bo helped, the judgment must fall on the whole
heathen world. Finally, the prophet nowhere in-
timates that the Gentiles should be employed as
God's instruments in punishing Israel for his guilt.
The Gentiles alone appear as the guilty ones.
(2.) The punishment of the nations was a cer-
tain and necessary result of Israel's position as
God's people. They had scattered them ; they
had parted their land ; they had taken their silver
and gold ; in a word, they had thus taken God's
property, and He could not allow this to go un-
punished. He must stand up for his people and
destroy their enemies. Though Israel is the agent
in inflicting, yet the punishment comes really from
the divine hand. Jehovah assembles the nations,
and, in the contest between them and his people,
gives, by his immediate help, the victory to the lat-
ter. This punishment involves the destruction of
these enemies. The menaces relating to this point
may seem unduly severe ; but it is to be observed
that the guilt of these nations is very aggravated,
going far beyond the ordinary measure of enmity
and crime, and therefore, according to the jus tm-
ionis, the retribution should be proportionate.
Credner's idea that Joel here abandons himself to
the feelings of unbridled revenge, is wholly ground-
less. Meier justly remarks against this notion,
that no prophet ever describes these bloody con-
flicts as simply growing out of human revenge;
they ever regard them as signs of that Higher
Power which strikes with destruction everything
ungodly. And while the later prophets do not
speak of bloody phenomena such as are here de-
scribed, they yet plainly intimate, that before the
consummation of the Messianic age, a catastrophe
involving such scenes must come, as a transition
epoch, in which everything unholy, as well in Is-
rael as in the heathen world, will be destroyed.
The grand object on which all depends, and which
faith accepts as certain, is the complete subju-
gation of God's enemies, and the complete tri-
umph of his people. The pencil that paints this
picture is, indeed, dipped in strong colors, corre-
sponding to the energy of the divine powers which
shall realize it. The idea set forth is the essential
thing ; the expression of it is, of course, modified
by the prophet's historical relations, and the char
acter of the times in which he lived.
(3.) Israel's new felicity. Amid the extraordi-
nary manifestations of divine wrath connected with
the destruction of the wicked, Israel is protected
and realizes anew that Jehovah is his God. His
land sliall no more be seized by a stranger, and its
remarkable fertility will be a proof that Jehovah
is dwelling in the midst of it. The latter is the
main thing in the promise, the productiveness of
the land being simply an evidence of it. Of this
the fountain issuing forth from the house of the
Lord is a symbol and a pledge. Here the promise
goes beyond what is merely physically possible, as
do also some features of the judgment of the
heathen ; from which it is plain that the prophet's
mind was fixed, not so much on the literal fulfill-
ment of the prediction, as upon the general truth,
that Jehovah will, in a manner eminent and un-
equivocal, own Israel as his people, by bestowing
on him the richest blessings.
2. If now we inquire into the fulfillment of this
prophecy, objectively considered, we shall quickly
discover, that things took at first quite a different
shape from that whic's Joel seems to have sup-
posed they would. He sees in the heathen onlj
the enemies of God's people who are to be yua
40
JOEL.
ished, and he announces their certain punishment
on account of their many acts of riolence against
Israel. The later prophets, on the other hand,
charge God's own people with their sins, and pre-
dict judgments, which God will employ the heathen
as his instruments to inflict, and which, we know,
in later times they did. But there is no evidence,
t. e., from his prophecy, that Joel was acquainted
with this fact of the future. It is wholly unwar-
rantahle to interpret his words (ver. 1), as if he
had foreseen and foretold what later prophets an-
nounced, namely, the Exile, and the dispersion by
the Romans, without giving the reason for either
of these events. He does not think it possible —
so far as his prophecy shows — that a divine judg-
ment should he inflicted upon Israel. Both the
internal (i. e., the guiltiness of Israel and Judah)
and the external antecedent conditions of such a
judgment are wanting. He knows nothing of
those secular powers which brought on the e.xile,
or at least, he does not know them as powers with
whom Israel is to come into conflict. It is a false
view of the nature of prophecy to suppose that
events of the most distant future were revealed with
equal clearness to the prophets whose experience,
in a sort of intermediate way, corresponded with, or
contradicted that future. According to the later
prophets the glorious state of Israel is reached,
after his having passed through an intermediate
condition of humiliation. Joel knows nothing of
such an intermediate condition. He represents
the felicity of Israel as resulting not simply from
the truthfulness of God, who will not utterly aban-
don even his unfaithful people, while He punishes
them, but as a thing which they might at any
lime secure by penitential confession of sins, and
calling upon the Lord. But there is an essential
harmony between Joel and the later prophets.
How then were their predictions fulfilled i The
menaces against the heathen nations mentioned
have been remarkably accomplished by actual his-
torical events, particularly by Alexander the Great
and his successors. But we must look for a larger
and fuller accomplishment of the prophecies of Joel.
It is evident that he had in his mind a grand con-
summation, since he connects it with the general
outpouring of the Spirit and the announcement
of the day of the Lord. He sees the heathen world
utterly overwhelmed, while Israel enters into and
holds the position of God's people. The period
of conflict is passed, and that of victory aitd peace
has come.
Now as regards the fulfillment of these proijh-
eeies, we might repeat the remarks already made
respecting the later ones of Hosea. For Israel as
a nation that glorious time had not yet come ; nor
was there any ground for the immediate expecta-
tion of it. The tenor of the prophecy would seem
to indicate that it applied exclusively to Israel,
because in Joel's time, Israel alone was God's peo-
ple. But this view, which makes God's peojjle and
Israel as a nation identical, though sanctioned in
a certain sense by the Old Covenant, has been
cleaily set aside by the New Covenant. While
then the Jewish nation, as such, has no ground for
expecting, as the Chiliasts maintain, this promised
telicity, it is nevertheless certain that the promise
is valid for the people of God as typified by Israel.
Its fulfillment is to be looked for in a far different
and more glorious way than the prophet, from his
stand-point, anticipated. [Whether the so-called
L/'luliastic theory oi the future of the Jews be true
Dr not, there is no necessary antagonism between
it and the admission, under the New Covenant, of
the Gentiles to the spiritual privileges of God's
people. The Jews still exist as a distinct people.
And Paul certainly seems to intimate (Eom. xi.
25) that there is yet a glorious future for Israel,
which shall be realized when " the fullness of the
Gentiles be come in." — F.] The new Israel livea
in the hope of a general outpouring of the Spirit,
which was begun at Pentecost, and has been con
tinned ever since, — of a final, complate deliver
ance, and a glorious victory over all its enemies ;
in a word, of a felicity and salvation which shall
be a proof of God's immediate presence in the
midst of it. Whether Joel foresaw all this, i. e.,
understood the full meaning of his own prediction,
may be doubted ; but, in the sense already ex-
plained, we can appropriate it to ourselves, as Keil
remarks : " The people and heritage of the Lord
is not only the Old 'Testament Israel as such, but
the Church of God, embracing those who lived
under the New as well as the Old Covenant. On it
his Spirit is poured out. Jehovah's judgment of
the nations for injuries done to his people is not
simply the judgment of such of them, e. g,, the
Romans and others, that have maltreated the Jews,
but the final, general judgment of all nations, of
all the enemies of the Church of God. It is this
fundamental truth, this glorious hope made sure
by almost the oldest of the prophets, which the
people of God, from the beginning, have lifted up
as a standard. And hence we see in all the vic-
tories which God has granted to his people, and in
.all the judgments infiictedupon the heathen neigh-
bors and enemies of Israel, a fulfillment of this
promise, which again finds, as by a thousandfold
refraction, a still more particular fulfillment in all
the special deliverances of his children, and in all
their experiences of his protection. So Luther is
not wrong in regarding the rich blessings promised
to Judah as identical with those revealed in the
Gospel, and through it hestowed upon the Chris-
tian Church. As God's heritage, Zion experienced
from the first, and continues to experience, the
blessed presence and the grace of God. Still, the
final, and complete fulfillment will only come with
the consummation of the kingdom of the Parou-
sia, or Second Advent of the Lord.
HOMILETICAL.
Ver. 1. When I shall bring again. God hath
set hounds to everything, especially to the suffer-
ings of his people. He determines their beginning,
and how long they shall endure. Rejoice, ye faith-
ful, the Lord shall hring again your captivity. He
will deliver you from all evil, and help yon to reach
his heavenly kingdom.
[Henky : Though the bondage of God's people
may be grievous and very long, yet it shall not be
everlasting. There is a dat/, there is a time, fixed
for the bringing again of the captivity of God's chil-
dren, for the redeeming them from the power of the
grave. — F.l
Ver. 2. / will gather all nations. Though wicked
men say that the Lord does not see tfiem, they shall
learn by experience that He does, in the time when
He shall judge them. Ye proud Gentiles, who
cease not to afflict the little flock of the faithful,
know that a day of judgment is coming, when the
Lord will avenge the blood of his servants. — Whom
they have scattered. Those who are unjustly exiled
should leave vengeance in the hands of God the
righteous judge. Mark that all divine punishment,
and even the final judgment of the wicked is foi
CHAPTER in.
41
the sake of the godly. Behold how God takes care
of his people ! Therefore, be of good courage !
Dost thou belong to God's people t Theu He will
take care of thee, though He may seem to delay
doing so. God's honor will not permit his people
to perish, and their enemies to triumph, for their
enemies are his enemies.
[Pdsey : Will plead with them. God maketh
Himself in such wise a party, as not to condemn
those unconvicted, yet the pleading has a separate
awfulness of its own. God impleads, so as to allow
Himself to be impleaded and answered ; but there
is no answer. He will set forth what He had done,
and how we have requited Him. And we are with-
out excuse. Our memories witnes* against us ;
our knowledge acknowledges his justice ; our con-
science convicts us ; all unite in pronouncing our-
selves ungrateful, and God holy and just. For a
sinner to see himself is to condemn himself, and in
the day of judgment God will bring before each
sinner his whole self. — F.]
Vers. 3-5. They have cast lots. In a time of war
terrible crimes are very common, but in due season
God will punish them. — )V/uit haue ye to do with
me. The true Church is the heavenly Father's
daughter, and Christ's beloved spouse. Therefore
he who persecutes it, is persecuting God and Christ.
How great the foolishness of sinners who want to
plead with and defy God ! 0, how certainly will
their defiance of Him be visited on their own head.
Therefore be humble, and confess thy misdeeds, if
'.hou wouldst escape divine punishment.
[PusEY : Will ye render me a recompense. Men
never want pleas for themselves. Men forget their
ovn wrong-doings, and remember their suflFerings.
Ifen, when they submit not to God chastening
tb,m, hate Him.
3enet : My silver. Those who take away the
estites of good men for well-doing, will be found
■ guity of sacrilege ; they take God's silver and
golc. It is no new thing for those who have been
verycivil to their neighbors, to find them very un-
kind and unneighborly, and for those who do no
injures to suffer many. — F.]
Ves. 1-7. The raging of the nations and their
rulersis an indication of that fleshly mind which
is alwvys opposed to the kingdom of God. So long
as thehope of that kingdom was confined to Israel,
the ha;red of the heathen was spent on Israel.
When that kingdom was taken from Israel, and
given t) the " little flock," which " brought forth
the frur of it," that hatred was simply transferred.
The wffld ever has sought and still seeks to divide
the hertage of the Lord, and to bring to shame
those wlo trust in his word of promise. But when
God re^thers his scattered people Israel, and re-
establishis down-trodden .Jerusalem, He will also
deliver tie rest of his elect, and fully recompense
them foi the sufferings which the world has in-
flicted on them.
Ver. 9 Prepare war. Peace must end when
we are ciUed on to combat tlie enemies of God.
Then, all must take up arms. " I came not to
send peaie, but a sword." Through conflict to
victory ! hrough war to peace !
Ver. IJ. [PuSEY ; Plouifhshares into swords.
Psace wi':hin with God flows forth in peace with
man. Where there is not rest in God, all is unrest.
And so, ill which was needful for life, the means of
subsistence, care of health, were to be forgotten
for war. — F.]
Vers. U, 12. Hasten and come. Behold how
Jie Lora holds the godless persecutors of his C'hurch
Di derision ! Let them do wliat they like, his ven-
geance shall finally overtake them. If God be for
us, who can be against US'? The Lord sits aa
ruler, and is ever judging nations and individuals.
No one can escape his judgment. He may long
seem to be silent, but ever and anon He comes
forth with his judgments now, the harbingers of the
final and decisive one.
[Hbnky : Thy mighty ones. When God's cause
is to be pleaded, either by the law or by the sword,
He has those ready who will plead it effectually ;
witnesses ready to appear for Him in the court of
judgment, soldiers ready to appear for Him in the
field of battle. — P.]
Ver. 13. For their wickedness is great. When
the measure of men's sins is full, then execution
comes. The judgments of God are then no longer
delayed.
Vers. 14-16. The day of the Lord is near. Trem-
ble ye godless, for the day is near when the Lord
will judge you ! Behold, the lion is already roar-
ing out of Zion announcing your punishment.
Should not that voice, which shall one day bo
heard by the whole earth, arouse you to repent-
ance ? To the wicked, God is a roaring lion, but
to the godly a strong fortress.
As God always cared for and defended his peculiar
people against the rage of their enemies, so Christ
now protects his peculiar people, Christians, against
the violence of their foes. He may allow them,
for a time, to be persecuted, to try and perfect their
faith by " manifold temptations," but, in the end.
He will destroy their enemies. Examples of this
have occurred in past ages ; but a greater ruin
awaits them. When the great and terrible day of
the Lord comes. He will gather all his enemies
into the valley of Jehoshaphat ; He will bring thera
before his tribunal, and plead with them for his
heritage and people, and will return upon their
own heads all the evils they have inflicted upon
the true Christendom.
[Henky : The Lord shall roar. The judgment
of the great day shall make the ears of those to
tingle who continue the implacable enemies of God.
As blessings out of Zion are the sweetest blessings,
and enough to make heaven and earth sing, so ter-
rors out of Zion are the sorest terrors, and enough
to make heaven and earth shake. — The saints are
the Israel of God ; now in the great day ( 1 ) Their
longings shall be satisfied. The Lord will he the
Hope of his people. As He always was the Founder
and Foundation of their hopes, so He will theu be
the Crown of their hopes. They shall arrive at
the desired haven ; shall put to shore after a stormy
voyage ; they shall go to be forever at home with
God. (2) Their happiness shall he confirmed. God
will be in that day the Strength of the children oj
Israel, enabling them to welcome that day, and to
bear up under the weight of its glories and ioys.
-F.J
Ver. 17. Ye shall know. So long as ^lelievers
are here below, sighing under the burden of sin,
and not seeing the means of deliverance, they are
apt to think that God has abandoned them.
[ Henry : The knowledge which trae believers
have of God is ( 1 ) An appropriating knowledge ;
they know that He is the Lord their God, yet not
theirs only, but theirs in common with the whole
Church. (2) An experimental knowledge. They
shall find Him their Hope and Strength, in the
worst of times. Those know best the goodnesa of
God, who have tasted and seen it.
PusiiY : God Himself joins on his own words
to those of the prophet. Ye shall know by experi
ence. by sii»ht, face to face, what ye now believe
42
JOEL.
that I am the Lord your God. Your God, your
own, as much as if possessed by none besides, fill-
ing all with gladness, yet fully possessed by each.
— F.]
Ver. 18. In that day. Glorious are the prom-
ises to the Church of the New Covenant, but they
will be completely fulfilled only in a blessed eter-
nity. In this world God feeds us, comforts us with
his Word and sacraments, consoles us with mani-
fold blessings in Christ, but in the future world,
this grace will be far more superabundant. — By
the mountains are meant the kingdoms of this
world, which shall flow Avith the wine and milk of
Christian doctrine, by which a rich measure of
spiritual gifts shall be imparted to men. For the
Gospel IS very finely compared to wine as well as
milk ; to wine, since it is administered to the adult
to gladden his heart, and confirm his faith, hope,
and love ; to milk, as it is also administered to
children in Christ, who, as new-born babes, desire
the sincere milk of the Word. As wine comforts
and strengthens man's heart, so the Word of God
preserves and increases faith, and imparts consola-
tion under sufferings. The law does the opposite,
holy and just though it be. It accuses them, and
threatens death ; it makes them faint-hearted and
despondent. But the Gospel banishes fear, by re-
vealing a Mediator, the Son of God, and filling
the soul with an assurance of the mercy of God.
By rivers Jiowing with water, the prophet means
the wonderful spread of the Gospel, and the rich
fruit it will produce. As dry places are barren,
and well watered ones fertile, so where the Gospel
resounds, the richest and ripest fruits are produced.
The Holy Spirit goes with it, imparting his own
divine gifts.
[PusET : As the fountain gushes forth from the
hill or mountain side in one ceaseless flow, day
and night, streaming out from therccesges to which
the waters are supplied by God from his treasure-
house of the rain, so day by day, in sorrow or in
joy, in prosperity or adversity, God pours out in
the Church, and m the souls of his elect, the riches
of his grace. The love of God shall stream through
every heart; each shall be full according to its
capacity, and none the less full, because a larger
tide pours through others. All the powers, capaci-
' ties, senses, speech of the saints who confess God
shall flow with a perennial stream of joy, thanks-
giving, and jubilee, as of all pleasure and bliss. —
F.]
Ver. 19. Shed innocent blood. How highly does
the Lord esteem the death, the blood of the faith-
ful!
[Henkt ; The innocent blood of God's people
is very precious to Him, and not a drop shall be
shed, but it shall be reckoned for. — F.]
Vers. 20, 21. .Tudah shall dwell forever. The
Church of the New Covenant is imperishable, for
it shall be transplanted from time into eternity.
Blessed Zion I in which the Lord dwells with his
Word, and the gifts of his Spirit, and which He
quickens by his converting and sanctifying power.
Let us make here for ourselves tabernacles, and
serve this great King of hearts in the obedience of
''aitb, so that wo may at last be transferred to the
heavenly Jerusalem. 0, the depth of the riches,
of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God !
Of the riches of grace, since God, in spite of the
unbelief and disobedience of his people, has not
forgotten them, nor abrogated his covenant. Of
the wisdom, which turns so many hindrances into
the means of helping forward his own purposes.
Of the knowledge which has foreseen and with
absolute certainty has predicted all these things.
Learn from Israel, the courageous trust thou
mayest have in the mercy of God, even though
thou shouldst lie beneath his heavy hand, as long
as Jerusalem has lain in her ruins. Learn that the
wisdom of God can never fail, nor be at fault, and
yield thyself in all circumstances to his wise guid-
ance. When something happens to thee unexpect
edly, and destroys some hope which you may have
fondly cherished, call to mind and consider the
truth^ that " known unto God are all his works
from the foundation of the world."
[Henry : It is promised that the Church shall
be very happy. Three things are here promised it.
1. Parity. That is put last here as a reason for
the rest (ver. 21 ). But we may consider it first aa
the ground and foundation of the rest. I wilX
cleanse, etc.
2. Plenty (ver. 18). That is put first because it
speaks the reverse of the judgment threatened in
the foregoing chapters. The streams of this plenty
overflow and enrich the land.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns all the rest. As one
generation of professing Christians passes away,
another shall come, in whom the throne of Christ
shall endure forever.
Robinson : The last days are at hand, whei
the wicked shall be driven away in their wicke(-
ness, and a fiery deluge of wrath shall overwhelo
the earth, but they who love the Lord shall )e
removed, as Lot, to a mountain of safety, and lie
Noah, be hidden in an ark of salvation, until the (is-
olation and the tyranny be overpassed. Wheref/re,
dear Christian brethren, lift up your hearts, md
long for his coming, for you shall be his in (hat
day when He makes up his jewels.
Jesus, thy Churcli with longing eyes
For thy expected coming waits :
When will the promised light arise.
And glory gleam from Zion's gates ?
Teach us in watchfulness and prayer
To wait for the appointed hour ;
And (it us by thy grace to share
The triumphs of thy conquering powei — S.J
Pkater suggested by the whole CaPTER.
— Great Saviour ! we thank Thee that TlDu wilt
one day judge the enemies of Thy Church, ind wilt
recompense their persecutions and abomnations
on their own heads. Grant that their further
wicked designs may not injure Thy Zion A.rise
and punish them ; deliver Thy faithful flies, and
be their refuge and fortress amid the jiiigments
which shall overtake the world of the ungodly.
Adorn Thy Zion with the rich gifts of Tly Spirit
that it may be holy before Thee, and everoverfion
with spiritual blessings. Amen.
THE
BOOK OF AMOS.
EXPOUNDED
BY
OTTO SCHMOLLER, Ph. D
DKAOH, WUSTKHBUO.
TRANSLATED AND ENLARQEii
TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D. D.,
1 or THK PA8TOSS OF THB COLLEOIATB BEFOBMED DUTCH OHUBOH, SBW TO>
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBJSTER'fi SONS,
llBtand according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874) by
ScKiBuKE, Armstrong, and Company,
iB Oka Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashingtOB.
THE PROPHET AMOS.
INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. The Personal Relations of Amos.
Of these we know more than we do in the case of Hosea and of Joel, and that, not merely
from the superscription, the originality of which needs yet to be established, but also from
the prophet's own words (chap. vii. 10-15). First of all occurs the name, DIq^. It may
be mentioned in passing that the fathers, ignorant of Hebrew, confounded this name with
^■iaS, that of the father of Isaiah, and supposed the two persons to be one and the same ; but
Jerome denied the assertion. The meaning of the name is uncertain, perhaps =: Bearer, or
Heavy. His home was certainly, according to ch. vii. 10. ff., in the kingdom of Judah. He
labored indeed in Ephraim, but this was considered strange by Amaziah, who reproved it as
an insolent undertaking and bade him escape to Judah, so that manifestly, ho did not reside
in Bethel nor anywhere in Israel. The superscription puts his residence in Tekoa, a town
in the tribe of Judah, often mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament (2 Sam. xiv. 2 ; 2
Chron. xi. 6, xx. 20; Jer. vi. 1 ; also 1 Mac. ix. 33), and said by Jerome to be some miles
south of Bethlehem, where its ruins are still preserved in the modern name of Tekua.
Here, according to ch. vii. 14, Amos was a ~lpi3, which naturally, according to its deri-
vation, means herdman. B'lt the 15th verse states that Jehovah took him from following
]lf55Jn, and this word signilies sheep and goats in distinction from neat-cattle, so that the
term herdman must be considered as used in a wide sense and including a shepherd's office.
This is confirmed by the account of Tekoa given by Jerome, who knew the holy land from
personal observation, and whose statements in his preface to our prophet, are therefore not
to be regarded as mere inferences from this passage. He says that the country was sandy
and barren, and therefore full of shepherds who made amends for its failure to yield crops by
the number of their flocks. That there were many shepherds in the place is indicated by
the title, in its saying that Amos was " among the 2"'"fr?'i3 of Tekoa " (pipriO meaning, per-
haps, those who had gone out from Tekoa to more distant pastures). The term "Tp_i3 occurs
besides this place only in 2 Kings iii. 4, where it is applied to the Moabitish king, Meshah,
who in this capacity paid to the king of Israel a yearly tribute of 100,000 lambs, and as many
rams. Accordingly it signifies a sheep-master. We may therefore regard Amos as an
owner of flocks, but by no means as a wealthy sheep-owner. This is determined by what he
says of himself (ch. vii. 14, 16), according to which he was a shepherd, and took care of
the sheep, even if they were his own. But this phrase " among the shepherds of Tekoah,"
may refer merely to his residence, and so indicate his employment while he was living
among these persons. He further calls himself Q'^ai7fi? Dyia, one who cultivated syca-
mores for his support. This tree by its sweet fruit (Pliny, N. H., xiii. 14, calls it prcedulcis)
which it bears abundantly, afforded to a shepherd living in the open country a nutriment
both ample and easily provided. So that Amos had a competent support, although he was
not rich. Accordingly, in ch. vii. 12, etc., he rejects the summons to go to Judah and eat
his bread there, on the ground that he did not prophesy for bread but had a competency of
his own, implying also perhaps that as a shepherd he was satisfied with simple fare.
Here now as he abode among his flocks the call of the Lord reached him to prophesy con-
"■erning Israel. E'or he says expressly that he was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son,
(. e., a pupil of the prophets, which excludes any thought of a schoo' in which he had pre-
AMOS.
pared himself for the work, or even that he had assumed it as a calling. In obedience to the
summons he repaired to Bethel, the chief seat of the idol worship, in order to announce to
the careless people the divine judgment. There the priest Amaziah sought to drive him
away, as a seditious person. But he boldly resisted, and made his threatening still more
severe. It is not stated whether he then went away or whether he continued his prophetic
function. All that we further know of him is that his discourses were reduced to writing.
Later traditions of his martyrdom have no historical value.
§ 2. The Age of the Prophet.
This in substance is well settled. For the book itself names Jeroboam (II.) as the king
under whom Amos prophesied in Bethel. This king ascended the throne in the fifteenth of the
twenty-nine years' reign of Amaziah, king of Judah ; and reigned forty-one years. He was
therefore fourteen years contemporary with Amaziah, and twenty-seven years with his suc-
cessor Uzziah. The title puts Amos in the last two thirds of Jeroboam's reign, since it
represents him as prophesying in the days of Jeroboam and Uzziah, i. e., while they were
contemporary; and this is confirmed by the statement in ch. ix. 12 that "the remnant of
Edom should be possessed," indicating that the Edomite capital, Selah, had already been con-
quered, which took place under Uzziah"s father Amaziah (2 Kings xiv. 7). The time of the
prophet's activity cannot be more closely defined within these twenty-seven years ; only it is
certain that it did not extend over the whole period, but was confined to a certain occasion.
The title indicates this by the note — " two years before the earthquake." This would give
us the precise date, if only we knew the time of the earthquake ; but this not being the case,
we gain nothing by the statement. It only confirms the view that Amos prophesied in the
reign of Uzziah, for we have every reason to believe that this earthquake was the same with
the one mentioned in Zechariah xiv. 5, which is there said to have occurred under Uzziah.
(As to the object of tliis note, see below, ch. i. 1.)
Amos was somewhat earlier than Hosea, but still the latter was his contemporary, and
carried on his work (undoubtedly using his materials, see below) of announcing judgment
upon Ephraim, in a still more threatening manner and with a clearer indication that As-
syria was to be the instrument of this judgment. On the other hand, Amos was younger
than Joel, whose writings were known to him when he composed his own, since he expressly
refers to them, adopting Joel's words in his commencement (ch. i. 2), and leaning upon them
in the promise with which he concludes (ch. ix. 13).
The period of Amos's ministry was one of great external prosperity for the kingdom of
Israel. Under Jeroboam 11. it stood at the zenith of its power. Compare the picture of the
rich who seek only the increase of their wealth and luxury, and feel so entirely secure.
Certainly, as this picture directly shows, there was under this outward pomp and prosperity
a deep moral decay which stood in close connection with the apostasy from pure relio'ion.
In Judah the case was different, but even there matters had become worse since the time of
Joel. For Amos openly complains of a contempt of God's law and an inclination to idolatry,
of which we find no trace in Joel. Israel, however, had sunk deep in corruption, yet no one
either perceived or was willing to learn of any danger, all were in careless security. No po-
litical signs indicated any danger from a foreign foe. The AssjTians, indeed, attracted atten-
tion, but there was no probability that they would endanger the kingdom. It was too strono
for that. And as to the danger resulting from inward moral decay, that was not appre-
hended, because men either disbelieved in a retributive, sin-avenging righteousness, or else
excluded the thought of it from their minds. At this time the simple shepherd of Tekoa was
sent into the kingdom of Israel to announce to it, and especially to the house of Jeroboam,
God's judgment and their own downfall, as he says, ch. vii. 15. Any one who had a living
faith in God and therefore in a divine retribution, might well conclude from a glance at the
vlefection from a true fiiith and worship and the prevailing moral corruption, that such a
people and kingdom were on the downward road and would fare ill. But it was a long step
from this to the public announcement of a certain overthrow by a foreign conqueror. Just
this is found in Amos ; he does not indeed name the foe, but no one can mistake who is
meant. Thus he showed himself possessed of a special revelation from God, as he expresily
said in ch. vii. 15. Although no one thought particularly of Assyria, for which reason he
does not name it, still he already saw in that kingdom the instrument of God's vengeance
md so declared.
INTRODUCTION.
§ 3. The Book of the Prophet.
Under the name of this prophet we have a prophetic writing in nine chapters, contain-
ing chiefly threatenings against the kingdom of Israel, to which, on account of its prevail-
ing grievous sins, it announces a grievous infliction, even overthrow by a hostile nation.
Still the book is not limited to threatenings against Israel, but at least begins with threats
upon the surrounding heathen, and then, like a genuine prophetic book, concludes with
the promise of a new deliverance for Israel and a splendid prosperity under the house of
David.
Entering more into detail, we are to consider —
1. The first and second chapters as a sort of introduction to the particular subject.
The second verse of chap. i. repeats a menace contained in Joel iv. 16, and then the na-
tions around Israel are taken up in order, first the heathen, Damascus (i. 3-5), Philistia
(6-8), Tyre (9-10), Edom (11, 12), Ammon (13-15), Moab (u. 1-3), and then Judah (4-5),
against each of which the divine wrath is announced in short, similar sentences, even "for
three transgressions and for four," and is executed by " kindling a fire " in their capitals.
Then the threatening turns to Israel, at first in the same phrase as before, but soon at greater
length. There is a fuller detail of the prevailing sins, oppression of the poor, and lascivious
luxury, together with a gross contempt for God's favors toward them as his people (6-12) ;
and a fuller announcement of punishment, namely, complete subjugation under an invading
foe (13-16). It is thus evident that the previous denunciations were intended only to pave
the way for this one, and that Israel was especially aimed at, for which reason the prophet
dwells on their case. Still the threatening is here only introduced, and the judgment is
declared merely in general terms ; the form of its fulfillment can only be conjectured.
2. The special charges and threats follow in chaps, iii.-vi. This division contains four
discourses, — the first three of which begin with a " Hear this word " — in which the king-
dom of Israel, especially the great men, on account of the prevailing sins, are threatened
with a divine judgment in the shape of the destruction of palaces and sanctuaries, the over-
throw of the kingdom, and the carrying away of the people, unless by seeking the Lord
they seize the only hope of deliverance.
(a.) In chap. iii. the chief thought is manifestly that there should be no doubt about the
coming of the judgment, since the prophet who bore Jehovah's commission could not speak
in vain.
(b.) Chap. iv. bases the assurance of punishment on the fact that all previous visitations
of God had been to no purpose.; since repentance had not ensued. The judgment therefore
must come.
(c.) In chap. v. we hear the outcry at approaching calamity, intermingled with calls to
seek the Lord and love the good, as the only means of escape. It concludes with a yfoe
pronounced upon those who desire the day of the Lord, which yet for them must be a day
of terror, since all idolatry is an abomination to him. Then is added in —
(d.) Chap, vi., a woe upon those who on the contrary fancy the day of the Lord to be far
off and therefore persevere in their frivolity until the judgment overtakes them by means
of a people whom the Lord will raise up.
After these discourses about punishment comes a new division, —
3. Chaps, vii.-ix., in which the prophet recounts certain visions in which he has seen the
fate of Israel, interspersed with historical details and threats of punishment, but at last
passing into the promise of a new deliverance and prosperity for Israeli
(a). Chap. vii. First, the prophet has two visions of punishment by Locusts and by Fire,
which, however, are averted at his intercession. So much the more does the third vision, of
the Plumb-line, show the downfall of the kingdom, and especially of the house of Jeroboam
to be irreversible (1-9). The result of this announcement is that the priest Amaziah com-
plains of Amos to the king and proposes his banishment. But Amos boldly meets him,
aflirms the divine call under which he was acting, and utters a still sharper threat, aimed
especially at the priest.
(b.) Chap. viii. A fourth vision represents the ripeness of the people for judgmen!
under the image of a basket of ripe fruit. Then the prophet commences with " Hear this '
(as in chaps, iii., iv., v.), a denunciation of the sins of the higher classes, who are threat
ened with the sore grief of a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.
6 AMOS.
(c.) In a fifth vision the prophet see? under the image of an overthrow of the temple (at
Bethel) which buries all in its ruins, the utter ruin of the kingdom by a divine judgment
which none can escape ; since God is almighty and Israel is not a whit better than the
heathen (i. 7). Yet God will not destroy it entirely, but sift it by destroying all the sinners
at ease, and then raise again David's fallen tent to a new glory. Thus the book concludes
with the promise of a new deliverance under the house of David, when Israel will be richly
blessed, and made as great and powerful as ever before, and never again be driven out of
the land.
That the book whose contents are thus outlined forms one complete whole, can scarcely
be disputed. But to press the inquiry closer, it is at once evident that chaps, i. and ii. are
intimately connected, and in like manner chaps, iii.-vi. belong together. But that the latter
division concurs with the former to make one whole is equally clear. A menace of judg-
ment upon Israel could not possibly be satisfied with what is said in ii. 13-16, for in that
case there would be no definiteness and certainty as to what Israel was to expect. The
further statements in the following discourses are a matter of necessity. Moreover, a com-
parison of ii. 6-8 with iii. 9, 10, v. 7, 11, vi. 4, shows a striking similarity between the sins
censured in both cases. The unity of the first six chapters is then established. As to chaps.
vii.-ix., no argument is needed to show their mutual coherence. But the question arises,
whether they did not originally form an independent whole which a subsequent editor ap-
pended to the foregoing, or conversely made the foregoing a preface to it. There is much
to favor its independent character. It differs from what precedes, both in matter as con-
taining visions, and in form, as the prophet speaks in the first person. Notwithstanding, its
close connection — at least in the state in which we now have it — with chaps, i.-vi., is
unquestionable. The chief evidence of this seems to me to lie in chap. viii. 4 seq. ; which
bears an unmistakable relation to what is already found in chaps, iii.-vi. The reproof is
the same in both. Compare the introductory words " Hear ye ; " the censure of sins in viii.
4, etc., with ch. ii. 6, etc., and ch. v. 11, 12; and also, the announcement of judgment in
viii. 10 with ch. v. 15. So close is the correspondence that one might be tempted to think
that the latter passages were a subsequent insertion, which of course would destroy the ar-
gument for the original coherence of the whole. But we can hardly assume this theory of
insertion by an editor, simply because the words, viii. 4, etc., are somewhat abrupt and do
not seem to be exactly in their place. If an alteration were made, we should suppose they
would have been taken away from their present place and joined to the foregoing passages,
to which they seem more suited. Here applies the critical canon that the more difficult
reading is to be preferred. But then it is to be observed that the conclusion, (ix. 11, etc.,)
undeniably reechoes the conclusion of Joel, and still more does ch. i. 2 connect itself with
Joel. This fact shows beyond mistake that our book in its present state originated from one
hand, and farther, since its beginning and its end are original, integral elements proceeding
from the author himself, that we must consider the book as a complete whole, as certainly
so prepared by its author.
If this be so, it follows that the prophet Amos, who in chap. vii. speaks of himself in the
first person, is necessarily the composer not merely of the account of these visions, but also
of the whole book. If at first we understood from the superscription that the substance of
these utterances proceeded from Amos, much more must we suppose that they were reduced
to writing and united with the foregoing books by him; and we must consider the super-
scription as prefixed to this, as it undoubtedly will, and of right ought to be, considered.
That he who in ch. vii. says " I " is no other than Amos, is plain from verse 10, etc., where
he is so called, but that he is here spoken of in the third person is no evidence that he is
not the author. Of the portions marked with the " I," both preceding and following, he is
certainly such, but we need not for that reason consider the intervening passage vii. 10-17
as inserted by another; for Hosea, in the beginning of his prophecy, in the portion (chap,
i. 2) which undoubtedly is his own, also speaks of himself in the third person. Besides,
the transition to the third person here is altogether simple and natural, since he was repeat-
ing what Amaziah charged against him. And having thus spoken, he continues in the same
manner in the 12th and 13th verses. Moreover, since the subject relates to the personal
experiences of the prophet, there is the kss reason for considering it another's interpolation
in a writing the rest of which was composed by Amos. No, it is Amos alone who relates
what befell hira in his prophesying, and then speaks of his origin and his mission, and after
wards utters a new menace against Amaziah. And tliis is not added as a mere matter of
INTRODUCTION.
listory, but the account of the occurrence with Amaziah bears so directly upon this speech
to him that it is perfectly plain that the author of the one is the author of the other, i. e.,
that the prophet himself, and no one else, has produced the whole. In favor of Amos's au-
thorship is the style, in which are manifold reminiscences of a pastoral life. (See below.)
In the first instance, this proves only that the separate discourses came from Amos, but not
that he composed the whole. But since after what has been said the theory of its compila-
tion by a third person is inadmissible, the argument for Amos as the author is greatly
strengthened by these peculiarities of language. Besides, we could not properly speak of
" Discourses of Amos " which another person has collected together, but the book in its
present form is to be considered as an original composition of its author, based upon the
" discourses " he had delivered orally.
This leads to the question concerning the precise origin of the book, — wHoh is not an-
swered by determining that it is a consistent whole and was the work of Amos. For here,
more than in the other prophets, do we need to understand the relation of the book to the
pubhc, oral activity of the prophet.
A public and therefore oral announcement of prophecies against Israel is expressly ascribed
to Amos. Just for this purpose he who was originally a herdsman came forth as a prophet.
The question is, What were those oral prophecies, and how were they related to our book ?
Ewald and Baur assume that chaps, vii.-ix. 10, contain what was originally said at Bethel,
and that the first part, chaps, i.-vi. and the Messianic conclusion, are only n. written state-
ment, devised by Amos after his return from Bethel to Judah, in order to make his utter-
ances effective for a wider circle. This view is quite plausible : for thus is most easily ex-
plained the difference in form between the first part and the second, and also, the singular
interruption of the prophecies by a historical narration, ch. vii. 10, etc. One is inclined,
besides, to think that the herdsman of Tekoah first received in the form of visions the divine
revelation and the command, " Go, prophesy to my people Israel " (vii. 15) ; and that the
longer discourses are an afterthought belonging to the written statement. But even if, as
we shall see, there is some weight in the latter consideration, still we cannot accept tho
entire view as correct. The report of the three visions in chap, vii., of which two contained
the prophet's intercession and a consequent respite of judgment, and only the third was a
pure menace, could not possibly have provoked the interference of Amaziah against the
prophet. He speaks of " all his words " which the land is not able to bear, and gives a
summary of them in the 11th verse. But manifestly he here states only the point to which
the words of Amos in verse 9 seemed to him to tend, and which in his view proved that he
was aiming at a conspiracy. But the language of the priest presupposes that the prophet
had spoken much more than the single menace contained in the third vision. Or may we
assume that, even if these visions contain all that was then said in Bethel, he had yet for-
merly declared there the other visions recorded in chaps, viii. and ix., before Amaziah came
forward against him? His coming forward would then be accounted for. But — as Baur
himself rightly emphasizes, though to prove the opposite — it is not consistent to regard as
supposititious the passage which now contains the historical narrative (verse 10 ff.), because
it is not conceivable that it should have been interpolated here, where at first it seems to
make confusion, unless it had originally belonged just to this place. This being so, " all the
words which the land was not able to bear " must be found in the preceding chapters. And
there is the less objection to this, since among the discourses certainly made in Bethel, there
is one (ch. viii. 4 ff.) which, as was before said, is closely related to the discourses in the
first part.
As there are no external grounds for limiting the discourses at Bethel to chap, vii., so
there are no internal reasons. For there is here merely a threatening of punishment, but
no mention of sin as the cause of the judgment, except ch. viii. 4-6, and still less any call to
repentance, founded either upon God's mercies to Israel, especially the divine ca'l of the na-
tion, or upon earlier warnings and visitations. Yet without this we cannp' jonceive of a
prophetic menace of punishment. Even had the prophet begun with pure --hreatening, yet
this must afterwards at least have been accompanied with explanations and reasons ; but, as
has been said, these are almost entirely wanting in ch. vii. ff. But they occur in the first
part, and therefore the threatening visions in the second part certainly presuppose the exist-
ence of the former. Moreover, I think the traces of oral speech in the discourses of the first
part can hardly be mistaken ; e. g., in ch. iv. the mention of former visitation? and their in-
efficacv — " vet have ye not returned unto me ; " or in ch. v., the warnings : " Seek the
8 AMOS.
Lord ; " or the reproach of empty formal worship, ver. 21, etc. The references to Joel also,
e. g., eh. v. 18, may well have belonged to the oral utterances. On the other hand, we nat-
urally do not find in our oook, Amos's oral addresses either in substance or form as they
were originally delivered. It was only the essential portion which he reduced to writing,
and the form manifestly belongs to the prophecy only as written. It is vain therefore to
attempt now to distinguish the particular portions that were spoken. They are merged in
a new composition prepared in a free independent manner. But while they furnish the prin-
cipal points treated, manifestly it is to the written statement that we owe the introduction
in chaps, i. and ii., so far at least as foreign nations are concerned, therefore as far as ii. 5, and
in like manner the concluding promise of a new deliverance in ix. 11.
The threatenings in ch. i. against other nations pave the way to the chief theme, the an-
nouncements of wrath against Israel. And then again these announcements to Israel pave
the way to the promise of a new gracious visitation by which God will show that Israel is
still his people.
This leads us to consider the aim and motive of the preparation of our book. Its funda-
mental thought, the appearance of Amos at Bethel with his testimony against Israel, does
not explain why it was written. It furnished indeed the chief materials, but had the writ-
ing intended only to preserve these from being lost, it would have simply reproduced them
in a somewhat free form ; but it had also another aim of its own, and to reach this availed
itself of the oral utterances without confining itself to them. The appearance of Amos as
a prophet of wrath to Israel is sufficiently explained by the commission, " Go, prophecy
to my people, Israel," but not his appearance as the 'author of our book. To understand
this we must fix our eyes upon the portions not belonging to his personal ministry, — the in-
troduction and conclusion, and especially the references to Joel's writings. Since Amos
begins his book with the menace announced by Joel in iv. 16, and concludes it with a prom-
ise like that of Joel in iv. 18, his whole prophecy, as it were, falls between these two verses
and is framed out of Joel's menace and Joel's promise. Joel, as we have before shown,
knew only of a divine judgment upon the heathen in the Lord's day for the deliverance and
exaltation of Judah, for wlien he afterwards saw the latter threatened with a judgment, he
also saw it averted by repentance. This writing of Joel was widely diffused. But grad-
ually its terms came to be perverted, and its promise of salvation was made a pretext for
careless security (see ver. 18, where the day of the Lord is regarded as necessarily a day
of salvation for Israel). Even among those who highly prized the prophets, the non-arrival
of the threatened day of the Lord with its judgment upon the heathen, and consequently
the non-arrival of the glorious salvation for Israel after that judgment, might awaken a
mistrust of the prophetic declarations, and even indifference and unbelief (cf. Baur, pp. 61,
113). Therefore Amos now coufirnis Joel's prophecy and at the same time extends it in
accordance with the altered circumstances. Both Joel's threatening and his promise remain
true, but no longer so separated that the former applies only to the heathen, and the latter
to Israel because of their repentance. The threatening remains true against Israel's foes,
the heathen, nay, in chaps, i., ii. 6 is executed, cf " I will not turn it away ; " but certainly
this is no longer the prominent feature. Judah itself has become guilty, is filled with idol-
atry, and is therefore threatened with a divine judgment. Especially in the kingdom of
Israel, to which Joel does not allude, has sinful corruption reached so high a point that the
herdsman of Tokoah is expressly commissioned to announce God's wrath to this large divis-
ion of the covenant people. So little justification had Israel for their carnal confidence in
their divine vocation upon the ground of Joel's prediction of a judgment upon their foes,
so far was his threatening of the Lord's day of judgment from passing away, that it would
certainly come to pass, only in a broader range and still more incisively, since the Lord
would enter into judgment with his degenerate people, — which even Joel had, according to
chaps, i. and ii., considered not improbable, and even had feared for Judah, although the de-
generacy there was not so great as in Israel, but now thought that it was averted by serious
repentance. But as Joel's threatening remains true, so also does his promise for Israel,
especially for Judah, only it is brought about by a judgment upon Israel, so far as it had
departed from (Jod's ways, and therefore had become the sinful kingdom of Israel, — a judg-
loent by which " a chastisement but at the same time a purification is introduced." Tlie
judgment is like a storm which overwhelms and desolates, but at the same time purifies,
and therefore carries a blessing in its bosom by making room for the clearer light of the sun.
Perhaps it is in reference to this that Amos begins with the words of Joel iv. 16, where the
INTRODUCTION.
Lord's coming forth to judge is represented under the figure of a tempest, a violent convul-
sion of nature.
Here may be quoted the manner in which Schlier (Minor Prophets, p. 70) strikingly pre-
sents the contents of our book from this point of view : " This little book ia wonderfully
arranged. With a single word Joel rouses Amos ; it is as it were the text of his whole
prophecy, the substance of all his utterances ; and what he declared was the thunderincr
voice of God's judgment upon his people. A frightful storm comes down on Israel ; we see
the lightnings flashing hither and thither from one people to another till at last the gloomy
storm-clouds stand over Israel and discharge themselves upon their guilty heads. But finally
after fearful bursts, the tempest passes away, and the pure blue heaven comes out over the
people of God. This is the sum of our prophecy. We see a storm issuing from the Lord
witli all his terrors, but also with all his blessing, in which it at last terminates. What
Amos as a herdsman had heard and seen in the open country with his herds, he as a, prophet
brings before our spiritual vision with marvelous fidelity."
We have sought to deduce the aim of the prophecy from the express references to Joel.
But perhaps we have an indication of its outward motive in the note of time with which the
title concludes — " two years before the earthquake." 'If these words came from Amos him-
self (see on ch. i. 1), they inform us at once of the time of the composition, namely, aftei
the earthquake, and also of the time of the public delivery of the prophecies, namely, two
years before that event ; thus showing that they were distinct from each other. But the
presumption is natural that these words indicate not only the period but the motive of the
composition, namely, the occurrence of the violent earthquake. That event announced a
sore judgment from God. And just as the plague of the locusts induced Joel to sound his
call to repentance, since he regarded it as the beginning of the day of the Lord, so this
earthquake led Amos — not, indeed, to his predictions of wrath, for these had occurred be-
fore — but to record them at length. For he had in his oral utterances announced a heavinw
of the earth as an expression of God's wrath ; and now the earth did heave. What then
was more natural than that he should see in this a confirmation of his threat, a token of its
fulfillment ; and regard the occasion as an appropriate one for addressing his contemporaries
in writing, as he had before done orally, in a somewhat enlarged form, especially by the
introduction and the conclusion, and with a reference to Joel for the reasons already men-
tioned? We may even find an external reason for the close connection with Joel iv. 16 in
this earthquake, since it would appear to Amos as an outward confirmation of Joel's proph-
ecy, and he could have said to his contemporaries : You hear the fulfillment of Joel's words,
how God who dwells in Zion " roars and utters his voice " — for the earthquake must have
been accompanied with a tempest. God himself having thus spoken on behalf of his prophet,
so much the more should a second prophet deem it his duty and his right, to confirm in the
enlarged and completed form before mentioned, his predecessor's prophecies already diffused
among his contemporaries, but partly misapplied and partly discredited ; and in order to this
end, to record and publish his own discourses.
From what has been said, the significance of our prophet plainly appears. Of fundamen-
tal importance here is Joel's work, by its precise and sharp apportionment of punishment
and deliverance — the former to Israel's foes, the latter to Israel as God's chosen people.
The final result is imperishable salvation and glory for God's people, and overthrow and
destruction for his foes, the world. But while this ultimate issue is held fast, it is endeav-
ored to show to God's people God's seriousness, and to set clearly in the light the distinction
between the true and the degenerate members of the people, especially to give a death-blow
to the false and wicked boasting in the prerogatives of a divine vocation, while there was
a total failure of the character belonging to that vocation, in short, to an arbitrary appro-
priation of the divine grace. This step in advance is taken by Amos when he turns the
avenging sword of the Spirit against Israel itself, and declares that it, just so far as it resem-
bles the Heathen in conduct, is in like manner exposed to the divine judgment. Still he
holds high the banner of hope. The judgment is one of purification. As true as it is, on
tlie one hand, that Israel will not be spared, so true is it, on the other, that Israel will not
be destroyed — that Jehovah still has purposes of mercy for this nation, who are and will
■emain his people.
Thus we find in Amos the prophetic theme made more profound and incisive. It cuts
Israel to the quick, and so strikes the note which succeeding prophets carry on, first, h's
younger contemporary, Hosea, who with all the weight of prophetic earnestness and with a
10 AMOS.
glance taking in at once the entire condition of the people, announces God's judgment on
the kingdom as upon an unfaithful adulterous wife. And as in Amos, and still more in
Hosea, the judgment does not spare Judah, so Mioah and Isaiah go farther and mention
Judah as especially exposed to it. But so much the more fully do they set forth the salva-
tion which God has prepared and devised for his people. He remains faithful, his love is
unchangeable ; and ever clearer and more certain stands before their eyes the form of the
Messiah, in whom God's love and faithfulness find their concrete expression.
The influence of the book of Amos upon the course of prophecy is shown by the use
made of him, especially by Hosea. Compare Hos. viii. 14 with Am. ii. 5 (i. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14,
ii. 2) ; Hos. xii. 10 with Amos ii. 10 ; Hos. xii. 8 with Am. viii. 5 ; Hos. ix. 3 with Am. vii.
17. The later prophets, especially Jeremiah, show a considerable dependence upon Amos:
compare Jer. xlix. 27 with Am. i. 4 ; xlix. 3 with i. 1, 15 (xlvi. 6 with ii. 14) ; xlviii. 24 with
i. 12, ii. 2 ; xUx. 13, 20-22 with i. 12 ; farther, xxv. 30 with i. 2 ; xxxi. 35 with iv. 13, v. 8,
xliv. 2 with ix. 4, 8. But particularly in his prophecies upon foreign lands does Amos
appear the forerunner of the later prophets.
As to the style of our prophet, Jerome indeed calls him " rude in speech but not in knowl-
edge," not, however, as a reproach, but in allusion to 2 Cor. xi. 6, in order to show, as
Baur says, that while as a herdsman he was not acquainted with the formal rules of rhetoric,
the inward force of his mind made good the lack of outward dexterity. Compare Augustine
(JDe Doct. Chr., iv. 7), " For these things were not composed by human industry, but were
poured forth by the divine mind both wisely and eloquently, wisdom not aiming at eloquence,
but eloquence not departing from wisdom." And Lowth (^De Sac. Poesi Heh.) justly remarks
upon the assertion that Amos is rude, ineloquent, and unadorned, " Far otherwise I Let any
fair judge read his writings, thinking not who wrote them, but what he wrote, and he will
deem our shepherd to be in nowke behind the very cMefest prophets ; in the loftiness of his
thoughts and the magnificence of his spirit almost equal to the highest, and in splendor of
diction and elegance of composition scarcely inferior to any." Yes, his style is such that
although we emphasize the agency of the illuminating Spirit of God, still on the other hand
we must allow to the prophet no small degree of natural culture, without, however, thinking
of a learned education. It was rather a cultivation originated by conversance with the Law
and with the holy books, and fostered by religious instruction and a religious mind, such as
would befit a man of the people to whom by all means applies the saying, It is the heart
that makes eloquent. We do not refer here to the sharp, piercing seriousness of Amos, for
'.his belongs more to the substance than the form of a prophet. On the other hand, we
nay point to the soaring elevation of the speech, e. g., in the delineations of God, oh. iv. 13,
r. 8, ix. 5, 6 ; to the peculiarly bold and vivid diction, stroke upon stroke, in describing the
iudgments, chaps, i. and ii., or in the complaints in ch. iv. on account of the failure to repent.
But as Amos has an intuitive power of individualizing his conceptions which often imparts
a poetical coloring to his speech, so his style hovers between prose and poetry, and forms a
peculiar kind of prophetic utterance. See ii. 6-8, 13 ; iii. 3 ; v. 16, vi. 8, 4 ; ix. 2, 13. Herein
the diction is little distinguished by depth of thought, but so much the more does it display
a transparent clearness which in many cases is increased by the symmetry of the arrange-
ment, as in the entire introduction, and again in the fourth chapter, and in the visions.
Observe also the commencement of each of the three discourses, chaps, iii., iv., and v., with
the phrase " Hear ye," and the twofold " Woe," in chaps, v. 18 and vi. 1, by which the larger
divisions are denoted.
When in conclusion we emphasize the imagery of the book, this leads to a more general
observation. In the view of what has been said, one might doubt the composition of this
work by a mere shepherd, but on the other hand it is very noticeable how reminiscences
of a shepherd -life everywhere appear. Justly has Ewald remarked (Proph., i. 117) : " The
simple circle of country life has entirely filled his imagination ; nowhere else among the
prophets do we find rustic images given with such originality and vividness and inexhausti-
ble abundance. Not merely do the numerous comparisons and particular images, but also the
minutest lines of the conceptions and the expression exhibit the peculiar experience and
intuition of this prophet." Of detailed instances Baur in his Commentary gives the fullest
collection ; of these we cite only a portion. Amos refers almost all things to the sphere of
a countryman. Chaps, iv. 6-9 ; v. 16 ; iii. 15 ; v. 11 (country-seats of the great) ; ii. 8 ; iv. 9 ;
V. 11, 17; vi. 6, ix. 14 (vineyards). His images also are taken from the experiences of
sountry life. Chaps, ix. 13 ; i. 2 ; iv. 13 ; v. 8, 18, viii. 9 (an eclipse of the sun is to a shep-
INTRODUCTION. ll
herd a natural image) ; ii. 9, 13 ; iii. 4, 5, 8 ; v. 19 ; viii. 13 ; iii. 12 ; ix. 5 ; vi. 12. As a
plain shepherd, Amos particularly dislikes the dissoluteness of luxurious cities (chaps, ii. 6 ;
iii. 10; iv. 1 ; v. 10; vi. 4), especially when it is based upon usurious dealings in grain to
oppress the poor (ch. viii. 8, comp. with vi. 7). Since the contemplation of the starry heav-
ens belongs characteristically to a shepherd living in the open air, Amos prefers to represent
God's majesty and power by his mighty workings in nature. Chaps, iv. 13 ; v. 8 ; viii. 9 ;
ix. 0.
A peculiar mode of writing many words may be attributed to the fact that the author
" came not from Jerusalem, the centre of the culture of the time " (Ewald), e. g,, {T'Vtp for
pi?n (ii. 13), DNnnfor arna (vi. 8), DC713 for DDi3 or tCttJi^ (v. U), F)-1DI2 for rpXD12
(vi. 10), pntW for pn!J'^ (vii. 16). [Pusey says, The hke variations to these instances in
Amos are also found in other words in the Bible. On the whole we may suspect the exist-
ence of a softer pronunciation in the south of Judasa, where Amos lived ; but the only safe
inference is, the extreme care with which the words have been handed down to us, just as
the Prophet wrote and spoke them."]
[The influence of the shepherd-life of Amos appears most in the sublimest part of his
prophecy, his descriptions of the mighty workings of God. With those awful and sudden
changes in nature, by which what to the idolaters was an object of worship was suddenly
overcast and the day made dark with night, his shepherd-life had made him familiar. The
starry heavens had often witnessed the silent intercourse of his soul with God. In the calf,
the idolaters of Ephraim worshipped " nature." Amos then delights in exhibiting to them
his God, whom they too believed that they worshipped as the creator of " nature," wielding
and changing it at his will. All nature too should be obedient to its maker in the punish-
ment of the ungodly, nor should anything hide from Him (viii. 8, ix. 2, 3, 5). The shep-
herd life would also make the pi'ophet familiar with the perils from wild beasts which we
know of as facts in David's youth. The images drawn from them were probably reminis-
cences of what he had seen or met with The religious life of Amos amid the scenes
of nature, accustomed him as well as David, to express his thoughts in words taken from the
great picture-book of nature, which as being also written by the hand of God, so wonderfully
expresses the thino-s of God. When his prophet's life brought him among other scenes of
cultivated nature, his soul so practiced in reading the relations of the physical to the moral
world, took the lano-uan'e of his parables alike from what he saw or what he remembered.
He was what we call " a child of nature," endued with power and wisdom by his God. It
is a mistake to attribute to him any inferiority even of outward style, in consequence of his
shepherd life. Even a heathen has said, " words readily follow thought ; " much more when
thoughts and words are poured into the soul together by God the Holy Ghost. On the con-
trary, scarcely any prophet is more glowing in his style, or combines more wonderfully the
natural and moral world, the omnipotence and omniscience of God (iv. 13). What is more
poetic than the summons to the heathen enemies of Israel to people the heights about Samaria
and behold its sins (iii. 9) ? What more graphic than that picture of utter despair which
dared not name the name of God (vi. 9; 10) ? What bolder than the summons to Israel to
come, if they willed, at once to sin and to atone for their sin (iv. 4) ? What more striking
in power than the sudden turn (iii. 2), " You only have I known; there/ore 1 will punish
you for all your iniquities ; '' or the sudden summons (iv. 12), " Because I will do this unto
thee (the silence as to what the this is, is more thrilling than words), prepare to meet thy
God, O Israel ? " Or what more pathetic than the close of the picture of the luxurious
rich, when having said how they heaped luxuries one upon another, he ends with what they
did not do ; " they are not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph ? " — Pusey.]
§ 5. Literature.
Besides the works referring to the Prophets in general, chiefly the Minor Prophets, EI
Schadaei, Comm. in Amos Prophetam. Argent., 1588. Joa. Gerhardi, Adnut. in Proph.
Amos et Jonam, etc., Jense, 1663 and 1676. Amos Propheta expositus, etc., cura Jo. Ch.
Harenbergii. Ludg. Batav., 1763. Amos, translated and explained, by J. G. M. Dahl, Got-
tingen, 1795. Amos, translated and explained, by K. M. Justi, Leipzig, 1799. Amos, trans-
lated and explained, by J. Sam. Vater, Halle, 1810. The Prophet Amos explained, by Fr.
6. Bavu:, Giessen, 1847. [Horsley, Notes, in Bib. CriU, ii. 391.]
12 AMOS.
Fob Pkactical Exposition. — Among earlier writers, The Severe Preacher of RepenU
ance and Prophet Amos, in Sermons of P. Laurentius, Superint. in Dresden, Leipz., 1604,
Among the later, J. Diedrich, The Prophets (^Daniel, Hosea, Joel) Amos, briefly explained,
etc., Leipzig, 1861.
*^* The additions made by the translator are in some Instances marked with ttie letter 0., but for the most part ua
simply Inclosed in square brackets. Jostioe to Dr. Schmoller requires that this statement should be made. — 0.
AMOS.
CHAPTERS I., n.
The Superscription (ch. i. 1).
1 The words of Amos (who was among the shepherds of Tekoa), which he saw
concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jero-
boam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
And he said : —
L The Divine Judgment is announced Jirst against the Countries lying around Is-
rael, then against the Kingdom of Judah, but at last remains standing over the
Kingdom of Israel (chaps, i. 2-ii. 16).
2 Jehovah roars out of Zion,
And out of Jerusalem he utters his voice
Then the pastures of the shepherds wither
And the head of Carmel is dried up.
(a) Damascus (vers. 3-5).
3 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Damascus
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Beca'ise they threshed Gilead with iron rollers,
4 I will send fire into the house of Hazael,
And it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 And I will shatter the bolt of Damascus,
And cut off the inhabitant from the vale of Aven,
And the sceptre-holder out of Beth-Eden ;
And the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, saith Jehovah.
(i) Gaza (vers. 6-8).
6 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Gaza,
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because they carried away captives^ in full number'
To deliver them up to Edom,
7 I will send flre into the wall of Gaza,
And it shall devour their palaces.
14 AMOS.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from AsMod
And the sceptre-holder from Ashkelon ;
And I will turn my hand against Ekron
And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord, Jehovah.
(c) Tyre (vers. 9, 10).
9 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Tyre,
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because they delivered prisoners in full number to Edom,
And remembered not the brotherly covenant,
10 I will send fire into the wall of Tyre
And it shall devour their palaces.
(d) Edom (vers. 11, 12).
11 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Edom,
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because he pursues his brother with the sword,
And stifles his compassion,^
And his wrath continually tears in pieces,
And his anger endures forever,''
12 I will send fire into Teman
And it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
(e) Ammon (vers. 13-15).
13 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon,
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because they ripped up the pregnant women of Gilead,
To enlarge their border,
14 I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
And it shall devour their palaces.
With a war-shout in the day of battle.
With a storm in the day of the whirlwind.
15 And their king' shall go into captivity.
He and his princes together, saith Jehovah.
Chaptee n.
(/) Moab (vers. 1-3).
1 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Moab
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because it burned the bones of the king of Edom into ' ime^
2 I wUl send fire into Moab,
And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth,
And Moab shall die in the tumult.
With a war -shout, with a trumpet-blast ;
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 16. 16
3 And I will cut off the judge^ from the midst thereof,
And wUl slay all his princes with him, saith Jehovah.
((/) Judah (vers. 4, 5).
4 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Judah,
And for four — I will not reverse it —
Because they despised the law ^ of Jehovah,
And kept not his commandments,'
And their lies misled them,
After which their fathers walked ;
6 I will send fire into Judah,
And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
(A) Israel (vers. 6-16)
6 Thus saith Jehovah,
For three transgressions of Israel
And for four • — ■ I will not reverse it —
Because they sell the righteous for money,
And the needy for ' a pair of shoes ;
7 They who pant after the dust of the earth upon the afflicted,
And pervert the way of the sufferers ;
And a man and his father go in to the same girl
In order ^ to profane my holy name :
8 And they stretch themselves upon pawned clothes by every altar,
And they drink the wine of the punished ^° in the house of their God."
9 And yet^ I destroyed the Amorite before them,
Him who was as high as the cedars
And as strong as the oaks ;
And I destroyed his fruit from above
And his roots from beneath.
10 And yet I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And led you in the wilderness forty years.
To inherit the land of the Amorite ;
11 And I raised up of your sons prophets.
And of your young men dedicated ones.
Is it not so, ye sons of Israel ? saith Jehovah.
12 But ye made the dedicated ones drink wine.
And commanded the prophets, saying, " Prophesy not.*
13 Behold, I wiU press you down^
As the full " cart presses the sheaves.
14 Then shall flight be lost ^ to the swift,
And the strong shall not confirm his strength,
And the hero shall not save his life.
15 He that beareth the bow shall not stand,
And the swift-footed shall not save, —
And the rider of the horse shall not save his life,^
16 AMOS.
16 And the courageous one among the heroes, —
Naked shall he flee away in that day, saith the Lord.
TEXT DAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Chap. 1. Ter. 6. — mbS, lit., 'xUe ; but usually concrete, exiUs.
2 Ter. 6. — D7tl!7 complete^ therefore in full number = aU the prisonersn
8 Vel. 11. — nnuil depends upon 'bV, which continues in force as a conjunction. — HHt^ destroys => Uifla
kia compassion = acts mercilessly.
i Ver. 11. — '"12^1 may be rendered, and his wrath lies in wait forever, namely, to perpetrate cruelties. [So Ewald ;
but Keil justly objects that the verb, applied to wrath in Jer. iU. 6, means to keep, preserve, and that lying in wait is
Inapplicable to an emotion.] n"l3P for n~at^, the accent being drawn back because of the tone-syllable in the
following word, n!53. [Ewald and Green make "XIV a nominative absolute, and suppose an omitted mappii in the
last letter of the verb, so aa to translate, " and it keeps its wrath forever."]
[6 Ver. 16.— "Sbn. Some of the Greek versions, followed by the Syriac and Jerome, give the form MoAxo^', Met
chom, as a proper Lame, but the common text is sustained by the LXX. and Cbaldee, and reguired by the connection.]
6 Chap. ii. ver. 3. — KiSitt? analogous to tiStt? 'HP'^'"') '" '• ^' ^' ^ -'i^Ply " rhetorical variation for TJ^p.
[7 Ver. 4. — n~lin = God's law, his preceptive will in general. D"*!?!! = the separate precepts, whether ceremonial
or moral ]
8 Ver. 6. — n!13"''3 is not synonymous with 2, preiit, but means on account of. FUrst, Keil, etc. [Pusey and
Wordsworth adopt the former view.]
9 Ver. 7. — ItJZib not " so that," but, " in order that," indicating that the sin was practiced not from weakness or
Ignorance, but a studious contempt of the Holy God.
10 Ver. 8. — D^ti>^35J : punished in money, i. e., fined, as in the margin of the Auth. Version.
11 Ver. 8. — On^ribH not their gods, i. e., idols [as Henderson], but their God.
[12 Ver. 9. The repetition of the personal pronoun "^IJDS, here and in ver. 10, is very emphatic, equivalent to our
English phrase, '=It was 1 who," etc.]
18 Ver. 13.— p"'3?n, to enclose, compress, crush, C^'^S^HPl, Keil renders "down upon you "= crush you. [So
Winer Gesenius Ewald.] Fiirst takes the word here and elsewhere as a substantive, meaning pUue, position, and renders,
" I will compress your standing-place." The pressure is compared to that of a cart. According to the usual explanation,
the cart is further defined as full of sheaves. But in that case it is strange that the pressure of a full cart should be
used to represent the destructive crushing here intended. A more appropriate comparison is found in the pressure by
which a threshing cart threshes the sheaves. It is better therefore to take "1*^^^ as the object, and to refer HSvpH
nb to nbsl? = the fuU threshing cart, since such a cart is always conceived of as heavily laden. The explanation oi
Fiirst is forced. He supplies "II^ VP, to which he refers the atljective, so as to render " upon the floor fhll of sheaves."
14 Ver 13 — nb nnban, Ut., " which is fuU in itself, has quite filled itself."
T T .. - '
[15 Ter. 14. Di^TD ^DS, The same combination is {bund in Ps. cxlii. 4.]
16 Ver. 15. — il£?D3 belongs to both members of the verse.
17 Ter. 16. — i^b V72S = " the strong in his heart," i. e., " the courageous."
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. The Superscription. The words of
Amos. The expression is somewliat iiimsual.
It is customaiy to state the contents of a prophecy
as " the word of\Tehovah " which came to this one
or that one, as in the first verse of Hosea, Joel,
Micah, etc. Jeremiah uses the same phrase as
Amos, but adds expressly, " to whom the word of
Jehovah cari]e." Here also the divine inspiration
of " the words of Amos " is put beyond doubt by
the addition, which he saw, for ^|rj is the tech-
nical formula to denote the prophet's immediate
intuition of divine truth. His " words " therefore
originated in such an intuition, and were not the
outflow and expression of his own thoughts. He
" saw " first what he afterwards recorded, and this
seeing rested upon a divine revelation. Upon the
addition to the n^'ojjhet's name, who -was among,
etc., see the Introduction, § 1.
XTpon Israel. The peculiar aim of the prophet's
atterances is the kingdom of Ephraim ; but this
came into view onl^ in so far as it was a kingdom
of Israel, and contained a part — in extent a greater
part — of the people of Israel. Besides, the threat-
enings extend to the kingdom of Judah, therefore
to all Israel. MoreoYer, it must be considered that
these threatcnings terminate in the promise after
their execution of a new glorious Israel, in which
no account is taken of the existing division of the
kingdom. As to the note of time in the days of
TJzziah, etc., see the Introduction, § 2, where it is
shown to be correct according to the contents of
the book.
Two years before the earthquake. See also ♦
the Introduction. This date is not so much chron-
ological as argumentative. It is inserted in refer-
ence to chap. viii. 8 (alsoix. 5), since this earthquake
occurring two years after the prophesying, was a
declaration in act that God would make good the
words of his servant. As to the genuineness of the
entire superscription, no argument against it is to
be found in the statement " who was among the
herdmen,"etc.,and especially the expression " who
was ; " or if indeed this statement la not original,
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 16.
17
it might yet have been inserted in a superscription
otherwise genuine. In favor of this view is the
above-mentioned anusual character of the phrase
"words of Amos which he saw." It is scarce
conceivable that a later editor would use this ex-
pression rather than the customary one, " The
word of the Lord which came," etc. If then
the words " two years before the earthquake" are
cited, as by Baur, as a proof of spuriousness, be-
cause if genuine the prophecy must have been
written two years after Amos's appearance in Beth-
el, while its whole character shows that it was writ-
ten soon after that event, we answer that this latter
assertion is wholly unfounded. Nothing forbids
the opinion that two years, which is no great
space of time, elapsed before the record was made,
and besides we have before shown that the book is
by no means a mere record of the oral discourse.
On the other hand, even Baur himself must admit
that the precise date and the peculiar form of the
superscription presuppose in any event its compo-
sition not long after the prophecies were delivered.
Surely he who prefixed these words did it in refer-
ence, as above stated, to its bearing upon the sub-
ject of the prophecies following. And as there is
nothing against the authorshij:) of Amos, it is most
natural to think that he who suggested the refer-
ence recorded it. Besides, we have already seen
( Introduction, § 3 ) that there is reason to believe that
the earthquake induced Amos to write his proph-
ecies ; indeed, he perhaps refers to it in verse 2. Cer-
tainly then nothing is more natural than to assume
that he himself con tributed this note of time, and thus
indicated the inducement which led him to write.
Chap. i. ver. 2. Jehovah roars out of Zlon,
etc. Comp. Joel iv. 16. Amos connects himself
directly with Joel in describing the judgments
upon the heathen as enemies of God's people. For
even from ver. 3, he announces the divine wrath
upon all the surrounding nations. But suddenly
the denunciation turns to Judah. and then to Is
rael, where it remains standing, so that it is plain
that he aimed especially at Israel, and that the
threats against the heathen which seemed to be
most important, served only for an introduction
to what follows. This appears even in the verse
before us, since he applies the phrase borrowed
from Joel differently from that prophet, namely,
against Israel, for since the drying up of Carmel is
stated to be the result of God's wrath, " the pas-
tures of the shepherds," which are said to wither,
are to be referred to Israel. " Woods and pastures
are mentioned by Amos in accordance with his pe-
culiar mode of characterizing the country." Or,
we are to assign the " meads of the shepherds " to
the pasture grounds of the wilderness of Judah,
which was the prophet's home in the south, and to
this Carmel stands opposed on the north, so that
Amos sees the whole land from south to north
withered. The " withering " means generally de-
struction, not to be limited to mere drought as a
natural occurrence, although this is not excluded,
but extending to the devastation of a foreign foe,
as the later statements require.
Prom ver. 3 begin the threatenings against the
heathen — in the way of a preface. The storm of
divine wrath rolls around the outlying kingdoms,
until it comes to a stand on Israel. 'The heathen
kingdoms mentioned in their order are six : Syria
(Damascus), Gaza, or rather all Philistia (ver. 8),
Tyre, Edom, Amnion, Moab. These manifestly
constitute two groups, three in each. For the three
first are more distant from Israel, the latter nearer,
B6 allied in origin. The ground of their punishment
is stated to be their transgressions, especially against
Israel ; they come into view, therefore, as enemies of
God's people, and as such are threatened with wrath.
In the succession of the groups we see a climax of
guilt, since naturally the ill-doing of a kindred
people is worse than that of a foreign race. Upou
this ground the question, why just these were se-
lected, answers itself. It was these from whom Is-
rael had severely suffered, and their guilt lay in
the foreground. They are then representatives of
a class ; a threatening upon such grounds pro-
claims the guilt of a similar course of action gen-
erally— wherever it may be found.
See further, in respect to the bearing of menaces
against the heathen upon menaces against Israel,
in the Doctrinal and Practical Remarks.
2. Damascus — Syria, vers. 3-5. Thus saith
Jehovah ; for three transgressions, etc. It is
peculiar that the threatenings throughout both
chapters are always introduced in the same man-
ner. Tlie phrase " for three — and for four," is
well explained by Ilitzig, who says : " The num-
ber four is added to the number three, to charac-
terize the latter as simply set down at pleasure, to
say that it is not exactly tliree hut much more."
Three would be enough, but it is not limited to
three. The plurality is not rigidly defined, on
purpose to indicate the ever increasing number of
sins. These nations therefore have incurred not a
light but a heavy degree of guilt. — The 7V with
which the threatening begins is in each case re-
peated before the special transgression mentioned,
and this latter, being a single case, seems to con-
flict with the preceding plurals. But in truth the
commencement, having firmly asserted the plural-
ity of the sins, may well allow the subsequent ad-
dress, as it hastens from one people to another, to
be content with naming a single wrong act as a
flagrant example which necessarily presupposes
the existence of many others. The phrase inter-
posed in each case — I will not reverse it, i. e.,
the punishment decided upon — cuts off every
thought of repeal, and declares the execution to be
inevitable. In every case the judgment is described
as a sending of fire to consume the palaces, which
can mean only the fire of war, conquest, and de-
struction. Because they threshed, refers to the
cruelty with which they crushed the captured Gil.
eadites ander iron threshing-machines. This oc-
curred when Palestine east of the Jordan was sub-
jugated by Hazael under the reign of Jehu (2
Kings X. 32, 33, cf. xiii. 7. — Benhadad ; was it
the first of that name, or the second ? Probably
both. Shatter the bolt, i. e., of the gate = the
conquest of Damascus. The inhabitants of the
valley of Aven and the sceptre-holder, i, e., prince
or ruler, of Beth Eden, are extirpated. — ^Vl?^
IIN, lit., valley of nothingness, is probably the mod-
ern Bekaa, the valley between Lebanon and Antilib-
anus, of which Heliopolis {Baalkek) was the most
distinguished city. ].1W, then perhaps =pW, the
name of the Egyptian Heliopolis, whence the LXX.
render mS'.ov 'fly ; but designedly written in the
former method to play upon the idol worship
performed there (cf. p.WTl'in for bH-n\3).
l^^"'~'''5i either the modern Bet-el-Ganna, not
far from Damascus, or, better, the Xlapa&ctaos, in the
district of Laodicea (Ptol. v., 5, 20). The rest are
to be carried away to Kir, an Assyrian province,
on the ijanks of the River Kir, KiJpos, the modem
18
AMOS.
Georgia. This was fulfilled by Tiglath-Pileser (2
Kings xvi. 9).
3. Gaza — PhUistia. Vers. 6-8. Gaza stands
as a representative of the other Philistine states
which are similarly threatened, and is named first,
perhaps because it was most actively engaged in the
sale of the captives (Keil). There is perhaps an
allusion to the same case which Joel mentions (iii.
6). Although Joel speaks of a sale to the Grecians,
and Amos of a sale to Edom, there is no discrep-
ancy, for both occurred. Joel mentions the GreeKs,
because he sought to set forth the wide dispersion
of the Jews and their future recall fiom all lands;
but Amos wishes to emphasize the hatred of the
Philistines, and therefore speaks of the sale made to
Israel's chief foe, Edom. Why Gath is not named,
does not appear. Doubtless it was comprehended
under the phrase " remnant of the Philistines."
4. Tyre — Phoenicia. Vers. 9, 10. The crime
here is the same as in the preceding, namely, the
sale of prisoners to Edom. But it does not include
carrying them away, therefore they must have
bought them from others and then sold them.
Hence Joel says that the Philistines sold the pris-
oners whom they captured to the Greeks. But the
Phcenicians as a trading people may just as well
have bought from others, such as the Syrians, and
sold the captives thus acquired to Edom. Their
sin here was the greater, because David and Sol-
omon had made a "brotherly covenant " with the
king of Tyre. The threatening in ver. 10 is lim-
ited to the commencement of what is denounced
upon Damascus and Gaza. The same is true of
Edom and of Judah.
5. Edom. Vers. 11, 12. No particular crimes
are here charged, but an implacable hatred against
Israel, which broke out in acts of cruelty. Teman
is either an appellative, the South, or the name of
a province in Edom (cf Jer. xlix. 20 ; Hab. iii. 3 ;
Job ii. H ; Ezek. xxv. 13). Eusebius and Jerome
speak also of a city named Teman, six hours from
Petra. Bozra, probably the capital of Idumaja,
south of the Dead Sea, still preserved in the vil-
lage of el-Buseireh in Jebal.
6. Amman. Vers. 13-15. The fact stated here
is not mentioned in the historical hooks of the Old
Testament. Kabbah, in its full form, Rabbah of
the Sons of Ammon, the capital of the Ammo-
nites, is preserved in the ruins of Amman. The de-
struction here threatened is more closely defined.
It will take place through a foreign conquest which
is compared to a storm, indicating either its speed
or its violence.
7. Afoab. Chap. ii. vers. 1-3. The burning of
the body into lime, i. e., to powder, indicates the
slaking of vengeance even upon the dead. Noth-
ing is said of this in the historical books, but it
was perhaps connected with the war waged by Jo-
ram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah, together
with the king of Edom, against the Moabites. In
that case the king of Edom was a vassal on the
side of Israel, and the insult to him would be, at
least indirectly, a crime against Israel. Kerioth
is the proper name of a chief city of Moab, still
preserved in the place called Kereyat. HQ is ap-
plied to Moab, con.sidered as a person. Here also
the occurrence of a battle is mentioned. Judge,
ased only to vary the expression, is equivalent to
king, or sceptre-holder in i. 5. From the midst re-
fers to Moab as a country.
^ 8. Judah. Vers. 4, 5. The sin of Judah con-
eists in apostasy from God. Their Ilea means their
idols, as nonentities, destitute of reality.
9. Israel — the Ten Tribes. Vers. 6-16. Now
in a surprising manner Israel is brought forward,
and by a similar introduction placed on the same
line with the others ; only in place of a short state-
ment, there is a lengthened and detailed represen-
tation of its sin, guilt, and punishment.
(a.) Israel's Sins.
Vers. 6-8. Unrighteousness in judgment Is
charged, ver. 6. The righteous = one who is such
in the judicial sense, i. e., innocent. Money, which
they had receis'ed or expected. Sell, declare guilty
and punish. The sentence is called a sale because
the judge was bribed. The phrase, for a pair of
shoes, does not state the price with which the
judge was bribed [the poorest slave was certainly
worth much more than this — Keil], but the occa-
sion of the proceeding, namely, a pair of shoes, i. e.,
a mere trifle, for which the poor man was in debt
and for which the judge gave him up to the cred-
itor as a slave (Leviticus xxv. 39).
Ver. 7. They who, etc. Plainly, not a new
fault, but a description of the sin out of which the
former sprang. Pant after the dust, etc., i. e.,
endeavor to bring these into such misery that they
will strew dust on their heads, or that they will sink
into the dust, i. e., perish. Pervert the way, etc.,
prepare for them embarrassments and distress. Son
and father go in to the {i. e., one and the same)
girL In order to profane my holy n^me. The
conjunction indicates that the profanation was delib-
erate and therefore willful. It is so called because
it was an audacious violation of God's command-
ments. Prostitution in or near the temple itself ia
not to be thought of here.
Ver. 8. Every altar and the house of their
God, certainly refer to the sacred places at Beer-
shoba and Dan, but it must be kept in mind that
in these Jehovah was worshipped. There is no ref-
erence to the worship of heathen deities, which in-
deed did not exist under Jeroboam II., for the con-
duct here condemned is condemned just because it
took place in the sanctuary, and thus was a daring
contempt of God. Pawned clothes, i. e., upper gar-
ments consisting of a large square piece of cloth,
used also as a bed-covering by the poor. These
were pawned, given in pledge to a creditor, by the
poor. Such the law required to be returned before
nightfall (Exod. xxii. 25; Deut. xxiv. 12). But
instead of this, they were retained, and used as
cloths on which the creditors stretched out, i. e.,
their limbs ; and on what occasion 1 According to
what follows, at banquets or sacrificial meals, as
the connection shows. 'Wine of the punished,
means wine bought with the proceeds of fines. Man-
ifestly the oppression of the poor is censured also
in ver. 8. It only connects with this sin that of
frivolous luxury.
(6). The sin is the more heinous because Israel
is the chosen people of God.
10. Vers. 9-12. These verses recall to mind
the manifestations of God's grace. He had pat
Israel in possession of Canaan. Here Amos men-
tions first the direct means by which this was
done, namely, the destruction of the Canaanites,
then, what preceded, namely, the deliverance from
Egypt and the guidance through the wilderness.
And I— -emphatic, the very being whom you now
treat with contempt. The Amorites are named 83
the strongestrace of the Canaanites (cf. Gen. xv.
16; Josh. xxiv. 15) ; they are likened to a mighty
tree, and their destruction to its complete over-
throw. A similar reference to these gracious dis-
pensations is found in Deut. viii. 2, ix. 1-6, xxix,
1-8. Further, the gift of prophecy and the insti"
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 16.
U
tution of the Nazarites are mentioned as special
favors which God had given to Israel but which
they despised.
(c). The Punishment.
This is to be a crushing so severe that no one
can escape. The figure of the cart is explained in
Textual and Grammatical.
Ver. 14. Plight is lost to the swift = he will
not have time to escape.
Ver. 16. ■WUl flee naked = will not defend
himself, but leave behind the garment by which
the enemy seizes him (cf. Mark xiv. 52). The pun-
ishment threatened in ver. 13 ff. is manifestly the
invasion of a superior foe. The powerlessness be-
fore him and the consequent fright are depicted in
the liveliest manner.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. In Joel, prophecy quickly drops the form of
a threatening against God's people which however
it certainly has, and then assumes so much the
more fully the character of a promise. It is alto-
gether different with the next prophet of whom we
have any written memorial, as indeed would be
expected from the fact that his mission was to
the ten tribes. On one side he stands connected
with Joel, but on the other goes far beyond him ;
his message is not only the earnest calling of a de-
generate people to repentance, but the annuncia-
tion of God's destructive judgments upon them.
But the transition from Joel's point of view to
that of Amos is worthy of consideration. The
former announced a judgment upon the heathen,
but in general terms. This the latter takes up
with a slight allusion to Israel, but he does not
expand it farther until he has paved the way by a
succession of threatenings upon foreign nations.
He unrolls before the eyes of Israel a picture of
the Divine Justice in its sure and awful march
through the kingdoms. But if the people at first
regard this with satisfaction because it concerns
their foes upon whom they will thus be revenged,
they are frightfully awakened from their security
by a sudden turn in the direction of the menace.
Israel itself is counted among these Gentile king-
doms, and treated in the same way. This shows
that the address to Israel's foes is only an intro-
duction ; and therefore it passes rapidly from one
to another, not entering into details, but content
with indicating the raultitade of their transgres-
sions, and citing one only as an example of the
rest. The prophet thus prepares to make the
stroke which at last falls upon Israel heavier and
more lasting. Were those nations punished ? Not
less will this one be. Did they suffer who had not
received the law nor enjoyed special tokens of
God's favor ; far heavier will be the punishment
of this people who, although chosen of God, had
yet in the grossest manner despised Him and his
well-known commands. The storm of divine wrath,
which they had gazed at as it fell upon others,
would discharge itself upon them in all its fary.
Thus does God prick the conscience of his own
people by the judgments threatened upon others.
They hear his voice saying, " If I thus punish
other.s, what must I do to you t " The more gen-
erally and widely his punishment is inflicted, the
less can Israel complam when it comes to them ;
tnuch rather must they acknowledge it as just.
To Israel in the stricter sense an especial warn-
ing is given in the fact that the divine judgment in
ts circular sweep does not spare Judah, and even
names this before Israel. " It should sink deep into
the heart of the ton tribes that not even the posses-
sion of such exalted prerogatives as the temple and
the throne of David, could avert the merited pun-
ishment. If such be the energy of God's right-
eousness, what had they to expect ? (Hengstenberg.)
That is, the ten tribes might at first hear gladly,
and even feel flattered by a threatening against Ju'
dah, but so much the more surprising must it be
when the same thing comes in turn to themselves.
Then the matter assumes a different appearance,
and they could infer from Judah's not being spared,
how little they could count upon any exemption.
2. Returning to the judgments upon the heathen,
the question arises, Why were they punished 1 One
might answer without' ceremony. Because of 'their
offenses against Israel, the people of God. Un-
doubtedly these nations are considered as Israel's
foes, and their crimes so far as specified are crimes
against Israel ; in part they are the same as those
charged by Joel, who speaks so plainly of the hos-
tility of the heathen toward Israel. Oniy in the
case of Moab (ii. 1), is the fact otherwise, for here
the offense stated is one only indirectly against
Israel. But this shows that the relation to Is-
rael is not the only point of view, and that the
threatenings against these nations are not to be at-
tributed solely to this cause ; a view which is con-
firmed by a closer inspection of the sins men-
tioned ; crushing with a threshing sledge, giving
prisoners to embittered foes (Edom), forgetting
the brotherly covenant, slaying a brother, stifling
compassion, ripping the pregnant, displacing the
landmarks, burning the bones of a corpse. These
are plainly moral offenses, trangressions of the
simplest laws of morals. They are therefore sins
against a natural divine ordinance, not positively
revealed, but manifesting itself in every one's con
science ; and as such they incur a heavy guilt.
The crimes of these nations then are against God
and not merely against his people. So much the
more necessary is it for God to punish them. —
And He can do this because He is a God who con-
trols all nations, and to whom all are subject even
if they do not serve Him. Observe how self-evi-
dent this truth is to the prophet. Does not this
assumed universality of the power of Israel's God
imply indirectly, or at least negatively, that faith
in Israel's God is destined for alii Under one
God, who has power over all, all shall yet bow
themselves.
3. Hence it is the more conceivable that Judah
and Israel are joined so directly to the threatened
heathen nations. Judah, it is concisely said, hag
not kept the law, in which God positively declared
to them his will. To Israel, on the contrary, noth-
ing is said here of the sin of idolatry (which in-
deed is presupposed), but individual offenses of a
gross kind (partly of course allied with idolatry),
are specified ; base oppression of the poor through
avarice, shameless sensuality, spending in drunk-
enness money wrested from the poor, and this
most offensively blended with idol-worship. How
this is regarded is strikingly shown by an expres-
sion at the end of verse 7 which applies to the
whole series. It is, says God, a profaning of my
holy name. STn the view of Scripture there is a
holy divine ordinance which is violated by such
moral offenses. They are therefore offenses against
God, "profanations of his holy name," who insti-
tuted this ordinance. Therefore the punishmen
is absolutely necessary. For God cannot suffer hi>
holy name to be profaned with impunity. Upon
the sins against the poor, see also Doctrinal and
Ethical, 2, upon chap. iii.
2.0
AMOS.
4. It is remarkable that the very same threat is
made against the heathen and against Judah.
This is certainly not without design. Even if it
were owing in the first instance to the fact that
the prophet had in view one and the same means
of punishment for all, namely, subjugation by a
foreign foe, still the intentional uniformity sug-
gests equally the unvarying and impartial charac-
ter of God's punitive righteousness. There is no
respect of persons with Him. Wherever there are
sins, there inflexibly the divine wrath makes its
appearance ; and even if the sins are different in
kind, yet where God's law whether natural or re-
vealed, is transgressed, there a corresponding reac-
tion of his holiness is provoked.
5. Surely the greatness of what God has done
for his people weighs heavily in the scale and
greatly aggravates their guilt. The fact of these
benefits is the solid gi'ound of the proceeding
against Israel's sins. 'Those benefits are so many
loud accusations, from which there is no escape.
For all Israel's sins are not merely violations of a
divine order, but a shameless contempt of his good-
ness and the blackest ingratitude ; and the punish-
ments therefore are only a righteous reversal of
abused mercies. Hosea goes farther and repre-
sents the ingratitude as conjugal infidelity, since he
conceives God's tender relation to Israel as a mar-
riage bond. The infliction of punishment upon
apostate Israel is thus more clearly shown to be a
divine right. An approach to this view, an indica-
tion of God's loving fellowship with Israel is found
in chap. ii. 2 : " You only have I known," etc.
6. Along with the great blessings which founded
the nation — the deliverance from Egypt, and the
guidance through the wilderness, and on the other
side, the giving of the law, — the institution of
prophecy, and the law of the Nazarites are men-
tioned. " These are gifts of grace in which Israel
had the advantage of other nations, and was dis-
tinguished as the people of God and the medium
of salvation for the heathen. Amos reminds the
people only of these, and not of earthly blessings
which the heathen also enjoyed, because these
alone were real pledges of God's gracious cove-
nant with Israel, and because in the contempt and
abuse of these gifts the ingratitude of the peoj^le
was most glaringly displayed. The Nazarites are
placed by the side of the prophets who declared
the mind and will of God, because the condition
of a Nazarite, although it was in form merely a
consequence of his own free will in execution of a
particular vow, was nevertheless so far a gift of
grace in that the resolution to make such a vow
came from the inward impulse of the divine Spirit,
and the performance of it was rendered possible
only through the power of the same Spirit. The
raising up of the Nazai'ites was intended not only
to set before the eyes of the people the object of
their divine calling, or their appointment to be a
holy people of God, but also to show them how
the Lord bestowed the power to carry out his ob-
ject" (Keil) ; of. also the remarks on Hosea xii.
10, which rests on this passage in Amos,
7. Whether these threatenings against different
heathen nations vma fulfilled, is a question we
must ask still more in the case of Amos than of
Joel. For Amos not merely sees and describes in
% general ideal sketch the downfall of the heathen
power which then stood opposed to Israel's exalta-
tion, but he speaks as if predicting a precise his-
torical occurrence. Yet it is to be considered, that,
as was hinted before, the threatening runs essen-
tially in the same terms, is in fact one, and, al-
though subjoining special features in some case?
(especially i. 5, 15), yet at bottom is vtry general
and sets forth simply conquest and loss of inde
pendence, but by whom, is not said. Just this fate
befell these kingdoms, although at different times
and in different ways. Syria experienced it from
the Assyrians when Tiglath-Pileser, in the time of
Ahaz, conquered Damascus and put an end to the
kingdom. Later, the Chaldseau invasion overthrew
the other nations, although the information on the
point is scanty. Accordingly we are always justi-
fied in saying that these predictions were fulfilled,
without necessarily affirming that it was in the
sense intended by the prophet. [But this latter is
a point of no moment, if the fulfillment was in the
sense which the Holy Spirit intended. — C.] We
must further consider that such threatenings are
not absolute. They are given at a particular time,
and the issue depends upon the behavior qf those
whom they concern. For God's purposes, and
therefore his punishments are directed according
to our conduct. Hence He delays his visitations,
or lessens or increases them ; so that what takes
place at last little coincides with what the prophet
had to announce in his name. Nor should the
idea be wholly rejected, that these predictions came
to the foreign nations themselves, seeing that they
were neighbors, and were laid to heart by them
just as the heathen oracles were, so 'that thus the
state of affairs might be changed. For these an-
nouncements of punishment are to be viewed aa
warnings as well to the heathen as to Israel —
warnings intended to be heard and regarded. That
the threatening against Judah, which is of the same
tenor as the others, was fulfilled by Nebuchadnez-
zar is well known. But even this fulfillment does
not answer exactly to what the Prophet had in
view, which manifestly was a judgment closer at
hand, perhaps by means of the Assyrians. Hence
it is clear that Judah obtained a respite, because
its condition had meanwhile improved.
[8. It is remarkable that none of these burdens
of Amos are addressed to the greatest powers of
the heathen world, opposed to Israel and Judah,
— Assyria and Babylon. The Holy Spirit who
spake by him, reserved the declaration of the des-
tinies of these two great kingdoms for two othei
of the twelve minor prophets. Assyria was re-
served for Nahum, Babylon for Habakkuk. There
seems, therefore, to have been divine forethought
in the omission The prophecies of Amos
are expanded by succeeding prophets. Amos him-
self takes up the prophecy of Joel whom he suc-
ceeds. Joel, by a magnificent generalization, had
displayed all God's judgments in nature and his-
tory as concentrated in one great Day of the Lord
Amos disintegrates this great whole, and particu-
larizes those judgments. Joel declares that God
will judge all collectively; Amos proclaims that
He will judge each singly. (Wordsworth.)
[9. Pusey (p. 161 ), with great propriety, calls at
tention to the fact that the complete captivity of a
population, the baring a land of its inhabitants,
was a thing unknown in the time of Amos. It is
true, Sesostris brought together " many men," " a
crowd," from the nations he had subdued, and em-
ployed them on his buildings and canals (Herod-
otus, ii. 107-8). But in this and other like cases,
the persons so employed were simply prisoners,
made in a campaign, and the sole object of the re-
moval was to obtain slaves so as to spare the labor
of the native subjects in constructing the public
works. This is shown by the earlier Assyrian in-
scriptions, all of which speak only of carrying off
CHAPTERS I. l-II. 16.
roldiers as prisoners or women as captives, of re-
ceiving slaves, or cattle or goods as tribute, or of
putting to death in various ways rulers and men
at arms. Tlie forced deportation of a whole peo-
ple, and the substitution of others in their place, is
a different thing altogether. The design of this
was to destroy effectually the independence of the
subject races and put it out of their power to re-
bel. The first trace of it we find in the policy of
Tiglath Pileser toward Damascus and Kast and
North Palestine, and afterwards it came into gen-
eral use. But Amos foretold this wholesale trans-
portation long before it occurred, and at a time
when there was no human likelihood that it would
occur. It must have been a divine inspiration
which enabled him so clearly to predict such an
unprecedented captivity. — C]
HOMILBTICAL AND PBACTIOAL.
/er. 2. The head of Carmel is dried up. Its
glory has passed away, as in the twinkling of an
eye. God hath spoken the word and it is gone.
"All," says Van de Velde, " lies waste ; all is a wil-
derness. The utmost fertility is here lost for man,
useless to man. The vineyards of Carmel, where
are they now t Behold the long rows of stones
on the ground, the remains of the walls ; they will
tell you that here where now with difficulty you
force your way through the thick entangled copse,
lay in days of old those incomparable vineyards to
which Carmel owes its name." (Pusey. ) — Ver.
3 ff. Every infliction on those like ourselves finds
an echo in our own consciences. Israel heard and
readily believed God's judgments upon others. It
was not tempted to set itself against believing
them. How then could it refuse to believe of it-
self what it believed of others like itself. If they
who sinned without law perished without law, how
much more should they who have sinned in the
law, be judged by the law. {Ibid.) — For three
transgressions, etc. God is long-suffering and ready
to forgive ; but when the sinner finally becomes a
vessel of wrath. He punishes all the former sin.s
which for the time He had passed by. Sin adds
to sin out of which it grows ; it does not over-
shadow or obliterate the earlier sins, but increases
the mass of guilt which God punishes. When the
Jews slew the Son, there came on them all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth from right-
eous Abel to Zacharias the son of Barachias. So
each individual sinner who dies impenitent, will
be punished for all which in his whole life he did
or became contrary to the law of God. Deeper
sins bring deeper damnation at last. As good
men by tbe grace of God, do through each act
done by aid of that grace gain an addition to their
everlasting reward, so the wicked by each added
sin, add to their damnation. {Ibid.) — I wilt not
reverse it. Sin and punishment are by a great law
of God bound together. God's mercy holds back
the punishment long, allowing only some slight
tokens of his displeasure to show themselves that
the sinful soul or people may not be unwarned.
When He no longer withholds it, the law of his
moral government holds its course. {Ibid.) — Ver.
4. Devour Benhadad's palaces. What avail the
pleasure-houses and palaces of the rich of this
world 1 How soon do they turn to dust and ashes
when the fire of God's wrath kindles on them ? —
Ver. 6. Carry away prisoners to deliver them, etc.
Who so further afflicts the afflicted, shall in return
be afflicted by God. Fugitives who flee to us for
refuge should never be trea'ed with hostility nol
robbed of their liberty. — Vers. 7, 8. The five cities
of Philistia had each its own petty king. But al/
ftirmcd one whole ; all were one in their sin ; al]
were to be one in their punishment. So then for
greater vividness, one part of the common infli&
tion is related of each, while in fact, according to
the wont of prophetic diction, what is said of each
is said of all. — Ver. 9. Remember not, etc. It is
a great aggravation of enmity and malice, when it
is the violation of friendship and a brotherly cov-
enant. (M. Henry.) — Ver. 10. Fire into the wall
of Tyre. Not fine buildings nor strong walls, but
righteousness and honesty are a city's best defense.
2 Kings ii. 12; xiii. 14. — Ver. II. Pursues his
brother with the sword. Eleven hundred years had
passed since the birth of their forefathers, Jacob
and Esau. But with God eleven hundred years
had not worn out kindred It was an abid-
ing law that Israel was not to take Edom's land,
nor to refuse to admit him into the congregation
of the Lord. Edom too remembered the relation,
but to hate him. " Fierce are the wars of breth-
ren." (Pusey.) — Stifles his compassions. Edc»n
" steeled himself against his better feelings," as we
say, " deadened them." But so they do not live
again. Man is not master of the life and death of
his feelings, any more than of his natural existence.
He can destroy ; he cannot recreate. And he does
so far do to death his own Ifeelings whenever in
any signal instance he acts against them. {Ibid.)
— Ver. 13. To widen their border. The war of ex-
termination was carried on not incidentally nor in
sudden stress of passion, but in cold blood. A mas-
sacre here and there would not have enlarged their
border. They wished to make place for them-
selves by annihilating Israel that there might be
none to rise up, and thrust them from their con-
quests and claim their old inheritance. Such was
the fruit of habitually indulged covetousness. Yet
who beforehand would have thought it possible?
{Ibid.) — Ver. 15. He and his princes. Evil kings
have evermore evil counsellors. It is ever the
curse of such kings to have their own evil reflected,
anticipated, fomented, enacted by bad advisers
around them. They link together, but to drag
one another into a common destruction. {Ibid.) —
Chap. ii. 1. Even the iniquity done to the godless,
God will not leave unpunished. To rage against
the bodies of the dead is sinful and horrible. Pusey
justly remarks, " The soul being beyond man s
reach, the hatred vented upon one's remains is a
sort of impotent grasping after eternal vengeance.
It wreaks upon what it knows to be insensible the
hatred with which it would pursue, if it could, the
living being who is beyond it. Hatred which
death cannot extinguish is the beginning of the
eternal hate in hell." — Chap. i. 3-ii. 3. AVho shall
not tremble at the judgments o' God 1 But who
shall not gain confidence against all the insolence
of men, from the thought how God has judged the
world? Who shall not shun all rage, cruelty, and
violence, since he knows that God avenges all such
sins 1 — Ver. 4. Because they despised the law, etc.
Many other sins prevailed among the Jewish peo-
ple, but by mentioning only these two, — contempt
for the law and false worship, — the Lord shows that
they are the most grievous, since they violate the
first and great commandment, and make up the
three and four, ;'. e., seven, the complete number of
sins, the fullness of the measure of iniquity. For
it is one of God's greatest benefits that He gives us
his Word containing the revelation of his will and
thus points the way not only to our temporal wel-
(22
AMOS.
fare but to eternal blessedness. To throw to the
winds such a gift is the grossest ingratitude. From
this contempt of the Word, there follows necessa-
rily the other sin of idolatry. For a man cannot
exist without a God and worship ; his nature for-
bids it. If any one turns aways from the Word
in which God reveals his nature and will, he must
needs devise to himself a deity and a worship
which is nothing but a pernicious lie. — Despised.
The prophet uses a bold word in speaking of man's
dealings with God. Man carries on the serpent's
first fraud, Hath God indeed said? He would not
willingly own that he is directly at variance with
the mind of God. It were too silly as well as too
terrible. So he smoothes it over to himself, /ymy
to himself: " God's Word must not be taken so
precisely." " God cannot have meant." " The
author of nature would not have created us so if
He had meant." Such are the excuses by wliich
man evades owning to himself that he is tramp-
ling under foot the mind of God. Scripture draws
off the veil. Judah had the law of God and did
not keep it ; then he despised it. This ignoring
of God's known will and law and revelation is to
despise them as effectually as to curse God to his
face. (Pusey.) — After which their fathers walked.
The children canonize the errors of their fathers.
Human opinion is as dogmatic as revelation. The
second generation of error demands as implicit
submission as God's truth. The transmission of
eiTOr against himself, God says, affljravates the
evil, does not excuse it. (Ibid.) — ^er. 5. Will
send fire into Judah. So we know that a flery
stream ivill come forth and destroy all who,
whether or no they are in the bodj' of the Church,
are not of the heavenly Jerusalem ; dead members
in the body which belongs to the living Head. And
it will not the less come, because it is not regarded.
Rather, the very condition of all God's judgments
is to be disregarded and to come, and then most to
come when they are most disregarded. (Ibid.) —
Ver. 6. Far three transgressions of Israel^ etc. We
see here that the idolatry of Israel was a fountain
of all sorts of misdeeds, even of such as would
shock a reasonable man, as the list shows; per-
version of justice, oppression of the poor, unnat-
ural uncleanness and shameless luxury. — Ver.
7. Pant after the dust. Covetousness, when it has
nothing to feed on, craves for the absurd or impos-
sible. What was Naboth's vineyard to a king of
Israel with his ivory palace ? What was Morde-
cai's refusal to bow to one in honor like Haman ■!
Covetousness is the sin, mostly not of those who
have not, but of those who have. It grows with
Its gains, and is the less satisfied the more it has
to satisfy it. (Pusey.) — To profane my holy name.
The sins of God's people are a reproach upon him
self. They bring Him, so to say, in contact with
sin, and defeat the object of his creation and reve-
lation. " He lives like a Christian," is a proverb
of the Polish Jews, drawn from the debased state
of morals in Socinian Poland. The religion of
Christ has no such enemies as Christians. (Ibid.)
— Ver. 8. They stretch themselves, etc. They con-
densed sin. By a sort of economy in the toil they
blended many sins into one : idolatry, sensuality,
cruelty, and, in all, the express breach of God's
commandments. 'Ibis dreadful assemblage was
doubtless smoothed over to the conscience of the ten
tribes, by that most hideous ingredient of all, that
the " house of their God " was the place of their
revelry. What hard-heartedness to the willfully-
forgotten poor is compensated by a little church-
going ! (Ibid.) — Vers. 9, 10. And I destroyed,
etc. We need often to be reminded of the mercies
we have received, which are the heaviest aggrava-
tions of the sins we have committed. God gives
liberally and upbraids us not with our meanness
and unworthiness, and the disproportion between
his gifts and our merit; but He justly upbraids us
with our ingratitude and ill-requital of his favors,
and tells us what He has done for us, to shame us
for not rendering again according to the benefit
done to us. (M. Henry. ) — Ver. 11. / raised up
. . . dedicated ones. 'The life of the Nazarite was
a continual protest against the self-indulgence and
worldliness of the people. It was a life above na-
ture. They had no special office except to live
that life. Their life taught. Nay, it taught in
one way the more, because they had no special
gifts of wisdom or knowledge, nothing to distin-
guish them from ordinary men except extraordi-
nary grace. They were an evidence what all might
be and do, if they used the grace of God. (Pusey.)
— Ver. 1 2. Made them drink wine. What men de-
spise they do not oppose. " They kill us, they do
not despise us," were the true words of a priest in
the French Revolution. Had the men in power
not respected the Nazarites, or felt that the people
respected them, they would not have attempted
to corrupt or to force them to break their vow.
(Ibid). — I command the prophets. Prophecy not.
Those have a great deal to answer for who cannot
bear faithful preaching, and those much more who
suppress it. (M. Henry.) — Vers. 13-16. When
God's judgments go forth, no power, wisdom,
wealth, arms, swiftness or experience, is of any
avail. Because men so readily fall into contempt
of God's judgments as something easy to bs
avoided. He at times expresses them in such terms
as to show that no escape is possible. (Rieger.*
CHAPTER in. 23
CHAPTERS III.-VI.
11. To the Kingdom of Israel, especially to its Cheat Men, the Divine Judgment i$
announced upon the Prevailing Sins, unless Men seek the Lord.
Chapter EEL
1, As surely as the Prophet bears the Divine Commission, mil God punish Israd,
1 Hear this word,
Which Jehovah speaks concerning you, ye sons of Israel,
Concerning the whole family
Which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth ;
Therefbre will I visit upon you all your iniquities.
3 Do two walk together
Unless they have agreed ? ^
4 Does the lion roar in the forest
When he has no prey ?
Does the young lion utter his cry out of his den
Unless he has taken something ?
5 Does a bird faU into a trap " on the ground
When there is no snare for him ?
Does the trap rise up from the earth
Without catching anything at all ?
6 Or is a trumpet blown in a city.
And the people are not alarmed ?
Or does misfortune occur in a city,
And Jehovah has not caused it ?
7 [No ;] for ° the Lord Jehovah does nothing
Without having revealed his secret to his servants, the prophete
8 The lion roars,
Who does not fear ?
The Lord Jehovah speaks.
Who must not prophesy ?
9 Make it heard over the palaces in Ashdod,
And over the palaces in the land of Egjrpt,
And say, assemble upon the mountains of Samaria,
And see the great confusions in the midst thereof,*
And the oppressed in the heart thereof.
10 And they know not to do right, saith Jehovah,
They who store up violence and devastation in their palaceSi
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah,
An enemy, and that round about the land ! ^
And he shall bring down thy strength ° from thee,
And thy palaces shall be plundered.
24
AMOS.
12 Thus saith Jehovah,
As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion
Two legs or an ear-lappet,
So shall the sons of Israel deliver themselves ;
They who sit in Samaria
On the corner of the couch and on the damask of the bed.
13 Hear ye and testify to the house of Jacob,
Saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of Hosts :
14 That in the day when I visit Israel's transgressions upon him,
I will visit the altars of Bethel,
And the horns of the altar' shall be cut off and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house,
And the houses of ivory shall perish,'
And many ^^ houses shall disappear.
TEXTUAL ANT) GRAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 3. — Jll Vi3. To meet together at an appointed time and place.
2 Ver. 5. — riD is the fowler's net, tBpit3, the springe or snare which holds the bird feet. rT7 belongs to 1"lS2
pin order to catch a bird in the net, a springe must be laid for it.]
8 Ver. 7.-^3. Not " surely," as in E. T., a signification which it never has, but, " for," in connection with a neg.
ative Imphed in its relation to what precedes. Cf. Micah Ti. 4, Job xxxi. 18. J
4 Ver. 9. — nia^nn, «»««, disorder, denotes a state of confusion, resulting ftom a complete OTcrtuming of right.
«uch as is expressed by D''plC£7 ^'j probably to be taken as an abstract, " the oppression " (of the poor) or possibly con-
crete, " the oppressed."
5 Ver. 11. — tT^l^, thy strength, t. e., Samaria's.
6 Ver. 11 3"'3D^ is explanatory, " and that round about the land," i. c, will come and attack it on all sides.
7 Ver. 12. — nlSti HSQ, the comer of the divan. th» most convenient for repose. ptt7t2"T, damask, covered with
a costly stuff. [Pusey and iVordsworth revert to the old view (Sept., Vulgate, Syriac, Targum), which is followed in the
Authorized Version, and interpret, ''and rechne on Damascus as a couch," but their reason? do not seem to have much
weight.]
8 Ver. 14. — n^^an is the singular of species, and is equivalent to a plural.
9 Ver. 15. — Ivory houses are such as have their apartments adorned with inlaid ivory (cf. 1 Kings xiii. 39).
10 Ver. 16. — D"'3ri, not " large " as B, T., bat " many."
EXEOETICAL AND CRITICAL.
1. Vers. 1-2. Hear this word which Jehovah,
etc. "Hear this word." This phrase is repeated at
the beginning of chaps, v. and vi. It therefore shows
this chapter to contain one address complete in it-
self. See the Introduction. Upon the whole
family. Although afterwards destruction is threat-
ened only against the ten tribes, yet here the entire
race is included. The people as a whole were
known and chosen of God, and therefore the pun-
ishment of sin is set forth in universal terms. Just
60 far as sin extends, punishment will and must
come. Certainly this occurred first in the case of
the ten tribes, but how little Judah could count
upon being spared, has already been seen in ch. ii.
4, etc.
Ver. 2. Only you have I known. This is
aquivalent to "I have chosen," since the knowing
expresses a relation of sympathy and love, as " the
motive and the result of the election."
2. Vers. 3-8. Do two walk together, etc. The
reneral announcement of a punitive judgment is fol-
fowed — without any apparent connection with the
foregoing — by a series of propositions illustrated
by examples from daily life. Plainly, these perhaps
proverbial phrases are here introduced only by way
of comparison. They illustrate the principle that
every effect has its cause.
Ver. 4. AVhen he has no prey, refers, as Keil
justly states, not to the actual seizing of the prey
by the lion, but to his having it before him so that
it cannot escape. In like manner, the phrase in
the second clause, " unless he has taken some-
thing," is to be explained. The lion makes his
capture not merely when he has seized and is rend-
ing the prey, but when it is so near that escape ia
impossible. [The lion, as a rule, roars most terri-
bly when it has the prey in sight, upon which it
immediately springs. Bochart.]
Ver. 5. Does the trap rise up ? because lifted
up by the bird flying away. 'Without catching,
i. e. the bird.
Ver. 6. In the first member the usual order of
these propositions is reversed, and the cause ia
mentioned first, — the blowing of the trumpet, —
and the result follows. In the second, the other
order is restored. In this last, similes are aban-
doned, and the discourse states directly what had
been implied in numerous comparisons. As lit-
tle as two can walk together without, etc., etc. ; so
little can misfortune occur in a city without the
Lord's hand ; or rather, as in all these cases, ona
thing is the result of the other as its cause, so ia
it here. " Misfortune " in the city is the result, the
CHAPTER in.
25
" Lord " is the cause. Even this is to be considered
as a kind of proverbial speech, but it explains the
subject treated of in this passage. The prophet
has threatened the whole people in ver. 2, with a
visitation from God. Against this the conscious-
ness of Israel revolts, especially because the visita-
tion is to come from God, their own God, Jehovah.
Therefore the prophet proves the correctness of his
declaration by these examples, in which he traces
with the certainty of the strictest logic every effect
to a cause, and so every misfortune in the city to
Jehovah as its author (and to his punitive right-
eousness as the cause). If this be so, every objec-
tion is obviated. "Whatever misfortune exists must
be traced back to Jehovah. This however is not
proved, but only illustrated, by the examples cited,
which show simply that as every event has its
cause, so also must misfortune ; so that the ques-
tion remains, Is this result to be attributed to Jeho-
vah's activity ? The answer to this is found in
vers. 7, 8, which must be taken together, since it is
only thus that they furnish the desired proof
ver. 7. Per presupposes the answer No, to the
foregoing questions, especially the last. No, mis-
fortune does not occur without Jehovah's hand,
for, etc. The proof in the first instance is this :
Jehovah does nothing without having disclosed his
" secret," 2. e. his secret counsel, to his servants,
the prophets. The latter is certainly not the cause,
but it is the indispensable condition of Jehovah's
activity, so that between the two there is a neces-
sary connection. But this very revelation to the
prophets has as an inevitable result (ver. 8), their
prophesying, which again is illustrated by an ex-
ample drawn from experience, the lion roars, etc.
so that this prophesying is not an accidental or
capricious thing, but proceeds from a causa siiffi-
ciens, which lies in Jehovah himself. Therefore
the meaning is : when the prophet speaks or pre-
dicts, Jehovah has revealed it to him, and the for-
mer is the result of the latter. But if Jehovah has
made a revelation to him, then what he predicts,
namely, misfortune, is really impending from Jeho-
vah. The Lord will let it come. He will not indeed
in the absence of such a revelation ; but wherever
this occurs, it is a token that He will bring it to
pass. Therefore a prophecy, a foretelling of calam-
ity by a prophet, is a voucher — "*3 — that the
calamity is from the Lord, that a causal connec-
tion exists between the two as certain as that
between the things mentioned in vers. 3-6. Other-
wise, the prophet could not announce such a ca-
lamity, since he announces only what Jehovah re-
veals to him, but must announce that. The divine
origin of his prophecy is to the prophet, therefore,
the basis on which he proceeds as on a certain real-
ity, and from this he argues and proves the divine
authorship of the fact which he predicts, namely, a
punitive judgment. Thus is sustained the truth of
the saying, that Jehovah would visit Israel. — Only
in this way do we understand the ''3 in verse 7.
It is therefore a reversal of the order of thought
when most interpreters say that from ver. 3 the
prophet is proving the divine origin of his prophecy
against the objection that he spoke only from sub-
jective influences, {. e., " as little can a prophet
(peak without a divine impulse as any other effect
can be produced without a cause " (B. Baur). No,
the prophet does not justify himself or his calling,
he is sure of that ; he only seeks to convince his
hearers or readers that they are really to expect
the judgment which ho announces, and to this end
ie uses the fact that prophecy comes from God. —
Concerning the examples in ver. 3 ff. Baur cor-
rectly remarks, " There is no occasion to regard
them as anything more than mere analogies repre-
senting the general relation of cause and effect, or to
assign to each case a special reference to the proph-
et's thought, e. jr., the two as a figure of God and
the people, the lion as representing Jehovah, and
the prey and the bird, the wicked, etc." Such a
method loads to constrained refinements, as may be
seen in Keil, in loc. The illustration of one princi-
ple by so many examples may seem somewhat
tedious, but to understand it, one must consider the
partiality of the Orientals for figurative and pro-
verbial speeches, which leads them to express in
these concrete forms even such an abstract truth
as the relation of cause and etiect. There is noth-
ing strange, therefore, in finding such a representa-
tion coming from the herdman of Tekoa.
3. Vers. 9-15. Here the Lord's purpose respect-
ing the sinful people is openly declared.
(a.) Vers. 9, 10. Tlie sins. Make it heard, etc.
Not only are the sins to be punished set forth, but
the heathen are summoned as witnesses. This
turn in the address indicates that the sinfulness is
very great, enough even to surprise the heathen,
and thus puts Israel to shame.
Ver. 9. Publish ye. Jehovah is the speaker,
and we must regard the command as addressed to
the people in these heathen lands. The palaces,
i. e., those who dwell there, are to be informed, be-
cause the question concerns what is done in the
palaces of Samaria. Ashdod, as part for the whole,
is put for the Philistines, who were regarded by
Israel as godless heathen. Egypt, " whose un-
righteousness and ungodliness Israel had once
abundantly experienced " (Keil). — On the moun-
tains of Samaria, i. e. around Samaria, whence
they could look into the city.
Ver. 10. They know not to do right. They
do not understand it, so accustomed are they to
unrighteousness. They who store up violence,
etc. ; evil treasures which, so far from helping, de-
stroy them.
(b.) Vers. 11-15. Therefore thus saith, etc., '^?
may be abstract or concrete. The latter is more
probable, especially as in that case it is naturally
connected with the verb ^^"^'^m, which otherwise
would require Jehovah to be understood as its
subject. The clause is an emphatic assertion in
the form of an exclamation.
Ver. 12. In this plundering of Samaria, the
great men will be able to save their lives only to
the smallest extent and with the greatest difficulty.
Both points are suggested in the comparison. (" A
pair of shin-bones and a piece, i. e. a lappet, of the
ear." Keil.)
Ver. 13. Renews the threatening and raises it
still higher. There will be an utter destruction
Hear ye, etc., is addressed to the Israelites, as in
ver. 1, since among even these God has those who
will testify what He is going to do. They shall,
when summoned as witnesses of wrong doing, an-
nounce also the punishment of Israel. House of
Jacob means all Israel, i. e., the twelve tribes ; even
Judah should hear it so as to learn a lesson. The
Divine names are accumulated for emphasis ; the
threat of such a God ought to make a deep impres-
sion. The visitation of Israel will begin with the
destruction of the altars in Bethel, i. e., of idola
try, the religious source of the moral corn ption
This is more closely defined by the cutting ofl' of
the horns, which destroys the significance of th*
altar.
26
AMOS.
Ver. 15. "Winter houses and summer houses
are primarily those of tlie royal family, but per-
haps also those of the tioblemen. — The threatened
judgment, therefore, is the overthrow of Samaria,
especially its palaces, with the complete extermina-
tion of the inhabitants (ver. 12).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. "Israel stands to us as a constant example
both of the unsearchable riches of grace which
God bestows and of the inconceivable judgments
He sends upon those who receive his grace in vain."
(Rieger.) Here again the bringing out of Egypt
appears as the fundamental act of God's grace. It
is mentioned alone, because by it as the condition
of its outer and inner existence was Israel con-
stituted the people of God. This bringing out,
however, includes the guidance through the wilder-
ness and the giving of the law. This people alone
did God " know ; " to them alone He stood in a
relation of nearness and confidence ; all others were
aliens. Therefore so much the greater their guilt,
and the more certain their punishment.
2. The sin of Israel, especially of the ten tribes,
is apostasy, at least in the calf-worship (comp. ver.
14, chaps, iv. 4, v. 5). But that which particu-
larly provokes rebuke and menace is, as appears by
chap. ii. and the following chapters, the extreme
moral corruption, which naturally is regarded
as the violation of the divine commands, covet-
onsness and luxury, and in connection therewith,
the shameless disregard of the elementary duties
due to our neighbors, violent oppression of the
poor. This last is continually the subject of sharp
censure (cf. ii. 6, 7, and subsequently iv. 1, v. 6,
11, 12, vi. 12, viii. i, 6). The poor always stand
under the especial protection of the divine law, a
peculiar feature of which is its compassion for the
lowly, as the Mosaic institute shows in many of its
provisions. How fully the prophet was in sym-
pathy with this trait, is shown by the fact that upon
<B0 point is he so zealous as upon the oppression of
d;he poor. This was doubtless because such in-
^ances frequently occurred ; still it is significant
thait instead of merely touching them and then
passing on, he brings them forward and brands
them, with an especial stigma. " To pervert the
/wa.y of the poor," as it was before expressed in
chajp. i. ver. 7, is, as it were, the unpardonable sin.
JFer this reason the prophet's rebuke is addressed
maJnJy to the great, the higher classes ; but cer-
tainly not because these alone were corrupt while
the .lower classes needed no particular censure, al-
thougii at bottom this was the fact. Are we then
to recognize a democratic feature in the circum-
staaee, and observe how a man of the people, a
herdjnaa, feels himself called chiefly to scourge
the sins of the nobles and especially those by which
the humble sufl'ered ■? If it is correct to assert that
God. called and employed him to chastise such
sins, ive.raay admit this. Only let us not ascribe
to Amos that modern democratic view which re-
viles the higher classes because it condemns all
distinctions of ranks. Rather the reverse is true
of Amos. He inveighs against the sins of the
great, just because their position is so important,
because Ke.kuows that upon their conduct depends
the weal or tlie woe of the community, for if cor-
ruption prevails in their circles, the foundations of
the national prosperity are undermined and shaken.
With equal-or even greater propriety may one as-
mbe an afis-tocralic leaning to our prophet, but
after a proper manner, i. c, he considers the posi-
tion of the higher classes very important, but for
that very reason very responsible, and holds that
their rights and privileges impose cowesponding
duties. They have much ability, but much is also
expected from them, " to whom much is given,"
etc. And if they mistake and abuse their position,
so much the heavier is their guilt and the greater
the harm they work. Their degeneracy at last
brings destruction upon the whole. If then a
prophet were silent, or censured only the lowly and
not the high, he would be justly chargeable with
servility and fear of men, which would ill agree
with his call to be a witness of divine truth (cf.
chap, iv., Doctrinal and Ethical, 2).
3. Misfortune as a punishment comes only from
Jehovah. It comes not of itself nor is casual, but
has a definite cause and author, who is Jehovah
He who chose and blessed his people, the same
punishes them. Men may struggle against this
truth, but still it remains incontestable. And when
a doubt of the divine authorship intrudes, there
comes a voucher in the words of the prophets. Be-
fore God executes anything. He reveals it to his
servants, and these cannot but declare what is thus
revealed. A calamity announced by them is a pun-
ishment proceeding from God.
4. The lofty significance of prophecy is strsngly
expressed in vers. 7, 8. The prophets are not only
" God's servants " in general, but are also entrusted
with " his secret," his " counsel," i. e., what He
proposes respecting his people. Yes, he does noth-
ing until He has revealed it to the prophets. Thus
He, as it were, binds himself to them. Is it asked,
Why ? The answer is. The aim of the revelation
is to secure its announcement, as it is expressly
said (ver. 8), the. speaking of God to his servants
necessarily leads them to prophesy. The object ol
their utterances is simple and single, to set plainly
before men the severity of God against sm, the
truth of his punitive righteousness. If this is done,
so to speak, in the interest of God, naturally it is
stilly more in the interest of men. These are to
learn how the matter stands with them and what
threatens them, so as to take warning while there
is time. And if men do take warning — for this
is the implied thought, — then "God does noth-
ing," i. e., does not carry out his secret counsel.
Therefore He, as it were, puts prophecy between
his " secret " and its execution, and so prophecy
is justly reckoned among Israel's peculiar privi-
leges (comp. ii. 11 and the remarks there). Well
remarks Rieger in reference to the present times :
" Those to whom God has intrusted the duty of
bearing witness to his truth in the world now,
cannot put themselves on a level with his ancient
prophets, nor should they indulge any natural pas-
sion herein. Yet it is very significant that the
Lord Jesus addressed to the overseers of the
churches of Asia the precious testimony of his rev-
elation, and therein the secret counsel by which
God's wrath is fulfilled, and thus indicated for all
time the participation of the teacher's office in the
judgments of God, partly in foreseeing them, par^
ly in foretelling them, and partly, moreover, in in
fluencing them for good by prayer and watchful-
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. Hear the word which Jehovah speakt
to you. Here we learn that God's Word should
be preached in such way that its hearers should
CHAPTEE in.
recognize that it is intended for and applies to
them. For when it is declared only in general
terms, especially as respects God's wrath against
sin, the people commonly sit and think it does not
concern them out only folks in far-off lands. It
should be said, Hear what, the Lord says to yoa
who sit here under the pulpit.
Ver. 2. You only, etc. — therefore I will, etc.
This is a wonderful inference. We should rather
expect ; therefore will I spare you. But we see
that the Lord is accustomed to punish those who
have received much at his hands more severely
than others not so favored. Ifor his kindness is
not intended to encourage us in sin, but to render
us through gratitude more devoted to Him. He has
chosen us in Christ that we should be holy and
blameless before Him in love (Ephes. i.), butwhere
this result docs not follow, God s goodness ceases,
and his punishments fall the heavier. — ( W. S.)
Vers. 3 ff. The comparisons here may be prac-
tically explained as (1) teaching us what just
grounds God has for his punishments. If two
walk together, they must agree, but you, He says,
do not agree with me, but are my foes, by your evil
works, and therefore I cannot walk with you in
complacency. (2) As a lion does not roar unless
the prey is just before him, so my thrcatenings are
not uttered unless I see men just ready to fall, as
it were, a prey to my wrath. Of this, however,
they think lightly, and deem any calamity that
befalls them an accident. But (3) just as little as
a bird falls into the net without a Ibwler, or a
fowler lifts the snare without having caught some-
thing, so little does misfortune occur without God's
mind and will, who does not give up his purpose
but carries it out unless withheld by a true repent-
ance. As every one fears when the trumpet an-
nounces the enemy near at hand, so should my
people when my prophets announce to them judg-
ment for their sins. These similes remind us of
the divine providence in punishments. They do
not fall promiscuously, but in the righteous retri-
bution of God, who determines beforehand who
shall suffer and who escape.
[Ver. 6. Does misfortune occur, etc. Evil which
is sin, the Lord hath not done; evil which is
punishment for sin, the Lord bringeth. (Augus-
tine.)
Ver. 7. The Lord Jehovah does nothing, etc.
God has ever warned the world of coming judg-
ments in order that it may not incur them. As
Chrysostom says. He has revealed to us hell in
order that we may escape hell. He warned Noah
of the coming deluge. He told Abrara and Lot of
the future judgment of the cities of the plain. He
revealed to Joseph the seven years of famine, and
to Moses the ten plagues, and to Jonah the de-
struction of Nineveh ; and by Christ He foretold
the fall of Jerusalem ; and Christ has warned all
of his own future coming to judge the world. God
does this that men may repent ; and that if they
obstinately continue in sin. He may be justified in
axecuting punishment upon them. (Wordsworth.)
Ver. 8. Who does not feart "There is cause
for you to fear when God roars from Zion, but if
ye fear not, the prophets dare not but fear. So Paul
says, "Woe is unto me if Iproaih not the Gos-
pel." So Peter and John, " AVe cannot but speak
the things we have seen and heard." Moses was
not excused, though slow of speech ; nor Isaiah,
though of polluted lips ; nor Jeremiah, because he
was a child. And Ezekiel was bidden. Be not re-
bellious like that rebellious house. (Pusey.)
Ver. 9. Publish in the palaces, etc. " Since
ye disbelieve, I will manifest to Ashdodites and
Egyptians the transgressions of which ye are
guilty." (Theodoret.) Shame towards man sur-
vives shame towards God. What men are not
ashamed to do, they are ashamed to confess that
they have done. Nay, to avoid a little passing
shame, they rush upon everlasting shame. So God
employs all inferior motives, shame, fear, hope of
things present, if by any means He can win men
not to offend Him. {Ibid.)
Ver. 10. They know not, etc. It is a part of
the miserable blindness of sin, that while the soul
acquires a quick insight into evil, it becomes at
last not only paralyzed to do good, but unable to
perceive it. Stm'e vp violence. They stored up,
as they deemed, the gains and fruits ; but it was in
truth the sins themselves, as a treasure of wrath
against the day of wrath. (Ibid.)
Ver. 11. Therefore thus saith, etc. There was
no human redress. The oppressor was mighty,
but mightier the avenger of the poor. Man Avould
not help, therefore God would. Thy palaces shall
be spoiled. Those palaces in which they had
heaped up the spoils of the oppressed. Men's sins
are in God's providence the means of their punish-
ment. Their spoiling should invite the spoiler,
their oppressions should attract the oppressor.
{Ibid.)
Ver. 12. As the shepherd rescues, etc. Amos
as well as Joel (ii. 32) preaches the same solemn
sentence, so repeated through the prophets, " a rem-
nant only shall be saved." So it was in the captiv-
ity of the ten tribes. So it was in Judah. In the
Gospel, not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble were called, but God
chose the poor of this world, and the Good Shep-
hei-d rescued from the mouth of the lion those
whom man despised. {Ibid.)
Ver. 13. Hear ye and testify. It is of little
avail to testify, unless we first ifiear ; nor can man
bear witness to what he doth not know ; nor will
words make an impression, i. e., be stamped on
men's souls, unless the soul which utters them
have first hearkened unto them. {Ibid.)
Ver. 14. In the day when I visit, etc. Scripture
speaks of " visiting offenses upon," because in
God's providence, the sin returns upon a man's
own head. It is not only the cause of his punish
ment but a part of it. The memory of a man's
sins will be a part of his eternal suffering. {Ibid.)
Ver. 14. The altars, etc. The vengeance of o
just and holy God will one day certainly root out
false worship.
Ver. 15. The winter-house and, etc. What are
the palaces and pleasure-houses of the wicked in
the time of judgment, but a brand which kindle*
the wrath of the Lord.
28 AMOS.
Chaptee rv.
2. Punishment must come, since despite all Chastisements the People will not amend.
1 Hear^thisword, yekine of Bashan,
Who are upon the mountain of Samaria,
Who oppress the poor,
Who crush the needy,
Who say to their lords,
Bring hither that we may drink.
2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness,
Behold days are coming upon you.
When men will drag^ you away with hooks
And the remnant^ of you with lish-hooks.
3 And through breaches* in the wall ye shall go out, every one before her,*
And be cast forth'' to Harmon ' saith Jehovah.
4 Go to Bethel and sin, —
To Gilgal,' and sin still more !
Bring every morning your sacrifices,
Every three days your tithes.
5 Oifer' a praise-ofiering of what is leavened.
Call out for voluntary offerings, proclaim them !
For this liketh you,-"* O sons of Israel,
Saith the Lord, Jehovah.
6 And I, even I,^^ have given you cleanness of teeth in all your citiet,
And want of bread in all your places ;
And ye have not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
7 And I, even I, have withheld the rain from you,
When there were yet three months to the harvest.
And have caused it to rain upon one city,
And cause it not to rain^ upon another.
One field is rained upon,
And the field upon which it does not rain, withers.
8 And two, three cities stagger to one city
To drink water, and are not satisfied ;
And ye have not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
9 I have smitten you with blight and with mildew ;
And the multitude''^ of your gardens and your vineyards.
And of your fig trees and olive trees, the locust devoured ;
And ye have not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
10 I have sent pestilence among you in the manner of Egypt,^*
I have slain your young men with the sword,
Together with the booty ^ of your horses,
And caused the stench^^ of your camps to ascend even into your noses,
And ye have not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
11 I have overthrown among you,
Ab God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
CHAPTER IV. 29
And ye were like a brand plucked out of the burning ;
And still ye have not returned unto me.
1 2 Therefore thus will I do to thee, O Israel.
Because I will do this to thee,
Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
13 For, behold. He that formeth the mountains and create th the wind,
And declareth to man what is his thought.
Who maketh dawn darkness,
And goeth over the high places of the earth,
Jehovah, God of hosts, is his name.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Vtt. 1. — !|37iOtt? fcr n317!al£?, because the verb stands first. Of. Is. xxxii. 11.
i Ver. 2, — St&3 is Piel, as in 1 Kings ix. 11. Green's Grammar, § 164, 2. "^D pleonastic, like the Greek on, m
lirect address.
[8 Ver. 2. — iT^nnS is not posterity (Fiirst, Henderson), but remnant, " all even to the Tery last." Of. Hengsten
berg, Christol., i. 367.]
4 Ver. 8. — D'^H'nD is accusative of place.
6 Ver. 8. — n'^JJ, i. "; without turning to the right or the left." Cf. Josh. 7i. 5-20.
6 Ver. 8. — nDri3^tt?n, n is stmply the full form of the pronoun, added here to obtain a similarity of sound
with the preceding verb. The Hiphil form is found in all the M3S. save one, and is defended by mtzig, Ewald, etc., but as
it is very harsh, it is better, with the LXX., Syr., Sym., Vulgate, and Arabic, to take it as Hophal (Jerome, Fiirst, Keil, etc./
7 Ver. 3. — Onnrr. This hapax le^om. is not yet satisfactorily explained, although almost every possible interpre
tation has been given. The final letter appears to be PT local, and in that case the word indicates the place into which
the fugitives are cast. But where that place is none can say ; we have only conjectures, for which see Keil and Hender-
son in loc.
8 Ver. 4. — 'f Gilgal " is in the accusative after " go " understood from the preceding clause. " Every three days," is
the literal rendering adopted by Ibn Esra, Rosenmiiller, Maurer, Keil, etc. Kimchi gives it as E. V., and is followed by
Henderson. The LXX., Vulgate, and Luther agree with Ibn Esra.
9 Ver. 5. — ^^p, infin. absol. used for the imper,
[10 Ver. 5. — " i'or this liteth you." This fine archaism seems preferable to the marginal equivalent of the E. V ,
" So ye love."]
[11 Ver. 6. — The first personal pronoun, when separately expressed in Hebrew, is always emphatic ; hence the rep»
tition in the version, "I, even I."]
12 Ver. 7. — "l^'^QM, The imperfects from here on are used as the historical present to give life to the description
18 Ver. 9. — ni^'^n, infin. const, used as a substantive = multitude.
14 Ver. 10. — " In the manner of Egypt," because pestilence is epidemic in Egypt (Is. x. 24-26).
IB Ver. 10. — ^'Htt? 72y is usually explained : " together with the carrying away of your horses," so that even youl
horses were carried away. But Keil renders it concrete = the booty, so that even the horses that were captured, perished.
16 Ver. 10. — DPDS^^ — even into your nostrils, " like as a memorial of their sins " (Hitzig).
17 Ver. 13. — nti?V, may be, who turns the dawn into darkness, or, by asyndeton, who makes dawn, darkness, i. e.,
both, [The latter is preferred by Calvin, is expressed in the LXX., and is said by Henderson to be the reading of more
than twenty of Kennioott's MSS.]
vievr ; for cows have their " lords," and the term
here means the king and the princes under whom
the other great men are ranlied. So the Targum,
Jerome, Calvin, Maurer, and others.
Ver. 2. The threat is introduced by an oath.
Jehovah swears by his holiness, for this perfection
must desire the punishment of such an unholy life.
Tour remnant, what has not been dragged away
with hooks. To understand this as meaning " pos-
terity," would require us to consider two genera-
tions as included in the punishment threatened,
which is a thought foreign to the context.
Tlie breaches in the waUs, are those made at the
capture of the city. [There will be no need to re-
sort to the gates, for egress will be possible in every
direction. — C] As to the much disputed Haj>
mou, all the ancients and most of the modernn
take it as a proper name, — Armenia, Rimmon,
Hermon, etc. Kimchi, followed by Gesenius,Wi]ier
EXEGETICAL AND CMTIOAL.
1. Vers. 1-3. Hear this, etc. Plundering and
destruction had been threatened; here carrying
sway is added. They who are threatened are
the same as in chap. iii. The comparison to kine
of Bashan, i. e., strong, well-fed, well agrees with
the description of their extortions and their lux-
urious life in that chapter. They are compared to
cows rather than bulls, manifestly because the lat-
ter figure wotild be too dignified for such persons
as are intended. Perhaps their eft'eminacy is also
hinted. But it is certainly Wrong to understand
the expression as meaning specifically the women
pf Samaria. For nothing chai'acteristic of women
is said of the cows, but only what had previously
!iwn .said of the great in general. Nor is the phrase
who say to their lords, any objection to this
30
AMOS.
Henderson, resolves the word by a change of its
first letter into the term meaning palace or citadel,
and renders " will be cast down as to the palace,"
i. e., from it. Dr. Van Dyck in the New Arabic
Bible, also takes it as appellative, and renders " to
the citadel."
2. Vers. 4, 5. Go to Bethel, etc. You will
not arrest this judgment by your idolatrous wor-
ship, eagerly as you may pursue that worship.
Such eagerness is only an enlargement of your
sins. This thought is expressed in a manner liit-
tei-ly ironical by a summons to greater zeal. Gil-
gal was, like Bethel, a seat of idol woi-ship (of on
Hos. iv. 15). The whole passage is hyperbolical.
" Even if you offered slain offerings every morning
and tithe every three days, it would only increase
your guilt."
To the same effect in ver. 5 they are told, instead
of being content with unleavened cakes, to offer
also upon the altar even the leavened loaves which
were not required by law to be consumed (Lev. vii.
13, 14). And so with the free-will offerings. In-
stead of leaving these to spontaneous impulses,
they in their exaggerated zeal called out for them,
published them. The words, for this Uketh you,
make a mock of this zeal. But the mock is sub-
sequently turned into earnest. For men surely
should not persist in such love and zeal for idol-
worship, after God had so often punished them for
it.
3. Vers. 6-11. All punishment hitherto had
been in vain. This is shown in five instances, each
concluding with the sorrowful refrain, and yet ye
have not returned unto me, which strikingly
display the love of Jehovah, who visits and pun-
ishes his people only to prevent the necessity of
severer punishment.
(a.) Ver. 6. And I also, etc. To what they
did, the prophet sets in opposition what Jehovah
did. Cleanness of teeth, because they had noth-
ing to eat.
(b.) Vers. 7, 8. "Withheld the rain when,
etc. The latter rain is meant. As this fell in Feb-
ruary and March, while the har\est occurred in
May and June, the interval was reckoned in round
numbers at three months. [" This is utterly ruin-
ous to the hopes of the farmer. A little earlier or
a little later would not be so fatal, but drouth three
months before harvest is entirely destructive." The
Land and the Book, ii. 66.] The withholding of
rain is stated as partial, in order to show more dis-
tinctly that it was a divine ordering.
(c.) Ver. 9. The third chastisement was a bad
harvest, arising from a blight upon the cereal
grains and the destruction of fruits by locusts.
fd.) Ver. 10. The fourth chastisement was pes-
tilence and war. For the griei'ous sufferings of
Israel in the latter, see 2 Kings viii. 12, xiii. 3, 7.
(e. ) Ver. 11. I overthrew, etc. This mani-
festly does not indicate a new chastisement in ad-
dition to the foregoing, but sums them all up in a
single utterance. " The comparison of the doom
of Ephraim to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, is a
general indication of the greatness of their punish-
ment (cf Is. i. 9). The way in which the destruc-
tion of the cities of the plain is spoken of, plainly
refers to Gen. xix. 29, where occurs tlie word ' over-
throw,' which became the standing phrase to de-
scribe this fearful fate (Oeut. xxix. 22; Is. i. 7,
xiii. 19 ; .Jer. xlix. IS, 1. 40)." (Baur.) As a brand.
The cmi)ha>is docs not lie on the actual esca])e, l)ut
on the fact that it was so n.arrow. The phrase
lividly (le)]icts the severity of tlieir cha»tiseinents
hitherto ; so much the more iiiexeusaljle are they
for not having returned to the Lord.
4. Vers. 12, 13. Therefore thus will I, etc
Thus, but how is not said. " Thus," is therefore
to be regarded as a general threat, which is so
much the more severe, because it is Hot stated
what shall come, so that there is everything to
fear. The punishment is indeed generally indicated
in this chapter, as also in chapter iii. But the
chief point of the chapter is to recall the past
hard-heartedness of Israel, not to describe their
punishment, since there are only brief references to
the judgment already mentioned, the full descrip-
tion of which is resumed in chap. v. As yet it is
only a tln'eat : hence the summons. Prepare, etc.,
(. e., not to meet your doom, but to avert it by true
repentance (cf chap. v. 4, 6). " To give the greater
emphasis to this command, ver. 13 depicts God as
the Almighty and Omniscient who creates prosper-
ity and adversity." (Keil.) "His thought" does
not mean man's thought, but God's own, which He
makes known by the prophets, i. e., his purpose to
punish. [It seems more natural, as it is more in
accordance with the uniform usage of the word
rfW to refer it to man. As Pusey says, " To man,
a sinner, far more impressive than all majesty of
creative power is the thought that God knows his
inmost soul. He declareth unto man his medita-
tion, before he puts it into words."] Treads
upon the high places = rules over all, even the
highest of earth. Finally the whole is confirmed
by the lofty title of God as God of Hosts.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. " This discourse (vers. 1-3) strikes at those
who are in authority and practice violence at court
and elsewhere. In them, unrighteousness in act
concurs with great looseness in speech. The more
violently men deal in matters of oflSce and govern-
ment, the more viciously do they proceed among
their fellows, trying to stifle all humane feeling for
others' need and all complaints at the wrong that
is done. But the more frivolous their talk, the
more earnest is God in his counsel and oath against
them ; and as they have done much for the sake
of advancing and enriching their posterity, so the
judgment of God strikes them with their poster-
ity." (llieger.)
2. " Since the prophet here attacks so severely
the heads of the state, we are to consider that if a
modern preacher were to do the same, it would be
regarded as an insult and a calumny. But if a
preacher out of a proper zeal should at times han-
dle somewhat harshly acknowledged public offend-
ers who can be reached in no other way, this is by
no means to be deemed an unbecoming insult, for
the same reproach would apply to the prophets,
to our Lord Himself, and to his Apostles, all of
whom often uttered severe language. When in any
such ease the rebuke aims only at the benefit of
the persons concerned, it is not an impropriety or
an outrage, but a work of love demanded by the
preacher's office, which is to censure the impenitent
This must be done not only upon the lowly but
upon the lofty, and indeed the more upon the lat-
ter because thev do so much more harm when they
act amiss." {]Vurt. Bi.) It is a natural inference
that such a thing should be done not in passion
nor personal provocation, but really from a holy
zeal against sin. But clear as the matter is so far,
the more difficult is it in practice. One can only
say. Let each man approve himself to God as to
his inward feeling. The fear of man should nol
close the mouth to an open testimony against tho
high. But it does not follow that an open mouth
CHAPTER IV.
is always a token of zeal for God's honor. Least,
of all is such a thing found in a mere copying of
others, even though they be prophets. Nor should
the difference between prophets and the preachers
of our day be obliterated. With the courage to
bear testimony must be united the com age to suffer
on account of such testimony (cf at chap. iii. Doet.
and Eth. 2).
3. They who shamelessly transgress the simplest
moral duties, develop along with this course a
powerful religious zeal and cannot do enough in
worship. An apparent contradiction, yet one con-
firmed a hundred times by experience ; moral cor-
ruption and religious bigotry amalgamated ! Yet
is it altogether natural ; the religious form covers
over the moral nakedness and quiets the con-
science ; but this is certainly a horrible delusion.
That it was a false worship in which the Israelites
were so zealous, enhances their guilt, for it ivas an
apostasy from Jehovah. But even a religiosity
which is formally correct, may be uocd as a cover
for wickedness, and be blended with moral corrup-
tion. Thus it is well to remember that religious
zeal in itself is no proof that all is well.
4. God tries all means before proceeding to ex-
tremities. If benefits are not recognized, He sends
chastisements. These in the first instance aim not
at destruction, but at opening the eyes through the
perception of the divine wrath so that men may re-
pent and seek God. They are therefore as much
tokens of grace as proofs of wrath. But if this
aim is not reached, the forbearance of God ceases,
and a decisive judgment steps forth. But this last
is something extorted from God, it is against his
real disposition ; only with reluctance does He re-
solve upon it. He waits long in the hope that
there will be a change and so the last step be un-
necessary. Most clearly does the sorrowful love
of God shine out from the vivid delineation of the
prophet. National calamities, according to our
chapter, are to be viewed as chastisements from
God. This view does not conflict with the exist-
ence of natural causes, but recognizes God as the
being in whose sei"vice these act. It sees in the
course of the world, not the blind mechanism of a
clock, but the work of a personal intelligent will,
and considers the laws of that course as the thoughts
of this will, which rules and governs the whole, the
domain of the physical as well as that of the moral
and spiritual, and naturally does not leave these to
run on merely sic e by side, but puts them in con-
stant and intimate relation and alternation with
each other, so that physical lite finds its highest
aim in the loftier domain of moral and spiritual
life. National calamities are only a lower degree
of the revelation of God's wrath. Heavy as they
may be, they endanger only the material conditions
of a nation's life, and that in a superficial way from
which there may be a recovery, but they do not
Imperil its essential being, which consists in its
political " independence and freedom." That a
nation is determined to maintain and guard this,
that it considers the loss of it the last punishment
'rom God's hand, comes forth very clearly as the
l)rophet's view. A nation thereifire should defend
this against the attack of a foreign foe. But it is
tquallyclear that where the inner conditions, piety
and righteousness, no longer exist, there all pains
to preserve independence are vain. God gives the
power and victory to the foes. What enemies do,
that God himself does thi-ough them (cf chap. ii.
13, iii. 15). Here also there is no denial of the
nearer causality, that of the human will. But
while man is doing only his own will, he at the
lame time does the will of God, acts as his instru-
ment, and serves his aims, which are the highest,
the only absolute ones.
5. With a short but lofty delineation of God's
transcendent greatness and almighty power, the
prophet concludes the chapter, showing that Jeho-
vah is one who speaks with emphasis and can ex
ecute his threatenings. It is as beautiful poetically
as it is profound theologically. It exhibits an ele-
vation and depth in the conception of God, which
permits a very definite conviction as to the strength
and clearness of the divine manifestation made to
Israel. As thus controlling all things, God is
called the God of Hosts. Observe how fond Amos
is of this phrase in the vehement outpouring of
indignation in the chaps, iii.-vi., cf iii. 13, iv. 13,
V. 16, 27, vi. 8, 14. Here Jehovah appears as One
who towers above all creaturely existences, who
rules the highest spheres of might, against whom
therefore nothing can avail, around whom every-
thing stands ready to execute his will. He is not
the national God of Israel alone, but the God of
the world. Hence He is not merely a natural
force which builds and again destroys, but a per-
sonal God who acts according to his own " thought,"
which He makes known to men. And as such a
personal, self-consciOus, self-active being, He stands
in constant relations with his personal creatures.
HOMILEIIOAL AND PKACTICAL.
[Ver. 1. Who oppress the poor. He upbraids
them not for fierceness, but for a more delicate and
wanton unfeelingness, the fruit of luxury, fullness
of head, a life of sense, which destroy all tender-
ness, dull the mind, deaden the spiritual sense.
They did not directly oppress, perhaps did not
know that it was done ; they sought only that their
own thirst for luxury aiid self-indulgence should
be gratified, and knew not, as those at ease often
know not now, that their luxuries are continually
watered by the tears of the poor, tears shed almost
unknown except by the Maker of both. But He
counts willful ignorance no excuse. (Pusey.)
Ver. 2. Behold, days are coming. God's day and
eternity are ever coming. They are holding on
their steady course. Men put out of their minds
what will come. Therefore God so often in his
notices of woe brings to mind that those days are
ever coming ; they are not a thing which shall be
only ; in God's purpose they already are, and with
one uniform, steady noiseless tread are coming up-
on the sinner. (Ibid.)
Ver. 4. Go to Bethel and sin, etc. Words uttered
in bitter irony and indignation, as Ezekiel says
(xx. 39), "Go ye, serve every one his idols," and
our Lord, " Fill ye up then the measure of your
fathers" (Matt, xxiii. 32). It is a characteristic
of idolatry and schism, to profess extraordinary
zeal for God's worship and go beyond the letter
and spirit of his law by arbitrary will-worship and
self-idolizing fanaticism. (Wordsworth.)
Ver. 5. Call out for voluntary offerings, etc. The
profuseness of idolaters in the service of their false
gods may shame our strait-handedness in the service
of the true and living God. (M. Henry.)]
Ver. 6 if. Have given you cleanness of teeth,
etc. Before, we had a thoughtful appeal to God's
mercies ; now his chastisements are enumerated.
These are the two chief evidences of God's ap-
proach to a people, a community, a family, or even
an individual, in love or in sorrow, and what fruits
one or the other has borne (Rieger). [And ye have
not returned unto me. By repeating this forrowful
ejaculation four times 'vers 6, 9, 10, 11) God em-
82
AMOS.
phatically declares the loving design of his chas-
risement of Israel. (Wordsworth.)
Vers. 7, 8. The preaching of the Gospel is as
rain ; God sometimes blesses one place with it
more tnan anotner; some countries, some cities
are like Gideon's fleece, wet with this dew while
the ground around is dry ; all withers where this
rain is wanting. But it were well if people were
hut as wise for their souls as they are for their
bodies, and, when they have not this rain near
them, would go and seek it where it is to be had.
If they seek aright, they shall not seek in vain.
(M. Henry.)]
Ver. 9. Of what avail are judgments? Men now
are as little influenced by them as Israel of old.
They do not believe they are punishments, much
less that they are sent for the causes assigned.
Ihey deem them accidental, or else invent other
causes, and even ascribe droughts, floods, hail, cat-
erpillars, etc., to witchcraft and sorcery, in the face
of the Scripture which expressly attributes such
plagues to God. (Wurt. Bible.) [Ordinarily, God
makes his sun to arise upon the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust,
but He does not enslave himself to his own laws.
There are variations, and in hit Word He reveals to
as the meaning of his daily variations in the work-
ings of nature. (Pusey.)
Ver. 10. A/ler the manner of Egypt. Israel, hav-
ing sinned like Egypt, was to be punished like
Egypt. One of the threatenings in Deuteron-
omy in case of disobedience was (xxviii. 27), The
Lord shall smite thee with the botch of Egypt
( Ibid. )
Ver. 11. I have overthrown, etc. The earthquake
is reserved to the last as the most special visitation,
It is at all times the more terrible, because un-
seen, unannounced, instantaneous, complete. The
ground under a man's feet seems no longer secure,
his shelter is his destruction ; men's houses become
their graves. War, pestilence, and famine seldom
break in at once. 'The earthquake at once buries
it may be, thousands, each stiffened (if it were so),
in that his last deed of evil ; each household with its
own form of misery ; each in its separate vault, —
dead, dying, crushed, imprisoned. {Ibid.)
Ver. 12. Thus' will I do unto thee. God having
said this is silent as to what He will do ; that so Is-
rael hanging in suspense as having before him aich
sort of punishment — which are the more terrible
because he imagines them one hy one, — may in-
deed repent, that God inflict not what He threatens.
(Jerome.)]
Ver. 13. He thatformeth the mountains, etc. This
noble description of God on one hand arouses the
conscience to appreciate his threatenings and re-
nounce all vain confidence, and on the other en-
courages the heart to come again into communion
with such a God by sincere conversion. (Rieger.)
[If He be such a God as He is here described to be,
it is folly to contend with Him, and our duty and
interest to make our peace with Him ; it is good
having Him our friend, and bad having Him our
enemy. (M. Henry.)]
t Lament far Israel.
Chapter V.
The only Safety is in seehing the Lord,
the Lord.
Woe to the Fools who desire the Day tf
1 Hear this word,
Which I raise over you as a lamentation, ^ 0 house of Israel.
2 Fallen is the virgin^ Israel, she does not rise again,
She is stretched out upon her soil, no one raises her up.
3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah,
The city which goes out by a thousand °
Shall retain a hundred,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall retain ten, for the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel,
Seek ye me, and ye shall live.*
5 And seek not Bethel,
And go not to Gilgal,
And pass not over to Beersheba.
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,"
And Bethel shall come to naught.
6 Seek ye Jehovah, and ye shall live.
Lest he break forth like fire upon the house of Joseph,
And it devour,^ and there be none to quench it for Bethel
7 They who turn justice into wormwood,
And cast righteousness down to the earth !
8 He who makes the Seven Stars ' and Orion,
And turns the shadow of death into morning,
And darkens day into night ;
CHAPTER V. 8'i
Who calls to the waters of the sea,
And pours them over the face of the earth,
Jehovah is his name !
9 Who makes desolation to flash ^ upon the strong,
And desolation comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the reprover ^ in the gate,
And him that speaketh uprightly they abhor.
1 1 Therefore, because ye trample ■"' upon the poor,
And take from him a gift of wheat ;
Houses of hewn stone ye have built
But ye shall iTot dwell in them,
Pleasant vineyards ye have planted,
But ye shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know that many are your transgressions.
And your sins are great.
Ye who oppress '^ the righteous.
Who take a bribe,
And they push aside the poor in the gate from their right.
13 Therefore, the prudent at this time is silent.
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil that ye may live.
And that so Jehovah, God of hosts, may be with you, as ye say.
16 Hate evil and love good.
And set up justice in the gate ;
Perhaps Jehovah, God of hosts, will favor the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, God of hosts, the Lord,
In all streets wailing !
And in all the highways shall men say, Alas, alas,
And they call '^ the husbandman to mourning.
And lamentation to those skilled in lamenting.
17 And in all vineyards shall be lamentation,
For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah
18 Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah !
What good is it to you ?
The day of Jehovah ! it is darkness and not light.
19 As if a man fleeth before the Hon,
And the bear meets him ;
Or he goes into the house
And rests his hand upon the wall,
And the snake bites him.
20 Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light,
And gloom without any brightness ?
21 I hate, I despise your feasts,^^
And take no delight in your assemblies.
22 For if ye offer me burnt-offerings.
Your food-offerings I will not accept,
And the thank-offering of your fatlings I will not regard.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs,
And the playing of your harps I will not hear.
24 And let judgment roll on like water,
And righteousness like an inexhaustible stream."
25 Did ye offer me sacrifices and food-offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel ?
2.S (No) but ye bore the tent of your king *°
And the pedestal of your images,
34 AMOS.
The star of your God,
Which ye made for yourselves.
27 Therefore will I carry you away captive beyond Damascus,"
Saith Jehovah, whose name is God of hosts.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — n3*''p is the word used to denote David's dirge over Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam. i. 17. It is here In appfr
•iion with "12 "T. ]
2 Ver. 2.— ntt'tp^, K. V. forsaken is quite inadequate. Targum. and Vulgate have cast downy but better is the lit-
eral meaniug given above — stretched out^ and therefore prostrate and helpless.
8 Ver. 3. — The numerals define more closely tbe manner of the going forth, i^ e. to war.
4 Ver. 4. — The two imperatives by a usage common in all languages, express command and result ; e. g., Latin, divide
€t impera.
5 Ver. 5. — There is in rTv^*^ TyT^ 7D73, a play upon words which cannot be expressed in English. A similar
paronomasia is suggested in the last clause, cf. Hos. iv. 16. [Pusey offers, as illustrative parallels, " Paris p^rira," or
'* London is undone."].
6 Ver, 6. — n^3W*l cannot be rendered as in E. V. '' and devour," as if Jehovah were the subject.
T ; IT
7 Vor. 8. — n^^'^S the crowd, is the Seven Stars or Pleiades. ^^'DS, the /oo/, but according to the old inteTpretei-s,
[whom Fiirst follows] the giant, is Orion. Both constellations are mentioned together in Job ix. 9 ; xxxviii. 31. The con-
nection between vers. 7 and 8 is. They are acting in this atrocious way, whereas Jehovah is the Almighty and can bring
Budden destruction upon them.
8 Ver. 9. — 3*^72^, causes to break in. [Following an Arabic analogy, Keil and Wordsworth suppose an allusion to
the swiftness of lightning, expressed in the version by Jlash. Pusey follows Aquila and Jerome, and renders maketk to
sfnile. The E- V. followed a conjecture of Ivimchi, and is clearly wrong, besides quite needlessly turning *TC£? in both
members from an abstract into a concrete noun.]
9 Ver. 10. — rT'pC Not merely a judge acting officially, but "any one who before a tribunal lifts up his voice
against acta of injustice." Cf. Is. xxix. 21.
10 Ver. 12. — Dt£?i3, an. ^ey.,a variant orthography fbr DDi^, Fiirst derives it from I2?i— , t- q. ttSH, «> be
loathsome, h. bad. Hiph.^ to bring evil upon.
11 Ver. 12. — *'Tni'!?, This and the following participle belong to the suffixes in the nouns preceding.
12 Ver. 16- — To proclaim mourning to the husbandman^ to call him to mourning.
18 Ver. 21. — D^'iirr are the great yearly festivals. n"l'nj':37 is of uncertain meaning, commonly explained, /csfn-e
assemblies. Cf. Joel i. 14. [All agree that it denotes convocations in connection with religious observances, whether peni-
tential or otherwise.] PT^^lS, lit. to smell, is an expression of satisfaction, in allusion to " the odour of delight" which
ascended to God from the burning sacrifice. Cf. Lev. xxvi. 31 ; Gen. viii. 21 ; Ephes. v. 2.
14 Ver. 24. — "jn'^S. The later critics give the primary meaning as constant, abiding, and hence when appUed to
Btreams, inexhaustible.
16 Ver. 26. — The words here are difficult, since IH^BO and "J^^^ are art. \ey. Perhaps they are proper names of
idols, so that the adjoining words are in apposition, and we should render — Sikkuth, your king, and Chiun, your image.
So Luther, and of later critics, Fiirst. The name Sikkuth (in Syriac with another pointing 7V3, Chevan) has been
explained to mean Saturn, who indeed in Arabic is called Kaiman, but it is not certain that this did not originate from the
passage before us, and therefore ''it has no more worth than chat of an exegetical conjecture " (Keil.) The LXX., chang-
ing the word, make out of 1^3 an idol^ 'Fai(l>a.v (Acts vii. 43, Pffj.<j)av)-, the meaning of which is equally uncertain, since
the name does not occur elsewhere in the LXX., or in the writings founded upon that version. Keil therefore conjectures
an exchange of letters ; instead of ^V'D they read ]D*''^, Then the plural D!?"*^^^ becomes difficult, for although
Fiirst says that D'^Q^V ^^r ^^^^ Q"^ V^v3, D'^lJ^ptS', used here as a singular for an idol, that is a mere assertion
Naturally then the appellative ^OiS would belong to both the proper names. But that ' vM ^3*1^ is not to be
coordinated with the two preceding phrases, is plain from the omission, first of the r\'^ which stands before each of
those clauses, and then, of the 1 by which they are closely bound together.
More probable then is the appellative view of Sikkuth and Chiun. The former from 7 3D to coyer, hence a covering,
a booth. So the LXX., 0-^171^1. (But they improperly take Dpp7^ as a proper name, tou jLtoXe'x*) Therefore, "tent
of your Idny," meaning doubtless a movable shrine in which the 'image of the god was kept ; such as, according to
Herod, ii. 63, and Diod. Sic. i. 97. were used by the Egyptians. Chiun is correspondingly explained as pedestal, from
■JSS, and allied to ]]!) and nDi^tt, therefore, tiie pedestal ov framework of your images, that by which they were
tarried about. What follows is to be considered as in explanatory apposition, viz. the star of your god = the star who
was your god. Undoubtedly even this explanation has great difficulties. [But still it is easier than the others which
have been proposed, and is sustained by the sanction of Ribera, Junius, Gesenius, Hengstenberg. Keil, and Wordaworth.]
In any case we must understand by D3i3 the image of a star, for the carrying it about is inconsistent with its being
in actual star,— which ye have made refers either to this star-image or to " your god."
19 Ver. 27. — pti?2T/ nK7n)|i, From a distance in respect to Damascus = fer beyond Damascus.
CHAPTER V
Sb
EXEQBTIOAL AND CRITICAL.
1. Vers. 1-3. Lament over the fall of Israel.
This word is further defined as a mournful song
or dirge. The song follows in ver. 2. The virgin
expresses the fact that the daughter of Israel had
hitherto been unconquered (Is. xxiii. 12). This
now should have an end. Vers. 3 briefly explains
the dirge. Israel will perish in war even to a very
email remnant.
2. Vers. 4-17. The deeper ground of the dirge;
For Israel might easily be saved if they would seek
the Lord, but this they will not do.
(a.) Vers. 4-6. What God desires is that they
should seek Him and forsake idolatry. To live
means in the first instance to remain in life, but
naturally includes the whole welfare of the state,
its independence, etc. GWgal and Bethel, so far
from helping those who resorted to them, should
themselves perish. Beersheba, in Southern Judaea,
must have been a place of idolatrous worship, to
which people from the ten tribes resorted, and in
60 doing passed over the boundaries of their king-
dom.
Ver. 6. Once more is the seeking of Jehovah de-
clared to be the means of life, and more strictly,
the means of averting the judgment. The house
of Joseph ^Ephraim, the whole kingdom being
named from the principal tribe. Bethel, as the
chief seat of worship, was the central point of the
kingdom.
(b.) Vers. 7-9. By a peculiar asyndeton the two
parties are placed in vivid contrast with each other ;
the people in their ungodly course, and Jehovah
in his omnipotence, naturally with the implied
thought, such a God can punish — ought to be
feared.
Ver. 7. ■Wormwood as a bitter plant is an image
of bitter wrong, as in vi. 12 ; righteousness there-
fore is conceived as a sweet fragrant plant (cf
Deut. xxix. 19). Casting down to the earth
== trampling under foot.
Ver. 8. Turns the shadow of death, etc. As
these words are preceded by a reference to the stars
and followed by a mention of natural phenomena,
they are certainly to be understood iu the same
way, the aim of the entire passage being to cite the
obvious manifestations God thus makes of himself,
iu support of the foregoing threatening. The
tropical explanation — " he changes the deepest
misery into prosperity," does not suit here, but
only the natural, literal meaning; although "the
shadow of death " does not in itself signify the
regularly recurring shades of night, but as, e. g. in
Job XXV. 17, the appalling gloom of ni^ht. Here
nightin general is set forth under this point of view,
and is compared with the shadow of death. For
its gloom is conceived of as an image of the divine
judgment, of the hiding of God's face. But in any
case the energy of the divine power in turning
darkness into light is rendered so much the more
prominent. [Keil and Pusey prefer the figurative
meaning, which indeed is more in accordance with
the constant usage of HIQ <?i but is certainly
unnatural in this place in view of the literal refer-
ences before and after.] — 'Who calls to the
waters, etc., can refer only to fearful inundations
by waves of the sea. [The allusion to the judg-
ment of the Flood can hardly be overlooked. Keil.]
_ Ver. 9. Whether the evil mentioned here is to be
riewed as caused like the foregoing by manifesta-
tions of God's power ill the natural world, is doubt-
ful, but not improbable. The reference might b«
to an earthquake or a storm.
(c.) Vers. 10-13. They hate tho reprover etc,
The prophet returns to the conduct of Israel, which
must be punished.
Ver. 10. " In the gate,'' shows that the reference
is to judicial proceedings. " The reprover," there-
fore, and " the one speaking uprightly " cannot be
understood of the prophets, however natural such
reference would be on other grounds.
Ver. 11. Take a gift = do him justice only
when they are paid for it. Houses of 4iewn stone
are costly dwellings. Is. ix. 10. The threat is bor-
rowed from Deut. xxviii, 30.
Ver. 12. "Who take a bribe, may either indi-
cate a fresh sin, i. e., taking atonement money in
satisfaction for a murder, against the law in Num.
XXXV. 31, or may belong to the foregoing, thus, ye
who oppress (imprison) the righteous and then
take a ransom, i. e., will release him only for a ran-
som. The former is more consistent with the pre
vailing use of the Hebrew term. [So Pusey and
Keil ; but certainly the word iu one instance at least,
1 Sam. xii. 3, is used to denote any sort of bribe.]
Ver. 13. Manifestly belongs to what precedes,
since it further describes the period of corruption.
He who has prudence^ whose counsel is whole-
some, will be compelled to silence (cf ver. 10, the
upright speaker is abhorred) ; instead of attentive
hearing he has only violence to expect.
(d.) Vers. 14-17. Once more the way of deliv-
erance is pointed out, at least for a remnant. But
for the mass, nothing is to be expected but deep
sorrow on all sides.
Ver. 14. And that so . . . with you as ye say.
That is. Then will that be really the case which ye
now vainly imagine, — that God is with you.
Ver. 15. Set up justice, etc. = maintain a
righteous administration of justice. Then possibly
there may be favor for a remnant. This does not
refer to the existing condition of the ten tribes as
reduced by Syrian conquests, for the kingdom un-
der Jeroboam II. had recovered its former terri-
torial limits. The remnant refers to that which
would be left in future after the great chastisement
impending. See a similar allusion in reference to
Judah in Joel ill. 5, and Is. vi. 13, x. 21, 23.
Ver. 16. Therefore, introducing the threat,
presupposes a denunciation of sins. The entire
chapter is full of this, and therefore naturally, vers.
16, 17 do not refer simply to vers. 14, 15. Yet
these latter do, indirectly at least, contain a reproof.
The warning implies that the warned are not seek-
ing good, etc. But only such seeking can save,
and it is only too certain that these are not doing
it ; therefore, etc., — general mourning. The sense
is, on every hand there will be dead to weep for.
There will be repeated what happened in Egypt at
the smiting of the first-born ; as the words I wlU
pass through the midst of thee, allude to Exod.
xii. 12. As in the cities, so in the land, there will
be such a death-wail. And they call is to be
supplied before the last clause. The skilled iu la-
menting, are the professional wailing women who
were employed at funerals.
Ver. 17. Even in the vineyards, usually the
places of liveliest joy, wailing should resound.
[" A vintage not of wine but of woe." — Pusey.]
3. Vers. 18-27. Woe to the confident who de-
ceive themselves with false hopes.
(a.) Vers. 18-20. Woe to those, etc. It would
be foolish to expect help from the day of the Lord.
Ver. 18. Who desire the day of the Lord
Since they fancied that the carnal Israel and tli«
36
AMOS.
true people of God were identical, this day must
of course bring to them deliverance from all dis-
tress, and also power and glory. But it is made
clear that tliis day to them can only bring harm,
can only be a day of destruction (Joel ii. 2).
Therefore, should they escape one danger (from a
foe), they would only the more certainly fall into
another. This in ver. 19 is set forth by a figure
taken from common life, the meaning of which is
clear.
Ver. 20. Once more is the threatening charac-
ter of the (lay of the Lord affirmed and repeated.
(b.) Vers. 21-27. Even with festivals and sac-
rifices the people do not avert the judgment. For
worship, rendered as a mere opus opertitum, as it is
by Israel, is worthless before God, and even offen-
sive to Him. Since the question concerns the ten
tribes, we may assume from the following repre-
sentation that the worship they rendered was as
to ritual substantially conformed to that at Jeru-
salem.
Ver. 22. For. God's displeasure at the feasts,
etc., arise from his dislike of the sacrifices. The
construction is interrupted, the first clause having
no apodosis ; but this is easily supplied from the
second; and the sense is, I will accept neither
your burnt offerings nor your meat offerings.
Ver. 23. The singing is contemptuously called
a noise of songs.
Ver. 24. Such worship, instead of averting the
judgment, rather provokes its full execution. It
should pour over the land, like a flowing stream.
It is wrong to interpret the verse [with Pusey, et
al.] as an exhortation to the people to practice
judgment and righteousness. The image of a
flood of waters is much too strong for such a
thought ; it points rather to an act of God. [Yet,
one may ask, is the expression any stronger here
than in the cognate passage in Isaiah xlviii. 18,
" then had thy peace been as a river and thy
righteousness as the waves of the sea ? " But the
connection manifestly favors the author's view.]
(c.) Vers. 25-27. Did ye offer, etc. No won-
der that such a judgment impends over Israel.
From of old they had been recreant to their God.
Their present offensive worship was in reality only
a continuation of the idolatry practiced in the
wilderness.
Ver. 25. Did ye offer to me saoriiicea and
food-offerings (^bloody and unbloody oblations)?
The question implies a negative answer. The
people therefore are described as having omitted
the sacrifices to Jehovah for forty years, which cer-
tainly could be affirmed of the race as a whole,
even if there were no express statements to that
effect in the Pentateuch. Still, see e. g. Josh. v.
5-7, for the neglect of circumcision. While the
people thus omitted the service of Jehovah, they
carried on in place of it, idol-worship.
Ver. 26. And — namely, in place of bringing
me the appointed oflTerings — ye bore the tent of,
etc. (see Text, and Gram.). The idolatry cen-
sured by the prophet here is of Egyptian origin.
Certainly the worship of the sun was widely diflfused
there, but we cannot affirm its nature more pre-
cisely. The existence of a literal god of the stars
cannot be historically sustained.
Ver. 27. After Israel's apostasy had been estab-
Hshed from the history of their forefathers, the
judgment (cf. ver. 24) is briefly described as a lit-
eral carrying away. Even more plainly does it
appear that the prophet in his threatenings is think-
ing of Assyria as the power from which the down-
fall of Israel is to come. Far beyond Damascus,
is only a sort of eruphemLsm for Assyria. The
conclusion is, as in the case of the preceding chap-
ter, the phrase, Jehovah, whose name is the God
of hosts, a token that here another division ends,
[The Quotation by Stephen. In Acts vii. 42, 43,
the proto-martyr is represented as quoting vers. 26,
27, in termswhich vary considerably from our text.
The explanation is as old as Jerome. " This is to
be observed in all Holy Scripture, that Apostles and
apostolic men, in citing testimonies from the Old
Testament, regard not the words but the meaning,
nor do they follow the words, step by step, provided
they do not depart from the meaning." (Quoted
by Pusey in he.) Stephen quoted from the Sep-
tuagint, because its variations, whether real or
seeming, made no difference as to the force of the
passage in establishing the fact that Israel in tho
wilderness worshipped false gods. Stephen also
substitutes Babylon for Damascus in the closing
clause of the quotation ; but the idea is the same ;
for the prediction turned not upon the name, but
the fact, namely, that God would scatter them into
distant lands. Stephen was not guilty of an error
or an inadvertence, but simply brought the proph-
ecy, without any real change of meaning, into
agreement with the historical associations of the
people in relation to the Babylonish exile.]
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL.
1. The prophet himself calls this chapter a wail
over the house of Israel. Now as in such a wail the
existing sorrow is touchingly expanded, but with
it whatever can serve for its present and future
amelioration, so in this lament the terribleness of
sin and of the destruction to which it leads is sadly
depicted, but at the same time are interwoven
warnings to seek God so that in some measure the
evil may be abated. (Eieger.) It is indeed remark-
able ; from what has gone before one would think
Israel's fate decided, that all admonition and warn-
ing were vain and nothing but punishment re-
mained ; and yet this chapter, far more than those
which precede, gives admonition with a promise
annexed. The sharper the threatening, the more
the way of escape is pointed out, for " God desires
not that any should perish." Certainly it is the
only way; therefore the admonition only states
more emphatically the complaint ; this only can
save you, but you will none of it.
2. " Seek the Lord that ye may live.'' Equally
simple and definite are the monition and the prom-
ise. Man knows what he has to do, and what to
expect. Not merely is warning given, but also prom-
ise and the reverse. The gain is certain if one fill-
fills the condition, but the condition is indispensable.
Yet how little is asked — only to seek the Lord,—
and at the same time how much ! And on the other
hand, how little apparently is promised — to live—
and yet how much ! Warning and promise there-
fore are connected together not merely by an out-
ward, casual juxtaposition, but by an inward co-
herence. The result always follows upon the per-
formance of the conditions ; for it is the Lord from
whom life and death proceed. Hence no other con-
dition for the attainment of life can he imposed
than just this. Seek the Lord ; and no smaller
gain can be promised to the fulfillment of that con-
dition than this, — Life. How strong a testimony
for the truth of religion is contained in a single
maxim of this kind, and that one recorded in the
Scriptures, even in the Old Testament ! The con-
dition unposed is in the first instance religious —
CliAPTER V.
3*/
" Seek the Lord, and cleave not to idols " — (ver.
5, also vers. 25, 26), but this naturally involves
also one of an ethical character. This is expressly
stated, in accordance with the rigidly ethical char-
acter of the Old Testament, when afterwards (ver.
14) the demand is changed into, " Seek good and
not evil," with the same promise attached — " that
ye may live." Only he therefore seeks the Lord in
truth, who seeks good, and vice versa. And this
seeking of good is more closely defined as hating
evil and loving good. Both must concur ; then
only is there a real seeking of good ; for God does
the one as well as the other. Evil must be earn-
estly repelled and shunned, otherwise the seeking
of good lacks truth and energy ; in like manner
must good be grasped at, otherwise the attempt
misses its aim and soon becomes fruitless. Piety
must have an ethical element, must show itself by
hating evil and loving good. A mere outward re-
ligiousness, however zealous in ceremonies, is worth-
less in the eyes of God. Amos pronounces most
decidedly against a sacrificial service destitute of a
corresponding disposition of heart, where the offer-
ings and gifts are not the expression of inward de-
votion and obedience to God.
3. The " good " which men are to love and to
do, appears here continu.ally as rectitude, in oppo-
sition to the prevailing unrighteousness, " the turn-
ing justice into wormwood, and casting righteous-
ness down to the earth." This is the least that can
be expected, yet in another sense it is the most im-
portant, for in vain do we look for the other, and,
so to speak, rarer duties from the neglecter of jus-
tice, whereas he who sincerely obsen'es this will
soon reach sometliing farther. Justice is the foun-
dation of social order ; when it is wanting, all in
the end comes to ruin.
4. " What the law could not do in that it was
weak through the flesh" (Rom. viii. 3), appears
dearly here as it does in the other prophets. Clear-
ly and frankly the law declares God's will, and
tells man what he ought to do ; notwithstanding,
sin only increases, and apostasy becomes worse.
For the law cannot along with its " Thou shalt "
give to man the " I will." Rather on account of
his inborn depravity, its commands and prohibi-
tions stir up the motions of sin, and lead them to
a bolder outbreak. Then surely the whole curse
of the law must at last light upon the transgressor ;
and the prophets announce this through the judg-
ments with which they threaten the disobedient
people. Thus the insufficiency of a legal position
is ever more plainly set forth. The law cannot
give a new heart — and this is really the question
if sin is to be checked and perfect obedience se-
cured,— but grace alone can, full and free grace.
Israel had already, from the time of the Exodus, I
experienced many acts of grace from God, among
which very properly the giving of the law itself
may be ranked. But these were only benefits
which address men from the outside, real benefits
indeed, in which God expressed his love, but only
in order thus to render his commands more accept-
able. But there was wanting the peculiar, unpar-
alleled manifestation of love which is made in
Christ. He bore and suffered the full curse of the
law; He took upon Himself the entire condemna-
jon pronounced upon the transgressor. But this
resulted in the largest grace to men, since He with-
out sin took upon Himself that curse, and thus
freed us from it; and through the Holy Spirit
streaming into men united by faith in Him, there
is created a new heart which wills what it should,
which hates evil and loves good, and in which the
power of the o-ap? is broken, so that " the righteous-
ness of the law is fulfilled in us who W£."k not aftei
the flesh but after the Spirit."
.5. Upon the day of the Lord, see Joel ii. Doc-
trinal and Moral, 1. The reproof which Amos
utters, stands, as we may confidently assume, in
close relation to Joel, i. e., refers to an abuse which
had been made of Joel's announcement of the day
of the Lord. It appears here again that this day
is essentially one of judgment. It certainly brings
to Israel as God's people deliverance from theii
foes, but still only in so far as they are really God's
people. So far as they are unfaithful and put
themselves on a level with the heathen, that day is
for them one of judgment, since it brings destruc-
tion upon all that is ungodly and anti-godly. The
name, Israel, therefore, gives no license. Only in
this sense is the announcement made. The ]»cople
saw in this desired period one that would over-
throw their foes and deliver them from their pres-
ent distresses, without remembering that their guilt
caused these distresses, and that they deserved pun-
ishment rather than deliverance. In this view, the
announcement of the last day is still gladly wel-
comed. Men assign the evil, the punishment, to
others, especially to those by whom they suffer,
but claim the good for themselves, and anticipate
the end of all sorrows and the dawn of cloudless
prosperity. Hence results the security which is
directly opposite to the watching and praying so
earnestly enjoined by our Lord. Men then may
long for the day of the Lord as a day of deliver-
ance, but let them look well to the way in which
they regard it, and see that this day finds thorn
prepared and true to the Lord, so that He may
recognize them as his own. Certainly it is not to
be longed for in a spirit of revenge, i. e., in the
view that the quicker it comes the sooner will God's
judgments fall upon a godless world. The true
Christian rather appreciates the wisdom and long-
suffering with which God forbears to judge, and
rejoices that room is left for the conversion of ■
God's foes, even if meanwhile he is to suffer by
them. He who with carnal impatience wishes for
God's judgments upon others, will experience them
himself, and truly in a different way from that of
God's people. Empty forms and lip-service, how-
ever zealously pursued, are no defense against the
divine judgments, and no earnest of the salvation
which proceeds thence for the true people of God.
(See also under Homiletical and Practical.)
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1 . As a lamentation. God is so gracious
that He not only shows us our sins, but even
mourns when He must punish us for them (Luke
xix. 41). The accusation before punishment be-
comes a lament afterwards. Did we heed God's
charges, we should not need to hear his lament.
[The bewailed who know not why they are be-
wailed, are the more miserable because they know
not their own misery. Dion.]
Vers. 2, 3. God's judgments increase in sever-
ity as they go on ; if the earlier and milder are
fruitless, at last comes total destruction. (Pf
B. W.) [Fallen. A dirge like that of David over
Saul and Jonathan, over what was once lovely
and mighty but had perished. (Pusey.) God had
said, How should one chase a thousand! but the
blessings of obedience are turned into the curses
^of disobedience. As the ancient Christian poet
says, If the Lord is against us, our walls becomt
38
AMOS.
cobwebs ; but if tbe Lord is with us, our cobwebs
become walls. (Wordsworth.)
Ver. 4. Seek me and live. Four times repeated
(vers. 6, 8, 14). Wonderful conciseness of the
Word of God, which in two words comprises the
whole of the creature's duty and his hopes, his
time and his eternity. . . The object of the search
is God himself. Seek me, {. e., seek God for him-
self, not for anything out of Him, not for his gifts,
not for anything to be loved with Him. This is
not to seek Him purely. All is found in Him, but
by seeking Him first, and then loving Him in all,
and all in Him. (Pusey.)
Ver. 5. Seek not Beikel. Israel pretended to
seek God in Bethel. Amos sets the two seekings
as incompatible. The god worshipped at Bethel
was not the one God. To seek God there was to
lose Him. Pass not to Beersheba. Jeroboam I.
pretended that it was too much for Israel to go to
Jerusalem. And yet Israel thought it not too
much to go to Beersheba, perhaps four times far-
ther off. So much pains will men take in self-
willed service, and yet not see that it takes away
the excuse for neglecting the true. — Pusey. Git-
gal shall surely, etc. Literally, " the place of roll-
ing away," so called because there God rolled away
the reproach of Egypt from Israel (Josh. v. 9J.
" Shall be clean rolled away." This is the law of
God's dealings with man. He curses our blessings
if we do not use them aright. Our holiest Gilgals
— our sacraments, our Scriptures, our sermons,
our Sundays, — which were designed by God to roll
away from us the reproach of Egypt, will be rolled
away from us if we do not use them aright ; and
will roll us downward unto our destruction.
Wordsworth.]
Ver. 6. The same promise and the same warn-
ing, — a proof that there is no other way to life,
and also that the warning cannot be given too
often, alas, is so often in vain. Ye shall live. God's
gracious promises must be held before sinners, lest
in despair they go from sin to sin. For how can
one feel genuine repentance, if he has no hope ?
\None to quench for Bethel. Bethel, the centre of
their idol hopes, so far IVom aiding them then, shall
not be able to help itself, nor shall there be any to
help it. Pusey.] God's wrath is a consuming
fire ; only true repentance can extinguish it.
[Ver. 8. Seek him that viaketh, etc. Misbelief
retains the name God, but means something quite
different from the one true God. Men speak of
" the Deitv " as a sort of first cause of all things,
but lose sight of the personal God who has made
known his will. " The Deity " is no object of love
or fear. For a First Cause who is conceived of as
no more, is an abstraction, not God. God is the
cause of all causes. All things are, and have their
relations to each other as cause and effect, because
He so created them. A " great first cause " who
is thought of only as a cause, is a mere fiction of
man's imagining, an attempt to appear to account
for Ihe mysteries of being, without owning that
since our being is from God, we are responsible
creatures who are to yield to Him an account of
the use of our being which He gave us. In like
way probably Israel had so mixed up the thought
of God with nature that it had lost sight of God as
distinct from the creation. And so Amos, after
appealing to their consciences, sets forth God to
hem as the creator, disposer of all things, and the
just God who redresseth man's violence and in-
justice. (Pusey ) Ye who worship the stars are
rebelling agains Him who made them. (Words-
worth.)]
Ver. 10. Impatience at a well-meant and friend
ly rebuke is the mark of an evil and perverse spirit.
Such rebuke should be esteemed a kindness, even
a balsam upon the head. On the other hand, re-
proof is to be administered with discretion. (Pf.
B. W.)
Vers. 11, 12. Because ye tra-nple, etc. Men
should shun the oppression of the poor. Whence
comes the swift ruin of entire families '' It is be-
cause the sighing of the poor before God testifies
against them. {Ibid.}
[Ver. 13. The prudent is silent. So our Lord
was silent before his judges, for since they would
not hear, his speaking would only increase theii
condemnation. So Solomon said, "He that re
proveth a scorner getteth himself shame." " When
the wicked rise, then men hide themselves." (Pu-
sey.)
VcB. 1.5. Hate evil, etc. He hateth evil who not
only is not overcome by pleasure, but hates its
deeds ; and he loveth good who, not unwillingly
nor of necessity nor from fear, doeth what is good,
but because it is good. (Jerome.)] To hate evil
and to love good belong together. (Eieger.) And
set up justice, etc. Justice is a pillar of the s^ate.
To set; it up when fallen is the duty of all men, but
especially of those in posts of honor or profit. —
Perhaps, etc. Temporal promises are made with
an "It may be," and our prayers must be made
accordingly. (M. Henry.)
[Ver. 16. Therefore saith Jehovah, etc. For the
third time here as in the two preceding verses, Amos
reminds them of Him in whose name He speaks,
namelj', the I Am, the self-existent God, the God
of all things in heaven and earth. He who has ab-
solute power over his creatures to dispose of them
as He will. (Pusey.) Alas, alas! The terrible-
ness of the prophecy lies in its truth. When war
pressed without on the walls of Samaria, and
within was famine and pestilence, woe, woe, woe
must have echoed in every street ; for in every
street was death and the fear of worse. Yet im-
agine every sound of joy or din or hum of men, or
mirth of children, hushed in the streets, and woe,
woe, going up in one unmitigated, unchanging,
ever-repeated monotony of grief. Such were the
present fruits of sin. Yet what a mere shadow of
the inward grief is its outward utterance! {Ibid.)
Call the skilled in lamenting. The same feeling
makes the rich now clothe their households in
mourning, which made those of old hire mourners,
that all might be in harmony with their grief.
{Ibid.)
Ver. 18. Woe to those who desire, etc. A sim-
ilar spirit manifested itself in those who said in
Jeremiah's days, "The Temple of the Lord are
these" (vii. 4), and who prided themselves on
their national religious principles, hut did not obey
the Lord of the temple, and were therefore con-
demned by the Prophet. A like temper was man-
ifested after the Captivity. The Hebrew nation
was eager for the Messiah's coming to the new-
built temple, but the jirophets reminded them that
his coming would he a day of fear and woe for the
ungodly. Mai. iii. 2. (Wordsworth.)
Ver. 19. As if a man fleeth before the lion, etc.
The day of the Lord is a day of terror on every
side. Before and behind, within and without,
abroad under the roof of heaven or under the shel-
ter of one's own, everywhere is terror and death.
(Pusey.)
Ver. 20. Is not the day, etc. An appeal to men
themselves, Is it not so ? Men's consciences are
truer than their intellect. Intellect cariies tlM
CHAPTER VI.
39
question out of itself into the region of surmising
imd disputings. Conscience is compelled to re- j
ceive it back into its own court and to give the i
sentence. Like the God of the heathen fable who
changed himself into all sorts of forms, but when
he was still held fast, gave at last the true answer,
conscience shrinks back, twists, writhes, evades,
turns away, but in the end will answer truly when
it must. The prophet then turns round upon the
conscience, and says, "Tell me, for you know."
(Ibid.)
Vers. 21, 22. I hate, I despise, etc. Israel would
fain be conscientious and scrupulous. What they
offered was the best of its kind ; whole burnt offer-
ings, fatted beasts, full-toned chorus, instrumental
music. What was wanting to secure the favor of
God '! Love and obedience. And so those things
by which they hoped to propitiate God became the
object of his displeasure. {Ibid.)
Ver. 23. Take away the noise, etc. Here is a
warning to all who think to please God by elabor-
ate musical services in his house ; while they do
not take heed to worship Him with their hearts
and to obey Him in their daily life. ( Wordsw. )
Ver. 24. Did ye offer unto me, etc. The ten tribes,
by approving and copying the false worship of
their forefathers, made that sin their own. As the
Church of God is at all times one and the same,
so that great opposite camp, the city of the devil,
has a continuous existence through all time. These
idolaters were filling up the measure of their fore-
fathers, and in the end of those who perished in
the wilderness they might behold their own. As
God rejected the divided service of their forefathers,
BO He would their's. (Pusey.) — Unto me. This is
emphatic. If God is not served wholly and alone.
He is not served at all. As Jerome says. He re-
eardeth not the offering, but the will of the offerer.
llUd.)
Ver, 25. Which ye made for yourselves. This
was the fundamental fault. Whereas God made
them for Himself, they made for themselves gods
out of their own mind. All idolatry is self-will,
first choosing a god and then enslaved to it.
(Ibid.)
Ver. 27. To break the force of the prophecy con-
tained in this verse, De Wette says, "Although the
kingdom of Israel had through Jeroboam recov-
ered its old borders, yet careless insolence, luxury,
unrighteousness must bring the destruction which
the prophet foretells. He does but dimly forebode
the superior power of Assyria." To which Pusey
justly answers, that decay does not involve the
transportation of a people, but rather the contrary.
A mere luxurious people rots on its own soil and
would be left to rot there. It was the little rem-
nant of energy and warlike spirit in Israel that
brought its ruin from man. In the faults referred
to, they were no worse than their neighbors, nor
so bad ; not so bad as the Assyrians themselves,
except that, God having revealed Himself to them,
they had more light. God has annexed no such
visible laws of ])unishment to a nation's sins that
man could of his own wisdom or observation of
God's ways foresee it. They through whom He
willed to inflict it in this case, and whom Amos
pointed out, were not provoked by the sins Do
Wotte specifies. There was no connection be-
tween Israel's present sins and Assyria's future
vengeance. No eastern despot cares for the op-
pressions of his subjects so that his own tribute is
collected. As far too as we know, neither As-
syria nor any other power had hitherto punished
rebellious nations by transporting them. Only
He who controls the rebellious wills of men, and
through their self-will works out his own all-wisa
will and man's punishment, could know the future
of Israel and Assyria, and how through the prida
of Assyria, He would bring down the pride Oi
Samaria.]
Chapter VI.
4. Woe to the Secure who think that the Day of the Lord is for off.
1 Woe to the secure ^ in Zion,
And to the careless in the mountain of Samaria !
To the princes of the first of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes !
2 Pass over^ to Calneh and see,
And go thence to Hamath the great.
And go down to Gath of the Philistines ;
Are they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than your territory ?
3 Ye who put far off' the evO day,
And bring near the seat of violence ;
4 Who lie upon beds of ivory
And stretch themselves upon their couches,
Who eat lambs out of the flock.
And calves from the fattening stall :
5 Who trill ' to the sound of the harp,
Like David, they invent string instruments,^
6 Who drink wine out of sacrificial bowls,'
40 AMOS.
And anoint themselves with the best oils,
And do not grieve for the hurt of Joseph.
7 Therefore now shall they go captive at the head of the captiyes,
And the shout ^ of the revellers shall depart.
8 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself,
Saith Jehovah, God of hosts,
I abhor the pride of Jacob '
And hate his palaces.
And will give up the city and the fullness thereof.
9 And if ten men are left in one house they shall die.
IC And his cousin * and his burier shall lift him up,
To carry his bones out of the house,
And shall say to the one in the inmost recess of the house,
" Is there still any one with thee ? " and he says, " Not one,"
Then shall he say, " Be still.
For we must not call upon Jehovah's name."
11 For behold, Jehovah commands, and men smite the great house' into rains
And the small house into pieces.
12 Do horses indeed run upon the rock,^"
Or do men plough there with cattle,
That ye have turned justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood ?
13 Ye who rejoice in a thing of nought,^'
Who say, " With our own strength we have taken to us horns."
14 For, behold, I raise up over you, 0 house of Israel,
Saith Jehovah, God of hosts, a nation,^^
And it shall oppress you from the entrance Hamath to the brook of the desert
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver 1. — DTTtpn comes from the intransitive form, and is equivalent here to its use in Is. xxxii. 9, 10, IL
Mount of Sam. is not the object of trust (as in E. V.) but the place where the careless security is cherished. "^pl^D,
ft Mosaic word (Num. i. 17), = specified by name, chosen, distinguished.
2 Ver. 2. — ^")^3?, ;"^55 overy because the Euphrates must be crossed in going to Calneh.
8 Ver. 5. — D^Z^~l-n, ciTT. key. perhaps = *T"l5, to divide. According to Fiirst it is here = to break out, especially
in song. Keil interprets it to strew around, i. e., words, and thinks it describes the singing as frivolous nonsense. Meiel
renders it " Co jingle." [Pusey uuderstands it as meaning " a hurried flow of unmeaning words in which the rhythm i*
everything, the sense nothing." The rendering in the te.Kt, trill, is from Wordsworth.]
4 Ver. 5. — *l^Ci' ^y?, lit., instruments of music, seems, from a comparison of 2 Chron. xxxiv. 12 with 2 Chron.
xxix. 26, 27, and 1 Chron. xsiii. 5. to denote stringed instruments. [So Keil and Pusey.] ^WTl, to invent, devise.
5 Ver. 6. — lD^P~1TC, tit. sprinkling vessels, alw.ays elsewhere denotes bowls used in the temple service. Bs. xxsviii.
3 ; Num. iv. 14 ; 2 Chron. iv. 8.
6 Ver. 7. — nT"}Q constr. of HT^D, a loud cry, here of joy. D'^n*l"1p as in ver. 4, the stretched out, i. e., at a
banquet = the revellers. FUrst assumes a second root of the same radicals, to which he gives the meaning, to be bad, to
Btink, and metaph., to be corrupt, and renders here, the degenerate. [This seems quite needless.]
'' Ver. 8. — ]1t^3, the pride of Jacob, (. e., everything of which he is proud. T^^DrT to give up, i. e., to the
9n«my. '' The city," means Samaria, and " its fullness," whatever it contains.
8 Ver. 10. — m"^, lit., uncle, here denotes any kinsman. *1C^D^, lit., his burner. As the Israelites were wont
to bury and not bum their dead, it is supposed that the multitude of corpses compelled the latter course. D^D^l?,
bcines, here = body, as Exod. xiii. 19 ; Josh. xxiv. 32 ; 2 Kings xiii. 21.
9 Ver. 11. — n^^n, the singular is used indefinitely = every house, great and small. Cf. iii. 16.
10 Ver. 12. — Meier points D''"lp32, thus, D^ "1p33. Does man plough tho sea with oxen? [But this la »
\nere conjecture].
11 Ver. 13. — "niHl^fH/ ii not-thing, somewhich which does not exist, namely, the strength mentioned in the next
slause.
[12 Ver. 14. — Few instances are found in Hebrew in which the object of a verb is so far removed from it, as "^12 is
from C^r?tG. Henderson. n3"1Vn Is the weU known Arabah, the deep and remarkable depression, now called
the Ghor, 'which extends from the lake of (Jennesareth to the Dead Sea.]
CHAPTER VI.
41
ESBGETIOAL AND CRITICAL.
1. Vers. 1-6. A sharp censure of the thought-
less revelry of the heads of the nation. The woe
points baclc to the similar exclamation in ch. v. 18.
There a woe was pronounced upon those who mis-
takenly desired the day of the Lord, as if it would
bring to them prosperity. Here the question is of
the confident who bestowed no thought at all
upon that day. Ver. 1 , in Zion : shows that the
rebuke includes Judah also, although the subse-
quent description refers especially to the great men
" in the hill of Samaria." And as these are the
distinguished in the nation, so the nation itself is
called the first or most exalted of all nations, nat-
urally enough, since it was the chosen, peculiar
people of God. These princes are further de-
scribed as those to whom the house of Israel
comes, i. e., for counsel and direction. Justly re-
marks Hengstenberg {Auth. Pent., i. 148), "that
thus " the chief men were reminded that they were
the successors of those ' princes of the tribes ' who
were formerly thought worthy to be joined with
Moses and Aaron in managing the affairs of the
chosen people."
Ver. 2. How high they stood, is now shown by
the fact that Israel, at whose head they were
placed, was not inferior in prosperity or greatness
to the mightiest heathen states. [He bids them
look east, north, and west, and survey three neigh-
boring kingdoms. Calneh (Calno in Isaiah,
Calneh in Ezekiel), was built by Nimrod in the
land of Shinar (Gen. x. 10) but is not mentioned
again in Scripture until this place. Afterwards it
became celebrated under the name of Ctesiphon.
Julian's generals held it impregnable, being built
on a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the
Tigris. Hamath the great was the capital of the
Syrian kingdom of that name on the 0 routes.
Gath. was one of the five chief cities in Phillstia,
and in David's time the capital of the whole coun-
try.] Than these kingdoms, namely, Judah
and Israel. Others say that the prophet speaks of
destroyed cities, and that the Israelites are re-
minded of their fate as intimating that the same
was in store for themselves (so Luther). This
view would commend itself to favor, were it not
opposed to the fair construction of the words. It
might be allowed, if the double question, are they
better, etc., admitted of an affirmative answer,
namely, yes they are better. But this plainly can-
not be. Bauer indeed sees this, and accordingly
explains thus : " Observe these heathen states.
Their lot is not better, their power not greater
than yours ; rather they have fallen while you by
God's grace still stand ; if you apostatize from
Jehovah, the same fate will befall you." But
how could any one speak of a power which was
overthrown as " not greater " than one still stand-
ing? A comparison in respect to greatness can
be made only with a still existing power. [Pusey
adopts Bauer's view, but Wordsworth and Keil
agree with Schmoller in making the verse simply
an expansion of the statement in ver. 1, that Israel
is first of the nations, unexcelled by any of their
heathen neighbors.]
Ver. 3 begins the further explanation of the
carele?s security charged in ver. 1. Regarding the
evil diy, i. e., day of judgment as far off, they
cause violence to erect its throne nearer and nearer
imong them. [Pusey follows Jerome, Grotins,
Nowcomo, and others" in referring the throne of
violence to the rule of Assyria, which the people
brought nearer to them while they were thinking
to put it far off. But the former reference is much
more natural.]
Ver. 4. To oppression they added luxurious
sensuality (cf ch. ii. 8 ; iii. 12).
Ver. 5. Like David they employed themselves
in inventing musical instruments, but with a very
different aim.
Ver. 6. They used the best oils, at «, time when
there was abundant cause for mourning in the
breach, i. e., the overthrow of Joseph. [The cus-
tom of anointing was usually suspended in time
of mourning, 2 Sam. xiv. 2. But these so far
from grieving employed the most costly unguents.]
2. Vers. 7-10. These verses announce the pun-
ishment. The phrase at the head of the cap-
tives, contains a bitter irony. The princes should
maintain their preeminence even in the procession
of captives.
Ver. 8. [The oath here is like that in ch. iv. 2,
except that it is by himself instead of by his holi-
ness, but the sense is the same, for the nephesh
of Jehovah, i.' e., his inmost self or being, is his
holiness. Keil.]
Vers. 9, 10. Ten, that is, many ; but even of
the many not one shall escape. This is made
plainer by what follows.
Ver. 10. When on the death of the ninth, a rela-
tive comes to the house to bury the dead, he will
ask the last one, the tenth, who has retired into a
remote corner to save his life, whether there is any
one still with him, i. e., alive. On receiving the
reply. None, he calls out to him. Silence ! (liter-
ally ' St), ('. e., he interrupts him quickly lest he
may utter Jehovah's name, and by attracting Jeho-
vah's attention, bring Aovra a judgment upon him-
self. The words, there must be no mention of
the Lord's name, are spoken, not by Amos but
by the kinsman, and they do not express despair
but fear. The deaths mentioned occur partly by
the sword and partly by famine, both in conse-
quence of the conquest and overthrow of the city.
[Ver. U. The For assigns the reason of the
fearful destruction. It is the Lord's command,
and his arm reaches rich and poor alike, " regum
turres ac pauperam tabernas.'*]
3. Vers. 12-14. Upon rocks can neither horses
run nor man plough. What is the force of this
comparison 1 Either the attempt to do one or the
other of these things is represented as something
prepostei'ous, and the meaning is, Even so prepos-
terous is your turning justice into poison, etc. ; or
it is represented as something impossible, and the
sense is, Is then the impossible possible, that you
turn justice, etc., and do yoxi think you can escape
unpunished, and even attain prosperity 1 That
ye turn, etc., cf ch. v. 7. Fruit of righteous-
ness is said, because unrighteousness is compared
with a bitter fruit.
Ver. 13. With our strength, taken, as if tl'.e
whole originated with themselves. Horns, the
usual symbol of strength, here = means of over-
coming foes.
Ver. 14 contains Jehovah's answer to this pre-
sumption. You are rejoicing in a thing of nought,
for I will, etc. At the same time this verse re-
sumes and confirms the threat in ver. 11, which
begins with the same words, " For behold ! " As-
syria is plainly intended by a people, but as it
was still in the distance, Amos nowhere mentions
it by name. Perhaps, too, the omission was de-
signed, in order to awaken the more attention.
The entrance of Hamath, was the standing
term for the northern bouT idry of Israel, Num..
i-A
AMOS
xxxiv. 8 ; 2 Kings xiv. 25. [For its exact pJacc,
see Smith's Bible Dictionary, Amer. ed. p. 987].
The brook of the desert, the southern bound-
ary, is the present Wady el-Ahsi, which separated
Moab from Edom at the lower extremity of the
Dead Sea. [Israel's strength had of late been in-
creasing steadily. Jehoash had thrice defeated the
Syrians and recovered several cities. What he be-
gan, Jeroboam continued during a reign of forty-
one years, until he had completely restored all the
ancient boundaries of the kingdom. Amos here
declares that the whole region of their triumphs
should be one scene of affliction and woe. This
was fulfilled after some forty-five years at the in-
vasion of Tiglath Pileser. Pusey.]
DOCIRINAL AND MORAL.
1. " Israel the first among the nations." Again
and again is the lofty position of Israel empha-
sized, i. e,, its peculiar enjoyment of the divine
favor, which was shown even in its outward rela-
tions, its power and influence as compared with
surrounding nations. In these respects it could
measure itself with any of them. This was not
the highest motive of action, yet it should have
sufficed to confirm them in fidelity to God. For
the penalty of unfaithfulness was the loss of their
position hitherto, a fall below other nations and a
shameful end.
2. But alas, prosperity only led to self-will, and
rendered them arrogant and secure. There is a
striking picture in vers. 4-6 of an insolent, pre-
sumptuous community in which every thought of
danger is drowned. The internal evils of the na-
tional life are not seen, nor is it observed how all
tends steadily downward to destruction. Alas,
the higher ranks here precede with their example.
Instead of becoming pillars of the state by their
position and culture, they help to undermine it.
No wonder then that when the crash comes, they
are mo.st deeply affected and meet a frightful end.
3. The judgment which the prophet everywhere
speaks of is conquest and overthrow by a foreign
enemy. From this we may learn the right con-
ception of war. It is natural to consider it a
heavy calamity, since it involves the loss of for-
tune and life to thousands, and sometimes the
.downfall of entire states. But while it is true
."that on this account we must desire its general
i.cessation, yet the declamations against it of the so-
-called friends of peace are vain, proceeding, if not
.always yet generally, from a mind which compre-
; tends little or nothing of the divine government
©f the world. In spite of all these well-meant per-
foiraiances, war neither will nor can cease in this
world, t. e., so long as sin still exists. For it is
neesssary as a means of inflicting the divine chas-
tieement upon sin. Through it God executes the
judgments which, being required by his righteous-
ness, are therefore indispensable and irresistible, —
not^'2 much upon individuals as upon nations and
states which are considered as collective persons.
Such acts are either processes of purification, or
when ithe measure of iniquity is full and the time
has eome, works of destruction. On this ground
even a war which subjectively is altogether wrong,
IS a war of conquest, may still be objectively jus-
tified, 'm so far as it is a means of executing God's
righteous wrath upon a people. On the other
hand .we can conceive how a war undertaken only
in eelfrdefense, and therefore righteous in itself,
Diaj.jat fail of the issue one would expect. It
comes as a judgment upon a people ripe for such
a process, and therefore no defense avails. In
other cases it does avail, and a deserved punish-
ment overtakes the foe eager for conquest. But
even then the war, by the distress it causes and the
sacrifices it requires, proves a serious time of sift-
ing for the victor. Hence it is right and proper
to maintain beforehand an earnest conflict against
sin, lest such a heavy scourge as -yar should
become necessary But when such a point is
reached, it becomes Christians not to utter empty
declamations against war nor womanish com
plaints over it, but humbly to bow beneath God'i
hand and patiently bear their sorrows, so that
thus may spring up the fruit of a new spirit well
pleasing to God. For even the destruction of a
nation is so far stayed that at least " a remnant"
is left to undertake a new life. And the more the
kingdom of God prevails among men to the over-
throw of sin, the less needful will be the frightfui
scourge of war ; but the complete reign of peace
will come only when the first earth and the first
heavens are passed away and all things become
new. The horrors of war may and should aid in
keeping alive and intense our longing for that
blissful period.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1 . Woe to the secure. Security and vain con-
fidence, the common faults of man ! He is blind to
his danger. He reels around the abyss without per-
ceiving it, and at last would plunge headlong, were
it not that God startles him with judgments. It is
this that renders such strokes necessary. They sltq
therefore to be deemed gracious acts, since they are
intended to save from a total overthrow. But alas,
how many refuse to heed them ! First of nations.
What an honor ! But so much the worse if such
a divine favor is not properly recognized, so much
the greater the responsibility and the guilt. [The
author applies this thought directly to his own na-
tion, in view of God's recent dealings with the Ger-
man people. But surely it is equally applicable to
our own favored land. If our territorial extent,
our material development, our liberal institutions,
our final welding together in the furnace of the
war for the Union, have made us first of nations,
this fact should not generate vain confidence and
a stupid sensuality, but rather awaken a lively grat-
itude and a generous obedience to the Ruler of na-
tions, the God of hosts.]
Vcr. 2. Pass over to Calneh, etc. A comparison
with others less favored than ourselves is always
wise when it prompts to humility and thankful-
ness. " Who am I, 0 Lord God, and what is my
house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? " Alas,
often all the thanks God receives for giving us
more than to others, is that we forget Him the
more.
[Ver. 3. Who pid far off the evil day. The
thought that the Lord has a day in which to judge
man, frets or frightens the irreligious, and they use
different ways to get rid of it. The strong harden
themselves, and distort or disbelieve the truth.
The weak and voluptuous shut their eyes to it, like
the bird in the fable, as if what they dread would
cease to be, because they cease to see it. (Pusey).
Henderson quotes a parallel from Claudian, In £^«
trop., ii. 50-.54.
*' Sp.d quam ccecus inent vitiis arnor ! omne fuUtrum
Deipicitur, suadentque crevem pr<Esentia fiuctum^
CHAPTER TI.
43
Et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido
Dutn mora suppUcii tucro, strumqui quod instate
Oreditur."
Ver. 5. Who trill to the sound of the harp. An
artificial effeminate music wljich relaxes the soul,
frittering the melody and displacing the power of
divine harmony by tricks of art, is meet company
for giddy, thoughtless, heartless versifying. De-
based music is a mark of a nation's decay, and
promotes it. Like David thct/ invent, etc. The
same pains which David employed on music to the
honor of God, they employed on their light, ener-
vating, unmeaning music, and, if they were earnest
enough, justified their inventions by the example
of David. Much as people have justified our de-
graded, sensualizing, immodest dancing by the re-
ligious dancing of Holy Scripture. (Puscy.) See
Bishop Sanderson, Lectures on Conscience, iii. § 13.
Ver. 6. Drink wine out of sacrificial bowls. The
first princes of the tribes (Num. vii. 13 ff.)
showed their zeal for God by offering massive silver
howls for the service of the tabernacle; the like
zeal had these princes for their own god, their bel-
ly, using the huge sacred vessels for their compo-
tations. Like swine in the trough, they immersed
themselves in their drink, " swimming in mutual
swill." 1 (Ibid.) Anoint themselves, etc. In this
crisis, when the divine wrath was about to break
out upon the nation, and they ought to have been
sitting in sackcloth and ashes, they were curious
to procure the best ointment for their own use.
Roman patiicians, in Cicero's days, cared only for
their own fish-ponds that their tables might be well
supplied with mullets and other fish, while their
country was in danger of being overwhelmed with
a flood ; they " thought only of the cock-boat of
their own fortunes when the vessel of the state was
going to wreck." .... Here is another prophetic
warning for our selfish luxury. (Wordsworth.)
Grieve not for the hurt of .Joseph. Joseph, the
ancestor of Ephraim, the head of the ten tribes,
was afilicted by his own brethren, who saw the
anguish of his soul and were not moved by his
tears ; and when they had sold him to the Ishmael-
ites, sat down in heartless indifference " to eat
bread" (Gen. xxxvii. 23). So their descendants
the Jews, feasted at the Passover after they had
killed the true Joseph (John xviii. 28). How many
dwell in ceiled houses and sing to the sound of the
harp and feast on the richest dainties, and care
nothing for the sorrows of Christ and his Church !
(Wordsworth.)
Ver. 7. Go at the head of the captives. Preem-
inence in rank or wealth is often followed by pre-
1 Thomson, Autumn.
eminence in sorrow and shame. As the Wisd. of
Sol. says (vi. 6): "For mercy will soon pardon
the meekest, but rnighty men shall be mightily tor
men ted."
Ver. 8. The Lord hath sworn, etc. Our oaths
mean, " As God is true and avenges untruth, what
I say is true." So God says, " As I am God, this
is true." God then must cease to be God if He did
not hate oppression. (Pusey.)
Ver. 9. Ten righteous men in Sodom would
have saved that city. Here ten were left in one
house after the siege was begun, but they did not
turn to God ; and therefore all were taken or de-
stroyed. (Ibid.)
Ver. 10. We must not coll upon Jehovah's name.
Things have come to a fearful pass when a man
trembles at God's name because he fears and must
fear his wrath, and hence instead of turning to Him
would rather flee away. This is a friglitful ex-
hiliition of the power of an evil conscience. There
must be a broken heart before a man can turn in
prayer for forgiveness to the God whom his sins
have offended. [He who has obstinately abused the
intellectual powers given him by God, to cavil at
God's truth, will be forsaken by Him at last, and
will not be able to utter his name. (Wordsworth.)]
Ver. 1 1 . Jehovah commands, and men smite, etc.
When a people is ripe for judgment, a human
conqueror acts only as a divine instrument. God's
judgment strikes equally the high and the low.
[Vers. 12, Do horses run upon rocks, etc. It is
more easy to change the course of nature, or the
use of things of nature, than the course of God's
providence or the laws of his just retribution.
They had changed the sweet laws of justice into
the gall of oppression, and the healthful fruit of
righteousness into the life-destroying poison of sin.
Better to have ploughed the rock with oxen for
food. For now where they looked for prosperity,
they found not barrenness but death. (Pusey.)
Ver. 13. Who rejoice in, etc. How striking, to
rejoice in a non-thing 1 Yet this is the way with
men. How much of that in which they trust is a
mere nonentity ! It seems to be something, and
still is nothing. With our own strength, etc. Such
is the language of arrogant self-confidence. But
God alone is strength, and only through Him are
we strong.
Ver. 14. I raise up, etc. No foe could ever in-
vade us, if the Lord did not raise Him up. War,
therefore, is not an accident, but a providential
dispensation. [Pharaoh, Hadad, Rezon, the Chal
dees, are all expressly said to have been raised up
by the Lord (Ex ix. 16 ; 1 Kings xi. 14, 23 ; Hab
|i.6).]
44 AMOS.
CHAPTERS VII.-IX.
in. Threatening Discourses against the Kingdom of Israel in the Shape of Visions.
A Promise in the Conclusion.
Chapter VH.
Three Visions. Two of National Calamities are averted at the Request of the Prophet. The Third, of a
Piumb-Line, indicates the certain Downfall of the Kingdom. Attempt of the Priest Amazidh to banish
Amos from Bethel: thereupon a sharper Threat, especially against Amaziah.
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me ;
And behold, He formed locusts,^
In the beginning of the springing up of the second crop ;
And lo, it was a second crop after the king's mowing.
2 And when they had finished eating the plants " of the land,
Then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray,
How can Jacob stand.
For it is small.
3 Jehovah repented of this ; '
It shall not take place, saith Jehovah.
4 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me,
And behold, the Lord Jehovah called to punish with fire,
And it devoured the great flood, ^
And devoured the inheritance.
5 Then said I, 0 Lord Jehovah, leave off, I pray.
How can Jacob stand,
For it is small.
6 Jehovah repented of this ;
This also shall not take place, saith the Lord Jehovah.
7 Thus he showed me,
And behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made with a plumb-liae *
And a plumb-line was in bis hand.
8 And Jehovah said to me,
What seest thou, Amos ?
And I said, a plumb-line.
And the Lord said, Behold, I put a plumb-line in the midst of my people, Israel ;
I will pass by him no more.
9 And the high places of Isaac ° shall be laid waste,
And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be desolated.
And I will arise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
1 0 And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying,
Amos has conspired ' against thee in the midst of the house of Israel ; the land is
1 1 not able to bear all his words. For thus has Amos said,
" By the sword shall Jeroboam die
And Israel shall go into exile out of his land."
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, " Seer, go, flee into the land of Judah ; and there eat
13 thy bread and there mayest thou prophesy. But in Bethel thou shalt no longer
14 prophesy, for it is the king's sanctuary' and a seat of the kingdom." And Amos
answered and said to Amaziah, " I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet's son, but
15 1 am a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamores.' And Jehovah took me from fol
lowing the flock ; and Jehovah said to me, Gro, prophesy to my people, Israel."
16 And now hear the word of Jehovah,
Thou sayest. Prophesy not against Israel,
And drop^" nothing against the house of Isaac.
CHAPTER VII.
45
17 Therefore thus saith Jehovah,
Thy wife shall be dishonored in the city,
And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword ;
And thy land shall be divided by line.
And thou shalt die in an unclean land.
And Israel shall go into exile out of his laud.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMSIATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — 713 points to what follows. "iSi'' has Jehovah for its subject [omitted because mn^ ^i'lN imni*
iiately preceded it. JehoTah, as usual, takes the pointing of QTlvS when ^3^S precedes it. ^23 not a plural
but a singular used collectively, is usually rendered locusts, but its precis'e origin is still in dispute.]
SVer. 2.— 3^75, not grass, as in the A. V., but all vegetable growth. '^Q, literally, "as who" = jua/ij,!. e., how?
D>)p'', stand, i.e., endure. [So Keil and Eiirst.]
8 Ver. 3. — i1wT"7P = that which was threatened in the vision. ^itOD, small = weak.
4 Ver. i. — nSI Dinri, elsewhere the ocean, c. g., Gen. vii. 11 1 Is. li. 10. In Gen. i. 2, it denotes the immeasur-
able deep at the beginning of the creation. p^TMl, not <' a part," but the portion or inheritanoe.
6Ver. 7. — TI3N, plumb-line. ?f3S Plsin ^a perpendicular wall. [Fiirst follows the LXX., Sym., and Syr. in
making t[DW, aSa^ias, a pointed hook for destroying, and the wall, a pointed wall, i. e., rising up as a pinnacle.]
6 Ver. 9. — niQ^, heights used for idolatrous altars and shrines. pH^^ for pH^'', so also in ver. 16. Jer.
jxjLui. 26 ; Ps. cv. 9 = Israel.
7 Ver. 10. — "^tiJp, to form a conspiracy.
SVer. 13. — tt)lpJ3. sanctuary.
t': ■
9 Ver. 14. — D^^. Perhaps from a root meaning to nip or scratch (LXX. , Kvi^bi), because it was common so to treat
the mulberry or sycamore fruit to make it ripen the sooner [or a denom. from the Arabic name for the mulberry fig.
(Keil); but Fiirst says that in that case C^T^ptl^ would not be added to itj. The meaning is, one that gathers figs and
lives upon them.
10 Ver. 16. — J^^tSn, to drop, is used in the sense of prophesying, also in Micah ii. 6, 11, and Ezek. xxi. 2, 7. The usage
is borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 2. " My teaching shall drop as the rain."
BXEGETICAL AND CMTICAL.
1. Vers. 1-6. The two first visions. The judg-
meots they represent are at the prayer of the
prophet averted.
(a.) Vers. 1-3. First Vision. The locusts. Thus
the Lord Jehovah showed me. " Showed rae "
is used also in the foUomng visions. These are
thus defined to be " visions," inward intuitions,
rather than mere poetical fictions. But the ques-
tion arises and must be answered, What did the
prophet see in the first two visions f Certainly
threatening judgments. But did he see the judg-
ments themselves, or were the transactions only a
figurative representation ? Did they point symbol-
ically to the future chastisements ) The latter is
certainly the natural view of the third vision, and
alsoof the fourth (chap. viii.). The plumb-line and
the basket of fruit are mere symbols which are sub-
sequently explained. In the fifth vision, also, a sym-
bolical representation is made, although the form
there is somewhat different from that of the third
and the fourth. But it remains to determine how
we are to regard the first two. For the prophet
lees here a desolation produced by locusts and by
fire. Are then these the actual judgments which
threaten ;he people, or have they only a symbolical
significance? I think we must decide for the for-
mer view. In their external form, these two differ
greatly from the two following. In the latter, the
prophet sees only an object, but what is to be done
•fith itorwhat stroke it represents, has to be stated
in words ; but in the former he sees a judgment
fully accomplished ; why then should one look for
anything farther ? In that view, too, the analogy
between the contents of these two visions and what
we read in Joel is not to be mistaken. There also
there is a plague of locusts, and then " fire " (chap,
i. 19) ; the drought, also, is there described in words
transcending actual experience, so that we must
regard it as a poetical representation. Yet what
is there treated of is what has actually happened,
while here is something which is threatened, so
that it need not offend if here the colors are higher,
and we read of even an ocean dried up by the heat
(ver. 4). If now in Joel locusts and fire are found
in close connection, why not here also ? What,
too, should the locusts and the fire " signify ? " It
must be destruction by the foe ; and yet of this it
is here said that at the request of the prophet it
shall not take place, while in the third vision it is
said that it shall. The first two visions then must
have a different object from the third. If the mean-
ing is that the threatened infiiction is twice re-
voked, then it is strange that the same judgment is
presented in two different images. Keil therefore
assigns a different meaning to each image, regards
the first two visions as the more general and severe,
and gives to them — although not very clearly — ■
a scope comprehending all the past and all the fu-
ture. They indicate an entire destruction except a
remnant spared at the prophet's request, and the
second vision points also to a judgment that falls
upon the heathen world (== Dirii"!). The removal
of the two at Amos's request teaches that 'hese
46
AMOS.
judgments are not intended to effect the annihila-
tion of the people of God but theii' purification,
and the rooting out of sinners from them ; and
that in consequence of God's sparing grace, a holy
remnant will be left. Both the following visions
refer to the judgment which awaits the kingdom of
the ten tribes in the immediate future.
How gratuitous is all this ! Nothing of it is
found in the visions themselves. What the prophet
saw in the second vision is certainly not to occur ;
therefore the judgment upon the heathen, if it is
contained there, is not to occur. Of a remnant
remaining over, not a word is said. Therefore the
first vision cannot be understood differently (see
below). In place of assuming an anticlimax, we
must rather, since the discourse has various stages,
determine the contrary. But this does not suit the
symbolical view of the first two visions, for, taken
figuratively, they would by no means indicate a
lighter judgment than the third, but rather a com-
plete devastation of the land. A climax is obtained
only by a literal interpretation, according to which
there is first a national calamity, and then a blow
which overturns the state as such. The sense of
the whole is that God will have patience for a time,
and spare the land the plagues which it deserves.
But if there be no change, and the goodness of God
does not lead to repentance, forbearance will cease
and the downfall come. The view that the two
first visions refer to the kingdom of Judah which
finds forgiveness, and only the third relates to the
kingdom of Israel which is not forgiven, has much
apparently in its favor, e. g., the appeal to the
smallness of Jacob. Still it is to be rejected. Ju-
dah is not in question here at all. The entire
chapter treats of the kingdom in the midst of which
the prophet is. Were Judah meant, it would be
plainly stated. Manifestly, the three visions form
one series, so that it is unnatural to suppose that
the two former relate to Judah, and that the third
refers to something altogether different. The ap-
peal to the smallness of Jacob admits also of being
fairly applied to the kingdom of Israel. In the
conduct of that kingdom the prophet finds no
ground for forbearance ; on the contrary, so far as
this is concerned, the plagues must come. There
remains, then, nothing but an appeal to the divine
merey and compassion on the ground of the small-
ness of Israel. Upon this motive alone can the
prophet base his prayer, since no claim of merit is
possible. Israel is small, is weak, in comparison
with the strong hand of Jehovah ; as if he would
say, What would then become of him ■? Neces-
sarily, he must be annihilated.
We return to ver. 1. That He, i. e., Jehovah,
formed locusts, shows clearly that the infliction
is due to Jehovah, without whose will they would
not come, nay, would not exist at all. At the same
time the prophet sees the plague in its very begin-
ning. But this image of the locusts occurs at a
period which is defined in two ways : first, as that
in which the second crop springs up, and then, this
Becond crop is that which follows the king's mow-
ings. The meaning is, that the period is a very
unfavorable one, first, because then the only fur-
ther product of the year would be destroyed, and
in the next place, because the early crop having
already been mown by the king, the people were
restri' led to the second, and this was now threat-
ened with destruction. Since nothing is now known
of my right of the king to the early crop, Keil, in
accordance with his figurative conception of the
vision in geni;ral, maintains that the king is Jeho-
vah, and the mowing denotes the judgments He
has already decreed upon Israel. But this is plainly
an inconsistent mingling of the sign with the thing
signified. Even if we adopt the symbolical inter-
pretation, still the feature mentioned in the sup-
posed comparison, i. e., in the process taken froir
actual life, must have a definite meaning. For onf
cannot, on account of the signification of a com
parison, attribute to it features which in them-
selves are foreign to it. Therefore we must as-
sume a mowing of the early crop by the king,
whether only as a fact in the present case, or as a
custom, even if we know nothing from other
sources of any such right.
Ver. 2. Plants of the land. Keil Says that
this does not mean the second crop just mentioned,
but vegetable growth suited for the food of men.
When this was devoured, the second crop of grass
began to grow. But if the second crop itself had
been devoured, the intercession of the prophet
would have come too late. This is incorrect. The
prophet sees a complete destruction of what had
sprung up, and just because this image with its
consequent misery stands before his eyes, he prays
for the entire removal of it. " The plants of the
earth,' therefore mean, certainly not the second
crop in particular, but all vegetable growth in gen-
eral ; yet in any event the grass is included. Nor
can it be inferred from the conclusion of ver. 1
that this second crop was conceived of as not yet
grown. Rather on the contrary it was when the
locusts were formed ; still we cannot assume that
they at first spared it and attacked only the plants.
(b.) Vers. 4-5. Second Vision. Devouring Are
= Drought. Ver. 4. " He called to contend with
fire " = he called the fire in order to punish with
it. The flood, etc. = even the deepest waters
should be dried up by the "fire."
Ver. 6. This alBo, i. c, as well as the threat-
ening contained in the first vision.
2. Vers. 7-9. The Third Vision, the plumb-line.
The downfall of Israel is announced. The vision
is introduced just like the two preceding, but un-
expectedly has a different result. Even the sym-
bol used — plumb-line — indicates this. But Jeho-
vah Himself gives the explanation to the prophet,
and shows that the reference is to a hostile inva-
sion which shall certainly fall upon the kingdom
as a judgment. This is the more terrible, because
in such vivid contrast with the foregoing.
Ver. 7. The wall may be considered an image
of Israel, which resembled such a solid, well-con-
structed wall, built, as it were, by Jehovah with a
plumb-line. And now Jehovah comes again with
a plumb-line, not however to build up but to tear
down. As carefully and thoroughly as the wall
had been erected, even so carefully should it be de-
stroyed. In the midst is emphatic. The Lord's
judgment strikes not an outwork, but the very
centre. Like the plumb-line it turns neither to
the right nor to the left, nor varies at all from its
aim. No longer will Jehovah pass by = spare.
This naturally refers to the previous threats which
had been withdrawn.
Ver. 9. Specifies the " middle " which is to be
struck by the judgment, namely, the idolatrous
sanctuaries of the people, and the king's house, »'.
e., the monarchy, for in truth with the fall of this
house, " the power of kingdom would be broken."
(Keil.)
3. Vers. 10-17. Opposition to the prophet at
Bethel on account of his predictions. New proph-
ecies of wrath. Priest of Bethel is plainly the
high priest in the sanctuary of the golden calf at
Bethel. In the midst of the house of Israel
CHAPTER VII.
47
= in the religious centre of the kingdom, at Bethel.
For it was from Bethel (ver. 13) that he was or-
dered away.
Ver. 11. By the sword shall Jeroboam die,
cf ver. 9 ; here the head of the house is named,
but this was naturally included in the house itself.
But the threat in the present form sounds more
Beverely, and hence not without design is it thus
recited in the accusation.
Ver. 12. Amaiiiah informs the king concerning
the prophet, not so much in order to procure his
punishment, as to justify the banishment which he
proposed. But he represents it to the prophet in
Buch a way as to cifcct a courteous removal. Hence
the command comes in the form of good advice, —
Flee, eat bread, etc. = there you may earn your
bread by your prophecies. He considers proph-
esying a calling which Amos pursued for a living
— a view against which the prophet guards (ver.
14) in his answer. For a king's sanctuary =
founded by the king, clothed with regal authority.
A house = seat of the kuigdom = a royal capi-
tal. Therefore nothing should be said against the
Icing ! Unconscious, bitter satire on " the sanctu-
ary," where all was decided by respect for the
king, not for truth, nor for God's command.
Ver. 14. No prophet, i. e., by profession.
Prophet's son, ;. e., scholar, have never been
trained in the prophetic schools — gatherer of
sycamores refers to the direction in ver. 12. There
eat thy bread. Amos says that he need not go
anywhere for the sake of bread, nor did he come
to Bethel or Israel for a better support. As a
herdsman he had been accustomed to be content
with little ; that was enough for him and he
sought no more. And at any moment he could
return to that occupation. If he were now proph-
esying in Israel and acting independently, he did
this not out of selfish aims, but according to ver.
15, only because he must, in obedience to a divine
command. Whoever therefore would hinder this,
tets himself against Jehovah. Therefore Amos
announces to Amaziah the punishment he is to
suffer when the judgment comes upon Israel.
Ver. 16. In return for his endeavor to stop the
mouth of Jehovah's prophet, he must bear the an-
nouncement of his own doom.
Ver. 17. Wife become an harlot, to be dishon-
ored at the storming of the city. Thy laud =
landed possession, unclean land = among the
heathen. This presupposes his exile, and with
that the exile of the whole people. The latter is
expressly threatened in the conclusion ; and thus
is confirmed what Amaziah had charged before the
king (ver. U), although that threat was not ut-
tered by Amos in ver. 9.
DOCTRINAIi AND MORAL.
1. Divine judgments are announced by the
prophets with so much boldness that men might
easily attribute to them a lack of tenderness as if
they had no regard to the sadness and misery cer-
tain to follow from what they announce. But
.kow wrong this would be ! They do feel and that
very deeply. They seek by the announcement to
prevail on men to repent while there is yet time,
und thus forestall the impending judgments. Cer-
iainly, as they have intense moral convictions and
irmly believe in the truth of a moral government
3f the world, they distinguish between a people
"i|ie of judgment and one that is not. In the lat-
ter case Ibey intercede with God for the people.
So pressed are they with love and desire to see th<
nation delivered or spared, that, although thej
best know the holy earnestness of God as judge,
they go to meet Him and wrestle for forgiveness.
Thus the repro.ach of a want of compassion fails
to lie in the least upon them, but rather passes
over to God, the Holy. But —
2. Even He is not truly liable to it. " It shall
not be! " therein his mercy set itself against his
justice and overcomes it. Thus is it proved the
mightier. " The Lord repented " — not surely as
if He would confess the unrighteousness of his
threatening, but merely to express the frank, posi-
tive withdrawal of the threat. "What was threat-
ened was deserved, but slill the ])unishraent as
destructive has not yet become a necessity. God
can still spare. If the stroke did fall, there would
be no unrighteousness in God, and also just as lit-
tle, if it did not. How the case stands only He
who is the searcher of hearts and the Judge of all
the earth can certainly know. But men may and
should presume that forbearance is possible, and
therefore should intercede. Even this has its lim-
its, and cannot be a duty under all circumstances,
otherwise the conviction of a moral government
of the world would grow weak. It is therefore by
no means of course a mark of a godly mind, but
it is to be highly esteemed when in men like the
prophets who consider God's jmnitive righteous-
ness a holy truth, it manifests itself as an expres-
sion of love for their fellow-men ; and then, too, it
is efficacious. That it has efficacy indicates its
high importance. It affects the action even of
God Himself, and thus conditions the destiny of
men, toward whom He would have acted other-
wise without these intercessions than He actually
has done for the sake of them. This to be sure ia
a position which only a theism having full faith in
a personal God can allow. But such a faith in-
volves just this, as appears by the Holy Scriptures,
which, standing on the gro\ind of an actual
theism, know nothing else than that intercession
has such an efficacy, and everywhere speak of it
as a matter that is selfevident. It is therefore
clearly impossible to accept the Biblical theism,
and at the same time deny the power of prayer.
The question is then whether we will admit the
latter, or deny theism, and with it religion in gen-
eral which necessarily presupposes it. If any will
not accept the latter alternative, then they must de-
mand of science that, instead of affirming a con-
ception of God drawn from the assumed impossi-
bility of a theism which maintains a real efificieniy
of prayer with God, it should either correct its idea
of God, or, if this be not allowed, should admit
its inability to come to a satisfactory conclusion,
and thus exercise a modesty, which so far from
being degrading, would be honorable.
3. Impending judgments are here set forth by
the prophet in visions ; partly such as in them-
selves disclose the judgment God is about to exe-
cute ; partly such as contain a symbolical action
which afterwards is distinctly explained by God.
The appearance of visions here is something new.
But it must be admitted that prophetic speech and
vision stand nearer together than would appear at
first blush. Even in the prophetic word there lies
in a sense what is substantially a vision, since the
prophet at first " sees " what He is to announce ;
for which reason the prophet is called a " seer "
(even in our chap. v. 12), and the prophetic speech
" a vision," 2 Sam. vii. 17 ; Is. xxii. 5; i. I, and
the word " to see " is used simply of prophecies or
prophetic utterances. If therefore Amos in chaps
48
AMOS.
i.-vi. announces punishment in the most various
forms, fire, plunder, desolation, killing, we must
believe that through the divine efficiency such im-
ages presented themselves to his inner intuitions
as incited him to the warnings and exhortations
which he uttered through the power inwrought in
him hy the same Spirit. The two first visions
afford us a glance into these inner processes. But
no details of the judgment follow, because the
threatened evil is averted by prayer. On the other
hand, we must not obliterate the distinction be-
tween prophetic speech and vision. From the in-
ward contemplation in which God revealed his
will to the prophet, it was quite a step to the lit-
eral vision. In the latter there was a complete
crystallization of the perception, which was not a
necessity in every case, for even without it, the per-
cepkion could find expression in prophetic words.
Especially does the pure symbolical vision distin-
guish itself from the seeing which lies at the basis
of all prophecy, and therefore from prophetic
speech as such. Here at once the image as such is
the principal thing. There is urgent need, how-
ever, of explanatory speech, so that here again,
only from the other side, we encounter the mutual
dependence of word and vision. But the vision is
at tirst its own end, and because it does not speak
for itself but needs explanation, it is here a vision
in the literal sense. Whether we are to suppose
that in such a case the prophet is always in an
ecstatic state, we do not inquire. For the most
part he is, in the case of a pure symbolic vision.
Since in vision, the divine revelation becomes pe-
culiarly precious to the prophet and makes a
deeper impression than bare speech, the end it
seeks is apparent. This aim is first upon the
prophet who sees the vision. It renders the truth
which is disclosed to him and which he is to an-
nounce, more vivid and impressive, so that he can-
not do otherwise than set it forth just as he has
not heard but seen it, whether actually or in the
shape of a symbol. But the plastic form of the
vision aimed also, and ultimately in a still greater
degree, at impressing the hearer. When the
prophet sets forth a literal vision, that is, what he
has seen, the judgment he announces takes a con-
crete, tangible form which gives emphasis to the
utterance, and thus dispels doubt and wins atten-
tion. The discourse seizes one more firmly when
it is united with an image, even though it be sym-
bolical ; and in a certain sense this latter kind of
image is still more impressive, because it is some-
what mysterious, and thus provokes attention to
the explanation, and this again for that reason
prints itself deeper on the mind, because it awak-
ens surprise that a symbol so unpretending should
have such a weight of significance. Hence the rea-
son appears why visions make their appearance in
the conclusion of our book. There was in the
sense declared, i. e., not so much in fact as in form,
a climax in the revelations to the prophet and
therefore in the disclosure to the people. Since
the direct statement of his message respecting the
certainty of the judgment and the ripeness of the
people for it, appeared not to be enough ; at last, to
leave nothing undone, these things were brought
under the eye in the form of plastic visions which
the prophet saw .and naturally repeated to his hear-
irs. The discourses therefore now have at least a
negative efficiency in the opposition to which they
aroused the priest Araaziah. (It is certainly wrong
therefore to refer these visions with the narrative
depending on them to an earlier period than the
Sjregoing discourses.) Thus visions occur, as we
see, in one of the oldest prophets. It may be
asked, why do the other older prophets have eithej
none at all or only faint traces of them 1 It u
hardly a sufficient reply to refer the matter to thu
free action of the divine Spirit. Yet this would not
be incorrect if we included with it the subjective
factor in the case, since men allow that it stands
in close connection with the separate individuality
of the prophets. Not every one of these was
equally inclined to this mode of representation,
but one more than another, since a certain prepon-
derance of the imaginative faculty, a peculiar ex-
citability of the soul, was requisite in order to fit
one for seeing visions. These are found in Amos,
and we can easily see a certain natural affinity be-
tween the herdsman Amos with his quick sensibil-
ities and the formation of outward visions. As to
the visions in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, we refer to
the Commentary on those prophets.
4. The centre, the heart of a nation and king-
dom, is found in its sanctuaries and capital. From
these proceeds its life ; yes, as they are, so is the
life of the whole people, either sound, or diseased,
or altogether rotten. If the heart is corrupt, the
blow must at last fall on this, otherwise no help is
possible. The sanctuary of a nation is its chief
nerve. But upon this the court, the secular gov-
ernment, exerts a powerful influence. If it uses
this influence to subdue the sanctuai'y into an in-
strument of its own plans and thus corrupts it,
the whole people is corrupted ; and its guilt be-
comes so much the greater and God's judgment
the more certain. How significant is it that the
priest can oppose no contrary testimony to the
prophetic word ! All he can do is to denounce
Amos to the king, and thus call in the secular
power. Naturally enough ; for he is the court-
priest, and is stationed at Bethel, which is, as he
says with a naive candor, " a king's sanctuary and
a seat of the kingdom." He obviously means to
say something of great moment which will awe
the prophet, and is not conscious of the poverty of
the claim he makes for the sanctuary. As sacred
it should take its authority from God, and its high-
est boast should be that is a sanctuary of God.
Certainly it is of no avail to root its authority in
that of the great and noble, for then it becomes a
mere tool of state craft. A testimony against all
Cdsareopapismw^, a warning to every state Church
never to forget where all Church authority strikes
its roots, — not in the protection of the state nor
in civil privileges, but only in the Word of God ;
and that the highest glory even of the strongest
established Church should be that it has, not the
state, but God and his Word on its side.
5. " There eat thy bread ! " This is certainly
the main thing in the view of the idol's high-priest.
He sees in office only a means of " bread." 'There-
fore without scruple he ascribes the same view to
Amos. But the true prophet repels the charge
with dignity. He seeks not for money or means,
he needs it not; he does not once claim the title
of prophet, for he had nothing to do with the title.
When he came forth as a prophet, it was not for
the sake of the name or the office any more than
it was for bread, but solely in obedience to God's
direction. But as he did not seek reward, neither
did he shun danger or persecution ; he knew that the
divine commission to announce wrath to a godless
people involved peril, but he did not therefore for-
bear. He did not allow himself to be intimidated
by threats. Even if men would not hear him but
would try to close his mouth, he would not be silent.
He must speak, because he bore a divine command
CHAPTER VII.
49
6. Strong faith belongs to the calling of a
prophet who is to announce God's punitive wrath.
And not only that ; but quite independent of the
duty of reproving the lofty, a high measure of
faith is needed in order to maintain and firmly to
utter, in the midst of a degenerate race, the con-
viction that God still rules and will at last vindi-
cate his honor and his law, and show Himself as
Lord and Judge. This point may be wealieiied
by a reference to the fact that the prophets did not
speak of themselves but only as organs of God,
and made their announcements only by virtue of
their commission. But however firmly we hold
the objective character of the prophetic speech, the
more we regard it on this side, yes, even the more
the announcement of wrath is a literal prediction
of a definite form, and liind and degree of punish-
ment ; still the less are we to overlook the subjec-
tive factor in the case. The prophets were not
soulless instruments of the Holy Spirit, according
to the mechanical theory of inspiration, but what
they had to disclose, they themselves believed and
were firmly convinced of, as was certainly the case
with the herdsman of Tekoa. Their predictions
of punishment in the face of a prevailing religious
and moral corruption testified the strength of their
theocratic conviction, and the measure of their vig-
orous faith, which enabled them to stand unmoved
and declare with all confidence, the Lord — al-
though He so long delays, and human sin appears
to triumph — will lay a plumb-line in the midst of
his people Israel, or as in chap, viii., the time is
ripe for judgment. Certainly there is a reciprocal
action between the objective factor and the subjec-
tive, between the divine revelation and the proph-
et's degree of faith. That was on one side con-
ditioned by this, but so, on the other, a higher
measure of confidence of faith was the fruit and
effect of the divine revelations to the prophets.
But in any case the strength of any one's faith
who was chosen for a prophet, rooted itself in the
general revelation to and in Israel, therefore especi-
ally in that which was deposited in the holy Scrip-
tures. This school of the Spirit, consisting in the
Word of God, was, as it appears, the only school
which Amos ever attended, but he showed himself
a very apt scholar, he was not so much an avro-
as a eeoSiSa/cTos. He had such a firm conviction
of the power and majesty of God. and especially of
his righteousness that he was sure that He would
maintain his honor and demonstrate his govern-
ment As he was thus, in the sense of 1 Cor. i.
26 ff., worthy and fit to be chosen by God for his
messenger and prophet, so on the other hand that
Jnission fully confirmed him in the assurance of
faith.
[7. The latter half of this chapter (vers. 10-17)
has been cited by one of the writers of Essays and
Heviews, Prof. Jowett, as an illustration of his
assertion that " the failure of a prophecy is never
admitted in spite of Scripture and of history."
But wherein is the failure here 1 The predictions
are first, the rising against the house of -leroboam
with the sword, which was fulfilled (2 Kings xv.
10) in the slaughter of Jeroboam's son and succes-
sor by Shallum ; secondly, the captivity and exile
of Israel, the fulfillment of which is patent ; thirdly,
the terrible denunciation against Amaziah, his wife
and his children, the execution of which is confes-
sedly not recorded. But this is true of the doom
pronounced upon other individuals, as Shebna
(Is. xxii. 17, 18), Ahab and Zedekiah (Jer. xxix.
22), Shemaiah (.lor. xxix. 32), Pashur (Jer, xx.
6), etc. Nor is it all strange, when one considers
the excessive brevity of the accounts of the later
kings and revolutions. There is nothing at all
impossible or improbable in the fate pronounced
upon Amaziah. And " unless the execution of
God's sentence upon one of the many calf-priests
in Bethel is necessarily matter of history, it has
rather to be shown why it should be mentioned
than why it should be omitted," Surely the bur
den of proof lies upon the objector. — C]
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
[Ver. 1. And behold he formed (was forming)
locusts. The very least things then are as much
in his infinite mind as what we call the greatest.
The same power of God is seen in creating the
locust as the universe. But further, God wa^
framing them for a special end, not of nature, but
of his moral government in the correction of man.
In this vision He opens our eyes and lets us see
Himself framing the punishment for the deserts of
sinners, so that when hail, mildew, caterpillars, or
some hitherto unknown disease wastes our crops,
we may think not of secondary causes but of our
Judge. (Pusey.)
Ver. 2. Forgive^ I beseech thee. He sees sin at
the bottom of the trouble, and therefore concludes
that the pardon of sin must be at the bottom of
the deliverance, and prays for that in the first
place. Whatever calamity we are under, personal
or public, the forgiveness of sin is that which we
should be most earnest with God for. (M. Henry.)
Ver. 3. The Lord repented for this. See the
power of prayer ! See what a blessing praying
people, praying prophets are to a land 1 Ruin had
many a time broken in, had they not stood in the
breach. See how ready, how swift God is to show
mercy. (M. Henry,)
Ver. 4. God called to contend by fire. Man by
rebellion challenges God's omnipotence, God
sooner or later accepts the challenge. If man
escapes with impunity, then he had chosen well iu
rejecting God, If not, what folly and misery was
his short-sighted choice ; short-lived in its gain ;
its loss, eternal ! Fire stands as the sj'mbol and
summary of God's most terrible judgments. It
spares nothing, leaves nothing, not even the out-
ward form of what it destroys. (Pusey.) — C]
Ver, 5, We should pray even for those who iu
our judgment are worthy of punishment. We
may at least implore God's mercy on their behalf.
Perhaps He will forgive and gran t space for repent-
ance. He desires not the death of the sinner, but
that he turn and live. On this ground they who
know the mind of God, always intercede even for
the worst of sinners ; although if the judgment
falls, they humbly adore the holiness of God's
ways but do not murmur.
[Ver. 7. The Lord stood — with a plumb-line.
There was so to speak an architectural design in
God's work of destroying Israel no less than in
his former favor in building him up. God does
everything according to measure, number and
■weight. As one said of old, " The Deity is a per-
fect geometrician." (Wordsworth.)
Ver, 10, Amos has conspired, etc. Amaziah, the
high-priest, thought that the craft whereby he had
his wealth was endangered. To Jeroboam, how-
ever, he says nothing of these fears, but makes it
an affair of state. He takes the king by what ha
thought to be his weak side, fear for his own power
or life. Similar was the experience of Jeremiah,
of our Lord and of his Apostles. And so the
60
AMOS.
heathen who were ever conspiring against the Ro-
man emperors went on accusing the early Chris-
tians as disloyal, factions, impious, because they
did not offer sacrifice for the emperors to false
gods, but prayed for them to the true. (Pusey.)
Ver. U. On the supposition that Amaziah wil-
fully distorted Amos's words, the same writer re-
marks justly enough, " A lie mixed with truth is
the most deadly form of falsehood, the truth serv-
ing to gain admittance for the lie and to color it.
In slander, and in heresy which is slander against
God, truth is used to commend the falsehood and
falsehood to destroy tlie truth." So on the latter
clause, " Amaziah omits both the ground of the
threat and the hope of escape urged upon them.
He omits too the prophet's intercession for his
people and selects the one prediction which could
give a mere political character to the whole. Sup-
pression of truth is a yet subtler character of false-
hood."
Ver. 12. Go, eat thy bread. Do thou live by
thy trade there, and let me live by my trade here.
(Jerome). Worldly men always think that those
whose profession is religious make a gain of godli-
ness. Interested people cannot conceive of one
disinterested; nor the insincere of one sincere.
(Pusey.)
Ver. 13. /( is the king's chapel, etc. All claims
of reverence for a church simply and merely as
a national establishment, independt'ntly of divine
institution, are no better than these assertions of
Amaziah. The first royal propounder of what is
now called Erastianism was, as far as we know,
Jeroboam I. ; the first priestly advocate of it, as
far as we know, was Amaziali. Jerome, in his
note heie, applies these words to the Arians who
appealed to Arian emperors, supporting their dog-
mas, and persecnting the orthodox teachers, by the
secular arm. When in the fourth century Cath-
olic bishops of Spain invoked the power of the
limperor Maximus and would have put the Pris-
cillianists to death, they were sternly rebuked and
opposed by the saintly and apostolic bishop. Mar
tin of Tours. (Wordsworth.)
Ver. 14. / was a herdinan. One of that class
to which Abraham and Moses and David had be-
longed ; but not rich in fields and herds, in men-
•servants and maid-servants, like the first; nor
learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, like the
second ; nor with any, the most distant intimation
that he might one day be the shepherd of a peo-
ple, like the third. (F. D. Maurice.)
Ver. 15. The Lord took me, — the Lord said unto
me. As the Apostles, when forbidden to teach iu
the name of Jesus, answered, we must obey God
rather than man, so Amos, when forbidden by the
idol-priests to prophecy, not only prophecies, show-
ing that he feared God bidding more than their
forbidding, but boldly and freely denounces the
punishment of him who endeavored to forbid and
hinder the Word of God. (Jerome.)
Ver. 16. Drop nothing, etc. God's Word comes
as a gentle dew or soft rain, not beating down, but
refreshing ; not sweeping away as a storm, but
sinking in and softening even hard ground, all but
the rock ; gentle so as they can bear it. God's
Word was to men such as they were to it ; drop-
ping like the dew on those who received it : wear-
ing, to those who hardened themselves against it.
(Pusey.)
Ver. 17. Thy wife shall be dishonored. Thou
teachcst idolatry which is spiritual harlotry ; and
thou shalt be punished by harlotry in thine own
house for thy sin. ( Wordsworth.) — C]
Chaptee vin.
Fourth Vision : Israel ripe for Destruction. Days of Mourning threatened against the Ungodly. After
wards a Famine of the Word.
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me,
And behold, a basket with ripe fruit.'
2 And he said, What seest tliou, Amos ?
And I said, A basket with ripe fruit.
Then said Jehovah to me,
" The end ^ is come to my people, Israel ;
I will not pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the palace ' shall howl
In that day, saith the Lord Jehovah ;
Corpses in multitude ; everywhere has he* cast them for'.h; Hush!"'*
4 Hear this, ye who pant* for the poor.
And to destroy the meek ' of the earth,
5 Saying, when will the new moon be over,
That we may sell grain.
And the Sabbath, that we may open wheat?
Making the ephah small and the shekel great,
And falsifying the scales of deceit ;
6 Buying the poor for silver,
CHAPTEE VIU. 61
And the needy for a pair of shoes,
And the refuse of the wheat will we sell.
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the pride of Jacob,
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the earth tremble for this,
And every dweller therein mourn ?
And it shall rise up, all of it, like the NUe,'
And shall heave and sink ^ like the Nile of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah,
That I will cause the sun to go down at noon,
And make it dark to the earth in clear day ;
10 And will turn your festivals into mourning.
And all your songs into lamentation ;
And wUl bring sackcloth upon all loins.
And baldness upon every head ;
And wUl make it ^^ like the mourning for an only son,
And the end of it like " a bitter day.
11 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord Jehovah,
When I will send a hunger into the land.
Not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water.
But to hear the words of Jehovah.
12 And they shall stagger from sea to sea.
And rove about from the north even to the east.
To seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 In that day the fair virgins shall faint.
And the young men, for thirst.
14 They who swear by the sin of Samaria,
And say, By the life of thy God, O Dan !
And, By the life of the way of Beersheba !
They shall fall and rise no more.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
I Vn 1. — V^p, harrest, summer, here = summer-fruit, or gathered fruit, i. c, fully ripe, aa 2 Sam. xtI. 1 ; Mloill
»U. 1.
[2 Ver. 2. — The paronomasia iu V'^p and yp is marked and forcible. Of. Ezelc. Tii. 6.]
8 Ver. 3. — 73*^71 here manifestly is paiace, not temple.
4 Ver. 3. — TT^ Vti'n has Jehovah for its subject (Keil). Others take it impersonally (Henderson), but Wordawortil
■applies '* every one " as the subject.
5 Ver. 3. — Dn is by some, as E. V., rendered as an adverb = quietly ; but always elsewhere it is an inteijectiou,
and should be so considered here.
6 Ver. 4. — D'^DHU'^ = pant after [like a dog or wild beast yelping and panting after its prey. Wordsworth]. This
Knee is clearly required by the second member, where D'^DWCL"' is to be supplied before Jn^Stl^rT/,
I Ver. 4. — ^'t 3?. There seems no reason for departing from the textual reading here.
8 Ver. 8. — "l'S3 is a defective form for TW3 (cf. ch. ix. 6), a reading which is found in many of the MSS,
T
9 Ver. 8. — nptt'3 is a softened form for nP|7t£73, which is given in the Keri, and also in aany MSS. Cf.
nSpttJ, oh. ix. 5.
10 Ver. 10. — The suiHx in H^n^tZ? refers to the following VDS [but Keil makes it refer to all that has previously
been mentioned as done upon that day. So Pusey. Henderson refers it to ^^S, understood.
II Ver. 10. — The 3 in Di^3, is Caph. verilatis.
12 Ver. 12. — ^3?!!11' This word is used of the reeling of drunkards, of the swaying to and fro of trees in the wind
*f the quivering of lips, and then of the unsteady seeking of persons bewildered, looking for what they know not when
V) find. Pusey.]
18 Ver. 14. — "ry^ll. Meier's correction of this into TJ"!*^, = thy beloved, is correct lual and needless.
52
AMOS.
KXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
1. Vers. 1-3. Fourth Vision. The basket with
ripe fruit. No more forbearance. Ver. 1. This
basket is an image of a people ripe for judgment.
The play upon words between the original for
'ripe fruit" and that for "end," indicates more,
clearly the necessary result of the ripeness, namely,
the do\vnfall of the people.
Ver. 3. Songs become howlings — wherefore?
The answer foUoivs: because of the multitude of
the dead. The exclamation Hush ! is an admoni-
tion to bow beneath the tremendous severity of
tha divine judgment.
Vers. 4-14. What has been briefly expressed in
vers. 1-3 is here expanded into a longer discourse,
the sinful conduct of the great which makes them
ripe for judgment, and the heavy penalty which
they must sufi'er.
(a.) Vers. 4-6. Hear this, ye who, etc. A
description of their wanton course. They pant
after the poor and destroy the meek by grasping ail
property for themselves. Cf. Job xxii. 8 ; Is. v. 8.
This is further defined in the two following verses,
in which the prophet makes the men describe their
own feelings and conduct.
Ver. 5. They cannot even wait for the end of
the festival in order to resume their traffic. The
new moon was a holiday, like the Sabbath, on
which trade and business ceased. To open wheat
= to open the granaries ; cf. Gen. xli. 56. What
Joseph did for the benefit of the poor, these did
for their own advantage, making usurious gains
from others' poverty. With this they united
fraud ; by diminishing the measure and increasing
the shekel = by demanding one of greater weight
than the right standard; and by falsifying the
scales ^ using scales arranged so as to cheat.
Ver. 6. Thus the poor man was made so poor
that he was compelled to sell himself either for a
p5ece of silver which he owed, or for a pair of
Bboes which he had gotten and was unable to pay
for. Thus he could not meet the smallest expendi-
ture. To complete the case, only the refuse grain
was sold to them, for which yet they had to pay the
same as for good grain.
(b. ) Vers. 7-14. Punishment of such wickedness.
(1.) Vers. 7-10. Hath sworn by the pride of
Jacob, i. e., by himself who was the pride and
glory of Israel. "By leaving such sins unpun-
ished He would deny his glory in Israel." (Keil.)
Ver. 8. Therefore or for this, namely, for these
deeds. These are Jehovah's words, and carry
out the thought of "not forgetting the deeds," by
a delineation of the impending judgment. The
question. Shall not, etc., is intended to forestall
the idea that such things could be left unpunished.
It is incorrect to refer the " for this," to the pun-
ishment as if it were intended to emphasize that.
The form of the speech, t. e., the question, does
not suit this view ; and besides, in that case the
punishment itself would bo really indicated only
in ver. 7, so that this unusual prominence of its
impressiveness would be without a motive. The
same words recur in eh. ix. 5, but there as a de-
scription of God's omnipotence, manifesting itself,
however, in judgments. The earth heaves, be-
tause the Lord touches it (eh. ix. 5). The trem-
bling of the earth as a heaving and sinking is ex-
plained by comparison with the rise and fall of
(lie Nile.
Ver. 9. In that day, i. e., the day of the judg-
ment, in which what has just been mentioned is to
take place. In close connection with the trembling
of the earth is its becoming dark : the one is not
conceivable without the other. At bottom ver. S
describes a return of the earth to its original condi-
tion of chaos — the sun go down at midday ;
not -1 mere eclipse, but a catastrophe which sub.
verts the order of nature. [An eclipse is not the
" going down " of the sun. The minute calcula-
tions of Hitzig and Michaelis, repeated and ex-
tended by Pusey, are therefore quite aside from tha
purpose. — 0.]
Ver. 10 describes more minutely the general
mourning already touched upon in ver. 8. Cf. v.
3; eh. v. 16; Hosea ii. 13. Baldness upon evei-y
head. The shaving of a bald place was a sign of
mourning. Cf. Is. iii. 24.
(2.) Vers. 11-14. A new and peculiar trait m
the delineation of the judgment, the bitter day.
The Word of God, which men now despise, they
will then long for, but in vain. Too late ! This
threat bears obliquely upon the insatiable avarice
of those who live in luxury through their oppres-
sion of the poor. At the same time they are the
persons who now will not listen to the Word of
God.
Ver. 12. They stagger, because plagued by
hunger and thirst. From sea to sea, indefinitely,
the sea being conceived of as the end of the earth
(Ps. Ixxii. 8). From the north to the east =
from north to south, and fi'om east to west, i. e.,
to every quarter of the globe.
Ver. 13. So great is the torment of this unsat-
isfied hunger and thirst that the strongest suc-
cumb to it; these are individualized as the young
men and the maidens ; if they fail, much more
the weak.
Ver. 14. The sin of Samaria = that by which
Samaria sins, the golden calf at Bethel. This is
the most probable explanation, because of the cor-
responding expression in the next clause, the god
of Dan = the golden calf there. By the life of
the way ; by the life of, is a customary formula
of swearing, here improperly used in reference to
a thing. The way of Beersheba = the way by
which men go to Beersheba, to the worship there.
The swearing by these objects shows that the
voung men and maidens are worshippers of these
idols and make pilgrimages to Beersheba.
DOCTIIINAL AND MORAL.
1. According to our chapter the ripeness of the
people for judgment is due to the violence and in-
justice practiced by the rich and noble upon tho
poor. These are peculiarly flagitious sins which
call down the judgments of God. As such a
statement reveals to us a degree of moral corrup-
tion which is frightful, so we learn from the sever-
ity with which the sins are rebuked and con-
demned, not only the spirit of justice but also the
compassion which belongs to the religion of the
Old Testament. It desives that every one, even
the poorest, should have his rights, and even
comes forward to protect the poor as such against
the violence of the rich. They have a counsellor
in God, who, as He piotects them by the law, con-
tinues to do so by the penalties imposed upon the
transgressors of the law. He does indeed bear
long with those transgressors who oppress the
poor, so that it may appear as if He had forgotten
them ; but as He owes, so to speak, the duty of
sympathy with the poor and their necessities, so
does He also that of forbearance with their oppre*
CHAPTER VIII.
53
sors, because He desires not the death of the sin-
ner but rather that he would turn and live.
2. The frightful severity of God's judgments, so
far from being opposed to the compassion which
cares for the poor and feeble, is rather in full har-
mony with it. The modem polemical spirit
against the Old Testament descriptions of this
severity, betrays its origin too plainly ; it knows
nothing in truth of sin, and therefore nothing of
the divine judgment upon sin. It fails to see that
the love which it claims for its God, really be-
comes the greatest harshness, since it denies the
possibility of the punishment of sinners and there-
fore any efficacious opposition to the unrighteous-
ness wrought by them. Only a God who is truly
terror malorum can truly be amor bonorum. More-
over we do as a matter of fact continually meet
with occurrences, in detail and in gross, which un-
deniably are judgments upon the sins of men, and
that in these there is an execution of a law of
moral government, can just as little be denied. So
much the more foolish then is the opposition to
the so-called ferocious God of the Jews, to the re-
tahatory spirit of the Old Testament. Now be-
cause men do not believe that there is and must be
in God, along with, or rather for the sake of, the
love which He is, strictness in judgment. He is ob-
liged to show to a race which has lost its faith in
the God of the Scriptures, by actual facts, as vio-
lent as those of the year 1 870, that the storms of
divine wrath are not merely outgrowths of a
crude, undisciplined view of life, and tokens of a
low state of culture, but a reality, planted in the
midst of a century claiming to itself the highest
culture. When the measure is full, these storms
break forth, and a hundred times over put to flight
" culture," " love," and all similar watchwords of
the modern spirit. Then there often comes sud-
denly a "shaking" of the earth, or gloom falls
upon an entire nation so that it becomes dark in
bright daylight, or the festivals are turned into
mourning and songs into lamentations, or all loins
are clothed in sackcloth, — just when men in their
blind security held such things to be impossible.
Yes, times of war furnish only too striking illus-
trations of those words of Scripture which a race,
strong in the conviction of its own leadership,
coolly dismisses as a coarse and antiquated rhet-
oric, while it passes to the order of the day.
Such fearful periods compel even an unbelieving
race to forebode that the final judgment may prove
a reality compared with which all preceding judg-
ments are trifles. But faith sees in these latter
a divine finger-mark pointing to the former, for
which reason men of God, like the prophets, con-
tinually unite with their descriptions of interme-
diate judgments a reference to the last great judg-
ment ; and this the more when they describe
judgments which are at least relatively decisive,
inasmuch as they make an end of an entire king-
dom.
3. WTien divine judgments come and give flam-
ing proof of God's existence to a race which has
forsaken and forgotten Him, the once despised and
hated word of the Lord is appreciated again. Men
_" hunger and thirst " for it, but often at first not
in the right way. They desire as speedily as pos-
sible to hear of promises and consolations, and to
these every ear is open. But it is in vain. We now
tteed expect no new revelation from God. We have
'' his Word " in the Scripture. But when this is
a long time despised, it follows at last that there is
no one to preach it, and without a living preacher,
it is finally lost. Or if it is preached, it has no
power to console, and men fail to find what thej
seek. Thus there ensues a longing which is not satr
isfied. The result is otherwise only when men bovt
themselves in penitence under the divine threaten-
ings as deserved, and under the divine Spirit in-
wardly blame themselves for their previous apos-
tasy. But who knows whether man will find room
for repentance ^ Before he reaches that point, while
he is in the midst of his vain longing for comfort,
he may be snatched away.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
[Ver. 1. Thus the Lord — shewed me. The sen-
tence of Amaziah being pronounced, Amos re-
sumes just where he had left off before. Ama-
ziah's vehement interruption is like a stone cast
into deep waters. They close over it, and it leaves
no trace. The last vision declared that the end
was certain ; this, that it was at hand. (Pusey.)
Ver. 2. A basket with ripe fruit. At harvest time
there is no more to be done for the crop. Good or
bad, it has reached its end and is cut down. So
the harvest of Israel was come. . . Heavenly influ-
ences can but injure the ripened sinner, as dew,
rain, sun, but injure the ripened fruit. Israel was
ripe, but for destruction. {Ibid.) Rev. xvi. 18,
Gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are
fully ripe. (Ibid.)
Ver. 3. The songs shall howl. When sounds of
joy are turned into wailing, there must bo complete
sorrow. They are not merely hushed but turned
into their opposite. Just the reverse is promised
to the godly: Blessed are ye that weep now, for
ye shall laugh (Luke vi. 21). {Ibid.)
Ver. 5. When will the neiu moon be over? The
Psalmist said. When shall I come and appear be-
fore God 1 These said. When will this service be
over that we may be our own masters again ■?
Sin in wrong measures once begun is unbroken.
All sin perpetuates itself; it is done again because
it has been done before. But sins of a man's daily
occupation are continued of necessity, beyond the
simple force of habit and the ever increasing dropsy
of covetousncss. To interrupt them is to risk de-
tection. How countless then their number ! When
human law was enforced in a city after a time of neg-
ligence, scarcely a weight was found to be honest.
Prayer went up to God on the Sabbath, and fraud
on the poor went up to God in every transaction on
the other six days. , (Pusey.)
Ver. 7. Jehovah hath sworn, etc. God must cease
to be God, if He did not do what He sware to do —
punish the oppressors of the poor, {lb.) Wo, and
a thousand woes, to that man that is cut off by an
oath of God from all benefit by pardoning mercy.
(M. Henry.) — C] The evil deeds of the wicked
are inscribed in a perpetual memorial before God ;
but the sins of believers are cast by Him into the
depths of the sea so that thev never again come
into mind. Micahvii. 19. (Pf. B. W.)'
[Ver. 8. Shall not the earth tremble for this? Those
who will not tremble and mourn as they ought for
national sins shall be made to tremble and mourn
for national judgments. (M. Henry.)
Ver. 9. The sun goes down at noon. Sorrow is
saddest when it comes upon fearless joy. God
commonly in his mercy sends heralds of coming
sorrow ; very few burst suddenly upon man. Now
in the meridian brightness of the day of Israel, the
blackness of night should fall upon him. (Pusey.)
Ver. 10. Turn your fea.sts into mourning . As to
the upright there ariseth light in the darkness
54
AMOS.
which gives them the oil of joy for mourning, so
on the wicked there falls darkness in the midst of
light which turns their joy into heaviness. The
end of it as a hitter day. There is no hope that
when things are at the worst, they will mend. No,
the state of impenitent sinners grows worse and
worse ; and the last of all will be the worst of all.
(M. Henry.)
Ver. 11. Not a hunger far bread. In death and
dreariness, in exile from the land of their fathers,
crushed by oppressors, hearing only of gods more
cruel than those who make them, how will they
hunger and thirst for any tidings of one who cares
for the weary and heavy-laden, one who would have
man-servant and maid, the cattle and the stranger
within the gates to rest as well as the prince ; of
one who had fixed the year of jubilee that the
debtor might be released and the captive go free
O, what a longing in a land of bondage to heai
of such a Being ; to believe that all that had been
told of Him in former days was not a dream, to
have a right to tell their children that it was trua
tor them ! (Maurice.)
Ver. 12. From sea to sea, etc. Even the profane,
when they see no help, will have recourse to God.
Saul in his extremity inquired of the Lord, and
He answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by
Urim, nor by prophets. (Pusey.) Such is the pres-
ent condition of the Jews. They roam in restless
vagrancy about the world and seek the word of
God ; but they find it not, because they have killed
the incarnate Word revealed in the written word.
(Jerome.) — C]
Chapter IX.
Fifth Vision. The Downfall. Not even a little Grain perishes. After the Overthrow of all careka Sinnert
God will raise the fallen Tent of David to new Glory.
I saw the Lord Btanding at' the altar,
And He said, Smite the top^ that the thresholds may tremble,
And dash them' upon the head of all,
And their remnant I will kill with the sword ;
He that fleeth of them shall not flee away,
And he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
2 If they break through * into hell,
From thence will my hand take them ;
And if they climb up to heaven,
Thence will I bring them down.
3 And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
From thence will I search and take them out.
And if they conceal themselves from my sight in the bottom of the sea.
From thence will I command the serpent * and he bites them.
4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
From thence will I command the sword, and it slays them,
And I set mine eye upon them for evil and not for good.
5 And the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
Who toucheth the earth and it melteth,'
And all that dwell therein mourn ;
And the whole of it riseth up like the Nile,
And sinketh down like the Nile of Egypt,
6 Who buildeth his upper chambers ' in the heaven,
And his vault,^ — over the earth He founded it.
Who calleth to the waters of the sea.
And poureth them out upon the face of the earth ;
Jehovah is his Name.
7 Are ye not as the sons of the Cushites unto me.
Ye sons of Israel ? saith Jehovah.
Have not I brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor,
Ajad the Syrians from Kir ?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord, Jehovah, are upon the sinfiil kingdom,*
And I will destroy it
CHAPTER IX. 55
From off the face of the earth,
Saving that ^^ I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
9 For behold, I, I will command
And wUl shake the house of Israel among aU nations,
As one shaketh in a sieve,
And not even a little grain " shall fall to the ground.
10 By the sword shall all the sinners of my people die,
Who say. The evil will not overtake nor reach '^ us.
11 In that day will I raise up
The fallen hut '' of David,
And wall " up its breaches.
And raise up its ruins,^
And build it '* as in the days of old ;
1,2 That they may possess ^'' the remnant of Edom and all the nations
Upon whom my name is called,
Saith Jehovah who doeth this.
13 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
When the ploughman reaches to the reaper.
And the treader of grapes to the sower of seed ;
And the mountains drop new wine,
And all the hills melt :
14 And I bring back the captives " of my peoplfe, Israel,
And they build the waste cities, and inhabit them,
And plant vineyards and drink their wine.
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 And I plant them upon their land,
And they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I gave to them,
Saith Jehovah, thy God.
TEXTUAL AND ORAMMATIOAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — b?, °s«d "^^^ 2^3 = at or by. Cf. Gen. xtIu. 2 ; 1 Sam. iv. 20.]
'> Ver. 1 TinQ^ = knob, h. pillar-top or capital, P)D = threshold, usually that over which on© enters a build*
Ing, but also = the ttiundation-beams in which the posts are inserted. So here.
a Ver. 1. — CS5J3 for Q5?^3 (Green, Heb. Gr,, 12S, 1). The suflx □ — has no exact antecedent. It cannot be
referred naturally to n^^DD, nor in order to admit of such reference should the latter word be altered to mean " pro-
jecting roof of the temple supported by pillars." It belongs to "^ij^Q^^ and either denotes that the capital on Tarioua
pillars was struck, or the thought is that one capital was dashed into many pieces. [Keil and Hengstenberg refer it to
both the capitals and the thresholds or the entire building, which is greatly preferable.]
4 Ver. 2. — n/^n with D = to break through into.
6 Ver. 3. — tt7n3 = water-serpent, not to be more closely defined — elsewhere called 1^^*17 ^^ 1*^?^' -^^' ^^^^- 1*
6 Ver. 5.— 3^C, lit. to melt; here denotes the dissolution of the earth. Others [Filrst] = to fail through fear, to
quake. The latter half of the verse is repeated with insignificant alterations from chap. viii. ver. 8.
7 Ver. 6. — ni7l?P == ni^V^, Ps. civ. 3, lit.^ places to which one haa to ascend, upper chambers, lofts
8 Ver. 6.- n'^JN, vault = 3?^^-
9 Ver. 8. — OSS lit., they rest upon the sinful kingdom, in order to destroy it. [Verbs and nouns expressive ol
»nger are connected by 3 with the object on which the anger rests. Cf. Ps. xxxiv. 17 [Hengst.].
10 Ver. 8. — ^iD D2W introduces a limitation.
11 Ver. 9. — nin!J lit., a thing tightly bound together ; hence anything solid, as a pebble or litt'e stone (2 Sam.
Jtvil. IS); here, a kernel or grain of corn, as opposed to the loose, dusty chaff.
12 Ver 10. — ^53 D'''^i7n, lit., to come between = so as to block up the way of escape. [Usage requires na t<
eendtr, " to come to meet one round about," i, e., from every side.]
18 Vei. 11.— nSp, lit., a booth, here a hut.
14 Ver. 11. — *'.n~l'73 the " close " of E. V., is better replaced by " waU " from the margin. The plural aufiix in ^9
probably refers to " walls " understood. [Keil and Hengstenberg say that it indicates that both kingdoms are intended
16 Ver 11. — The suffix in 'D"in refers to Israel understood [but others refer it to David].
56
AMOS.
16 Ver. 11. — The suiBx in ^3D all agree, refers to the fallen hut.
17 Ver 12. — ^tr"n^*', take possession of, in reference to Num. xxiv. 18.
18 Ver. 14. — n^Dti? D*lti?. Keil vainly contends against explaining this formula as meaning " to restore tho .'ap.
liTes," and insists that*it=to turn a state of misery into one of prosperity. [Hengstenberg strongly maintains the lat-
ter view, which indeed in such cases as Job xlii. 10 must be admitted.]
EXEGBTICAL AND CRITICAL.
A Fifth Vision, In the four previous visions, the
Lord showed the prophet only what He wa.s about
to do ; in this one the prophet sees the Lord actu-
ally engaged in executing his judgment.
1. Vers. 1-4, describe an annihilating judgment
which none can escape. Ver. 1. The altar here
cannot possibly denote the one at Jerusalem, in
spite of all that Keil urges to the contrary. In
that case the object of the vision would be one es-
sentially different from that which is mentioned in
the threatening, namely, all Israel, and would be
Judah in particular, and this, without any indica-
tion of the change. There is the less reason for
assuming such a change, since the chapter does not
give any statement of sins as the ground of the
judgment the execution of which it records. The
reason of the omission is that the necessity for this
judgment has been already shown in the setting
forth of the sins of the ten tribes. Hence our chap-
ter treats of a judgment upon this kingdom. That
judgment has already been threatened and the
grounds of it assigned, whereas one of another
kind would require the reasons for it to be stated.
But there is an entire lack of such reasons ; for the
prophet, in spite of what he says in chap. ii. ver. 4,
does not consider Judah as deserving such a com-
plete destruction of its political existence as this
chapter describes. Such a judgment corresponds
to the condition of things in Israel, but not at all
to that in Judah so far as known to the prophet.
And it by no means follows that because an anni-
hilating stroke afterwards fell upon this kingdom,
the prophet announced it here. That would be to
take a very unhistorical view of prophecy. We
should rather say that if he announced such a fate,
he would also have described Judah as meriting it.
But he does no such thing. Therefore he knows of
no such corruption in Judah, regards its measure
of iniquity as not yet full, and hence knows noth-
ing of the judgment which was one day to destroy
it. But in fact, had Judah's sin become so gross,
and had the prophet known of it, still it would not
have been noticed in this connection, because Amos
is not a prophet for Judah, but only touches that
kingdom lightly, for the most part pas.-^ing it over
wholly. And it cannot be assumed that he threat-
ens such a destructive visitation upon Judah equally
with Israel, whose desert of punishment he has set
forth not only immediately before, but in a contin-
uous series of chapters. A fundamental law of
prophecy is to balance, so to speak, the sinfulness
and the judgment against each other. But no
such statement concerning Judah is found in our
chapter. In fine, it is only by violence that the
phrase, the sinful kingdom, can be understood to
mean " Israel and Judah embraced in one." No,
If the kingdom of Israel is so expressly and amply
described as sinful and then expressly named " the
sinful kingdom," then, according to all the rules of
a sound hermeneutics, certainly this kingdom of
Israel must be intended in the first place, and not
at the same time another kingdom the sinfulness
»f which was not speciallj noticed.
Smite, according to the simplest view, ic ad-
dressed to the prophet. For of angels (Keil) there
is no mention here. The prophet is not to be
merely a spectator, but takes part in the action.
That he was not in a situation to do what is here
enjoined is no objection, for the whole transaction
takes place in vision. A blow which strikes the pil-
lar-capitals so that the foundation-beams shake, is
manifestly = a crash that brings the whole building
to the ground. We are then to think of a temple.
The shaking to the ground is only the first step ;
the stroke aims farther, namely, to break to pieces.
Upon the head of all ; the whole people is con-
sidered as assembled around the national sanc-
tuary. What is meant, then, is a destruction, and
that total. That no one can escape is expressly
said afterwards, but with a change from the lan-
guage of vision to that of reality. Their remnant
refers to the all, and shows that it is to be under-
stood in its full force, — should any succeed in es-
caping the crash of the building, even these God
would slay with the sword. The universality of
the destruction is also negatively set forth in the
renniining clauses of ver. 1, and is still farther ex-
panded with poetical minuteness in the three fol-
lowing verses. Cf Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8.
Ver. 3. On the top of Carmel. Named partly
as a mountain which is of considerable height as
compared with the sea over which it rises, and
partly as a point on the extreme western boundary
of the kingdom. " Whoever hides himself there,
must know of no other secure refuge in all the
land beside. And if there be no security there,
nothing is left but the sea."
Ver. 4. Even going into captivity shall not save
them.
2. Vers. 5, 6. To confirm the threatening, God
is described as almighty, such illustrations being
cited as show his omnipotence in destroying = He
who thus speaks is the Lord, who touches the
earth, etc. The first two members of ver. 5 stand
in close relation to what follows, and are its foun-
dation. Inasmuch as the Lord is enthroned in
heaven, he is in a condition to call in the waters of
the sea, etc. (and while such devastations are
wrought in the earth. He himself is untouched by
them). We are not, with Keil, to think hereof
" a mountain of clouds," or of rain, for the inunda-
tion is plainly stated to proceed from the sea, not
from rain. Nor is it natural to admit a reference
to the physical fact that the waters of the sea
ascend on high in vapor in order to come down
again as rain. Ver. 6, therefore is not to be re-
garded as an allusion to the Deluge, but rather as
a marine inundation, such as often occurs in con-
sequence of an earthquake; e. g., the tidal wave
in Chili in 18G8.
3. Vers. 7-10. Are ye not, etc. Degenerate
Israel should not rely upon their election ; they
are to he carried away. Still God in his grace wiU
not destroy them wholly, but only sift them, and
even the carrying away is to serve as a means to
this end.
Ver. 7. This is the sharpest thing that can be said
of Israel, namely, to liken them to the heathen.
The " sons " of the Cushites, Ham's posterity, are
CHAPTER IX.
5^/
as highly esteemed as the " sons " of Israel. And
the bringing of Israel out of Egypt avails no more
than the bringing of the Syrians and Philistines
out of their former dwelling-places. Caphtor, prob-
ably, = Crete, from which, according to this state-
ment, at least a portion of the Philistines emigrated.
(Others say = Kasluhim.) In chap. i. ver. 5, it was
said that the Syrians should be carried away to
Kir. According to the present passage, a portion
of them must have emigrated from that place.
After thus rejecting Israel's claim for impunity,
Amos proceeds in ver. 8 to announce the punish-
ment once more. It is expressly said upon whom
it shall fall, namely, the sinful kingdom, which can
be none other than the ten tribes, who are thus suf-
ficiently indicated. But in the second member the
threatening is mitigated ; there still remains grace.
The distinction between Israel and the heathen
which has just been denied — denied so far as Is-
rael made it a matter of boasting, — is again set
up. The preference, however, is a matter not of
merit but of grace, and exists only because God
will not wholly abandon his ow n people. House
of Jacob is not = kingdom of Judah, denoting
that this should be spared ; for then it would not
be a limitation of the preceding threatening which
was aimed at Israel. Literally the phrase is =
stock of Israel ; but here, according to the proph-
et's aim, it means simply the ten tribes, just as
these have been styled in the previous chapters,
" Israel," " House of Israel." The prophet does
not acknowledge two nations, but throughout de-
signedly holds in view the one people, Israel, of
which the kingdom of the ten tribes is only the
particularly corrupt portion ; this house of Jacob,
whose punishment is here in question, shall go
forth from their own land, but shall not be en tirely
destroyed. This latter statement does not conflict
with the carrying out of what is stated in vers. 1-4.
For that only denies that any one can of himself
escape the threatened destruction.
How we are to understand ver. 8 is set forth in
ver. 9 by a significant figure. By its dispersion Is-
rael comes, as it were, into a sieve, in which the good
corn and the dust and dirt are tossed up together.
Tet this is only in order to make a more speedy
separation. The solid good grains remain, only
the trash falls to the ground. So with Israel.
By the sword (ver. 10), shall all the sinner; of my
people die, — but only these. The sinners are still
marked as self-secure, by the addition, who say,
the evil will not overtake, etc. To the thought
expressed in ver. 10 we must assign a more general
scope, standing as it does at the close of the book,
as including in the wide sweep of the judgment a
reference to Judah. For it must be supposed that
the prophet sees in the same judgment which de-
stroys Israel theexecution of the threatening against
Judah in chap. ii. ver. 5, only that Judah is not vis-
ited in the same degree, i. e., one which destroys its
national existence. The stroke penetrates deeply
and destroys the sinners, but at the same time puri-
fies, and thus paves the way immediately for Judah,
and so for Israel in general, so far as it still exists,
to a new prosperity by which it rises again into a
kingdom as powertul and happy as ever before.
4. Vers. 11-15. In that day wiU I, etc. In
the fact that the destruction is not to be absolutely
>otal, the grace r.f God shines through the furious
wrath of the judgment. But the grace is not lim-
ited to this negation ; it advances to the positive
ieelaration that God will magnify Israel by estab-
lishing a new condition of prosperity. This exer-
use of grace — so the connection of the thought
proves — is not something adventitiors but is di-
rectly mediated through the action of the judgment.
This judgment, just because it is so radical in its
extirpaticm of all sinners among God's people, op-
erates, as before remarked, in a purifying direction,
and its limitation contains the condition of a new
position, a new salvation, the possibility of a rich
bestowment of grace. For with the removal of sin-
ners, every reason for the divine wrath ceases, and
room is afforded for such an exhibition of grace as
will restore Israel to a new prosperity. Very nat-
urally, therefore, the question is no longer about
the restoration of " the kingdom of Israel," in the
narrow sense of that term, for this in its separa-
tion from Judah represented apostasy from Jeho-
vah, and a constitution exactly opposed to the true
idea of a people of God. No, the divine graco
shows itself in this, that after the destruction of
the ungodly elements, first and chiefiy in the ten
tribes, but also in Judah, there arises a single but
prosperous and powerful kingdom of Israel under
the legitimate monarchy, which attracts to itself
all the elements spared and refined by the judg-
ment, including those which belonged to the exist-
ing ten tribes. The discourse certainly turns in
ver. 1 1 to Judah, yet not as a separate kingdom,
but only in so far as it furnishes the divinely ap-
pointed basis and point of departure for the restora-
tion of the entire people. More than that Judah
cannot be, since it is not only outwardly enfeebled
and proportionately suflfering, but also, in the proph-
et's view, contains many sinful elements and must
expect the divine chastisement, through which it
will become still weaker outwardly, so that its fu-
ture exaltation is due only to the grace of God,
who cannot let his covenant with Israel fall, cannot
give up his people. This enfeebled, prostrate con-
dition of Israel — i. e., at first Judah, but also Is-
rael because Judah alone was the true representa-
tive of Israel — is expressed in ver. 1 1 by the fallen
hvit of David = the Davidic monarchy, and this,
in a condition of real prostration. This is set forth
by calling it not a palace but a " hut," and this hut
a " fallen " one ; and the picture is made still more
vivid by the mention of breaches and of ruins.
Many expositors (among them Keil) think that the
phrase, the fallen hut of David, presupposes the act-
ual downfall of the kingdom of Judah, — in con-
nection with the execution of the threatening in
the whole chapter against Israel and Judah. But
apart from what was said on this view in the com-
ments on vers. 1, the phrase itself contradicts it.
I'or in the downfall, not only a hut, but the house
in general was prostrated. The term " hut " has
its appropriate meaning only when we thiak of
something not wholly fallen but still existing, for
the manner of this existence is then pointed out
by the word " hut," and is still further character
ized by the epithet " fallen," as also by the follow
ing expressions, "breaches," "ruins." The res-
toration of captives spoken of here, can therefore
be no proof of the assumption that the downfall of
Judah and the Babylonish exile is presupposed in
ver. 11. For while a carrying away is certainly
mentioned, it is from the kingdom of Israel, and
the return is included in this promise, although in
the first instance it refers to Judah ; since the
thought is that along with the renovation of Judah,
as the one genuine kingdom of Israel, there is bound
up the return of all the Israelites held captive in
heathen lands, as a constituent of that future pros-
perity. But, besides, there were, independent of
the exile in Babylon, captives out of the kingdom
of Judah, who had been dragged away by tha
58
AMOS.
heathen, as we have already seen in Joel ; and the
prophet might therefore well suppose that there
would be more, before the new period of salvation.
It is not 'o the purpo.se that in the later prophets
the promise of future salvation for Israel, including
Judah, presupposes the foreseen destruction of the
kingdom of Judah. For it is preposterous from this
to infer that all had the same general view, without
regard to the differences of time. Surely we cannot
without ceremony transfer to the earlier prophets
what belongs well enough to the later. — This fallen
hut is to be raised up again, and that in such a way
that the breaches shall be walled up and the pros-
trate ruins restored. This then is a building of the
hut, and the result is that it becomes what it was
in ancient times = in the days of David himself.
This restoration of the former power and greatness
is then expanded in ver. 13, where the term pos-
sess is an allusion to Balaam's prophecy, " And
Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a
possession." The acquisition shall be easily made,
being Jehovah's gift to his people. The remnant
of Edom = what has not already been subjugated
again. Edom is particularly mentioned, because
while they were related to the Israelites, they were
of all nations the most hostile to them. To receive
possession of them is therefore a peculiar token of
Israel's glory. But Israel is to gain more, even all
the nations upon whom my name is called.
This phrase manifestly refers in the first instance
to the nations who by David were brought under
the sway of God's people and therefore were called
by Jehovah's name. Still the question recurs why
the dependence on Israel was expressed in just this
fieculiar manner. It was to indicate a peculiar re-
ation of these nations to Jehovah which was the
reason of their subjugation. This indeed existed
under David, but was not then fully realized. What
then lay in intention and was contemplated in their
conquest, actually occurs in the new and better
time here brought into view. The nations shall so
come under Israel's rule that they will bear the
name of Israel's God, and be called his people, so
that a conversion of the heathen — not of all, for
the prophecy does not touch that point — but of
heathen nations, is placed in prospect or at least
intimated. (Upon the quotation m Acts xv. 16,
and also the meaning of the promise in vers. 11,
12, see Doctrinal and Moral. ) But to the future
prosperity of Israel belongs not only national
power and greatness, but also a rich blessing upon
the land and thus upon the people (ver. 13), in ful-
fillment of the promise in Levit. xxvi. 5. What is
there said of the action — the threshing shall reach
unto the vintage, — is here transferred to the person
who performs it. The ploughman reaches to
the reaper, i. e., the ploughing will still continue
in one place, although the reaping has begun in
another, which however does not mean that the
crop will grow and mature so quickly, but that so
much is there to plough that it lasts to the harvest.
This, at all events, is the meaning of the next
clause, — The treader of grapes (will reach) to
the sower of seed = the vintage will last to the
sowing time, so abundant is it. The mountains
drop new wine, etc. Of. Joel iii. 18. There the
hills are said to flow with milk, here the expression
IB stronger, — the hills melt, as it were, dissolve
themselves in pure streams of milk, new wine,
honey.
Ver. 14. I bring back the captives, etc. This
Is another essential feature in the picture of Israel's
future. For when the period of judgment has
»nce elapsed, and God in his grace brings his people
to a new prosperity, its members cannot longer
continue under the power of the heathen, for that
would be an evidence that the state of punishment
still continued. As to "the captives" thus re-
stored, see above on ver. 11. The phrase, they
build the waste cities, etc., clearly depicts the re-
viving activity of tliose who have been restored
from exile to their desolated land, and the words
in ver. 1 5, they shall no more be torn up, etc.,
distinctly express the final abolition of an exile.
As God's direct judgments, drought, and barren-
ness, are to cease, so also shall the indirect, name-
ly, desolation by a foe. Therefore they shall not
merely build cities but inhabit them; not only
plant vineyards, but also drink the wine (the direct
reverse of chap. v. ver. 11); not only lay out gar-
dens, but eat their fruit ! And (ver. 15) especially
shall the restored exiles never again be carried
away by enemies. This, in immediate connection
with what has just been said of the plantings which
Israel is to make, is represented under the figure
of a planting which shall never be torn up ; at the
same time with a reference to the firm " planting"
formerly made by means of David, in 2 Sam. vii.
10. The higher fulfillment of this will occur only
when David's fallen hut is again raised up.
DOCTRINAL AND MOKAL.
1. The prophet paints in a frightful manner the
vast power of the divine judgments and man'j
helplessness before them. God's omnipresence and
omnipotence subserve his wrath ; hence its energy.
Nowhere can man escape Him ; by no means can
he protect himself; all places are accessible to God;
all powers stand subject to his will. The judgment
here primarily intended is one that is executed by
a conquering foe. Now whence comes the crushing
weight of so many conquerors, whom nothing can
resist, before whom all means prove impotent ? We
do not understand how it is possible. Here we have
the answer, here where we, as it were, glance beliind
the scenes. The conqueror is only the instrument
of God's wrath ; but this is so mighty, so irresisfr
ible, that it is no wonder that nothing can withstand
the victorious foe, that every resource fails, even
though it may have a hundred times in other cases
brought relief and defense. If the Lord will not,
all is of no avail.
2. But when the judgment is one thus executed
by a foreign conqueror, it is not to be denied that
the description, as indeed often in the former chap-
ters, so especially here, transcends what usually
occurs in case of a hostile invasion and conquest.
It has, so to speak, an eschatological coloring. The
threatened punishment is a total, final, decisive de-
struction of sinners. The prophet knows of none
that goes beyond it. The only counterpart to it is
a glorious act of grace. As surely as the latter is
something definite and conclusive, so is the former.
If we inquire as to the fulfillment of this threaten-
ing, confessedly one such took place for Israel in
the overthrow of the kingdom. But a complete
and exact fulfillment is not to be found in that
event ; an unprejudiced comparison shows that the
prophecy transcends the experience. This fact does
not show that the threatening is unfounded, but
that it has an eschatological character. The proph-
et, indeed, sees the last decisive judgment arise, the
day of the Lord (although there is no express ref-
erence to that here), but still the judgment which
came historically upon the ten tribes was not this
last decisive one. What he threatens against Is.
CHAPTER IX.
69
rael was, we venture to say, farther fulfilled in the
last judgment upon Israel, when Jerusalem was
destroyed by the Romans ; but this still awaits its
complete fulfillment in the last judgment at the
Parousia upon the entire body of the apostate mem-
bers of God's people, of whom Israel was a type.
In this judgment the punitive righteousness of God
will be fully revealed in its frightful universality.
The threatenings, as well as the promises of proph-
ecy, find their complete fulfillment first in the New
Testament, yet not in the literal Israel, but in the
people of God represented by Israel in so far as it
IS apostate. It is not unimportant to malie this
dear, in order to show the incorrectness of the pop-
ular argument, that because all the threatenings
have been fulfilled in the literal Israel, therefore the
promises must be so likewise ; that the latter ai-e
to be taken just as strictly as the former, and hence
the fulfillment of such of them as have not yet
come to pass, is to be expected in Israel after the
flesh.
3. But the divine judgment is not a work of ab-
solute annihilation but of sifting, to separate the
wheat from the chaff. Herein is revealed the es-
chatological character of these judgments, in that
they are so strictly just ; but since the separation
of the wheat and the chaff is only relative, the
sparing of those who are spared must be deemed
an act of grace, and so much the more, since the
sparing does not stand alone and simple, but the
judgment upon the ungodly is itself a purifying
work for " the righteous," and cannot remain with-
out a wholesome influence upon them ; while on
the other hand it is for them a deliverance, the
dawn of a new prosperity which is possible only
after the consummated excision of the destructive
elements which provoke the wrath of God. What
Amos calls " the little grain " in the sieve is sub-
etaatially that which afterwards appears as the
"remnant of Jacob." But still the question with
Amos was not about a still surviving remnant of
the people in general when he now sees the king-
dom of Israel fall, nor was it whether the whole
people of God should or could go down or not.
Hence the term " remnant " would ill apply to those
whom he sees to be spared.
4. Israel's provocation of the divine wrath in
general lay in the ungodly course it took at the
founding of the kingdom of the ten tribes and ever
afterwards persevered in. After the destruction of
this kingdom, and after the judgment which is to
fall upon Judah, although this kingdom is not to
be destroyed, there no longer remains any hin-
drance to the blooming of a new prosperity for Is-
JPael as a whole. Therefore the prophet, since it
was his commission to announce the judgment of
God upon all the ungodly, but especially upon the
ungodly kingdom of the ten tribes, concludes, after
this commission has been fulfilled, with a promise
for Israel as the people of God. Under the only
legitimate monarchy, the house of David, it is by
God's blessing raised out of its humiliation ; its
power and greatness are restored as they were in
David's time ; the kingdom spreads out over the
heathen ; the land rejoices in the richest blessings ;
all saptive exiles return, — never again to be carried
away ; and the kingdom has the prospect of being
established forever. It is very perverse to ask if an
internal renovation is not also expressed in this
exaltation. What is said in ver. 11, etc., concern-
ing deliverance and restoration, refers only to the
outward prosperity of Israel, not to its internal
character ; but certainly an inward renewing is
Dresupposed, for the destruction of all sinners is,
as ver. 10 shows,' the only way to the promised
outward restitution, its conditio sine qua nan. Sub-
jectively it is its ground and root, while objectively
all results from the grace of God, who has intended
prosperity and salvation for Israel as his people,
and who therefore in all his judgments upon Israel
aims at last at a new and so much the higher bless-
ing, and the establishment of a complete state of
prosperity. The flourishing Israel therefore is nat-
urally to be considered as a people serving God
and converted to Him, even though nothing has
been expressly said on the point. Or they are con-
sidered as his members, consisting partly of those
who remained faithful, partly of such as have been
converted. The emphasis with which an annihilat-
ing judgment is beforehand pronounced upon un-
godliness, leaves room for no other view. Such
a divine blessing as is here promised, and especially
its permanence, presupposes a godly life. Although
Amos says nothing of a personal' Messiah, yet in
the wide sense we must call this prophecy Messi-
anic, in substance if not in form, in so far as the
Messiah of the later prophets is He who introduces
the consummation of the people of God, and the
great time of its happiness, and it is just this final
completeness and glory which is here promised.
5. As to the fulfiUmmt of the prophecy, it must
be said, just as in the case of Joel, that this has not
taken, place exactly according to the letter, for that
represents the new greatness and never-ending pros-
perity of the kingdom of Judah and Israel as coin-
cident with the judgment upon the ten tribes. But
although this latter event was followed by happier
times for Judah, still this was not what is prom-
ised here, but in place of a flourishing exaltation of
the Davidic line there followed its complete pros-
tration along with the overthrow of the kingdom.
But this, as we said above, the prophet does not
take into the account. For this reason, the fair
prospect of Israel's future glory has maintained and
still maintains its truth and validity, as it is not a
product of human wish and hope, but flows from
a revelation of the Holy Spirit and rests upon a
view furnished by that Spirit. Nor do we deceive
ourselves when we assume that the later prophets,
who also foresaw and announced the downfall of
Judah, found a basis for their promises in the
promise of Joel and also in that of Amos which
is so closely connected with it. For if such a no-
ble future was predicted, the downfall of the king-
dom could not be final, rather, not only would a
remnant be saved, but there would be a lifting up
out of this deep fall, a restitution after the over-
throw. Israel, as the people ol' God by virtue of
God's covenant with them, may and indeed must
suffer his judgments in case of apostasy, but so far
from perishing by these, rather attains a condition
of greatness and power, an enduring prosperity ;
this is the truth forever established and fortified by
our promise. A certain fulfillment was no doubt
experienced in the restoration accomplished by the
Jews who returned from exile. But this was by no
means " the Messianic salvation," the consumma-
tion of God's kingdom in Israel. Nor can a literal
fulfillment of Amos's prophesy be sojight herein,
because our prophet does not take into account the
facts which gave occasion for that return, namely,
the overthrow of the kingdom and the exile. The
Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ. Did
then the promised great salvation come 1 Did He
fulfill our promise ? Not according to the letter,
since by no means did a time of new grandeur
break in upon Israel after the flesh ; but in placa
of expecting any such thing in the future and seek-
60
AMOS.
ing there the fulfillment of the promise, we rather
affirm that it has already begun with Christ's com-
ing. For as, according to a principle before laid
down, we have the true complement of the Old
Testament in the New, so we see in Christ's salva-
tion the fulfillment of the promise of a time of
glory for Israel, since Israel (with Canaan) was
only a type of the true people of God. What
therefore was promised to Israel passes over by
virtue of the new covenant to all who belong to
Israel through faith in Christ and form the people
of God. And we are not at all to expect a literal
fulfillment of these engagements to a national Is-
rael, and in the shape of temporal blessings on the
stand-point of the Old Testament. For, if we did,
it would follow that there must be a literal posses-
sion of the " remnant of Edom." But the boldest
realist will hardly conclude that in the future Edom
will again exist alongside of Israel. We may here
appropriate in substance the observations of Keil,
who says that " the raising up of David's fallen
hut commenced with the coming of Christ and the
founding of the Christian Church by the Apostles
— (as to which we refer, e. g., only to Luke i. 32,
33, where Jesus is represen ted as the restorer of
David's throne, and one whose kingdom shall have
no end), — and the possession of Edom and of all
the other nations upon whom the Lord reveals his
name, took its rise in the reception of the Gentiles
into the kingdom of heaven set up by Christ. . .
The land which will flow with streams of divine
blessing is not Palestine, but the domain of the
Christian Church, or the earth, so far as it has re-
ceived the blessings of Christianity. The people
which cultivate this land is the Christian Church,
so far as it stands in living faith and produces the
fruits of the Holy Spirit." And — we may add —
60 far as the Jews are converted to Christ and in-
corporated into the Christian community, there is
" a bringing back of the captives." Still this
" bringing back " is not limited to Israel after the
flesh. Its fulfillment is to be sought more gener-
ally in the freedom which Christ has brought, in
consequence of which believers in Him are no
longer prisoners under the control of an alien
power. They possess " the glorious liberty of the
children of God," through their enjoyment of com-
munion with God, — incomplete, indeed, in the first
instance, just as the return from exile is not com-
plete. But it will be through Christ. He will one
day conduct all the (genuine) members of God's
people out of exile and bondage into the heavenly
Canaan, and no one shall ever again drive them
out. But certainly this promise for the people of
God first began to be fulfilled at the appearing of
the Mes.'iah and in the domain of the Christian
Church. Its complete fulfillment is to be expected
at the parousia of Christ ; and then the spiritual
blessing, the spiritual power and greatness, the
spiritual freedom which the people of God now en-
joy, will obtain a corresponding outward sensible
manifestation. Inward prosperity will not lack
that which is outward, yet iu a higher sense than
the Old Covenant understood it, since the distinc-
tion between the outward and the inward will in
the main be done away. The hope of this final
glory of the people of God has a right to nourish
Itself constantly from the prophecies which give
such bright pictures of the future glory of Israel.
So far these prophecies preserve constantly their
significance for the religious life. By their confi-
dent and assured tone they greatly oppose and un-
dermine the doubts awakened by the day of small
things in which we live.
6. The opinion that our promise is fulfilled it
Christ is ccJnfirmed in the New Testament (Acts
xii. 15) by the Apostle James. He sees a fulfill-
ment of the words of Amos (ver. 12) concerning
the relation of the nations = the heathen, to the
restored Israel, in Peter's statement of the effects
of faith in Christ among the heathen, since these
without being circumcised had received the Holy
Spirit. He thus probably understands the phrase,
" upon whom ray name is called," in a pregnant
sense = upon whom God has testified Himself as
God, therefore as a promise of an inward relation
of God to the heathen, but at bottom a promise of
the bestowment of the Holy Ghost upon them.
Therefore he regards the advices of Peter as a ful-
fillment of the prophetic utterance. This explana-
tion does not conform to the original sense of the
prophet's words (see above in Cntical and Exeget-
icalj, just as the words immediately preceding are
given by James in a form quite different from the
Hebrew. For us the only important point is that
James considers the fulfillment of this promise as
beginning with Christ. But we may draw a far-
ther conclusion. If James sees this statement of
Amos concerning the heathen and their relation to
Israel fulfilled in the appearance of Christ, in so
far as that caused the reception of the Spirit by
believers in Him, then certainly he regards the
promise of the restoration of David's fallen hut as
fulfilled in Christ. Although the promise, literally
understood, treats of an outward restoration, a re-
turn of outward greatness to Jsrael as a kingdom,
yet the tenor of the discourse is wholly different ;
James therefore, since he saw its fulfillment then
occurring, could not possibly have cherished any
dreams of an outward glorification of the kingdom
of Israel to be expected in the future on the ground
of the prophetic utterances. The only correct
view is, that to him the people of God appeared in
the closest union with the national Israel, and he
saw Christ and his salvation as obtainei in the
first instance for the latter. The national Israel
to him always stood in the foreground. But he
saw the promises to the nation fulfilled in the
spiritual blessings which proceeded from Christ.
But it was inconsistent to take the prophet's prom-
ises literally in respect to " Israel," {. e., to claim
them for the national Israel, and yet not to take
them literally in respect to their meaning, not to
understand them as holding out an earthly great-
ness, a national blessing ; and hence both Peter
and Paul went far beyond this view. But it is re-
markable that James, who was so pronounced a
representative of the Judaistie tendency, should
regard such a promise as we have in Amos, as ful-
filled, so far as regards its meaning, in the appear-
ance of Christ and the spiritual blessings thence
resulting, without even once referring it to the sec-
ond coming of the Saviour. Even he therefore is
a patron of the so-called spiritual interpretation
of the prophecies ; and if the theological explana-
tion here finds itself in agreement with a disciple
of the Lord, and him a man of strong Jewish-Chris-
tian feeling, that is a proof that it is on the right
track, and has so much the more reason for dis-
owning the doctrine of a future glorification of the
national Israel as guaranteed by the prophets.
7. In relation to the promises of prophecy, we
may make the same remark as before in relation
to prophetical threatenings in chap, vii., sec. 6, of
Doctrinal and Moral. As the prophet is not the
mere instrument of revelation without will of his
own, we must, while fully acknowledging the objec-
tive ground of these promises, at the same time
CHAPTER IX.
61
regard them as evidences of the prophet's own
strength of faith. While he at first on account of
the prevailing sinfulness sees only punishment and
downfall, a speedy outbreak of divine wrath, yet at
the same time he holds firm as a rock the hope that
the grace of God will return and a new salvation
begin for the people of God. The divine promises
made to Israel as the people of God are an anchor
of his faith and a light to illumine the gloomy fu-
ture before him, so that the final aim of the pro-
cedure remains to him immovably noble. If it is
the old promises upon which his faith rests, these
are reanimated and freshly confirmed by the new
revelations he receives. But this occurs only when
they are firmly believed, and therefore the utter-
ance of them is an evidence of strength of faith.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 1. Smite the top, etc. The judgments of
God when they begin are like mighty blows, which
make everything tremble, if they do not altogether
dash to pieces. Apostasy from God (idolatry) is
that which decides the case, and at last makes the
divine judgments break forth.
Vers. 2, 3. That which is our greatest confi-
dence when God is on our side, namely, that He is
everywhere present, is our terror when He is against
ns. [The prophet has not employed a superfluous
heap of words. Every syllable is important, even
though at first it may seem otherwise. The Holy
Spirit designs to shake off our self-flatteries and
rouse our innate torpor, that we may not think of
God as of ourselves, but know that his power ex-
tends to all hiding-places. — Calvin.
Ver. 4. And I set mine eye, etc. The eye of God
upon us is our whole hope and stay and life. It is
on the confessor in prison, the martyr on the rack,
the poor in their sufferings, the mourner in the
chamber of death, for good. What if that eye, the
source of all good, rests on his creature only for
evU? — Pusey.]
Vers. 5, 6. God's omniscience and omnipres-
ence gain their whole significance from his omnip-
otence. But He is as certainly almighty as He is
allwise and everywhere present. He commands
the earth when and as He will, and it must obey
Him. If He only touch it, it trembles. But no
wonder that the earth obeys Him, for it is He who
rules also the heaven. [This is the hope of his
servants, the hopelessness of his enemies. — Pu-
eyj
Vei
»er. 7. Are ye not as the sons of the Cushites, etc
Woe to him who considers what God through
gVace has made of him, as his own merit, and
therefore boasts ! God will be ashamed of him,
and humble him under those over whom he exalts
himself
Ver. 8. The eyes of the Lord, etc. Nothing es-
capes the eyes of God ; even though the contrary
may often seem to be the case, yet in the end it is
proven that He has seen all, and in his own time
administers chastisement. Whole kingdoms as
well as individuals are objects of God's attention
for joy or for sorrow. Why does many a kingdom
meet a frightful end ? The eyes of the Lord were
upon it and upon its sins, and though men were
not conscious of it. finally the fact became mani-
fest.
Vers. 8, 9. / will not utterly destroy, etc. That
we do not utterly perish is due only to the good-
Dess of God, which has no end. Who has reason
tc fear the d^-ine judgments 1 Not those who are
like wheat, but those who resemble chaff. Hence
the grave question to each one; whom do you
resemble'! Although it often seems as if even the
wheat fell to the ground, yet in the end it is shown
to be otherwise. Much seems to be wheat, and is
not. In the sifting power of God's judgments lies
their chief significance.
Ver. 10. Who say, The evil shall not, etc. [In
both destructions of Jerusalem, the people perished
the more miserably being buoyed up by the falsa
confidence that they should not perish. So too now,
none are so likely to perish forever as they who say
The evil shall not overtake us. " I will repeni
hereafter." " There is time enough yet." " God
will forgive the errors of youth, the heat of pas-
sion." " God is merciful." Thus Satan deludes
thousands upon thousands to their destruction. —
Pusey.
Ver. 11. As the prophet here declares that a re-
deemer would come and renew the whole state of
the kingdom, we see that the faith of the fathers
was ever fixed on Christ ; for in the whole world
it is He alone who has reconciled us to God. Nor
could the fallen Church have been restored other-
wise than under one head. If then at this day we
desire to raise up our minds to God, Christ must
immediately become a mediator between us ; for
when He is taken away, despair will overwhelm
us. Our confidence will come to nothing unless it
be founded on Christ alone. — Calvin. The fallen
hut. Strange comment on human greatness, that
the royal line was not to be employed in the salva-
tion of the world until it was fallen ! The royal
palace had to become the hut of Nazareth, ere the
Kedeemer of the world could be born, whose glory
and kingdom were not of this world, who came to
take from us nothing but our nature that He might
sanctify it, our misery that He might bear it for us.
Yet flesh and blood could not foresee it ere it came,
as fiesh and blood could not believe it when He
came. — Pusey.
Ver. 12. That they may possess, etc. No gifts of
God end in the immediateobject of his bounty and
love. Israel was restored in order that they, the
first objects of God's mercies, might win others to
God, not Edom only, but all nations upon whom
his name is called. — Pusey.
Ver. 13. The mountains and hills of Judaea,
with their terraced sides clad with the vine, were a
natural symbol of fruitfulness to the Jews ; but
they themselves could not think that natural fruit
fulness was meant under this imagery. It would
have been a hyperbole as to things of nature, but
what in natural things is a hyperbole, is but a faint
shadow of the joys and delights and glad fruitful-
ness of grace. — Id.
Ver. 14. And they build cities, etc. This needs
no exposition, since throughout the world, amid
the desert of Heathendom, which was before de-
serted by God, churches of Christ have arisen
which for firmness of faith may be called cities, and
for gladness of hope, vineyards, and for sweetness
of charity, gardens ; wherein they dwell who have
builded them through the Word, whence they
drink the wine of gladness who formed them by
precepts, whence they eat fruits who advanced
them by counsels. — Rupertus.
Ver. 15. It is a promise of perpetuity like that
of our Lord, Lo, I am with you alway, etc. As
Jerome says, the Church may be shaken by perse-
cutions, she cannot be uprooted ; she may be
tempted, she cannot be overcome. For the Lord
God Almighty hath promised that He will do it,
whose promise is the law to nature. — Pusey.]
62
AMOS
Often in our time the Church of Christ seems like
to David's fallen hut, but only when we look at its
outward condition and the many who shun it ; so
far as regards the power which goes out from
Christ and the blessing which He procures, it is
not a fallen but a restored hut. For his blessings
tre not email. Happy are all who believe in Him.
But a day is coming when the Church shall tiiumph
in the face of the world, and stand forth great and
noble outwardly as well as inwardly.
K Amen, Lord, all thy Word is true !
Amen, Lord, come, oomplate k ttt ! **
THE
BOOK OF OBADIAH.
EXPOUNDED
PAUL KLEIKERT,
PAtTOB AT ST. QIStTBAUD, AND PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT THBOLOaT IN TBI
DNITERSITY OF BERLIN
TRANSLATED FROM TBE GERMAN, WITB ADDITIONS,
GEORGE R. BLISS, D. D.,
PBOFESSOB IN THE IINITEBSIT7 AT LEWISBUBa, PEm
NEW YOEK:
CHAELES SORIBNER'S SONS,
jatered «!COiding to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
ScKiBNER, Armstrong, and Company,
m ttu Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
OBADIAH.
INTRODUCTION.
Of the author of the brief prophecy concerning the doom of Edom, which those who ax-
ranged the Canon have inserted between Amos and Jonah, we really know, with certainty,
notidng except the name. This is read by the Masorah as Obadiah [pTin^j], i. e., Servant
of Jehovah, a proper name frequently met with, and which was borne also by a respectable
Zebulonite of the time of Saul (1 Chr. xxvii. 19), a major-domo of Ahab (1 K. xviii. 3), a
Levite under Josiah (2 Chr. xxxiv. 12), and several heads of post-exilian houses. There is,
therefore, no ground for holding it, with Augusti and Kiiper, as a symbolic pseudonym.
That, however, the pronunciation of the name offered by the Masoretes was not universal in
the earliest times, is evident from the fact that the LXX. give for it, in different places, not
only Obdias, but Abdias, Audias, eto.^ What Jewish traditions report concerning the man bears
the stamp of conjecture, or of fanciful invention. The oldest of these traditions identifies
him with the chief courtier of Ahab, referred to above, probably because he is mentioned 1 K.
xviii. 3 as a very pious man, but in so doing overlooks the fact that our prophecy grows not
out of the circumstances of the ten tribes, but entirely out of Jerusalem. The others are
still more capricious.
To determine the time of the prophecy, we are left, therefore, simply to its contents, to its
relations with the other prophets, and to the historical accounts of the Old Testament.
The situation in which the prophet stands is shown principally in ver. 10 ff., since vers.
1-9 contain mere prophecy (" in that day," ver. 8). Jerusalem is distressed by a hostile inva-
sion, strangers have entered into her gates (ver. lie), have plundered and ravaged, so that
the population have betaken themselves to a wild flight (ver. 14 b, c), have carried off
many treasures (ver. 11 b), and divided the inhabitants among them by lot (ver. 11 d), to
sell them as slaves to distant peoples (ver. 20 c). The Edomites have not only exhibited
an unbrotherly and malignant delight in these transactions (vers. 12; 10 a; 13 b), but
have actively taken part in them (ver. 11 e), have shared in the invasion of the city (ver.
13 a), in the plundering (ver. 13 c), and the mad revelry which followed (ver. 16 a), have
lain in wait for the fugitives when they escaped from the city, and slain them in part, in part
delivered them up to slavery (ver. 14). The catastrophe which the prophet threatens in
vers. 1-9, is the punishment of Edom for these deeds (ver. 10), and with this is linked the
restitution of Israel (vers. 17-21).
From this description it is obvious that the circumstances were such as presented them-
selves after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. That the conduct of Edom in
relation to that catastrophe was thoroughly hostile, and closely similar to what is here de-
picted (ver. 11 if.), is proved by the prophecies occasioned by that conduct (Ezek. xxxv.
and Is. btiii.). We might, therefore, regard the prophet as a contemporary of this event
(Aben Ezra, Luther, Calovius, Tarnovius, Ch. V. and J. D. Michaelis, De Wette,
Knobel, Maurer, Winer, Hendewerk^), or as one of the later Epigoni of prophecy (Hitzig,
an Egyptian Jew, oir. 312 B. c). And undoubtedly we must prefer this reference of our
prophecy to every other, if it were true, as Hitzig maintains, that in the first ten verses of his
discourse, Obadiah makes use of, nay, simply paraphrases the strikingly similar language of
Jeremiah (chap. xlix. 7 ff.) against Edom. It is easy, in this view, to regard precisely those
peculiar features in which Obadiah excels Jeremiah (ver. 11 ff.), as called forth by the imme-
diate impression of the catastrophe, wliich Jeremiah had not yet before his eyes ; for he
1 fA/SSia, [0/35ca]. A^Seia, AfiaSCa. — Te.] > [Cowles — Tk.]
I
OBADIAH.
spoke his prophecy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and therefore before the destruction of
Jerusalem (cf. Caspari, p. 15 ff.).
Nevertheless, concerning this use of Jeremiah by Obadiah, precisely the contrary is to be
believed. Against it speaks at once the circumstance, that this very series of announce-
ments in Jeremiah concerning foreign lands to which the passage xlix. 7 if. belongs, shows
not merely a constant use of earlier prophecies, but that Jeremiah repeatedly applies earlier
prophecies, with free reproiuction and expansion, to present occasions. So the prophecy
against Moab, Is. xv., xvi., in chap, xlviii. ; the prophecies in Am. i. 13 ff., viii. if., in chap. xlix. ]
ff., 23 ff. Thus he has, in some sense out of his own Itovcrla, on the principle that prophecy
is spoken for all time and therefore must be applicable also to the ever-recurring present,
compiled, in this series of chapters, a canon of ancient prophecy for his own time. And if,
in all these passages, it is undeniable that Jeremiah has availed himself of older prophecies
should he in just the one before us be the original, and Obadiah have borrowed from him ?
This presumption against Hitzig's view rises to certainty when we more carefully com-
pare the two predictions. " On comparing the two common sections with each other, -We
find that in Obadiah partly shorter and more rapid, partly heavier and more abrupt, partly
more clear and lively than in Jeremiah " (Caspari). It cannot be denied that the cmces
interpretum offered by Obadiah, especially in vers. 3, 5, appear in Jeremiah smoothed dowii,
and that the solitary difficulty which Jeremiah has beyond Obadiah in the word rjri^btin
(chap. xlix. 16), as against the numerous obscurities peculiar to the latter, is of no account.
But it is contrary to all hermeneutical procedure to suppose that a later writer, in regard to
a situation meanwhile explained, should have still darkened the clear language of the earlier
one, while, on the contrary, it is a common and explainable occurrence, that the obscure
prophecy of antiquity should, in the hands of the subsequent seer, who is at the same titae
highly skilled in discourse, become more flowing and more clear. Some, to escape this ar-
gument, feign that the obscurities of Obadiah are indications of an atomistic compilation,
from a point of view arbitrarily chosen, without force and without definiteness ; but the exetfe-
sis of the book will have to show that his discourse is one which bears a single burden, is
animated by one independent soul.
The comparison with Jeremiah is, therefore, of no value toward the more accurate detei>
mination of the age of our prophet. On the other hand, we have the positive circumstailCfi
that the inner relationship places his prophecy entirely within the circle of view of those
prophets among whom the collectors of the Canon have placed it, that is, the oldest. Of
the great monarchies of the world Obadiah knows nothing. The enemies who have invaded
Jerusalem are to him simply foreigners and strangers (ver. H), and besides the Edomites
he names none except the Philistines (ver. 19), and the Phoenicians (ver. 20), both of whom
appear in Joel (iv. 4), as enemies of the kingdom. Aram is not so much as once men-
tioned, so that his horizon is still narrower than that of Amos. The two kingdoms are in
existence standing firmly side by side. The southern one consists of the tribes of Judah
(which inhabits the Negeband the lowland) and Benjamin (ver. 19) ; the northern (Ephl-aim
and Gilead) must yet be possessed, that a united kingdom may arise, one army of (he chil-
dren of Israel (vers. 19, 20, cf Hos. ii. 2). The captives of Jerusalem are not carried away
to the east, but are sold as slaves into the west, precisely as in Joel ; to the Javan (Ionia)
of Joel corresponds the Sepharad (Sparta) of Obadiah (ver. 20). The middlemen, who
have made traffic of these slaves, are doubtless the same as those named in Am. i. 9 ; Joel
iv. 6, the Phoenicians, whom Obadiah also (ver. 20) expressly mentions. Of a destruction
of Jerusalem, moreover, not a word is said, but only of capture and ravage. And it is to
be observed that the hostile attitude of Edom is by no means a state of things first pro-
duced by the Babylonian destruction, and before unheard of In Joel also (iv. 19), and
Amos (i. 11 ff. ; ix. 12), precisely as here, Edom appears as ati enemy of Judah, deserving
double chastisement on account of his originally fraternal relation to Israel. It would be
plainly incongruous to refer all these predictions just cited, and which, for the most part, wear a
very distinctly historical aspect, to the incidental position which Edom occupied two cen--
turies later in the Chaldsean catastrophe ; the more incongruous because, fi-om the time oi
Moses onward (Num. xx. 14 ff.), the attitude of this neighbor nation toward Israel was, ac-
cording to the historical Books also, hostile up to the full measure of their strength (1 Sam.
riv. 47 ; 2 Sam. viii. 14 ; 1 K. xi. 14 ff. ; 1 K. viii. 20, etc.).
The same is to be said of Obadiah also. As be belongs to the first period of writteu
mTBODUCTION.
prophecy, not only from the correspondences above noticed, but also from the fact that the
later prophets presuppose him as having gone before (cf. under the head of Theological and
Ethical), nay, even expressly quote him (Joel iii. 5; ii. 32, cf. Obad. 17), he cannot have
had the Chaldaean destruction for his point of view, for what he says of devastation is not
prophecy, but palpable, detailed description, which is plainly distinguished from the pro-
phetic verses, and therefore relates to the past. And even if we give up the hermeneutieal
rule that every prophetic utterance must rise from a given historical situation, be called forth
by some manifestation of God's rule in the history of the kingdom ; if we concede that,
irrespective of any historical occasion, and purely by the force of inspiration, Joel may have
foreseen the participation of the Edomites in the destruction of Jerusalem, with all its par-
ticular features ; still, it is certainly inconceivable that he should have placed this incidental-
circumstance so conspicuously in the foreground, while the main fact which should have nat-
urally cast down him and his people to the ground, in the prospect of it, namely, the
destruction itself, and the chief enemy, the Babylonians, were treated as such obviously
familiar circumstances, mere scenery and a starting point for the threatening against
Edom. Thus fall also the opinions which place Obadiah in the early times indeed'
(under Uzziah), but still will not give up the reference of his prophecy to the catastrophe of
588 B. C. (Hengstenberg, Havernick, Caspari.) The event which by its iniquity hag
called for the judgment announced by Obadiah is, rather, one contemporary with himself; one,
therefore, accomplished in the earlier times by the Edomites against Jerusalem, which he ha*
personally witnessed, and on which the other prophets of that age also look back in the ap-
posite passages of their writings.
When we inquire more specifically into the nature of this transaction, it is not that re-
corded in 2 Chr. xxv. 23 £ (Vitringa, Carpzov, KUper), nor in 2 Chr. xxviii. 5 ff. (Jager).
In both of these instances it was not foreigners who desolated Jerusalem, as Obadiah assumes
to have been the case (ver. 11), but principally the Ephraimites. It is rather the capture of
Jerusalem under Joram, mentioned 2 Chr. xxi. 16 f., cf. 2 K. viii. 20 if. (Hoffmann, De-
litzsch, Nagelsbach). Here we are told that the Philistines and Arabians (a collective name
with the later historical writers, for the peoples living east and south of Judah), came up and
carried away great treasures, and even took among the captives the princes of the royal fam-
ily. This event, which harmonizes far better than the Chaldaean invasion with our prophecy,
inasmuch as it, like Obadiah, intimates nothing of a destruction of Jerusalem and annihila-
tion of the national existence, but only plunder and rapine, this event alone can have been
in the tlioughts of Joel and Amos when they reproach the Philistines (Joel, iii. [iv.] 6 ; Am. i.
6 ff.) with having delivered over the captives of Judah and sold them into a foreign land. On
account of this transaction the Edomites are, in the view of these prophets also, national foes.
If now, on the one hand, Obadiah coincides with them, especially with Joel, precisely in
these connections, in several passages (vers. 10, H, 15, cf. Joel iii. [iv.] 19, 3, 7, 14), and
that not at all as a borrower, but as leading the way (ver. 17, cf. Joel ii. 32 ; iii. 5), and, on
the other, Joel is to be regarded as a, contemporary of Joash (877 ff.), we may, without
danger of essential mistake, ascribe our prophecy to the preceding decade (890-880), falling
mostly under the reign of Joram.^ That his position in the Canon is subsequent to that of
the later Joel affords no argument against this. In fact we are obliged, from the start, by
Hosea's leading place in the series, to abandon the untenable hypothesis that an accu-
rately observed chronological principle can be discovered in the succession of the minor
prophets; and the exact adaptation of our prophet to Amos, ch. ix. 12, gave sufficient
occasion (as Schnurrer had already perceived), for assigning to him just this place.
From this settlement of the date a beautifiil and self-consistent structure of the prophecy
offers itself According to the peculiar custom of the prophets to begin with the threatening
(or the consolation), and afterwards adduce the explanation of it, the discourse before us
falls, first, into the announcement of the judgment (vers. 1-9), and the reasons for it (vers.
10-16) ; to which then the conclusion demanded by the nature of prophecy, the announce-
ment of salvation to Israel, is appended. The language is the same throughout, and the
plan rounded and complete. Thus the suppositions of Ewald and Graf (Jeremiah) fall to
She ground. According to them vers. 1-9 should be regarded as the old prophetic kernel
which a prophet of the exile has rewrought, completed, and adapted to the destruction of
Jerusalem.
1 la harmony with this eonclasion, we may venture the conjecture, that our prophet ia identical with that ploufl
Vbadiah whom, with others, Joram's father JetLoshapliat had sent out to revive the spirit of true worship in the land
Vy the explanation of the law C2 Chr. xvfi- Ii-
6 OBADIAH.
LuTHEE : Obadiah gives no sign of the time in which he lived, but his prophecy relates
to the time of the captivity, for he comforts the people of Israel with the promise that they
shall come again to Zion. Especially does his prophecy issue against Edom and Esau, who
cherished a special, everlasting envy against the people of Israel and Judah, as is wont to be
the case when friends fall out with each other, and especially when brothers come into hatred
and hostility toward each other ; there the hostility knows no bounds. Therefore were the
Edomites beyond all bounds hostile to the people of Judah, and had no greater joy than to
look on the captivity of the Jews, and gloried over them, and mocked them in their grief
and misery. How the prophets almost all upbraid the Edomites for such hateful malice, sea
on Psalms, cxxxvii. 7. Now since such conduct is exceedingly distressing when one, in-
stead of comforting as one reasonably should, rather mocks the sorrowful and afflicted in
their grief, laughs at them, scorns them, glories over them, so that their faith in God suffers
a powerful assault, and is strongly tempted to doubt and unbelief, God sets up a special
prophet against such vexatious mockers and assailants, and comforts the afflicted, and
strengthens their faith with threatening and rebuke against such hostile Edomites, and with
promises and assurance of future help and deliverance. That is truly a needed comfort and
a profitable Obadiah. At the close he prophecies of Christ's kingdom, which shall be not in
Jerusalem only but everywhere. For he mingles all peoples together, as Ephraim, Benja-
min, Gilead, Philistines, Canaanites, Zarpath, which cannot be understood of the earthly
kingdom of Israel, since such people and tribes must be separated in the land, according to
the law of Moses. But that the Jews make Zarpath mean France, and Sepharad Spain, I
let pass and hold nothing of it ; yet let every one hold what he will.
Literature, vide General Introduction, p. 45.
Special Commentakies. Hugo a St. Victore (tll41), Adnotait. elucidatorice in Obad-
'am, in his 0pp. p. 1526. J. Leusden, Obadjah illuslratus (with the Paraph. Chald., the two
Masorahs, and the commentaries of R. Isaac, Abenezra, Kimchi, app. to the Joel illust. of
the same author), Ultraj, 1657. A. Pfeiffer, Comment, in Obadjam (with the Comment, of
Abarbanel), Viteb, 1666. J. G. Schrber, Der Prophet Obadjah aus d. bibl. u. weltl. Historie
Erlaiitert, Bresl., 1766. J. K. Happach, Uebersetzung des Proph. Obad. mit Anmerkungen,
Kob., 1779. Ch. T. Schnurrer, Diss. phil. in Obadjam, Tub., 1787, 4. J. T. G. Holzapfel,
Obadjah neu vbersetzt, Hint., 1798. H. Venemae, Lecliones in Obadjam, in Verschuirii Opus-
eula, ed. J. A. Lotze, Utr., 1810. C. L. Hendewerk, Obadjae Oraculum in Idumceos, Reg-
iom., 1836. C. B. Caspari, Der Prophet Obadjah, Leipz., 1842.
Special Treatises. S. Eavius, Spec, in Obad., 1-8, Traj., 1 757, 4. Zeddel, Annotalt,
in Obad., 1-4, Hal., 1830. Krahmer, Observatt. in Obad., Tub., 1837. Fr. Delitzsch, When
did Chad, prophesy f in Eudelbach and Guericke's Zeitschrift, 1851, p. 91 ff.
OBADIAH.
THE PROPHECY.
1 Vision op Obadiah:
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom ; ^
We have heard tidings from Jehovah,
And' an ambassador is sent torth among the national
Arise ye,* and let us arise against her to batdel
2 Behold, I make thee small among the nations;
Despised art thou exceedingly.
3 The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee,
Dweller in the refuges of the cliff,
His lofty habitation ; ^
Who saith in his heart :
Who will bring me down to the earth?
4 Though high,' like the eagle,
And though among the stars thou set thy nest,
Thence will I bring thee down,
Whispers Jehovah.'
5 If thieves had come to thee,'
If robbers by night — ■
How art thou destroyed !
Would they not steal until they had enough?
If grape gatherers had come to thee,
Would they not leave gleanings?
6 How is Esau searched out ! •
His hidden things sought up !
7 To the border have sent " thee forth
All the men of thy covenant;
They have deceived thee, prevailed against thee,
The men that were at peace with thee ;
Thy bread" have they placed as a snare under theei
There is no understanding in him.^^
8 Will not I, in that day.
Whispers Jehovah,
Destroy the wise out of Edom,
And understanding out of the mount of Esau ?
9 And thy heroes shall be dismayed, 0 Teman,
That^' every man may be cut off from the mount of Esaa
By** slaughter.
10 For the violence toward thy brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover thee,
And thou shalt be cut off forever.
11 In the day when thou stoodest opposite,
In the day when strangers took captive his army,"
8 OBADLA.H.
And foreigners entered his gates,
And over Jerusalem cast lots,
Thou also wast as one of them.
12 And [yet] thou shouldest not have looked on ^^ the day of thy brother, on the
day of his calamity ;
And not have rejoiced over the sons of Judah in the day of their destruction ;
And not have enlarged thy mouth in. the day of distress.
13 Thou shoiUdest not have entered into the gate of my people, in the day ol
their ruin ;
Not have looked, thou also, on his misfortune, in the day of his destruction ;
And not have laid hand on his army, in the day of his ruin.
14 And thou shouldest not have stood at the forks,
To cut off his fugitives ;
And not have delivered up his remnant, in the day of distress.
15 For near is the day of Jehovah on all the nations ;
As thou hast done will they do to thee ;
Thy deed will return apon thy head.
16 For as ye have drunken on the mountain of my holiness,
All the nations shall drink continually.
And drink, and swallow down.
And be as though they had never been. ''
17 And on mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it will be holinesB;
And the house of Jacob will take their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame,
And the house of Esau for stubble ;
And they will kindle upon them, and devour them.
And there will be none remaining to the house of Esau ;
For Jehovah hath spoken it.
19 And the south country shall possess the mountain of Esau,
And the lowland the Philistines ;
And they shall possess the field of Ephraim,
And the field of Samaria ;
And Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead.
20 And the captivity of this army of the sons of Israel,
Who [are among the] Canaanites, as far as Zarepath,^'
And the captivity of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad,
Shall possess the cities of the south.
. 21 And saviors shall go up on mount Zion,
To judge the mountain of Esau.
And the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
; p Ver. 1. — No declsire reason appears for so unusual a thing as separating this familiar phrase from the following
context, and making it a aupplementarj' title. True, it is superficially inconsistent that Jehovah should here be repre-
Bcatsd .as saying that the prophet and people have heard from Jehovah. But this rhetorical difficulty is remedied by
the<>l8Tious explanation that the meaning of the formula, " thus saith Jehovah," is, ''moved by Jehovah, I Bay." So
Maurer, Hitzig, and others. — Tb.]
[a 'J^er. 1. — Onr author talses T ^; " that " or " to wit ; " Luther : days. This may be so, cf Ges. Lex., p. 268, 6,
but not mecessarily. The 1 may be = e/ ;am. " We have heard tidings from Jehovah [that Edom is to be attacked],
and Greedy is an ambassador sent forth." By whom the messenger has been sent is left to our thought ; probably by
TelMTab, — Ta.J
[I Ver- 1. — Strictly all the D^13 were heathen to the Jews, and whether the term carries with it a special sense of
profiuoeiieea and barbarity is not always clear. Here there is no reason for supposing it. — Tr.]
[4 Ver. 1- — The language of the messenger to the nations. This seems better than to understand it as spoken by the
pns^bet ^isd his countrymen to each other. — Tk.]
ip ■Rer.a. — in^tO Diia, Ht. "height of his habitation," in apposition with 37bp"''^5n, and dir. ol|J. of
'''i^tL^. * IJhe sudden change to the third person of the suf. expresses more strongly the prophet's scorn. — Tb.]
THE PROPHECY. 9
[6 Ver. 4. — D^tt? is dependent on r^*2pi^ in the previous memberj so that the latter Berves the purpose of an ad'
rerb: "make high to plafie" = "placehigh,"cf P]Jt3l H'^Spn Job v. 7, and Gesen. Gram. § 142, 4, Rem. 1. Each
word may be thought as a complement to the other, in the respective clauses, adding T^pp in the first. — Tb.]
[7 Ver. 4. — ^^ DMI3. To find an expregsion for this formula, which shall be rhetorically satififactory, is not easy,
imd yet we are bound, in translation, to distinguish, if possible, between it and the nearly equivalent ^'^ *1^S i of. Ge-
Ben. Lex. a. v. DMD. — Ta.]
[8 Vers. 5, 6 Dr. Kleinert, as will be seen from the Exeg. notes, connects these verses in one expression, and trans-
Utes substantially aa follows : —
Verily, not thieves have come to thee,
Not robbers of the nfght ;
How art thou brought to nought !
They steal only what they need.
Not grape gatherers have come to thee :
They leave still a gleaniag.
But how are they of JEsau sought out
His hid-treasures discovered !
De Wette and Maurer translate interrogatively the first, second, and fifth members above (with differences in other n
ipecta) : "Have thieves — have grape gatherers,'' etc. As, however, the interrogative use of DM, and stlU more it«
strongly afifirmative use (apart from formulse of swearing), are rare, and since both Maurer and Kleinert admit that the
particle may be taken here in its usual (conditional) sense, as in the preceding verse, there seems to be no necessity of
cbaQgine the expression with which we are familiar in the Eng. Vers. The fifth verse thus represents the condition of
£dom as worse than that of a house, or a vineyard, that has been plundered ; aad the third clause is a parenthetical cgac-
nlation extorted by the view of their wretchedness. Few commentators have perceived any necessity for connecting
verses five and six in one stanza. — Ta.]
[9 Ver. 6. — ^tE^QnD, The Plur. shows simply that ')WV is ased in the collective sense. — Te,]
po Ver. 7- — TTiirTyty. Kleinert renders "escorted," Absagegeleit gegeben. — Tr.]
[11 Ver- 7. — The figurative mention of " bread " here has given the commentators much perplexity. We strongly in-
eline to the expedient of Maurer» who would defer the Athnach, and connect T^pn^ with the preceding, "the men of
thy peace, of thy bread." Otherwise there seems about equal reason for making " bread " the subject of the following
Terb, as Eng. Vers. Gesen. and many : '< thy bread," q. d. " they who ate thy bread," " have placed," etc., and for
making it the object of that verb, with Hendewerk, Kleinert, and others : " They have placed thy bread," q. d. " thy
hospitality and confidence," " a snare under thee." Kleinert translates, " as thy bread they lay for thee a snare," which
may mean, " as the reward for thy bread." — Ta]
[12 Ver. 7. — Kleinert refers is to the snare, and translates, " To which thou givest no heed." It is generally un
derstood, more simply, as a sudden, perhaps contemptuous change of person from the second to the third. — Tr.]
[18 Ver. 9 — liJtt /. Kleinert is singular in translating " until." — Th.]
[14 Ver. 9.— vTJDpp is connected with the following verse by most ancient versions, and the 1p here also rendered
"for," "because of." Maurer, with considerable reason, so translates without changing the position, making 7l3p0
the gronod of the preceding threat. Dr. Pusey's comment is correct : "By slaughter, lit. yrom slaughter, may mean either
the immediate or the distant cause of their being cut off, either the means which God employed, that Edom was cut offby
one great slaughter by the enemy ; or that which moved God to give them over to destruction, their own slaughter of
their brethren the Jews.' ' — Te.]
[15 Ver. 11. — *1 v^n, Kleinert translates " treasures," which the word in itself may equally well bear ; but as " army '
leems quite suitable to the context, is probably referred to in ver. 20, and is here connected with a verb, M^tt', which
Rlmost always means, strictly, "take captive," we adhere to the Eng. vers., with the majority. The same remark ap
plies to the same word in ver. 13. — Tr.]
[W Ver. 12. — Kleinert gives M^/^, here and in the next verse, by "feed upon," dick weiden, like Eng., « to feast
one's eyes " on anything. Noyes translates, " look with delight." But this interpretation, if correct, may as naturally
be suggested by the simple English equivalent " behold," or " look upon," as by the Hebrew. — Te.]
[IT Ver. 13. — On ib*'!! cf. above note 15, on ver. 11. Kleinert renders n3nbt£?ri " reach after." — Tr.]
[18 Ver.16— ^Tt MibS, Zunz, happily : wie Niegewesejie. =. Ko^oi^ ol y-rf vtrdp^avTe^ : " as those who never were."
-Ta,] ^ *
[19 Ver. 20. — Kleinert, in this locus vexatus, makes 3 "^^pW, and what follows, the subject, supplying the verb " be
come," and n/S the predicate, be translates thus : " Captives of this army of the sons of Israel shall the Phcenicians
become, as far as Sarepta ; " lit. " what Phoenicians there are unto Sarepta." This keeps close to the Hebrew if it be per-
mitted to supply the two verbs " to become " and " to be," neither of which is countenanced by the context. Neglect-
ing this (which, besides, leaves us perplexed why Sarepta, in particular, should be the limit of the future conquests), w«
may either borrow the verb " possess " from the preceding sentences, or from that which follows, thus : " The captivity
• • . [shall possess] what [belongs to the] Canaanites unto S.," in which case the absence of iHM to mark the obj., in
ills sentence alone of the seven before and after, is hard to explain; or we may, supplying, from 1")DDS in the paral-
tel member, the prep. S with t3**3V33, make this whole clause a part of the subject of the following " possess," and
kauBlate as is done in the text ; so Pusey. Maurer comes near it in the mala sense.
10
OBADIAH.
EXEaETICAL AND CRITICAL.
I. The judgmeivt upon Edom, vers. 1-9. — Ver. 1.
I'he title designates the chapter as a Vision of
■Jbadiah. ^iTn is not merely a single vision (Is.
i:xix. 7), but the result of the views of the prophets
'CTn, Mic. iii. 7 ; Is. xxix. 10), in the widest
>ense, embracing both species, the vision in the
waking state, and the prophetic dream (Num. xii.
6) ; hence used elsewhere also in the inscripdons
to prophetic records (Nah. i. 1), and even to entire
collections of prophecies (Is. i. 1 ). The second title.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Bdom
(cf. [/"concerning"] Judg. ix. 54), which also
stands unconnected with the following, is an em-
phatic epexegesis to the " vision."
The prophecy itself begins with the brief state-
ment of what God has decreed : A rumor have
we ((. e., the people, not merely the prophet, as in
Jer. xlix. 14) heard from Jehovah, therefore
through the medium of prophecy (cf Am. iii. 7 ;
2 K. vi. 12) ; and a messenger is sent among
the heathen nations (the connection by " and "
as often with vv. sentiendi, Zach. vi. 1 ) : Rise ye,
and let us rise against her to battle. Not only
when God summons the heathen to the decisive
contest with his people (Joel iv. 9), but also when
they are obliged to perform his judgment against
a people belonging even to their own circle, does
this war-message which is sent forth among them
proceed under his direction. They are even called
m this case his sanctified ones (Is. xiii. 3), as Cyrus
is named in such a mission the anointed of God
(Is. xlv. 1). The reference of '7"'-/ ? to Jerusalem
which, from Is. vii. 1, seems the more obvious, as
the feminine construction of OnS nowhere else
occurs, is expressly excluded by the quotation in
Jer. xlix. 14. Verses 1 and 2 stand, accordingly,
not in a relation of opposition, but of climax.
Not his people does Jehovah summon against
Edom, but heathen nations. In this lies the mis-
erableness of his fate, that he should (ver. 2) take
among his associates the place of a despised and
humbled enemy ; behold, I make thee small
among the heathen (HSn with the participle,
the common form of apodeictic prediction) : de-
spised art thou exoeeduigly.
While this picture of humiliation appears viv-
idly present to the eyes of the prophet, he gives to
it the signature : the pride of thy heart hath
deceived thee. Properly the emphasis lies on the
verb ; betrayed thee has, etc., but through the
precedence given to the sin which has caused this
the ethical clement in this calamity, that it is in-
curred by guilt, is rendered prominent. Jer. xxxvii.
9. The pride of Edom rested on the notion of
apparent unassailablcness : thou that dwellest
(Ges. § 90, 3 a.) in the refuges (after the Arab. ;
according to LXX., Vulg., Syr. : clefts) of the
cliff, his lofty habitation (15^^ with the ace.
Ciip, as in Is. xxxiii. 5 ; irDC; CnO, like
yVV Nb^, Is. ix. 5 ; Ew. § 287 g.). " The ter-
ritory of Edom was a rocky mountain mass, full
of caverns, and the Edomites dwelt, partly, in the
natural caves there found (hence the earlier inhab-
itants of Mount Seir were called D'llrT, {, e.,
troglodytes, cave-dwellers, Gen. xiv. 6; Deut. ii.
12, 22), partly in abodes artificially hewn out of
the rock." Caspari. Jerome (on v. 6): " Reoera
omnis austrcdis reqio Idumcem-um de EleutKeropoh,
usque ad Petram k Hcdam, in specubus habitatiun-
alias habet." Pliny : " Petra (= ^70, the capi-
tal, )yu/( oppidum circumdatum montibus inaccessis."
Compare, on the hardly approachable position, and
the peculiar impression given by the sight of the
city hewn out of the rock, also Rosenmiiller, Bibl
Aiterthumshunde, iii. 76 ff. ; and specially C. Bit-
ter, Erdkmde, xiv. 1108 fiF. [Eobinson, Stevens].
That sayest in thy heart : Who will bring me
down to the earth ? i. e., no man can do it. And
yet there is one who can.
Ver. 4. Though high like the eagle, and
though between the stars thou set thy nest
(□''27 jg an infin. dependent on (T^DSn, and
C b n"'33n, " to place high," like H^b r32n
"to walk humbly," Ew. § 280 c), from thence
will I bring thee down, saith Jehovah. The
hyperbole of the first member of the verse, and the
threatening of the second, became, from this time
on, standing formulas to express human pride and
divine retribution (Am. ix. 2 f. ; Is. xiv. 13 ff.).
Since the humiliation of Edom is decreed by
God, it will exceed .all the experience of men, and
all analogy with their proceedings. — Vers. ^, 6.
Verily, not thieves have come to thee, not
robbers of the night ; — how art thou brought
to nought ! They steal only so much as they
need ; while thieves leave undisturbed that which
is of no value to them, Edom is utterly destroyed.
ITot grape-gatherers have come to thee, they
leave gleanings ; but how are those of £sau
searched out I his hid treasures discovered !
We follow, in the main, the view of Chr. V.
Michaelis, Jager, Ewald, Caspari, who (in oppo-
sition to Kimchi, Marck, Rosenmiiller, Hendewerk,
De Wette, Maurer, Umbreit, Hitzig,) recognize an
ascending contrast between the sentences beginning
with DM, and those with TT'S. But this cannot
fully appear if we retain the conditional sense of
DM. It is to be regai'ded as a strengthening parti-
cle of negation (Ew. § 356 a. ; [Ges. Lex. s. v.
C. 1, c. Cf. Fiirst]). Our translation notices also
that the rhetorical questions with Mi 7n stand in
an affirmative sense. (Literally, we should have
to translate : If thieves had come to thee, would
they not have taken what they need % etc.ij The
ruin of Edom is too complete to be ascribed to
human causality, to the depredation of robbers, to
an overthrow as if reapers had come over the har-
vest ; it is God's pitiless work.
But truly God has, as ver. 1 already indicated,
judged with divine irony ; the heathen, Edom's
own allies, have become his instrument: those wlio
were bound (Gen. xxv. 24) to render aid have for
saken the unhappy people, deceived, betrayed them
Ver. 7. To the border have they escorted
thee, all thy confederates, " Quos de petendo
contra hostem auxUio legatos mittes, socii recitsa-
bunt admittere, suisque Jinibus excedere jubebunt,
metu hostium tuorum, quos lacessere verebunturS
( Schnurrer. ) " Mos antiquus,qm etinm nunc obtinet,
let principes konons causa deduct curent legatos, cnm
discedent ad limitcs ditionis sum." (Drusius.) So
Edom himself (Is. xvi. 1, 2) thrusts out from his
capital, Scla, the Moabites who have sought refuge
there, with their cattle, into the wilderness, and
1 [Of. the Textual and Orammatical note on ver. B — Tl.,
THE PROPHECY.
11
bids them seek protection in Judah. They have
deceived thee, prevailed against thee, the men
who were at peace with thee ; thy bread have
they placed as a snare under thee; although
pledged by their alliance to hospitality, they press
thee with hostile treachery (cf. on the comparison
with bread, Hupfeld on Psalm Ix. 5) ; thou cou-
Biderest it not. The 12 is to be referred, with
Hitzig (similarly Luther), to the snare.
Prudence is wanting, for, ver. 8, 'WUl not I in
that day, — it is the word of Jehovah, — de-
stroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding
out of the mount of £sau ? It is God's way to
change the wisdom which is estranged fi-om Him
into its opposite (Is. xix. 11 ; xxix. 14 ; Jer. xlix.
7). — For the first time in prophecy we here meet
with the solemn H^nn DVH, the designation of
the judgment day ; here, it is true, only in a ger-
minal form, so to speak, in finite relations, and
without the eschatological addition, which accrues
first in the later prophetical development.
Ver. 9. And as the wise become fools, so the
heroes dispirited; And dismayed shall be thy
heroes, O Teman. Teman, according to Jerome,
in the Onomast., and on Am. i. 12, was a special,
and that the southern, part of Edom, which here,
according to poetical usage, could the better stand
for the whole land, since the association of ideas
ui ver. 8 would lead precisely to the Temanites
celebrated for their wisdom (Jer. xlix. 7). Until
(1S07, like 'Im, in the N. T., stands not always
in a purely final sense, but introduces a result
which necessarily follows fi-om the inward nature
of a thing,! jjos_ yiii. 4 ; Am. ii. 7 ; Ps. li. 6
[4]), every man is [that every man may be] cut
off &om the mountain of Ssau, by slaughter.
]B of the efficient cause, as in Gen. ix. 14 [Gesen.
Lex. p. 582 d.J. With the impressive phrase, " by
slaughter " closes the delineation of the threatened
judgment : vers. 8 and 9 complete the denuncia-
tion proper, for which the opening formula, "Thus
saith Jehovah " (ver. 1 ), has prepared us, and which
has hung suspended through all the intervening
discourse. Then follows —
II- Vers. 10-16. The statement of the reasons why
God will and must execute this terrible judgment.
A logically argumentative discourse would have
inferred from the present, in connection with the
interior laws of divine providence, the tragical
fiitnre of Esau ; prophecy sees the future first, and
from that descends, in explanation, to the roots
which this future has in the events of the present.
For the violence (]13, as in Is. liii. H,) toward thy
brother Jacob (gen. obj., as in Joel iv. [iii.] 19).
In spite of the old family feud, the consciousness
of relationship between Edom and Israel had never
been extinguished, and was sanctified by the law
(Deut. xxiii. 7 f.). Shame shall cover thee, and
tnou Shalt be out off forever. The word '"l^^
is designedly chosen ; it denotes the extermination
demanded by God's will and law (Lev. xxii. 3).
■'Vers. 9 b and 10 c are limited by 2 c to this
sense, that a few Edomites shall yet (perhaps those
who have beforehand avoided the contest by flight ;
for all those present at the time of the contest
(hall, according to 9 b and 18, fall without excep-
tion) remain and constitute the extremely enfee-
oled people. The n~l3n is therefore a destruction
1 Cf. Textual aad Orammatical on ver. 9.
of them as a people, or rather, according to ver. 2 a
as a numerous, strong people ; cf. Is. vii. 8 ; Jer.
xlviii. 42, 47." Caspari.
Ver. 11. In what did that iniquity consist 1 In
the day when thou stoodest opposite, sc. against
thy brother ; the snfF. in 1 ^''0 is anticipated as
the object ; in the day when foreigners carried
away his treasures (Is. x. 14 ; 2 Chr. xxi. 17),
and strangers entered his gates (Joel iv. [iii.]
(17), and cast lots over Jerusalem, i. e., over the
population, whom they distributed among them by
lot, to sell into slavery (Joeliv. [iii.] 3), thou also
wast as one of them.
In a series of particular charges (ver. 12 flf.), the
hostile disposition of Edom is depitted. The im-
perfect stands in these complaints for that which,
in the mind of the prophet, ought in the past to
have been done or avoided (Ew. § 136 g; cf Job
X. 18; Gen. xx. 9). Hitzig supposes that in such
connection the unabbreviated imperf must have
stood ; but in the examples cited by him, the co-
hortative (prohibitive) turn of the thought is want-
ing, which is here so plainly manifest. By this
turn also the 'N is justified, which Caspari urges
against our view. In Gen. xx. 9, N7 must stand
instead of /W, because there a transgression of a
law sanctified by custom and hereditary derivation
is spoken of.
[There is room for doubt about the propriety of
translating H'nn"7M, and the other futures pre-
ceded by 7H, In this and the two following verses,
as in the pluperfect subjunctive. Dr. Pusey, who
strenuously maintains that the prophecy, although
delivered soon after the time of Joel and Amor,
contemplates directly the Chaldsean catastrophe
denies that these phrases can be so translated.
" It is absolutely certain," he says, " that al with
the future forbids or deprecates a thing future. In
all the passages in which al occurs in the Hebrew
Bible it signifies ' do not.' We might as well say
that ' do not steal ' means ' thou shouldest not have
stolen,' as say that veal tereh and do not look means
' thou shouldest not have looked.' .... We must
not, on any principle of interpretation, in a single
instance, ascribe to a common idiom a meaning
which it has not, because the meaning which it has
does not suit us." Minor Prophets, p. 228. He
accordingly translates : " And look not on the day
of thy brother," etc., as though the prophet were
simply dehorting the Edomites, near two hundred
years in advance, from cruelty to their brethren, the
Jews, at the destruction of their city by Nebuchad-
nezzar ! Maurer translates to the same purport :
" Ne spectes," etc., but for an opposite reason. He
supposes the prophet to be speaking at a time sub-
sequent to the destruction of the city, to prohibit
further outrages, which were likely to be continued
and repeated, long after the main calamity. Zunz
also renders in the same sense : " Thou shouldest
not (again) feast thy eyes," etc. {Aber du sollist
dich nicht (wieder) weiden, etc.). Kleinert, while
justifying, in the exegetical notes, the view ex-
pressed in the Eng. Vers., adopts a rendering mid-
way between that and Dr. Pusey's : " Thou
shouldest not " (apparently as a general depreca-
tion) "feast upon the day," etc. This is probably
very near the grammatical sense, yet does not
seem to give the true spirit of the passage so well
as the version with which we are familiar. And
grammatically, although vH, with he fut., every-
12
OBADIAH.
where else meant deprecation of what was in pros-
pect, still it can hardly be denied that, whatever
was the prophet's actual relation to the outrages
which he forbids, he views them in ver. lie, and
in ver. 15 b, as already past; and what is the
spirit of deprecation of anything thought of as
past but a declaration that it ought not to have
been done. " Thou shouldest not do (or do not)
what thou hast done," is in effect, " thou shouldst
not have done it." — Tk]
Ver. 12. And yet thou shouldest not feast thy
eyes (nSI with 2, behold with pleasure) on the
day (i. e., evil day. Job xviii. 20) of thy brother,
even because the sufferer was thy brother ; on the
day of Ms calamity LT^S^J, of his fate, strange
and proceeding from the estrangement of God (Is.
xxviii. 21); and shouldest not rejoice over the
sons of Judah in the day of their destruction,
and shouldest not make great thy mouth, to
utter mockeries (Job xix. 5), in the day of
distress; (ver. 13) shouldest not enter Into
the door of my people in the day of their
destruction ; shouldest not feast thy eyes,
even thou, on his misfortune In the day
of his destruction ; and shouldest not reach
(properly, stretch out the hand; T' is omitted,
as in Ps. xviii. 12 ; 2 Sam. vi. 6 ;) after his treas-
ures, in the day of his destruction. — The form
n^rivCDn, a much ventilated crux interpretum, is
as Ew. pp. 435, 537 f. rightly remarks, not to be
regarded as a 3d fem., according to Judg. v. 26 ;
Is. xxvii. 11; xxviii. 3; and he has also rightly
given up the punctation — channah previously pro-
posed by him, after the Arab, modus energicus.
We find the ending, HD, as a cohortative strength-
ening appended to the imperat. sing, also (Is.
xxxii. 9), where the daughters of Jerusalem, as
representing the whole people, are addressed in the
singular. Whether the n3, as in n3^> 2 Kings
XX. 3 (= n^ — rrW), is identical with the cohort.
^5' which can also follow the verb with negative
applications (Judg. xix. 23), or whether it is a
He paragogicum strengthened by the nasal (in the
2d pers., also Job xi. 17), must remain unsettled.
Aben Ezra (cf. Drusius, Hitzig) holds an omitted
^""TI^ to be the suhj., and the form a 3d pers. plur.
\isecl rcflexively ; both equally improbable. Not
less so Caspari's recourse to the Arab, ending na,
of tlie 2d pers. sing. fiit. ; Olsh., § 226 c, cuts the
knot, and reads T" nbtt,'j~l.
Ver. 14. And thou shouldest not stand at
the fork of the road, where, close by the gate,
the ways part, which the fleeing Jews would take,
to cut off his fugitives ; and shouldest not
deliver (othcvs : " shut in," but cf. Deut. xxiii.
16) those that remained of his in the day of
distress. ^* Hoc gravissimum est et summam maJevo-
lentiam argnit, rniseros ac aerumnosos homunciones,
qiti fuga vitam servare quarunt, prodere et hostibus
adnecandiimtradere." Roscnm,,cf.Am. i. 9. There-
fore can the retribution for the fiiilure of fraternal
duty not be withheld, and the manner of its accom-
plishment will be according to the divine Jus tal-
ionis (Ps. xviii. 20 ft'.).
Vers. 15, 16. For near is the day of Jehovah,
which always follows the day of the sinner (cf.
Joel iv. with ch. i. flf.), upon all the nations.
Already now the announcement of the day of God,
which in ver. 8 has entered into the prophecy, ex-
tends its compass to that of a universal judgment.
As thou hast done, will they do to thee ; thy
deed will return upon thy head ; the deed which
goes against God falls back again upon the doer,
as an arrow, shot perpendicularly upward, on the
head of the archer (Geier on Ps. vii. 17).
Ver. 16. For as ye have drunk (taken part in
the wild revelry of the destroyers (Joel iv. 3)) on
the mountain of my holiness, which I have made
my holy possession (Ps. Ixxiv. 2 ; ii. 6), and the
desecration of which I must accordingly avenge,
so shall all the nations — the discourse applies
now, as the plural DHTltD has already indicated
an extension of the field of vision, to all the ene-
mies of God, including those who have served the
special purpose of chastisement to Edom(ver. 1)
— drink, namely, the cup of wrath and trembling
from the hand of God, which He will, in the final
judgment, extend to them before the walls of
Jerusalem (Zech. xii. 2 ; Is. xix. 17 ; xxix. 9 f. ;
li. 17, 22; Ps. Ix. 4; Ixxv. 9). Thus also the
Chald. paraphrase: As ye have rejoiced over the
blow which has fallen on my holy mountain, all
the peoples will drink the cup of punishment from
me, continually ; yea, they shall drink and
swallow down, with full draught, " and that not
because they desire it, for the drink is very bitter,
but because they must." Gasp. And will be as
if they had not been ; Kal i(rovTai Kadcas oux
inrdpxovTis. LXX. ; shall be completely destroyed.
" Cocceius illud esse quasi non fuissent, exponit per
gentium conversiones, quce specialius declarantur in
aliis prophetiis, imprimis in Daniele et Apocalypsi
[Num. xxiv. 24). Sed clarum est, in prioribus jam
memorari gentium pcenam et spectare hoc quasi non
fuissent ad ipsam bibitionem tanquam ejus proprium
ejfectum, non autem merum consequensj" Marck.
III. Vers. 17-21. Messianic Application: the
final salvation of Israel. Where in this storm-
flood of the final judgment will the ark hel ver.
17. But upon mount Zion will be deliverance
(Jer. XXV. 35 ; others : a company of rescued ones ;
Is. iv. 2), and it shall be holy, God's sanctuary,
fenced about by God (Zech. ii. 9), as once Sinai
(Ex. xix. 12 f.), unappro.achable to the strangers
(Joel iv. 17) who have profaned it (ver. 16), a sure
place for those who belong to God (Joel iii. 5).
And the house of Jacob, the Jews, those over
whom the lot had been cast by their destroyers,
shall possess their possessions : EJTllS Wl'^
chosen for the play upon the name Jerusalem ^ =
D7t£7 Wyi^, " peaceful possession." That this
has no reference to the occu pation of hostile terri-
tory (Jager), the suff. plur. being referable to
IT'S rather, and Moraschim the hereditary pos-
sessions of Israel, especially of Jerusalem, is shown
by the whole syntax of the verse, and by the con-
text.
Then when Israel sits unassailed in his land again,
he will arise against his enemies for the divine judg-
ment. Ver. 18. And the house of Jacob, i. e.,
Judah who stands in the most directly hostile oppo-
sition to the unbrotherly Esau (cf. ver. 10 with 11),
will be a fire, namely, through the burning zeal
of God who is in hiui (Is. x. 17) ; and the house
of Joseph, the now severed kingdom of the ten
tribes (Zech. x. 6), whose head is the Josephide
1 [On the derivation and pignification of the name Jem-
.salem, vide on Josh. x. 1, in this Commentary, and Smith'!
DUUonary of the Bible^ Art. Jerusalem. — Tb.]
THE PKOPHECY.
13
Ephraim, aud which at the time of the delirerance
will have returned to the unity of the government
(Hos. ii. 2), a flame; and the house of Bsau
stubble (Is. V. 24), which, as the vital force has
forsaken it, will blaze at the first touch of fire ; and
they will kindle upon them and devour them,
and there will be none left remaining to the
house of Esau ; as it also did not spare even the
escaped [ver. 14]. Contrast to the case of Judah,
ver. 17. Whence all this? For Jehovah hath
spoken it (ver. 1). The execution of the judg-
ment will restore Israel to his former extent of
territory.
Ver. 19. And the south shall possess — of
LXX., 01 4p N€7e'3, the inhabitants of the ISfegeb,
the southern portion of Judah, extending to Idu-
msea (Gen. xx. 1; Josh. x. 40; xv. 26) — the
mountain of Bsau, aud the inhabitants of the
lowland, which stretches in the west of Judah
toward the Philistines (Josh. x. 40 ; xv. 33 ; Jer.
xxyiii. 13), the Philistines; the people put for
the land. Israel will thus not merely receive his
moraschim, his hereditary lands (ver. 17), but also
the adjacent country which belonged to him under
David (cf Ps. Ix.). And they, the same to whom
the south and the lowlands belong, the men of
Judah, virill possess the field of Ephraim, and
the field of Samaria ; so that, after the union of
the tribes presupposed in 18 a, the dominion re-
turns to Judah (Gen. xlix. 10), and Benjamin
will possess GUead. The whole land is brought
back to the house of David by the two tribes which
have remained true to it (Jer. xxxii. 44).
Ver. 20. Aud, to crown the trmmph, captives
unto this army (i"n^3 and 7n in the archaic style,
without vowel letters, Olsh. § 39 d.) of the sons
of Israel, the twelve tribes united under the lead-
ership of Judah, will become the Phoenicians
which there are even to Zarephath (Sarepta) ;
the Phoenicians who have taken part in the shame-
ful attempt of Edoin against Jerusalem, by the
sale of Jewish captives into slavery (hence called
by the equivocal name □''33733, Joel iv. 6 ; Am.
i. 9), will now themselves become prisoners, so
that the whole district as far as Sarepta, to which
foint the word of prophecy was carried by Elijah
1 K. xvii. 9, 10), will be cleared of the heathen.
And the captivity of Jerusalem, i. e., the cap-
tives from Judah, who are in Sepharad, wUl
possess the cities of the south, whose inhab-
itants meanwhile have seized the mountain of Esau
(ver. 19). .Sepharad is a region in the west which
is mentioned also in the cuneiform inscriptions ; by
the ancients supposed to be Spain, but rather, per-
haps, Sardis (Lassen, Hitzig), or Sparta (Delitzsch).
The last supposition is favored by the fact that
Joel names the lonians, the Greeks in general, as
the people to whom the Phoenicians have sold the
captive Jews; as also on the cuneiform inscrip-
tions at Bisutun, Sparad and Ionia are mentioned
in immediate connection.' Among the transla-
tions hitherto proposed of this variously interpreted
verse, two principally deserve notice; (1.) "The
captives of this army of the sons of Israel (namely,
those who are now 'carried away') shall possess
what Canaanites there are unto Sarepta." Hitzig.
But then ilS ought to stand before "IttJH. (2.)
" The captives of this army who dwell among the
Canaanites (or, are Canaanites) unto Sarepta, and
.he captives of Jerusalem," etc. Caspari, TJm-
t [See on this name, Smith's IHctionary of the BUrU^
•• T. — Tb.]
breit. But D''33733 without a verb cannot, like
"sTDH, in Ps. cxx. 6, be an accus., and to take it as
a predicate results in nonsense.'-'
Ver. 2 1 . And there will come up saviors, not
divine beings, for these would descend from above,
but the heroes who, through the deeds spoken of
in ver. 17 ff., have gained for the people their rights
(cf. Micah v. 4, 5 ; Neh. ix. 27), on mount Zion,
to judge the mount of Esau. tOQtff is the usual
expression for the dispensation of justice in the
name of Jehovah ; the judges are called inter-
changeably, D"'K:5tt7 and n•<V^'tp^'D (Judg. iii. 9,
15; i. 16, 18). The accus. stands here not, as
usually (Ifs. xliii. 1 ), for that to which right is se-
cured, but for that in which an example of justice
is exhibited. And the kingdom shall be Jeho-
vah's. Chald. : And the kingdom of Jehovah will
be manifested over all the lands of the earth. Ps.
xxii. 29 ; Is. xxiv. 23.
DOOTRTNAL AND ETHICAL.
The judgment of the world presupposes the sep-
aration between God's congregation and the world,
and is, as an objective crisis, the final consequence
and manifestation of this inner discrimination al-
ready experienced (cf. John iii. 18 f. ). The world-
power is the necessary complement to the commu-
nity of the saved. It is not given by an original
antithesis to the kingdom of God, but has developed
itself with the latter from the same natural ground,
and at the first stood in a fraternal relation with it.
Now, however, it stands in an independent isolation
over against it ; and, as lies in the very nature of
the case, the original connection, like a sting cleav
ing to the conscience, has sei-ved only to increase
the alienation. The opposition has in all points
amounted to polarization : the kingdom of God in
prostration, the world-power in secure defiance;
the kingdom of God in humility, this in pride ;
this in possession on the earth, that without pos-
sessions on earth, but having a refuge in the
heavenly Jerusalem ; this only an object of the
divine decrees, but that possessing the knowledge
of these decrees through the information of the
prophets. God's decree is the completion of his
kingdom, and so the removal of its enemies.
Hence the necessity for the judgment on the
world which takes place in the legal form of the
talio, the penalty exactly adequate to the crime :
the punishment of the world-power corresponds to
its sins, and its conduct towards the congregation
of God. If the harmony in the order of the world
is to be restored, a revolution of the existing most
unreasonable relation must take place ; the world-
power is stripped cf its possessions, the congrega-
tion acquires them, — that despised, this highly
esteemed. This j idgment is already indicated in
the nature of sin ; it executes itself so soon as
God once allows i„ deveio]jment to its final result,
and his saviors on Zion establish what has been
actually given. What is true they establish in
continuance ; what is naught, because it is against
God, they cast into annihilation. In prophecy,
this plurality of saviors, compared with tlie one
Saviour, represents the same prelimi'.iary stage as
is signified in the history by the previous period
of the judges, compared with the monarchy.
Obadiah (comp. the In trod.) occupies chronologic
cally the first place among the prophetic writerg
2 [See Textual and Grammatical c'a this verse. — Tb.]
14
OBADIAH.
and at once fits into the total organism of recorded
prophecy. For in this we may distinguish, accord-
ing to the relation between God and the world-
power, four periods : that in which the world is
represented by the neighbm-ing nations (Obad., Joel,
Amos) ; the Assyrian (Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Na-
hum) ; the Babylonian (Habakkuk, Jer.) ; the
universal^ eschatological (Ezek., Hag., Zach., Dan-
iel). In each of those stages the preceding is
included anew, as Edom by Isaiah ; and thus
Assyria can appear still to Zachariah as repre-
sentative of the world. Egypt goes from the
patriarchal age through all the periods as type
of the world, and in allusion to the primitive his-
tory (Gen. xi. ) Babylon appears as such, in con-
nection with Assyria, even in Isaiah's time. That
in the first period, among the neighboring peoples,
Edom, in particular, stands forth energetically in
the foreground, has its reason (apart from the spe-
cial historical occasions stated in the Introd.) in
the entire scheme of the national hi.story. Edom,
as is manifest from the evidences before given, is
exactly fitted, as the brother nation of Israel, to
appear by preference as representing the attitude
of the world toward the kingdom of God ; and in
the relation of the patriarchs Esau and Jacob is
given the prototype of the historical development
which ends in the remarkable situation where the
Edomite, Herod, through his malicious mockery
of the true Israel, .Jesus, invokes the judgment on
his own head and race.
It lies in the nature of the case, that the historico-
dogmatical intimations in Ol/adiah were of funda-
mental importance for the later development.
Leaving out of view numerous, perhaps accidental,
allusions, we still find an extension of the ideas of
Obadiah iu Is. xxxiv. 6.3 ; Jer. xlix. 7 AT. ; Ezek.
XXV. 12 S., 3.5, in all which passages the prophecy
concerning Edom, reaching beyond the simple his-
torical framework, gains more and more of an
eschatological ch.aracter, and Edom becomes a type
of arrogant defiance against God. Hence the fur-
ther coincidences : the judgment upon pride (Obad.
2, comp. with Is. ii. V2 S. ; xiv. 2ft'.); the impos-
sibility of escape from God (Obad. 4, comp. with
Am. ix. 2ft.); the completeness of his judgment
(Obad. 6 comp. with Micah vi. 14 ft'. ; Jer. xlii.
15 ft.) ; the destruction of wisdom out of a people
which God judges (Obad. 8, comp. with Is. xix.
11 ff. ; Jer. 1. 36). The denunciation : for near is
the day of Jehovah (ver. 15, in Joel i. 15 ; ii. 1 ;
iv. 15; Is. xiii. 6; Zeph. i. 7; Ezek. xxx. 30).
The accurately corresponding penalty (ver. 15
comp. with Jer. 1. 15, 29; Joel. iv. 4, 7). The
cup of trembling (ver. 16 from Ps. Ix. 5 comp.
with Is. Ii. 17 f(. ; Jer. xxv. 26 ff. ; Zach. xii. 2ff.).
The deliverance on Mount Zion (ver. 17, comp.
with Joel iii. 5; iv. 17). Israel a consuming fire
(ver. 18, comp. with Am. v. 6). The summons:
for Jehovah hath spoken (ver 18, in Joel, Isaiah,
and Micah, nine times).
HoFiMANN : All people shall succeed in captur-
ing and misusing Zion, but they shall also be all
made to taste the bitterness of their iniquity, and
become drunk with their intoxicating wine.
Hengsteneero : The nature of Edom is hatred
against the kingdom of God, whereby their call-
ing upon the Lord and the Lord's calling them
is excluded. The individual, however, can leave
the community of his people, and so pass over
into the domain of saving gr.ace, as the example
of Rahab shows. The prophet is to call out to
the people of the covenant : SapirtiTe • ^yk veviKriim
rhv Kiaiiov The dagrant discrepancy between the
idea, according to which the kingdom of God
should be universal, and the reality, where it is
thrust into a comer, will be even aggravated hero
after. Erom this corner also will the people of
God he thrust. But death is the passage to life,
the extremity of persecution is the precursor of
redemption. The people of God shall not merely
experience restoration ; they shall possess the do-
minion of the world. Eor the ungodly heathen
world, on the contrary, their exaltation is the pre-
cursor of destruction. The kingdom will be the
Lord's, i. e., his previously hidden dominion will
now come plainly to light ; voluntarily or by com-
pulsion the people of the earth will acknowdedge it.
Ofthefuljillmeni: Hiekontmus : The Assyrians
and Babylonians have held subject everything as
far as the Propontis, and to the Scythian and
JEgean seas. If we read the historians of the
Greeks and the barbarians, we shall say that this
word of God (ver. 15) was fulfilled under the As-
syrians and Babylonians.
Keil : The fulfillment of the niin threatened to
the Edomites began in the Chaldaean period. The
devastation of Edom by the Chaldseans appears in-
disputably from Jer. xlix. 7 ff. ; Ezek. xxxv. comp.
with Jer. xxv. 9, 21 ; Mai. i. 3. The destruction
of the Edomites as a people was prepared for
through the Maccabees (1 Mace. v. 3, 65; Joseph.
j4n(., xii. 18, 1; xiii. 9, I; xiii. 15, 4). Having
thus already lost their national independence, they
experienced their total ruin at the hands of the
Romans. As regards the rest of our prophecy,
Edom filled up the measure of his iniquity against
Israel, the people of wonders, at the capture and
destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldseans (Ezek.
xxxv. 5, 10; Ps. cxxxvii. 7; Sam. iv. 22). But
the fulfillment of the threatening Keil cannot find,
with Caspari and others, in the subjugation of the
Edomites through the Maccabees, and the destruc-
tive expeditions of Simon the Gerasene (Joseph.
De Belt. Jud. iv. 9, 7). For the destruction of
Edom and the occupation of Seir by Israel must,
according to Numb. xxiv. 18, proceed from the
Ruler that shall arise out of Jacob, the Messiah ;
according to Am. ix. 11 f, not until the setting up
of the tabernacles of Judah that have fallen down,
and according to Obadiah, on the day of Jehovah,
at and after the judgment upon all peoples, will it
follow. According to this view, the fulfillment of
vers. 17-21 can belong only to the Messianic pe-
riod, so l;hat it began with the establishment of
the kingdom of Christ on earth, proceeds with its
extension among the peoples, and will be fully
accomplished with its hnal completion at the sec
ond coming of our Lord.
HOmXETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
The judgment of the world.
Introduction ; God has announced it through
his servants the prophets (ver. 1 ).
I. It strikes the haughty ones who despise God
(2 a, c) and trust, (a.) to fleshly supports, earthly
reserves, ivhich will not stand before God, but bo
destroyed utterly (vers. 2-6) ; (6.) to human helps
which on account of the selfishness of sinners
are converted into their opposite (ver. 7) ; (c.) to
human wisdom which, as opposed to God, becomes
folly (vers. 8, 9).
II. It is awarded because of the iniquity perpe-
trated against the people of God : (a.) of the ma-
lignant joy (ver. 12) ; (b.) of robbery and out-
rageous violence (ver. 15) ; (c.) of hatred so mnch
the more fanatical as it was more causeless ( vet
THE PROPHECY.
15
14) ; (d.) of the stifling of conscience through
intemperate appetites (ver, 16).
III. It ends with the salvation of the people of
God: (a.) HolyZion becomes the gathering point
of the saved (ver. 17). (6.) On earth a fire is
kindled in the hearts of the faithful, which burns
over the whole earth (ver. 18). (c.) The meek
will pbssess the kingdom of the earth (ver. 19).
{d.) The inhabitants of the earth become the
possession of God's people (ver. 20 a), (e.) On
the whole earth the children of God are gathered to
the congregation of God (ver. 20 b). (/.) Great
gifts are bestowed on God's congregation for the
guidance and deliverance of the congregation (ver.
21 a.), {g.) There comes to be one flock under
one invisible Shepherd (ver. 21 b).
Ver. 1 . The people of God have knowledge of
his counsels, even concerning the heathen nations
(cf. Am. iii. 3-8). Hence prophecy and the holy
word embrace the whole world. — Ver. 2. The
cause of the divine judgment is, from the begin-
ning, the pride which sets itself against God ( Gen.
xi. 4, cf. X. 8-10). — Ver. 3. This has for its root
the practical denial of God, the opinion that there
is none above it (Ps. xii. 14). — Ver. 4. Sin is the
severance of humanity ; selfishness makes sinners
the most hurtful enemies to each other. God
needs only to let them do as they please, and they
fulfill upon each other his judicial will. — Ver. 8.
Wisdom, which sets itself against God, confounds
itself; those who rage against Him, He makes
blind (Gen. xix.). — Ver. 10. The judgment in-
creases in severity, in proportion as the special
sins against the congregation are more aggravated
in their quality. Edom, as Jacob's brother, has
greater guilt than other nations ; Judaism has
greater guilt through unbelief than the heathen,
because Christ was born a Jew. — Ver. 1 1 ff. The
judgment will tear away the veil from the deeds
which man palliates to his own view, and show
them in their bare nakedness. — Ver. 15. God's
sentence individualizes : the special tendencies of
the perverted life reach their respectively corre-
sponding ends. For believers the judgment day is
always near. — Ver. 16. The law rests on this : 1
am the Lord thy God ; prophecy expands the view
over the whole world. In face of the law, every
one has to take heed to himself; in the judgment,
the relations of the congregation to the whole
world will become evident ; it alone can be God's
affair. Sin, in its extreme exaggeration, is itself
judgment; his own sin becomes to the sinner, in
its enjoyment, a loathing, and yet will hold him
with inevitable fetters, to remain in it, till it de-
stroys him. — Ver. 17. Zion, the place of deliver-
ance ; but only as a sanctuary, not for those who
after carnal birth, but those only who through
God's grace, have a claim to it. In them is (vei'.
18) the flame which consumes everything finite;
from Israel proceeds the judgment. Land and do-
minion of the true Israel must become his, because
it is promised him. — Ver. 20. He who belongs
to the house of God is in the world as a captive,
and will return. (Is. xliii.). — Ver. 21. God's
heroes are saviors, not destroyers. To Him be-
longs the kingdom always. No one may presume
to become his visible substitute in the kingdom of
God on earth.
Staeke : The circumstances of Obadiah's coun-
try and family are designedly passed over, that we
niay not rest and depend on the outward respecta-
bility of men, but derive the authority of such
prophecy, and the certainty of its issues, from God
»lone. Preachers miist be, not in name alone, but
also in fact, Obadiahs, i. e., servants of God (1
Cor. iv. 1). No one should take to himself the
power to teach in the church, unless he be called
m an orderly manner. Although it may appear
to human eyes that war arises out of accidental
causes, God is at work therein. — Ver. 2. As au-
thority and respect are a gift of God, so is con-
tempt a singular punishment. — Ver. 5. Those
who knowingly wage unjust wars are no whit
better than thieves and murderers. — Ver. 6 ff.
True friends have always been rare in the world.
It commonly happens that God brings up those
very ones with whom men have entered into alli-
ance against his people, that they, out of God's
just judgment, may be compelled to avenge the
iniquity which has been committed against God's
people. — Ver. 8 f The children of the world are
indeed wiser than the children of light, in their
generation, but when they suppose they are wisest
of all, God pours contempt on their endeavors.
It is also a gift of God when those who are at the
head of land and people are brave and prudent. — ■
Ver. 10. God is ill pleased when one rejoices
in another's affliction ; still more so when one
heaps upon the suffering more trouble and sorrow.
Men should not mock the miserable. — Ver. 11.
An old, deep-rooted enmity is not easily allayed :
Nescit metam inveteratum odium. — Ver. 15. The
retaliation which is administered by our dear God
is a strong and comfortable evidence of his pres-
ence. — Ver. 16. The holy mountain is the Church
of the true believers. To carouse upon this, is to
pursue revelry in sinning .against Christ's mem-
bers. God's judgment begins at the house of
God ; i. e., God seeks first his children with the
cup of affliction ; but the enemy must swallow the
dregs, and be destroyed. — Ver. 18. The power of
the holy gospel is like a fire, and God's word
sweeps like flames, before which the stubble o'
hypocrisy and human ordinances cannot stand.
Pfaff: Ver. 6. No punishment comes alone
when God attacks men with his might. In war
many judgments come together, as the spirit of
God here relates ; murder, robbery, infidelity of
friends, treachery, unwise and futile counsels,
despondency of the soldiery, etc. — Ver. 15. The
Lord's vengeance measures with the same meas-
ure ; take heed that thou measure not with an e^"^1
measure.
Ch. B. Michaels : Ver. 1. It is no empty re-
port, but the most certain of all, for we have
heard it from God. — Ver. 4. God makes possible
what to men is impossible. — Ver. 15. God has,
in punishment, as well as in kindness, his horas t(
moras.
P. Lambert : If any one thinks the book of
Obadiah too small, let him, nevertheless, not
despise it. Often, the less showy the vessel,
the more precious the contents. — On v. 21.
Now may ministers of God's word take notice
who they are, and what they ought to do. It
would be most appropriate for them to live and
.let conformably to their name ("Savior"), and
that can take place only by pure, true preaching
of the word of God with fear and trembling ; for
through that alone have we salvation in faith.
Hence they should see well to it, that they add not
their own petty, carnal inventions, lest they be
found corrupters rather than saviors of the faithful.
Would that the hour were come when, instead of
destroyers, there should be nothing but saviors in
all the world. For where such are received anc
supported, tlicre is nothing but blessing. For they
gather all the elect in the holy congregation, on
16
OBADIAH.
Zion, so that the dominion and all glory belongs
to the Lord and his annointed.
BnRK : On ver. 13. In an evil time every one
robs, as he finds opportunity, and then throws tha
blame of it on the times.
ScHLiEE : On ver. 10 fF. Judah had deeply
fallen, and little good was to be found in him, and
he richly deserved his chastisement. And yet God
allows not haughtiness to have its way upon even
a deeply fallen people ; He causes them to be chas-
tised, and sends nations as his scourge ; yet when
they exceed the proper bounds, and practice iniq-
uity, He undertakes for his people ; He remains
faithful even amid the unfaithfulness of men, and
visits Edom's wickedness upon him, even though
Judah deserved the chastisement.
RiEGER. — On ver. 2 S. : How is he whom his
heart has once deceived and seduced to haughti-
ness thus exposed to much other deceptions ;
for all the vanity with which he supports his high
thoughts will betray him, and cannot save him
against God, who resists the proud. — On ver.
17 ff. What has the Lord Jesus yet to accomplish
in heaven before all will be brought back and
restored, so as God has graciously predicted to his
servants, the prophets ! With great sorrow must
one see the confusion which now appears on the
earth, and how nothing but judgments seem to
await us; but amid it all, the promise of his
kingdom is our trust.
[Matt. Henry. — On ver. 2 : Those that think
well of themselves, are apt to fancy that others
think well of them too ; but when they come to
make trial of them, they will find themselves mis-
taken, and thus theiv pride deceives them, and by
it slaijs them. — Ver. 3, 4 : Carnal security is a
sin that most easily besets men in the day of their
pomp, power, and prosperity ; and does as much as
anything both to ripen men for ruin and aggravate
it when it comes. — Ver. 6 : Treasures on earth,
though ever so fast locked up, and ever so artfully
hidden, cannot be so safely laid up but that thieves
may break through and steal ; it is therefore our
wisdom to lay up for oursehes treasures in heaven.
— Ver. 7 : Those that make flesh their arm, arm
it against them. Those show they have no under-
standing in them, who, when they are encouraged
to trust in the Creator, put a cheat upon them-
selves by reposing a confidence in the creature. —
Ver. 8 : God will justly denj' those understanding
to keep out of the way of danger, that will not use
their understanding to keep out of the way of sin.
He that will be foolish, let him be foolish still. — A
nation is then marked for ruin, when God hides
the things that belong to its peace from the eyes of
those that arc intrusted with its counsels. Quoa
Deus vult perdere, eos dementat : God infatuates
those He designs to destroy. — Ver. 9 : The death
or disuniting of the mighty often proves the death
and destruction of the many ; and it is in vain to
depend upon mighty men for our protection, if we
have not an almighty God for us, much less if we
have an almighty God against us. — Ver. 11-14:
In reflecting upon ourselves, it is good to com-
pare what we have done with what we should have
done — our practice with the rule, that we may
discover wherein we have done amiss : have done
those things which we ought not to have done; we
should not have been where we were at such a
time ; should not have been in such and such com-
pany ; should not have said what we said ; nor
have taken the liberty that we took. Sin thus
looked upon in the glass of the commandment,
will appear exceedingly sinful. — We must take
heed with what eye we look upon the afflictions of
our brethren ; if we cannot look upon them with
a gracious eye of sympathy and tenderness, it is
better not to look upon them at all. — He that
joins in with evil-doers, and is aiding and abetting
in their evil deeds, shall be reckoned, and shall be
reckoned with, as one of them. — Those do but im-
poverish themselves that think to enrich them-
selves by the ruin of the people of God ; and those
deceive themselves who think they may call all
that substance their own which they can lay their
hands o?i in the day of calamity.
Dr. Puset. — On ver. 21 : And the kingdom
shall be the Lord's. Majestic, comprehensive sim-
plicity of prophecy ! All time and eternity, the
struggle of time, and the rest of eternity are
summed up in those three [Hob.] words. Zion and
Edom retire from sight ; both are comprehended
in that one kingdom, and God is all in all. The
strife is ended ; not that ancient strife only be-
tween the evil and the good, the oppressor and the
oppressed, the subduer and the subdued ; but the
whole strife and disobedience of the creature to-
wards the Creator — man against his God. —
Blessed, peaceful kingdom, even here in this val-
ley of tears and of strife, where God rules the
soul, freeing it from the tyranny of the world and
Satan and its own passions, inspiring it to know
Himself, the Highest Truth, and to love Him who
is Love, and to adore Him who is Infinite Majes-
ty !—Tb.]
THE
BOOK OF JONAH.
EXPOUITDED
PAUL KLEIl^TEET,
FABTOB AT ST. QBRTEAtTD, AND PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT THBOLOaT Dl THl
UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
TRANSLATED AND ENLARGED
CHARLES ELLIOTT, D. D.,
raonsaoB of biblical utebatukk in the pbesbttebian theolooical seuihabt at ohioaoo, [Lb
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
Aiteied according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, IDj
bOBlBNlSE, AkMSTBONG, AND CoMPANT,
to die Office of the Ubrarian of Congrea,, at Washington
JONAH.
INTRODUCTION.
I. Contents.
The prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai, receives a divine command to announce judg-
ment against the great city, Nineveh, whose wickedness had come up before Jehovah. He
attempts to evade the command by flight, and embarks in a, ship to go to Tarshish. A storm
rises on the sea. While the crew are praying, Jonah sleeps. But he is awakened ; and the
sailors perceiving in the fury [ UnbiW] of the storm a token of the divine wrath, cast lots, by
which he is designated as the guilty person. On being interrogated by the crew, he
acknowledges to them his guilt, and advises them to cast him into the sea, for the purpose
of appeasing the divine anger. They put forth ineffectual efforts to escape from danger,
without having recourse to this extreme measure, but finally follow his advice. (Chap, i.)
A large fish swallows Jonah. He thanks God that he is preserved in life ; and is, on the
third day, vomited out by the fish on the land. (Chap, ii.)
He now obeys the command of God, which comes to him the second time, and goes to
proclaim to Nineveh, that witliin forty days, it shall be destroyed on account of its sins.
But the Ninevites, with the king at their head, observe a great public fast,' and Jehovah
determines to withdraw his threatening. (Chap, iii.)
Jonah having waited for the issue in a booth over against the city, must have felt that the
effect [of the divine purpose to remit the calamity. — C. E.] would be to make his procla-
mation appear false. His displeasure, on this account, is heightened by an incident. A
plant [a palmchrist], which had rapidly shot up, had refreshed him with its shade. But
during the night it is destroyed by a worm; and when, on the day following, a scorching
wind augments the burning heat of the sun, Jonah despairs of life [" meint Jonah am Leben
verzweifeln zu milssen," thinks that he must despair of life]. But God had appointed this
incident for the purpose of showing him the unreasonableness of his displeasure. " Dost
thou have pity on an insignificant plant, and shall not I have pity on the great city ? "
(Chap, iv.)
n. The Historical Character of the Book.
The narrative indicates history ; for it designates its hero, not by a general or symbolical,
but by a historical name, — that of Jonah. And not merely tliis ; but it subjoins a patro-
nymic also, " the son of Amittai." Jonah, the prophet, the son of Amittai, is a historical person.
We learn from 2 Kings xiv. 25, that he was a, native of Gath-Hepher,^ which was, accord-
ing to Jewish tradition, as given by Jerome, in his preface to this book, a small village, two
miles from Sepphoris, called in his time Diocaesaria, on the road to Tiberias. [" Geth in
secundo Sephorim miliario, quce hodie appellatur Dioccesaria, euntibus Tiberiadem hand grandis
est viculus." — Hieronymus.] This description corresponds to the situation of the present
village of Meshad, north of Nazareth, where in fact a grave is pointed out as that of Jonah.
[Quaresmius, ii. 855 ; Robinson, Palestine, iii. 449 ; Bib. Researches, p. 140.] He foretold to
Jeroboam U. (b. c. 824-783) the success of his wars for the extension [the restoration of
1 ["TImn tine grosse sffentlicke Busst," perform a great public [act of] repentance. — 0. B.]
8 [The English version of 2 Kings xiv. 26, which reads . . . . " Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which wai
of Qath-Hepher," may be understood aa meaning that Jonah was merely a resident of that Tiliii^e ; but the Hebrew
preposition min, rendered of, lias, among other significations, that of source, or origin. See Geaenius' Hebrew Lexicoik
» T.— 0. B.]
JONAH.
the ancient boundaries. — C. E.] of the kingdom of Israel ; and was consequently an early
contemporary of the prophet Amos. In the relations of the book to the history of the times,
there is nothing to contradict the opinion that this was the period of Jonah's ministry [WVr-
Icungszeit]. Assyria, which, according to the statement of Herodotus, ruled Hither Asia 6ve
hundred and twenty years, was then a powerful empire ; and as Jeroboam's reign fills
within the last century of the Assyrian dominion, Nineveh must certainly have possessed,
at that time, the great extent which is assigned to it in this book, and which is also attested
by profane authors. The separate cities of which this great metropolis [ WeltstadQ was made
up, were also of a very ancient foundation. (Comp. with 1, 2.) And, if twenty yeare after
the death of Jeroboam, Menahem became tributary to the Assyrian king, Pul (2 K. xv. 19),
it is obviously no rash assumption to affirm that even in the time of Jeroboam the Assyrians
could not have been a strange people to the Israelites.
The more special historical characteristics, which an historical interpretation, something
more than acute, believes that it has discovered in this book, namely, that Jonah went on a
political mission to Nineveh, the nature of which it undertakes to determine (Forbiger, Gold-
horn), belong of course to the domain of fiction and hypothesis. To the same place we assign
the fables of the Rabbins, that can be gleaned in Carpzov (Introd. ii. 346), concerning the
person and history of Jonah, together with the ingenious combinations of the same history
with profane Mythology in Forbiger, Rosenmiiller, Friedrichsen, Baur, and, in part also, Hitzig.
So, then, even at an early period, the narrative of this book was considered historical. (The
earliest reference to it is found in Tobit xiv. 8, LXX.) The arguments which have been
riised against the historical character of the recorded events, reduce themselves (comp. 3
below) to the incredibility of the reported incidents of Jonah's life ; and on a closer exami-
nation (comp. 3, 7; 4, 6), to the incomprehensibility of the miracle of the fish, which, in very
early times, provoked mockery and jest. (Lucian, Verce Hist., i. § 30 f. ed. Bip. ; Augustini
Ep. 102, opp. ed. Migne, ii. p. 382.) They are consequently of a subjective nature. The
analogies adduced in support of this miracle may be adapted to facilitate belief in this
history, on the part of him who is inclined to believe, or who already believes, without such
aid ; but they will hardly convince the unbeliever [^Gegner] ; and they were evidently not in
the mind of the author, who undoubtedly intended to record a miracle, and not a natural
event. [" We feel ourselves precluded from any doubt of the reality of the transactions
recorded in this book, by the simplicity of the language itself; by the historical allusions in
Tobit xiv. 4-vi. 15, and Josephus, Ant., ix. 10, sec. 2 ; and by the accordance with other
authorities of the historical and geographical notices ; by the thought that we might as well
doubt all other miracles in Scripture as doubt these ( ' Quod aut omnia divina miracula cre-
denda non sint, aut hoc cur non credatur causa nulla .sit.' Aug. Ep, cii. in Qucest. 6 de Jona,
ii. 284 ; cf. Cyril. Alex. Comment, in Jonam, iii. 367-389) ; above all, by the explicit words
and teaching of our blessed Lord himself (Mat. xii. 39, 41 ; xvi. 4; Luke xi. 29), and by
the correspondence of the miracles in the histories of Jonah and the Messiah." — Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible, s. v. "Jonah." — C. E.]
[0. R. Hertwig's Tables : The historical truth of the narrative, assailed as early as the
time of Lucian, is defended on the following grounds : —
(1.) The numerous historical and geographical statements bear in themselves a genuine his-
torical character ; for
(a.) The mission of Jonah to Nineveh entirely agrees with the historical circumstancei
of his time.
(b.) The description of the size of Nineveh harmonizes with the classical accounts of
it. (Comp. Diod. Sic. ii. 3.)
(c.) The deep moral corruption is attested by Nahum.
(d.) The mourning of men and cattle (chap. iii. 5-8) is confirmed by Herodotus, ix. 24,.
as an Asiatic custom.
C2.) The fundamental idea of the book, and the psychologically faithful description of tie
personality of the prophet and of the other persons, — ship's crew and Ninevites, - ■
entirely exclude fiction.
Compare Harless (in his Zeitschr. fur Protest. 1851, xxi. 2) and M. Baumgarten.
(3.) The compilers of the Canon believed in the historical truth of the narratfve, and fo«
that reason received it among the prophetical writings.
(4.) The historical truth of the book is placed beyond all doubt by the words of Christ
Matt. xii. 39 ff. ; xvi. 4 ; Luke xi. 29-32.
INTEODUCTION. H
Compare Sack {Chrisil. Apol.) and Delitzsch. The belief of its historical characteJ
universally prevailed, not only in the Jewish Synagogue, but also in the Christian
Church, until the middle of last century. (Tob. xiv. 8 ; LXX. ; Joseph. Ant.)
In the last and present centuries the view that the book is a fiction was and has been
maintained : —
(1.) An allegory : v. d. Hardt, Less, Palmer, Krahmer.
(2.) A legend : Eichhorn. A tale : Augusti, Roman, Miiller, and others.
(3.) A myth, with Grecian (Forbiger, Rosenm., Friedrichsen), or with Assyr.-Baby 1. ele-
ments (Baur).
(4.) A moral didactic fable, or parable (Parcau, Gesen., Jahn, de Wette, Winer, Knobel
Niemeyer, Paulus, Ewald, and others).
(5.) A prophetic didactic fiction (Koster, Jager, Hitzig.) — C. E.]
m. Symbolical Character of the Book.
The main question is that which relates to the understanding of this book, not that con-
cerning its historical contents l^GehaW], which will be answered differently, according to the
degree in which the reader considers his conscience bound by the Jides historica of the Holy
Scriptures. Whether the events are taken from actual life or not, this much is evident, that
the record of them is not the proper aim [nicht Selbstzweck isl] of the book : it is intended
to communicate a deeper instruction in historical form.
That the book was written for the purpose of communicating such instruction is proved : —
1. From its position among the prophetical writings. The direct object of these writings is,
without exception, to convey instruction in divine truth. If it be said, that the book was placed
among the twelve Minor Prophets, because Jonah was its author, it may be replied, first, that of
its authorship by Jonah we have nowhere any mention ; and that, according to this rule, the
Lamentations ought also to be placed among the prophetical books. Just with as little propriety
can an argument be founded upon the fact that the book treats of the fortunes of a prophet,
for according to this rule, Micah and Malachi would have no place among the prophetical
writings ; while on the other hand the books of Moses, from Exodus to Deuteronomy, and a,
whole series of chapters in the books of Kings, would be entitled to a place among these
writings. If in the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, historical passages, or notices, are inserted,
it is done that they may form the frame-work of the prophecy, serve to make it intelligible,
and place it in organic connection with the facts ; but throughout these prophets the pro-
phetical element is the main part, on which the whole hinges. In the book of Jonah, on the
other hand, this could still less be the object, as his prophecy is revoked, and thus forms, in
the totality of the book, only a thing of passing moment [yoruhergehendes Moment']. More-
over, that historical additions should be found in a long series of prophetical discourses is
one thing, but that an entire independent book should be placed under this point of view, is
quite another thing. Evidently the compilers of the Canon considered the book a purely
prophetical one \_Rede'], whose historical manner of representation has the object of bringing
its instruction within reach and of making it easily retained.
2. We find confirmation of this by inspection of the book itself, in which certain instruc-
tive truths — of which more hereafter — force themselves on the notice of the reader, and
stand out so prominently that the interest of the narrator evidently does not attach to the
person of whom he speaks, but manifestly to the events of his life [_Ergehen dieser Person].
Precisely that, which, historically viewed, must appear the chief particular of the book,
namely, the sparing of Nineveh, is marked with proportionally the least emphasis.
3. In addition to these considerations, and in harmony M'ith them, is the style of the book.
This is anything but the historical style. The author neglects a multitude of things, which
he would have been obliged to mention had history been his principal aim. He says nothing
of the sins of which Nineveh was guilty, and which might have formed the motive for its
destruction ; nothing of the long and difficult journey of the prophet to Nineveh ; he is silent
about the early dwelling-place of Jonah, about the place where he was vomited out upon
the land ; he does not mention whether and when Jonah offered and pei-formed the offering
and vow, which he promised and made (ii. 10) ; neither does he mention the name of the
Assyrian king, nor take any notice of the subsequent fortunes of the prophet. In any case
the narrative, if it were intended to be historical, would be incomplete by the frequent
jccurrence that circumstances, which are necessary for the connection of events, are men
JONAH.
tioned later than they occurred, and only where attention is directed to them as having
already happened. Should the observations mostly presented by Goldhorn and Hitzig be
urged for the purpose of denying altogether that the Book of Jonah relates historical
events, they must be deemed inadequate ; but they certainly prove what Hengstenberg has
fully done, that the author communicates historical events only so far as the object requires,
to furnish an intelligible basis for the representation of a doctrinal object lying outside of
the narrative ; that the author, if he avails himself of the facts of history for his purpose,
has still employed historical data with discrimination, in the light of, and according to the
idea, which he intended to represent.
4. Circumstances are found so recorded, that without the supposition of a definite design
and bearing of the narrative, this form of narration would be incomprehensible. If Jonah
utters thanks in the belly of the fish, and not after he is safe on shore, then there is, unlesi
this arrangement of events is required by a definite design, a want of physical truth, which
cannot be concealed by any exegetical subtilty.
But the questions now arise, what are the design and teaching of the book ? and how are
they made available in the narrative ? Is it a single moral lesson, of which the entire nar-
rative is the foundation, after the manner of a didactic fable ? Or is the whole representar
tion symbolical, exhibiting a complete system \^Zusammen7iang'] of doctrines and ideas, a
delineation of an entire development in the Kingdom of God ?
In answer to the first of these suppositions it can be said, that a single tenet of revelation,
or of morality, is incongruous with the contents of the whole book. Each of the individual
tendencies advanced by Exegetes neglects one or the other part of the book, and can, there-
fore, not sufficiently explain the peculiar literary character of the whole. " There is no
didactic unity in the book.'' (Sack.) In the manifold apilications made of the book, the
doctrine has been discovered in it, that God cares for other nations also (Semler) ; that He
is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the heathen (D. Michaelis, Eiehhorn, Bohme,
Pareau, Gesenius, De Wette, Winer, Knobel, and many others) ; and the view of Gramberg
and Friedrichsen amounts to essentially the same thing, according to which the conduct of
the heathen and their treatment should serve as an example of repentance to Israel. But
according to these views the second chapter is entirely superfluous, and Friedrichsen, with
great difficulty, accommodates the first to them. The matter is not improved by discovering
in the book, in addition to instruction for the Jews, an admonition to toleration for the heathen.
(Griesinger). StiU less satisfactory are general truths, such as those that Niemeyer, Hezel,
Mbller, Meyer, Paulus, and others have found in the book : namely, " God's ways are not as
our ways." " The office of prophet is arduous, but of great worth " [_Kostlich']. "Jehovah is
kind and readily forgives." " God is ready to avenge and to forgive," etc. And, if convert-
ing the doctrine into a special aim \_Tendenz], Hitzig has developed the suggestions of Koster
and Jager to the view, that the book was written to remove the doubts which might attach
themselves to the non-fulfillment of prophecy (here, according to Hitzig, with special refer-
ence to the alleged non-fulfillment of the prophecy of Obadiah), then the great preparations
which were devoted to so insignificant an object, are not in keeping with it. Then chapters
iii. and iv. would be amply sufficient. In the homiletical and catechetical use of the book,
one must not leave unnoticed all those truths and definite purposes ; and he will also deter-
mine, on account of their multitude, to bestow increased esteem and consideration upon the
opulence of this little book, which, in four short chapters, discloses new contents to each
inquirer ; but even the multiplicity of the constructions put upon it \_Bestimmungen] proves
that none exhausts the contents of the book to the degree that one can attribute to it the
character of a didactic fable, or moral narrative.
There is a still more cogent argument. The book is, as we have seen, a prophetical ore.
But in all prophecy, this kind of narrative is nowhere to be met with. No narrative is found
fhere, which should solely have the object that the hearer, or reader, may draw ftwra it an
individual truth as a moral. On the other hand, it is quite a frequent kind of propheti-
cal composition to symbolize the past, present, or future destinies of a great community
in a single concrete form, so that this representative concrete appears in a whole series of
relations as a symbol of that community. Of this, the Vineyard, Isaiah, chap, v., is a familiar
example. Ezekiel, particularly, is full of such symbols, among wh"ch the figurative repre
sentation of the fate of Jerusalem, chap, xvi., and the allegorizing of Judah and Ephraim by
the two sisters, Aholali and Aholibah, are characteristic of this species of prophetic style
mTRODTJCTION.
And still nearer to our purpose stands the most profound symbolical discourse of the Old
Testament, Isaiah xl.-lxvi., in which everything, deserts, water, bread, light, Zion, are sym-
bols, and under all these symbols the comprehension of the Israelitish national community,
under the individual designation of the servant of God, occupies the highest place, since it
is explained by the spirit of prophecy as the type of the true Israel manifested in Christ.
That the book of Jonah is to be counted among these symbolical prophecies has by no
means escaped the notice of interpreters. The anticipation of it gleams through the words
of old Marck : " Scriptum est magna parte Mstnricum, sed ila ut in historia ipsa lateat maximi
alicinii mysterium, alque ipse fatis suis non minus quam effatis vatem se verum demonstret."
ft forms also the minimum of an originally right starting-point in the peculiar conceits,
whimsically embellished by the theological mythus, of Von der Hardt, that Nineveh repre-
sents Samaria, but that Jonah is an enigmatical name for the kings Manasseh and Josiah.
Here belong also Herder's attempt to represent Jonah as a symbol of the order of the proph-
ets, and Krahmer's view that Jonah was a warning example for his contemporaries.
On the same line, and equally removed irom the purely parabolical and purely historical
view, lies the attempt made by several modern divines and commentators, after the
example of Sack (in harmony with the common efibrt to guide the exegesis of the Old
Testament into the profound meaning of Scripture, and into the deep questions of the close
connection between the Old and New Testaments), to represent Jonah as a type of Christ.
Here particularly, we may mention Hengstenberg, Delitzseh, and Keil. (See below). This
typical view of the book has a strong claim to be received, if we consider the declara-
tion of our Saviour (Matth. xii. 40). But notwithstanding it may be said, first, that this
view does not embrace the whole book, but must, along with our Saviour's declaration, be
restricted to chapter ii. ; and again, that it shares the defects of every exposition of the Old
Testantent given entirely from the point of view of the New Testament ; and that it is not
suited to the peculiarity of the Old Testament standpoint, and to the independent signifi-
cance of the book in the collection of the Canon. It is in part not enough, namely, the
mere New Testament element ; in part too mucli, to wit, the discovery of the fulfillment
already in that which is preliminary. It is certainly true that the whole Old Testament
revelation receives light from the New Testament from first to last, which enables us to per-
ceive its teleological connection tending onward till it reaches the goal ; and yet each state-
ment and each book of the Old Testament, as a member of the organism of the Holy
Scriptures, has an aim peculiar to itself. And the frill authority of the typical interpretation
will then first come into the true light, when one places the genuine sense already drawn
from the contents of the book, under the light of the end, namely, the fulfillment. Let us
attempt an interpretation of the symbol, an interpretation standing upon its own, and that
an Old Testament foundation.
Jonah is a prophet ; his special mission in the book is a, prophetic one. There is in the
Old Testament only one community to which the prophetic vocation belongs, — namely, the
people of Israel. For the purpose that in him all the tribes of the earth should be blessed,
Israel was founded as a nation in his ancestor, Abraham (Gen. xii.), and God chose him as
his servant, to disseminate the light, the knowledge of God's law among the heathen. (Is.
xlii. 1). Jonah is Israel. Nineveh — in the view of the author of the book the type of a
great heathen city — is, in a similar relation, the representative of the heathen world, as are
moreover Babylon (Is. xiii. f), and Edom (Is. Ixiii.). It is selected here, because the con-
tact with Nineveh marks the decisive turning-point between the old time, when Israel, joy-
ftil in his strength, subjected the neighboring nations, and the new time, in which prophecy,
through contact with the Mesopotamian powers, became of a universal character ; because
their captivity among these nations, tliough at first a penal calamity determined upon them,
had the ultimate purpose of freeing the kingdom of God from the narrow limits of its national
foundation, and of preparing its dissemination over the whole earth.
Israel has the mission of preaching God's doctrine and law to the heathen world. But
he has a greater desire for gain and its pursuits. He shuns his calling and goes on board a,
.nerchantman. He abandons his intimate relation to Zion and hastens far away, where no ■
mission is assigned to liim, where he thinks that the arm of God cannot reach him, For it
also belongs to his ungodly prejudices to believe that God's arm and work are limited to the
holy land — a prejudice which already in Jacob, the ancestor whose character represents
typically the national faults, was to his shame rebuked (Gen. xxviii. 16 f.).
JONAH.
But God reproves the fugitive. In the terrors, which must fall upon him, according tc
the divine decree, Jonah does not seek God, but sleeps, while the heathen pray. All
heathen nations — the individual members of the crew represent nations, for they pray each
to his God (i. 5) — might, by their sincere idol-worship, administer a rebuke [zur Beschamuni}
dienen] to the godlessness of God's people, in their extreme distress. They cast the lot,
which brings death to him ; this they do not of their own choice, but by the appointment
of God, which they unconsciously follow. The lot falls for a war of extermination against
Israel. Jonah must announce his own fate. Israel has the law, which carries the curse in
itself, and, like a sword suspended by a horse-hair, hangs over the head of the nation (comp,
on Micah vi. 16); he has prophecy, which, confined to him, prophecies a calamitous end to
the whole nation (Micah iii. 12 i. 8). Jonah is thrown into the sea and swallowed by a
monster. The sea-monster is, by no means, an unusual phenomenon in prophetic typology.
It is the secular power appointed by God for the scourge of Israel and of the earth. (Is.
xxvii. 1 ; comp. on ii. 1.) Israel is abandoned to the night and gloom of exile, after the catas-
trophe of the national overthrow, because he neglected his vocation. Hence the fact that
Jonah prays and turns to God, before his deliverance from the fish's belly, receives an illus-
tration. In adversity Israel shall again seek God. In that which properly belongs to penal
sufferings, he shall nevertheless, at the same time, acknowledge the gracious hand of God
(Hos. ii. 16). He shall, also, in his miserable existence in a foreign land, not forget his holy
calling. He shall not forget that his preservation as a nation, though as outcast, is a saving
act of God. This becomes still clearer through the close relation, in which this prayer of
Jonah stands to the longing and lamentations in exile, of the people of God, e. g. Psalms xlii.
and Ixxxviii. in which also the deeps of the sea symbolize the misery of Israel.
There [in the deep] Jonah remains three days and three nights, a definite, but an ideal
time (comp. on ii. 1); a similar time, is allotted by Hosea, also, for the punishment of Israel
(Hos. vi. 2). Then the fish vomits him out; the exile must have an end, for God has
appointed the fish ; not of its own power and will did it swallow Jonah.
But with the hoped for restoration, the vocation of Israel is not revoked. Jonah is sent the
second time to Nineveh ; and he must preach that the heathen world shall perish ; for that ia
the will of God concerning the nations that do not obey Him (Micah v. 14). But Israel says,
What shall I preach ? It is truly cause for despair, that so much has already been prophesied
concerning the destruction of the heathen, and that it has come to nothing. They remain
peaceful and quiet. If my preaching accomplishes its object, they will be saved, for God is
merciful and gracious. (Comp. Zech. i. 11.) This instance \_Moment\ [of doubt and irresolu-
,4ion on the part of Israel. — C. E.] is also portrayed in the history of Jonah. Indeed, Jonah's
preaching works repentance, and, consequently, forbearance ; and reproach proceeds from his
icouth. God corrects him by the incident of the palmchrist. Thereby Israel, too, is instructed.
33iere lies in the sparing of Nineveh, before the correction of Jonah, the type of the future
ingathering of the multitude of the heathen before the Jewish people, which must first be
humbled and broken. (Comp. Micah iv.) And the prophet who wrote the history of Jonah,
has exhibited the ground of this future, momentous to his people, as one lying within the
Gift Testament knowledge of God and his kingdom ; in the mercy of God in view of repent-
ance, and in the obduracy of Israel against the divine goodness, which quarrels with God
instead of repenting. So must it truly come to pass, what Isaiah says (Ixv. 1), that God is
fouHd ®f those who sought Him not, and who were not called by his name. (Comp. Rom.
X. '2Q1)
Upen this teleological prophecy nothing more can follow ; the book naturally closes with
this according to our view. It becomes evident, according to this view, that the book is one of
universal tendency, and raises the idea of Israel to a height similar to that described, Isaiah
xl. if.; ^only that there the bright side fulfilled in Christ develops itself from the mission of
the servant. Though here the dignity of the mission is not less marked than there, yet the
natural obstacles in the character of the people are brought into the foreground, by which it
came to pass that the true Israel, at last, was not received by his own, and was crucified by
contemporary Israel. Further, the reciprocal relation is hence clearly exhibited, which the
symbolical (Character has had upon the treatment of the historical narrative ; and the his-
torical substratum upon the symbolical representation. There is no doubt that the truth to
be exhibited could have been more briefly and more directly explained in another way (,a8
dus holds good generally in the case of parables) ; but the author found, in a history ready to
INTRODUCTION.
his hand/ the pi-ofound idea, which the Spirit moved him to teach, and in order to do justice
to the historical, he made casual mention in the narrative, of much which, at the first glance,
might appear, from the point of view of a didactic object, as unimportant.
But on the other hand, it could not fail that his design to wcite symbolic history made him
indifferent to the pragmatic connection of the historical substratum in itself; hence the
chasms and the incompleteness of statement noted by Hengstenberg, as soon as the rule of
the historical style is applied to it.
Hence, finally, we learn from the book itself, its typical significance in relation to the New
Testament. That Israel, as he lives a unity in the complex of God's ideas [in der Ideenvjelt
GoUesI, is the type of Christ, is indubitable to every one who has once earnestly reflected
upon the wonderful harmony between the image of the servant of God (Is. xlix. fl'.) and Christ,
and who has sought to explore the concealed vein of Old Testament history, according to the
clear exposition of the Apostle Paul (Gal. iii. 16). If Jonah is a type of Israel, and Israel
a type of Christ, then the typical relation already traced out in Sack (see below), is sug-
gested between Jonah and Christ ; and the reference to this type, prominently presented in
Matt. xii. 40, comp. xvi. 4 ; Mk. viii. 11 f. ; Luke xi. 29 ff. ; John xii. 23 f , is only a single,
though the most important instance [Moment]. Indeed it is according to the intimation of
these passages, that as the sparing of Jonah in the belly of the fish and his subsequent preach-
ing of repentance (Luke xi. 32), were a sign to the Ninevites, which must bring to them faith
or judgment, so the preservation of Jesus in the grave, and the continued proclamation of
the Risen One, are a sign to the world of judgment and of faith, by which the separation of
mankind proceeds continually with inexorable power. Other relations can still be discovered
without forced interpretation. It seems to me particularly worth considering how the volun-
tary labors of the ship's crew (i. 13) did not gain the shore ; there was no peace until the
sin-offering consecrated by God was offered.
[The mission and vocation of Israel are set forth in Is. xlii. 6 : " I the Lord have called
thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a cove-
nant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." " This description is entirely appropriate,
not only to the Head, but to the Body also, in subordination to him. Not only the Messiah,
but the Israel of God was sent to be a mediator or connecting link between Jehovah and the
nations." Israel was " a covenant race or middle people between God and the apostate
nations." (Alexander on Isaiah, chap. xlii. 6.) Jonah commissioned by God to preach
against the great heathen city, Nineveh, is a type of Israel in his mission and vocation.
" The book of Jonah contains no prediction of a direct Christian import. But he is, in
his own person, a type, a prophetic sign of Christ. The miracle of his deliverance from his
three days of death in the body of the whale, is the expressive image of the resurrection of
Christ. Our Saviour has fixed the truth and certainty of this type. Matt. xii. 40.
" Further, tlie whole import of Jonah's mission partakes of the Christian character. For
when we see that he is sent not only to carry the tidings of the divine judgment, but also to
exemplify the grant of the divine mercy to a great heathen city ; that is, to be a preacher of
repentance; and that the repentance of the Ninevites through his mission, brings them to
know " affracious God, and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenting Him
of the eifl " (Jonah iv. 2) ; — without staying to discuss whether all this be a formal type of
the genits of the Christian religion, it is plainly a real example of some of its chief properties,
m the^manifested efficacy of repentance, the grant of pardon, .and the communication of
God's^ercy to the heathen world." (Davison on Prophecy, pp. 200, 201.) — C. E.]
[0 R. Hertwig's Tables : Without prejudice to its historical sense, the following authors
iidnit a symbolico-typical character of the Book : —
(ij' Keil, Del., Baumg., Hengst. : Jonah is a type of Christ. (Also the Church Fathers,
* Marck and others, on account of Matt. xii. 40.)
(2) Kleinert : Jonah is the representative of Israel in his [Israel's] prophetic vocation to
the heathen world. — C. E.]
t IV. Date.
On this point two deductions follow from the preceding exposition : first, that Jonah him-
,«elf could not have written this book ; second, that its composition is separated by a long
1 Compare H. Ewald, on the Poetical Books of the Old Testament in the Introduction to the Book of Job : the inven-
' Jon of a history from its inception, the production of a person intended to be historical, wholly from the imagination ol
fce poet, are entirely foreign to antiquity, because extremely forced and remote.
8 JONAH.
period from the time of Jereboam II., in whose reign its action falls. For disregarding the fact
that this manner of speaking of one's self in the third person, does not occur elsewhere in the
prophets, with the exception of Isaiah xxxvi.-xxxix., taken from an annalistic source, though
written by the prophet, and with the exception of short introductory headings to prophetic
passages (compare on the other hand, e. g., Ezekiel), and that it has also little probability,
the historical style is wanting to the book, and still more, there is wanting the character of
things experienced by the writer [selbsterlehter Dinge, self experienced things]. And indeed
it is not well to assume either that a man should make his own fortunes the subject of a sym-
bolical narrative, or that Jonah, according to the time in which he lived and the aggregate
condition of prophetic knowledge of that time, should see so clearly, portrayed in the won-
derful fortunes which happened to him, according to the narrative of this book, over its per-
sonal significance, the lines for the whole future development of the kingdom of God and its
relation to the heathen world, as they have been here exhibited in harmony with the pro-
phetic revelations, which developed themselves long after the time of Jonah in the vision of
the Babylonish exile ; especially because the book evidently does not advance the claim of
intending to make the announcement of a germinant, though not begun future, but to furnish
an understanding of the ways of God at the time present. We find that personification of
Israel, its relation to the prophetic mission and to the exile, first in Isaiah xl. fif., in the Lamen-
tations of Jeremiah, and especially so strongly marked in Ezekiel, that the author of this
book cannot be elevated to a grade of prophecy like this. It agrees with this, that the next
object of the book, according to the above acknowledged meaning of chap, ii., is exhausted in
rousing and bringing the Israehtes to the consciousness of their vocation, according as they,
in the Captivity and after it, were situated with reference to the heathen. It cannot even be
denied that the literary character of the book also gives it this place. That the psalm in the
second chapter is not a prayer repeated literally from memory, but a free reproduction (whose
relation to the object above stated, cannot escape the notice of the reader), is pretty gen-
erally acknowledged. " Not that he uttered just these words with his mouth, and placed them
in such order, for he was not in so happy a state as to compose so fine a hymn. But it is
therein shown how he felt ; what thoughts were in his heart, while he was engaged in the
hard struggle with death." (Luther.) The reproduction indeed depends upon passages in
the Psalter. And though it might be conceded that ver. 2 is not, as would appear at first
sight, borrowed from Psalm cxx. 1, written after the exile, but from Psalm xviii. 7, there still
remains a series of other verbal coincidences with Psalms xlii., Ixxxviii., and others, which, like
these Psalms themselves can only be explained from the side of the Captivity. Just so ia
the description of the repentance (chap, iii.), which the Ninevites engaged in by order of
their king, made up throughout of recollections of the prophetic mode of expression ; resting
not only upon Joel i. 20, but also upon Ezekiel xviii. 23 ; and in general a realization of
Ezekiel iii. 6. Not that thereby the historical character of this repentance would be
destroyed : we find here, as in the prayer (chap, ii.), views and special references that do not
admit of a general solution. But the mode of expression fixes the time of the exile as the
date of the book.
To this may finally be added some external peculiarities of language and representation.
The richness of the language and the use of words, likewise place the book in the times of
the later Hebraism. In common with Ezekiel and Jeremiah, it has the words not occurring
elsewhere: Plbo, mariner, i. 5 (Ez. xxvii. 9, 27, 29); iltPl?, i. 6 (comp. Jer. v. 2i') ; the
form i2~l, iv. 11, compare with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles ; the word "i^^jn i'i- '-'i ■^^i'''^
the signification to remove, to lay aside, compare with Chronicles and Esther. Further,
D^tp, iii. 7, in the sense of edict, and nD''rD, ship, i. 5, are words wholly foreign to the
Hebrew commonwealth of letters and of North-Semitic origin. And hence, also, other phe-
nomena of language, that were not impossible in the time of Jonah, but yet foreign to the
old prophetic style, gain importance, as for instance, the combinations, after the Aramaic
manner, of "ibttn, i. 12 ; ''Qv't»3, i. 7 ; and the simple W itself for IC'S, iv. 10 ; and also thrt
periphrase of the object-accusative by means of b, iv. 6. In however small a degree a;
determinate meaning can be ascribed to such phenomena in language in the small compass |
}f the realm of Hebrew literature, yet are they in nowise worthless, especially in a book \
whose author wholly omits to make any mention of himself. To this may be added the |
feet that an author in Jonah's time, in mentioning the city of Nineveh, would hardljj
i
i
uvrRODUCTION. 9
have found it necessary for the information of his readers, to subjoin : " and Nineyeh was a
great city," iii. 3 ; so finally, the phenomenon of our having obviously in chapters iii. and
iv. two accounts, which state essentially the same thing, the one in laconic touches, the other
in more minute details (a circumstance in the known style of oriental and popular narra-
tive, 'that in general need not surprise us), and which agree verbally and intimately blend
with one another. First account, C. iii., 1-5, 10; iv. 1-5. Second account, iii. 1-4, 6-10;
iv. 1-3, 6-11). This observation proves two diiferent things : first that we have to do, not
with a parabolic fiction, but with a fact historically transmitted several times. Secondly, so
long a space has intervened between the events and the record, that two traditions could be
formed in the mean time ; that therefore a later author, and not Jonah, has compiled this
account in systematic form. The unity of the book, which has been denied by Nachtigal,
with much ingenuity, is internally and externally quite indivisible. The word n''3t£7 con-
nects both the great halves in the most intimate manner ; everywhere we meet with certain
Btanding formulae CICI, ii. 1 ; iv. 6 fi". ; the great city, i. 2 ; iii. 3, etc.), and idioms (comp.
especially the peculiar form of the hysteron-proteron i. 5-10 ; iii. 6 f ; iv. 5) ; and the in-
ternal unity follows naturally from the interpretation given under 2.
To sum up, one cannot but ascribe the composition of the book to a contemporary and
fellow-sufierer of Ezekiel, to whom allusions most manifold have met us in the course of
exposition. But the positior^ which, it occupies among the oldest prophets, is easily explained
from the circumstance that the object of the narrative, and not the author, is kept in view,
and therefore Jonah, as the one who first came in contact with Assyria, properly precedes
Micah, that prophet who lived under the Assyrian oppression, during its middle period, and
Nahum, who announced definitely the fate of Nineveh.
Luther : Some would maintain, as Jerome shows, that this prophet, Jonah, was the son of
the widow at Zarephath, near Sidon, who nourished the prophet Elijah during the famine,
mentioned in 1 K. xvii. 10, and 2 K. xiv. 25. The reason they assign is, that he calls
himself here the son of Amittai, that is, a son of the true one, because his mother said to
Elijah, when he raised him from the dead : " Now I know that the word of thy mouth ia
truth " (1 K. xvii. 24). Believe that who will, I do not believe it ; but his father was called
Amittai, in Latin Verax (true), in German Wahrlich (true), and was of Gath-Hepher, which
city was in the tribe of Zebulun (Josh. xix. 13; 2 K. xiv. 25). The widow of Zarephath
was also a heathen, as Christ informs us (Luke iv. 26) ; but Jonah confesses here (chap. i. 9),
that he was a Hebrew.
I say this, therefore, that where we have the means, it is very well to know at what time
and in what country a prophet lived. For it has this advantage, that we can better under-
stand his book, if we know the time, place, person, and history [of that period]. We find
then that Jonah lived at the time of king Jeroboam, whose grandfather was king Jehu,
when king Uzziah reigned in Judah, when also the prophets, Hosea, Amos, and Joel lived
in the same kingdom of Israel, in other places and cities. We can infer how eminently
beloved a man Jonah was in the kingdom of Israel, and how God wrought by him a great
work, from the fact that through his preaching, king Jeroboam was so successful as to regain
all that Hazael, king of Syria, had detached from the kingdom of Israel, to which he had
done so great damage, that the prophet Elisha wept over it, before it came to pass (2 K.
viii. 11).
Whether Jonah counseled and assisted king Jeroboam before his experience in the whale,
and at Nineveh, or after his return from that city, cannot be shown from Scripture. But it
is probable that he first served and aided king Jeroboam in his country, until he had again
set up and established the kingdom of Israel. After this he is sent of God out of his own
country to Nineveh. For in his own country he had learned from experience how kind and
gracious God was to the idolatrous kingdom of Israel ; wherefore he expected that He would
also be as kind and gracious toward Nineveh, so that his proclamation would be in vain and
fiTiitless, as he himself confesses, and is angry thereat (ch. iv. 1, 2).
In short, such was the state of the world in the time of Jonah, that the supreme kingdom
or empire in it, was in Assyria, at Nineveh, as it was afterward at Babylon, and subsequently
*t Rome. Besides, there were at this time the other kingdoms, Syria, Israel, Judah, Edom,
Moah, each independent. The kingdom of Israel prospered under king Jeroboam on Jonah's
Mcount ; so the kingdom of Judah was prosperous under king Uzziah.
Sack : Jonah was saved from the depths of the eea, and preserved in the body of the sea-
10 JONAH.
monster, for the purpose of preaching repentance to th« Ninevites, a people with the common
mercies of Providence thrown around them, not by themselves, but by Jehovah. They
thereupon repent. This wonderful preservation for the effective preaching of repentance took
place, and was recorded just as it happened, that it might be a type of the Deliverer of the
nation, who also entered the depths of the earth, and yet was preserved, and within threo
days was made alive, and who was to perform the great work of " preaching repentance and
remission of sins among all nations" (Luke xxiv. 47), with results so much more victorious,
and under the opposition of Israel. Some one besides Jonah might have preached to the
Ninevites ; and Jonah might have been brought to do it in some other way than by a won-
derful deliverance ; the conversion of the Ninevites had also just as little need' of becoming
a portion of Biblical history, as so many transient returns of an ancient people to a better
state of piety, have had. But all this had to come to pass, because nothing nrore suitable
could be conceived whereby to typify the greatest deUverance, by means of which the most
successful sermon on repentance was to become possible. As Jonah's preaching to the Nin-
evites was against his will, so the preaching of Christ to the heathen was against the will of
Israel : they were awakened to repentance, and the Saviour could on that account say with
such significance : " No other sign shall be given to this generation than that of Jonah the
prophet," since through the possibility of the repetition of this sign, — the preservation in
the depths of the earth, — just the strongest proof of the reprobate character of this gen-
eration was given. This is not done away by the passage in Luke xi. 30, where that genera-
tion is directly compared with the Ninevites ; for this can refer only to the experience of
such wonderful deliverance, and does not destroy the contrast that runs through all these pas-
sages, between the baser Jews and the better ancient and modern heathen. (Comp. Matt.
viii. 11.) But the differences that Jonah remained alive and Christ was made alive; that
Jonah went against his will ; and Christ, out of love, commanded [his disciples] to preach to
all nations ; that Jonah afterward was angry thereat [God's sparing Nineveh], which was
exactly repeated in the case of Israel ; — all these are naturally founded on the history as such,
and vanish before the pervading similarity of the divine method of dealing before and after
the preaching to the heathen. Be it so, that before the appearance of the Saviour, pity to
the heathen, in a special manner, must have occurred to the readers of Jonah as the real
sense of the book ; after that appearance, mercy displaying itself, in the giving up and pres-
ervation of the Messiah, is taken as the true sense of Jonah ; and this sense is a historico-
typical one.
Keil : The mission of Jonah is a fact of symbolical and typical significance, which was
intended not only to enlighten Israel as to the position of the heathen world in relation to
the kingdom of God, but at the same time to typify the futm-e admission of the heathen, who
observe God's word, to a participation of the salvation prepared in Israel for all nations.
This, however, does not exhaust the deeper meaning of the history of Jonah. It reaches
still further and culminates in the typical character of the tliree days' sojourn of Jonah in
the belly of the fish, of which Christ informs us, when He referred the Jews to the sign of
the prophet Jonah, in the words : ''As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's
belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
(Matt. xii. 40.) In order to understand this type, that is to say, the divinely appointed con-
nection between the typical event and its antitype, we are furnished with a key in the answer
which Jesus gave, when, a short time before his passion, Philip and Andrew told Him, that
certain Greeks, among those who had come up to worship at the feast, desired to see Him.
This answer consists of a twofold statement (John xii. 23 £) : " The time is come that the
Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit;" and
xii. 32, " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." This answer
of Jesus amounts to this : that the time for the admission of the heathen had not yet
come ; but in the words, " the hour is come," etc., is contained the explanation, that the
heathen have only to wait patiently a little longer, since their union with Christ, with which
the reply concludes (ver. 32), is directly connected with the glorification of the Son of Man
(Hengstenberg, on John xii. 20). This declaration of our Lord, that his death and glorifi-
cation are necessary, in order that He m.T,y draw all men, even the heathen, to himself, or
that by his death He may break down the wall of partition, by which the heathen till then
had been shut out of the kingdom of God, at which He had already hinted in John x. 15, 16
INTRODUCTION. U
teaches ub to recognize the history of Jonah as an important, significant link in the chain of
development of the divine plan of salvation.
Niebuhr : By the way, we must call attention to the fact, that the threatened, but revoked
destruction of Nineveh, has reference likely to the shook wliich Nineveh suffered tliroun-h the
revolt of Media and Babylon, and which bears wholly the character of a postponed over-
throw of the kingdom. The destruction is to occur after forty days (years). Now Jonah,
the son of Amittai (2 K. xiv. 25), is mentioned in connection with Jeroboam II. (about 75-34
N.) as a pi'ophet. There is nothing said as to the time when Jonah lived. But as in those
times it was the rule for prophecies to have reference only to brief periods, it is probable
that Jonah was a contemporary of Jeroboam, and that he prophesied against Nineveh forty
years before the revolt of Media, which began some years prior to I. N.
[0. R. Hertwig's Tables give the following summary of views respecting the date of the
Book : —
Keil fixes it soon after the events recorded in it, and the return of Jonah to his native
land.
Others place it at a later time for the following reasons : —
(1.) The book contains Aramaisms, which indicate a later age than that of the events which
it records. (De Wette.)
(2.) Chapter iii. 3, supposes that the destruction of Nineveh had already taken place.
(Ewald.)
(3.) ii. 3-10, contains many reminiscences from the Psalms.
(4.) Chapter ii. 5, 8, supposes that the temple had been rebuilt. (Krahmer.)
For these reasons the following dates have been assumed : —
(a.) The time of the Assyrian exile. (Goldhorn.)
(6.) The time of Josiah. (Gesen., Eosenm., and Berth.)
(c.) The time of the Babylonian exile. (Jager, Kleinert.)
(d.) The post-exile period. (Jalin, Knobel, Koster, Ewald.)
(e.) After the year 515 B. c. (Krahmer.)
(f.) The third century. (Vatke, Bibl. Theol.)
Ig.) The time of the Maccabees. (Hitzig.) — C. E.]
[" It is the uniform tradition among the Jews, that Jonah himself wrote the history of his
mission ; and on this principle alone the boolc was placed among the prophets. For no books
were admitted among the prophets but those which the arranger of the Canon believed (if
this was the work of the Great Synagogue), or (if it was the work of Ezra), knew to have
been written by persons called to the prophetic office. Hence the Psalms of David (although
many are prophetic, and our Lord declares him to have been inspired by the Holy Ghost),
and the book of Daniel were placed in a separate class, because their authors, although
eminently endowed with prophetic gifts, did not exercise the pastoral office of the Prophet.
Histories of the prophets, as Elijah and Elisha, stand, not under their own names, but in the
books of the prophets who wrote them. Nor is the book of Jonah a history of the Prophet,
but of that one mission to Nineveh. Every notice of the prophet is omitted, except what
bears on that mission. The book also begins with just that same authentication with which
all other prophetic books begin. As Hosea and Joel and Micah and Zephauiali open, " The
word of the Lord that came unto Hosea," Joel, Micah, Zephaniah ; and other prophets in
other ways ascribe their books not to themselves, but to God, so Jonah opens, " And the
word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying." This inscription is an
integral part of the book ; as is marked by the word, " saying." .... The words,
" The word of the Lord came to," are the acknowledged form in which the commission of
God to prophesy is recorded. It is used of the commission to deliver a simple prophecy, or
it describes the whole collection of prophecies, with which any prophet was intrusted : " The
word of the Lord which came to Micah or Zephaniah." But the whole history of the
prophecy is bound up with, and a seq.uel of these words.
" Nor is there anything in the style of the prophet at variance with this.
" It is strange," continues Dr. Pusey, from whom these observations have been quoted,
"that at any time beyond the babyhood of criticism, any argument should be drawn from the
fact that the Prophet writes of himself in the third person. Manly criticism has been
ashamed to use the argument as to the commentaries of Ctesar, or the Anabasis of Xenophon.
However the genuineness of these works may have been at times questioned, here we were
on the ground of genuine criticism, and no one ventured to use an argi ment so palpably
12 JONAH.
Idle. It has been pointed out that minds so different as Barhebraeus, the great Jacobite his-
toriau of the east, and Frederick tlie Great, wrote of themselves in the tliird person ; as did
also Thucydides and Josephus, even after they had attested that the history in which they
so speak, was written by themselves.
But the real ground lies much deeper. It is the exception, when any sacred writer speaks
of himself in the first person. Ezra and Nehemiah do so ; for they are giving an account,
not of God's dealings with his people, but of their own discharge of a definite office, allotted
to them by man. Solomon does so in Ecclesiastes, because he is giving the history of his
own experience ; and the vanity of all human things, in themselves, could be attested so
impressively by no one, as by one who had all which man's mind could imagine.
On the contrary, the prophets, unless they speak of God's revelations to them, speak of
themselves in the third person. Thus Amos relates in the first person, what God showed
him in vision ; for God spoke to him, and he answered and pleaded with God. In relating
his persecution by Amaziah, he passes at once to the third : " Amaziah said to Amos : Then
answered Amos and said to Amaziah (Amos vii. 12, 14). In like way, Isaiah speaks of him
self in the third person, when relating how God sent him to meet Ahaz, commanded him to
walk three years, naked and barefoot ; Hezekiah's message to him, to pray for his people,
and his own prophetic answer ; his visit to Hezekiah in the king's sickness, his warning to
him, his prophecy of his recovery, the sign which at God's command Isaiah gave him, and
the means of healing he appointed."
Dr. Pusey instances the other prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, Moses ; in the New
Testament, St. John, who styles himself, when referring to himself, " the disciple whom Jesus
loved."
" As for the few words which persons who disbelieved in miracles selected out of the book of
Jonah as a plea for removing it far down beyond the period when those miracles took place,
they rather indicate the contrary. They are all genuine Hebrew words or forms, except the
one Aramaic name for the decree of the king of Nineveh, which Jonah naturally heard in
Nineveh itself
" A writer,' equally unbelieving, who got rid of the miracles by assuming that the book of
Jonah was meant only for a moralizing fiction, found no counter-evidence in the language,
but ascribed it unhesitatingly to the Jonah, son of Amittai, who prophesied in the reign of
Jeroboam II. He saw the nothingness of the so-called proof, which he had no longer any
interest in maintaining.
" The examination of these words will require a little detail, yet it may serve as a speci-
men (it is no worse than its neighbor.s) of the way in which the disbelieving school picked
out a few words of a Hebrew prophet or section of a prophet, in order to disparage the Gen-
uineness of what they did not believe."
I will condense Dr. Pusey's remarks on the words in question. The words are these : —
(1.) " The word seplnnah, lit. ' a decked vessel,' is a genuine Hebrew word from saphan,
covered, ceiled. The word was borrowed from the Hebrew, not by Syrians or Chaldees only,
but by the Arabians, in none of which dialects is it an original word. A word plainly is
original in that language in which it stands connected with other meanings of the same root,
and not in that in which it stands isolated. Naturally, too, the term for a decked vessel
would be borrowed by inland people, as the Syrians, from a nation living on the sea^shore,
not conversely. This is the first occasion for mentioning a decked vessel. It is related that
Jonah went in fact ' below deck,' ' was gone down into the sides of the decked vessel.' Three
times in those verses, when Jonah did not wish to express that the vessel was decked, he
uses the common Hebrew word, oniyyah. It was then of set purpose that he, in the same
verse, used the two words, oniyyah and sephinah.
2. " Mallach is also a genuine Hebrew word, from melach, salt sea, as dXtews, from oAs,
■ salt,' then (masc.) in poetry, ' brine.'
3. " Rab hachohel, ' chief of the sailors,' ' captain.' Rab is Phoenician also, and this was
a Phcenician vessel. Chobel, which is joined with it, is a, Hebrew, not Aramaic word.
4. " Ribho, ' ten thousand,' they say is a word of later Hebrew. It occurs in a Psalm of
David and in Hosea.
5 '' Vith'axhehalh, ' thought, purposed,' is also an old Hebrew word. The root occurs in
Job, a Psalm, and the Canticles. In the Syriac it does not occur, nor in the extant Chaldee,
in the sense in which it is used by Jonah.
1 Favliu.
INTRODUCTION. 13
6. " The use of the abridged forms of the relative she for asher, twice in composite words
beshellemi, beshelli (the fuller form, baasher lemi, also occurring), and once in union with the
noun shebbin.
" There is absolutely lio plea whatever for making this an indication of a later style, and
yet it occurs in every string of words, which have been assumed to be indications of such style.
It is not Aramaic at all, but Phoenician and Old Hebrew. In Phoenician, esh is the relative,
which corresponds the more with the Hebrew in that the following letter was doubled, as in tha
Punic words in Plautus, syllohom, siddoberim, it enters into two proper names, both of which
occur in the Pentateuch, and one, only there ; Methushael, ' a man of God,' and Mishael, the
same as Michael, ' Who is like God ? ' Ut. ' Who is what God is ? ' Probably it occurs also
in the Pentateuch in the ordinary language. Perhaps it is used more in the dialect of North
Palestine. It is frequently used in the Song of Solomon. In Ecclesiastes it occurs sixty-
six times. Of books which are really later, it does not occur in Jeremiah's prophecies,
Ezekiel, Daniel, or any of the six later of the minor prophets, nor in Nehemiah or Esther.
Tt occurs only once in Ezra, and twice in the first Book of Chronicles, whereas it occurs four
times in the Judges, and once in the Kings, and once probably in Job.
7. " Manah, ' appoint, or prepare,' occurs in a Psalm of David.
8. " Taam, ' decree.' This is a Syriac word, and accordingly, since it has now been ascer-
tained beyond all question, that the language of Nineveh was a dialect of Syriac, it was, with
a Hebrew pronunciation, the very word used of this decree at Nineveh. The employment
of the special word is a part of the same accuracy with which Jonah relates that the decree
was issued, not from the king only, but from the Icing and his nobles, one of those minute
touches which occur in the writings of those who describe what they have seen.
" Out of the eight words, or forms, three are naval terms, and since Israel was no seafaring
people, it is in harmony with the history, that these terms should first occur in the first
prophet who left the land of his mission by sea. So it is also, that an Assyrian technical
term should first occur in a prophet who had been sent to Nineveh." (Pusey's Introd. to the
Book of Jonah.)
The writer of the article on Jonah, in Kitto's Biblical Cyclopcedia, is of the opinion, that
the Chaldaisms in the book may be accounted for by the nearness of the Canton of Zebulon,
to which Jonah belonged, to the northern territory, whence by national intercourse Aramaic
peculiarities might be insensibly borrowed. — C. E.]
V. Literature.
Separate Commentaries. — [M. Luther, Der Proph.Jona ausgel., Wittenb., 1520. 8vo.
— C. E.] J. Leusden, Jonas illuslratus (Obadiah), Traj., 1656. 12mo. A. Pfeiffer, Prmlec-
tiones in Proph. Jonce, Viteb., 1671. 4to (3 vols. ibid. 1701). Job. Gerhardt, Adnolatt. in Amos
el Jonah, 3m., 1^16. 4to. P. A. Christianus, /onas iWustratos, Lps., 1683. J. Cocceius, Comm.
in Jonam, in 0pp. t. iii., Erancof ad M., 1689. H. A. Grimm, Der Prophet Jonas auf, s
Neue iibersetzt, mit erlduternden Anmerkungen, Diis'seld., 1789. Sibthorp, Auslegung des
Bucks Jona, Stuttg., 1843. Fr. Kaulen, Lib. Jonce expos., Mog., 1862.
Treatises and Monographs. — H. v. d. Hardt, Jonas in Carcharia, Helmst., 1718 ; Jonas
sub Sillicyprio, H. 1718 ; Mnigmata Jonce, H. 1719 ; Elias, Elisa, Jonas ex Hist, et Geogr. vetere
restituti, H., 1719 ; Das Licht Jona aus der Geschichte der Gessvriter, H. 1720 ; JEnigmata prisci
Orbis, H. 172 J. V. Seelen, Examen hypolh. exeg. de Jona cenigmatico, in meditt. exegg., Lub.
1732. J. Th. Lessing, Observationes in vatt. J. et Nahumi., Chemn., 1780. Th. E. Piper,
Biss. Critico-biblica, Historiam J. a Recenliorum Conatibus Vindicatam sisiens, Gryph., 1786.
Thaddaus Adam, Die Sendungsgesch. d. Proph. Jonas, Kritisch untersucht u. v. Widerspru-
chen gerettet, Bonn, 1786. J. Ch. Hopfner, Curarum critt. exegett. in LXX. vers. vatt. J.
specimen, Lps., 1787, f. 4. B. Kordes, Observationum in Oracc. J. specimen, Jenae, 1788. H.
Bcnzenberg, Ein Paar Recensionen aus Herzensgrund, Frkf u. Lpz., 1789. L. N. Fallesen,
Prophetie Jonas, in Magazin for Religionslarere, Kjobenh, 1792, Bd. 2. H. C. Griesdorf, De
verisimillima I. Jonce interpretandi Ratione, W., 1794, 2 Th. Paulus, Zwech der Parabel Jonah,
in den Memorabb., 1794, S. 35-38. J. G. A. Mbller, Jonah eine moralische Erzdhlung ; ibid.
S. 157 f. J. C. Nachtigall, Uber das Buch mit der Aufschrift Jonas, in Eichh. Bibliothek,
1799, S. 221 ff. Sonnenmayer, Meine Ansicht der Stelle Mali... xii. 38 £f. in Augusti, s. Mon-
3tschrift, 1S02. 1, 4, S. 255 fif. J. D. Goldhorn, Excurse zum Buch Jonas, Lpz., 1803. J. H.
Verschuir, De Arijumento Libelli Jonas, ejusque Verilate Historica, in 0pp. ed. Lotze, Traj., 1810.
14 JONAH.
P. Friedrichsen, KritiscTie Vhersiclit der verschiedenen Ansichten Uber Jonas, Lpz., 1817; 3
Aufl., 1841. J. C. Reindl, Die Serdungsgesch. des Propheten Jonas nach Nineveh, Bamb.,
1826. Forbiger, Comm. de Lycophr. Cassandri v. 31-37, cum epimetro de Jona, Lps., 1827.
Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, 1834, n. 27-29. G- Laberenz, De vera Libri Jonce inierpretatione,
Fuld., 1836. Cb. F. Bobme, Uber das Buck Jonah, in Illgens Zeitschr, 1U36, I. S. 195 flf.
F. Cb. Baur, Der Prophet Jonas, ein assyrisch-babyloniscAes Symbol., Ebendas. 1837, 1. 90 fF.
A. W. Krahmer, Der Schriftforscher, I. Kassel, 1839. Jiiger, Uber den sittlich-religiosei}
Endzweck d. B. J. u. s. w. in der (Baur-Kern'sclien) Tijb. Zeitschr., 1840, I. 35 ff. F. De-
litzsch, £'toas uber das Buch Jonah ; in tbe Rudelbach-Guericke'schen Zeitschr., Lpz., 1840,
n. M. Baumgarten, Uber die Zeichen des Propheten Jonas, ibid., 1842, 11. 1 f. . . . Vgl. aus-
serdem, Semler, Apparat. ad Liber. V. T. Interpretationem, p. 269. Niemeyer, Charakteristik
der Bibel, Tbeil 5. Eicbborn, Einleitung (4 Aufl.), 1823, f. sec. 576 ff. Pareau, Institui.
interpret, 1822, p. 534. Sack, Christliche Apologetik, 1826, S. 345 ff. M. v. Mebuhr,
Geschichte Assur's und Babel's, 1857 ; Beilage iii., Jonah und Nineveh, S. 274 ff.
Devotional and Practical. ^ — Lavater, Predigten uber das Buch Jonas, Zurich, 1773, 2
Aufl. in 2 B'anden, Wintertb. 1782. Hoselen, Jonas Bekehrtes Ninive, 54 Reden, Lpz., 1816.
Ed. Neander, Der Prophet Jona. Predigten, Mitau, 1842. Quandt, Jonas der Sohn Amithai,
Berlin, 1866. [See Gen. Lit. of tlie Minor Prophets.— C. E.]
[Hugh Martin, The Prophet Jonah : His Character and Mission to Nineveh, London and
New York, 1866. Patrick Fairbairn, Jonah : His Life, Character, and Mission, viewed in
Connection with the Prophet's own Times, and Future Manifestations of God's Mind and Will
in Praphecy, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1849. — C. E.]
JONAH.
CHAPTER I.
The Prophefs Commission to preach against Nineveh, and his Attempt to evade it
(jrers. 1-3). A Violent Storm arises ; Alarm of the Sailors ; Means adoptea
for their Safety ; Detection of Jonah ; he is thrown into the Sea, and is swal-
lowed hy a Fish (vers. 4-16). — C. E.]
1 Now [And] the word of the Lord [Jehovah] came unto [was communicated to]
2 Jonah,^ the son of Amittai.^ Arise," go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry * [pro-
3 claim] against it ; for ^ their vi^ickedness is [has] come up before me. But [And]
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord [Jehovah], and
went down to Joppa ; and he [_omit, he] found a ship '^ going to Tarshish : so he paid
[and paid] the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish
4 from the presence of the Lord [Jehovah]. But [And] the Lord [Jehovah] sent
out ' a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty [great] tempest in the sea,
6 so thsit [and] the ship was like to be broken.^ Then [And] the mariners ^ were
afraid, and cried every man [each] unto his god, and cast forth the wares ^'' that
were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.';'' But [And] Jonah was gone
down [had gone down] into the sides [the interior] of the ship ; " and he lay, and
€ was fast asleep. So [And] the shipmaster '^ came [came near] to him, and said
unto [to] him, "What meanest thou, O sleeper ? Arise, call upon [to] thy God, if
so be that [perhaps] God ^' will think upon us, that we perish not [and we shall
7 not perish]. And they said every one to his fellow [to each other], Come, and
let us cast lots, that we may know [and we shall know] for whose cause " [on ac-
count of whom] this evil is upon us. So [And] they cast lots, and the lot fell upon
8 Jonah. Then said they [And they said] unto [to] him. Tell us, we pray thee, for
whose cause this evil is upon us ; ^^ What is thine occupation ? and whence com-
9 est thou ? what is thy country ? and of what people art thou ? And he said unto
[f.o] them, I am an Hebrew ; and I fear the Lord [Jehovah], the God of heaven,
10 which [who] hath made [omit, hath] the sea and the dry land. Then were the
men [And the men were] exceedingly afraid, and said unto [to] him. Why hast
thou done this ? '^ [What is this thou hast done ?] For the men knew that he
fled [was fleeing] from the presence of the Lord [Jehovah], because he had told
11 them. Then said they [And they said] unto [to] him. What shall we do unto
thee, that the sea may be calm unto us [may subside from against us] ? for the sea
wrought and was tempestuous ■'^ [was increasing and rushing tempestuously].
12 And he said unto [to] them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, so shall
the sea [And the sea shall] be calm unto you [subside from against you] : for I
18 know that for my sake'^ this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless [And] the
men rowed '^ [broke through, viz., the waves] hard to bring it to the land [to bring
to land] ; but they could not, for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous [was in-
14 creasing and rushing tempestuously] against them. Wherefore [And] they cried
unto [to] the Lord [Jehovah], and said. We beseech thee, O Lord [O now Jeho-
vah], let us not perish for this man's life,^ and lay not upon us innocent blood :
15 for thou, 0 Lord [Jehovah], hast done as it pleased thee. So [And] they took up
Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea : ind the sea ceased [stood] from its raging.
16 JONAH.
16 Then [And] the men feared the Lord [Jehovah] exceedingly, and offered a sacri-
lice unto the Lord [Jehovah], and made vows.
TEXTUAL AND GEAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — n31*', Jonah, signifies a dove.
[2 Ver. 1. — *^PDH, Amittai, means veracious, or truthful.
[8 Ver. 2. — E3*lp, arise, used before another verb as a term of excitement.
[4 Ver. 2. — M~lp, cry, proclaim in the manner of a herald, or prophet.
[6 Ver. 2. — ^"2. for, may be used here as the relative cot^unction that; bat it probably assigns a l«a8on for tb<
Smmand, and hence it is rendered because.
[6 Ver 3- — n^3M, s/iip, generally any large merchant-ship.
[7 Ver. 4. — v'^tOn Hiphil of ^^tC. to throw down at full length, to prostrate.
TB Ver. 4. — "n^tj^n^ nDtJ^n, used metaphorically of inanimate things ; to be about to do, or suffer: the skip was
tAout to be broken, was on the point of foundering. Geeenius' Heb. Lex. sub ^C£?n,
[9 Ver. B. — Q'^n vSn, the mariners, from H 70, salt, the quality of the water which they navigate.
[10 Ver. 5. — 0*^73 vessels, a general term comprehending wares. The suflx DH refers to the persons, not to the
wares.
[11 Ver. 5. rr D''D&n '^nS'n^, the sides, or two sides of the vessel. Sephincth is derived from Saphan, to cover ;
It signifies a decked vessel.
[12 Ver. 6. — bn'nn nn, the master of the rope-men.
[13 Ver. 6. — DTI vSn, the god, with the article.
[14 Ver. 7. — ''ttvU^B for that which is to whom ; compounded of the preposition D, the relative pronoun tJ7, con-
tracted from "IK'S, the preposition 7, and the interrogative ''S2.
fl6 Ver. 8. — The words ^li^ nt^-TH nDlil ''uP "lti7S2, are omitted in two of Kennicott's MSS. in the
L T - T T T . : v -; -'
Boncin. edition of the prophets, and in the Vatican copy of the LXX. . and Kennicott's MS. 164, omits "^p /• Henderson.
[16 Ver. 10. -— rVWV nS-T"ntt what is this thou hast done ! not, why hast thou done this ?
[17 Ver. 11. — 7] vin, going, "1J?b, tossing : they are both participles.
[18 Ver. 12. — "^ vU^D, on my account, compounded of the preposition i, the relative t27, contracted as in T. 7, the
preposition V, and the pronomioal suffix '^.
[19 Ver. 13. — ^"l]^n*1j broke through, "^nn signifies to break through a wall, and metaphorically to break
through the waves.
[20 Ver. 14. — t£?5DS for the sake of the soul, or life, aa in 2 Sam. xiv. 7- See also Deut. six. 21. — 0. E.]
EXKGBTICAL AND CRITICAI.
Ver. 1-3. The Command and the Flight. Com-
pare on ver. I the Introduction, § 2, p. 13.
" The narrative begins, according to usage, with
the copula [conjunction vav. C. E.], because every
event in time follows upon an antecedent one ; and
the record of that event is always only a continua-
tion of something prior, and separately considered
forms a fragment. (Hitzig, Compare Ruth i. 1 ;
1 Sam. i. 1.)
["From the circumstance that the book com-
mences with the conjunction \ commonly rendered
and, some have inferred that it is merely the frag-
ment of a larger work, written by the same hand ;
but though this particle is most commonly used to
connect the following sentence with something
which precedes it, and is placed at the beginning of
\listorical books to mark their connection with a
foregoing narrative, as Ex. i. 1 ; 1 Kings i. 1 ; Ezra
'. 1 ; yet it is also employed inchoatively where
there is no connection whatever, as Ruth i. 1 ; Esth.
1. 1 ; and, as specially parallel, Ezek. i. 1. It serves
no other purpose in such cases than merely to
qualify the apocopated future, so as to make it rep
resent the historical past tense." ( Henderson, Com.
on Jonah, chap. i. 1.)
" This form, ' And the word of the Lord came
to — , saying,' occurs over and over again, stringing
together the pearls of great price of Gbd's revela-
tions, and uniting this new revelation to all those
which had preceded it. The word And, then joins
on histories with histories, revelations with revela-
tions, uniting in one the histories of God's works
and words, and blending the books of Holy Scrip-
ture into one Divine book." (Pusey, Com. on Jo-
nah, chap. i. 1.)
" Sometimes a book commences with the relative
past form of the substantive verb, in consequence
of the writer's viewing it as the continuation of a
preceding one (Lev. i. 1 ; Num. i. 1 ; Josh. i. 1 ;
Judg. i. 1). Books are also found to commence
in this manner which have no actual reference to a
preceding one; in such cases the writer plunges at
once in medias res, regarding what he i.s about to
record as connected to foregoing events, at least in
the order of time (Ezek. i. 1 ; Jonah i. 1 ; Buth i.
1 ; Esther i. 1). (Nordheimer's.fle6. Gram. Syntax,
§976, 2). — C. E.]
CHAPTER I.
n
Ver. 2. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, on the
left bank of the Tigris, is called the great city,
KOT ^{ox^i'i here as in Gen. x. 12, where the addi-
tional clause, " the same is a great city," includes
the four previously, separately named cities, which,
in a wider sense, constituted the city of Nineveh.
It was, according to Diodor. ii. 3, the greatest
city of antiquity. Its circumference was four hun-
dred and eighty furlongs — one hundred and fifteen
iirlongs greater than that of Babylon. Its diam-
eter was (Herodotus, v. 25) ' [?] one hundred and
fiity furlongs; consequently a good day's jour-
nej. Upon its walls, 100 feet high, flanked with
fiftien hundred towers, each two hundred feet high,
four [some say three, C. E.] chariots could drive
abreist. The three days' journey, which, accord-
ing ti) chap. iii. 3, one could travel within the city,
cannot appear an incredible statement, if we con-
sider tiat It tilled, together with the adjoining cities
united to it by the same fortifications, the whole
space between the rivers Tigris, Khosr, the Upper
or Greai Zab, the Gasr Su, and the mountainous
boundarr of the valley of the Tigris on the east ;
and that the rubbish and ruin covered mounds,
which inJicate the locality of the desolated city,
and which for twenty-five years have been accessi-
ble to the investigations of learned men, occupy
an area of about eighteen square miles [German
miles=37SEng. sq. miles — C. E.) Comp.Ewald,
Bib. Jour., X. 52 ff ; J. Oppert, Exp^d. Scientifique
en M€sopotanie, Paris, 1862, ii. 67, 72, 82 f. ; M. v.
Niebuhr, HiM. of Assyria and Babylon, p. 274 ff.)
[Nineveh, iceording to Gen. x. 11, was built by
Nimrod. The verse should probably be read :
"Out of that land he [Nimrod] went forth into
Asshur [Assyria], and builded Nineveh, and the
city Rehoboth and Calah." According to the
Greek and Reman authors, it was founded by
Niuus, the mythical founder of the Assyrian em-
pire ; and its name appears to be derived from his,
or from that of an Assyi'ian deity, Nin, correspond-
ing, it is conjectui-ed, with the Greek Hercules. In
the time of Jonah, it had probably attained to its
greatest extent. It formed a trapezium, and con-
sequently could have no one diameter. Its sharp
angles lay towards the north and south, and its
long sides were formed by the Tigris and the moun-
tains. The average length was about twenty-five
English miles ; the average breadth, fifteen. This
large extent of area includes Nineveh in its broad-
er sense, which was a union of four large prime-
val cities. Nineveh proper, including the ruins of
Kouyunjik, Nebbi Yunas, and Ninua, is situated
at the northwestern comer, near the Tigris. Nim-
rud, supposed to be the later capital, and which, in
the opinion of Rawlinson, Jones, and Oppert, was
the ancient Calah, is at the southwestern corner,
between the Tigris and Zab ; a third large city,
which is now without a name, and which has been
explored least of all, is on the Tigris itself, from
three to six English miles to the north of Nimrud i
and the citadel and temple-mass, now named Khor-
sabad, is situated on the Khosr. (Compare Keil
and Delitzsch on the Minor Prophets; Kitto's Bib-
Ucal Cyclopedia ; Smith's Dictionary of the Bible ;
Layard's Nineveh and its Remains; Rawlinson's
Berodotus, Book I., Appendix, Essay vii.) — C. E.]
Preach against it is God's command to Jonah ;
that is, go and deliver to its face, a call f» re-
pentance [Eine Busspredigt]. He does not say,
preach merely concerning it ; for Jonah, as other
1 [Harodotua mmtions Nineveh, Bjok I. 103, 106, 185,
IMi Bookn. 160. — 0. E]
prophets did, could have done that in his own land.
Neither does he say merely to it ; for that would
have been expressed by ^^ or v. But God will
have him preach against Nineveh, because its wick-
edness had come up before Him as in former times
the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah had dona
(comp. Gen. xviii. 21, with Gen. vi. 5).
Ver. 3. Jonah arose, but to flee,, and that from
the presence of Jehovah, that is, from the people
and land of Israel, to which he imagined the pres-
ence of God to be limited, as Jacob, when he was
astonished at discovering the presence of God bC'
yond the home of his father [Vaterlichen Erde].
(Gen. xxviii. 16.)
[" The belief in the omnipresence of God was a
part of the faith of Abraham's house. And that
God was even present here he did not first learn on
this occasion (as Knobel seems to think), bat it is
new to him that Jehovah, as the covenant God,
revealed Himself not only at the consecrated altars
of his fathers, but even here." (Lange on Gen.
xxviii. 16.)
" It has been asked, ' How could a Prophet im-
agine that he could flee from the presence of God ? '
Plainly he could not. Jonah, so conversant with
the Psalms, doubtless knew well the Psalm of
David, ' Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, and
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? ' He could
not but know, what every instructed Israelite knew.
And so critics should have known that such could
not be the meaning. The words are used, as we
say, 'he went out of the king's presence,' or the
like. It is, literally, he rose to flee from being in
the presence of the Lord, i. e., from standing in
his presence as his servant and minister." {Intro-
duction to the Prophet Jonah, by the Rev. E. B.
Pusey, D. D., p. 247.)
Dr. Pusey illustrates his interpretation by a large
number of references to the use of the expression
''JDv'D, in the notes to the passage quoted above.
The explanation of Keil and Delitzsch [Com. on
Jonah, chap. i. 3) is essentially the same : " from
the face of Jehovah, i, e., away from the presence
of the Lord, out of the land of Israel, where Je-
hovah dwelt in the temple, and manifested his
presence (comp. Gen. iv. 16) ; not to hide him-
self from the omnipresent God, but to withdraw
from the service of Jehovah, the God-King of Is-
rael."
Henderson {Com. on Jonah, chap. i. 3), says:
" niiT; '^55, which strictly means the face, per-
son, or presence of .Jehovah, is sometimes employed
to denote the special manifestation of his presence,
or certain outward and visible tokens by which He
made Himself locally known. Thus God prom-
ised that his presence C*?©), i. e., the sensible tokens
of his presence, should accompany the Hebrews on
their march to Canaan (Ex. xxxiii. 14. Comp.
Ps. ix. 3 ; Ixviii. 2, 8). It is also employed in ref-
erence to the place or region where such manifesta-
tions were vouchsafed, as Gen. iv. 14, where it
obviously signifies the spot where the primitive
worship was celebrated, and -sensible proofs of the
divine favor were manifested to the worshippers
(1 Sara. i. 22; ii. 18; Ps. xlii. 3(2)). In like
manner, the place where Jacob had intimate com-
munion with God, was called by that patriarch
/S'^3Q, the face, or manifestation of God (Gen.
xxxii. 30 ) . The interpretation, therefore, of David
Kimchi, " He imagined that if he went out of the
land of Israel, the spirit of prophecy would iiof
18
JONAH.
rest upon him," is perhaps not wide of the mark.
Jarchi to the same effect : " The Shekinah does
not dwell out of the land." Though, as Theodoret
observes, he well knew that the Lord of the uni-
verse was everywhere present, yet he supposed that
it was only at Jerusalem he became apparent to
men ; imoKoiix^dvoiv Se '6jj.ws iv fj.6vT) '\epov<ra\^ix
auThv TTOietaQai t^v iirt<f>dp€tai/." — C. E.]
The psychological motive of the flight is not
mentioned. That which Jonah assigns (chap, iv,
2), is hardly to be considered with Keili as prag-
matically exact and sufRcient, since in that place
it rather makes the impression of being an attempt
to palliate a guilty conscience, which is glad to
seize upon even the semblance of right. His con-
cern for the time being, was to throw off obedience
to God, and ibr that purpose various motives —
ease, indolence, and fear of men — concurred, —
state of mind of which every servant of God can
readily conceive from the analogy of his own expe-
rience. That he actually intended an entire aban-
donment of duty, the circumstance that he fled as
far as possible proves.
To Tarshish, or Tartessus,'^ which was the most
remote of the Phoenician trading-places known in
the Old Testament, and situated not far from the
mouth of the Bsetis (Guadalquivir). He takes the
direct road thither, first to Joppa, which, in the
time of Solomon (2 Chron. ii. 16), was a well-
known seaport on the Mediterranean (Josh. xix.
46), for the purpose of there embarking in a ship,
whose appointed fare ('^'^3'?') he paid.
Ver. 4-16. God arrests Jonah. Jehovah, from
whom Jonah intends to flee, is Lord of the sea,
and the winds are his servants (Ps. civ. 4). One
of these servants he sends forth in haste into the
sea to draw Jonah from his purpose.
Ver. 5. The sailors, heathen from different na-
tions, do what behooves honest and prudent men :
they pray and resort to the usual precautionary
measures, by throwing the wares into the sea, in
order to unburden themselves of them. (2n^7l7l2
does not refer to the wares, but to the ship's com-
pany (Ex. xviii. 22).) But he, whom the storm
particularly concerns, deems himself secure in the
sides of the ship, )'. e., in the hold (corap. Am. vi.
10; Is. xiv. 15). There he is fast asleep. "Tarn
quietus est et animi tranquilli, ut ad navis interiora
descenders somno placido perfruatur," (Hierony-
mus.) The verbs in the last sentence of the verse
should be rendered in the pluperfect, as in the last
clause of verse 10. ["Jonah had gone down into
the hold, and had there fallen fast asleep." — C. E.]
[This act of Jonah is regarded by most com-
mentators as a sign of an evil conscience. Marek
1 [" The motive of his tlight was not fear of the diificulty
of carrying out the command of God, but, as Jonah him-
self says in chap. iv. 2, anxiety lest the compassion of God
should spare the sinful city in the event of its repenting.
He had no wish to cooperate in this ; and that not merely
becanse ' he knew by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that
the repentance of the Gentiles would be the ruin of the
Jews, and as a lover of his country, was actuated not so
much by envy of the salvation of Nineveh, as by unwilling-
ness that his own people Bhould perish,' as Jerome supposes,
but also because he really grudged salvation to the Gentiles
and feared lest their conversion to the living God should
infringe upon the privileges of Israel above the Gentile
world, and put au end to its election as the nation of God."
(Keil and Delitzsch, Com, on Jonah, chap. i. 3, and note at
the bottom of the page.) — 0. E.]
2 [Calvin is of the opinion that Tarshish means Cilicia,
supposes that he had lain down to sleep, hoping
the better to escape either the dangers of sea and
air, or the hand of God ; others that he had thrown
himself down in despair, and being utterly ex-
hausted and giving himself up for lost, had lalleo
asleep ; or as Theodoret expresses it, being troubled
with the gnawings of conscience and overpowered
with mourning, he had sought comfort in sleep
and fallen into a deep sleep. Jerome, on the other
hand, expresses the idea that the words indicate
"security of mind" on the part of the prophet
" he is not disturbed by the storm and the sur-
rounding dangers, but has the same composed
mind in the calm, or with shipwreck at hand;"
and whilst the rest are calling upon their gods,and
casting their things overboard, " he is so calm and
feels so safe with his tranquil mind, that he goes
down to the interior of the ship and enjoys a most
placid sleep." The truth probably lies between
these two views. It was not an evil conscieace, or
despair occasioned by the threatening of danger,
which induced him to lie down to sleep ; aor was
it his fearless composure in the midst of the danger
of the storm, but the careless self-secuiity with
which he had embarked on the ship to flee from
God, without considering that the hard of God
could reach him even on the sea, and punish him
for Ills disobedience. This security is apparent in
his subsequent conduct." (Keil and Delitzsch,
Com. on Jonah, chap. i. 5).
Pusey and Cowles intimate that he may have
been fatigued by his journey to Joppa, and that
" sorrow and remorse completed what fatigue be-
gan."—C. E.]
Ver. 6. But God knows where tc find each one
(comp. Am. ix. 2). The captain [vDH colleot.]i
came to him and said : What meanest thou, O
sleeper ? Hieronymus : " Quid tu sopore deprim-
eris ? Vox stupentis et acriter reoarguentis, ac si
dtxlsset : qucenam est tihi tanti sopoTis causa et ratio
et excusatio ? cum procella somnum omnem satis i7i-
terdicat et vigUiam exigat peticulun ? " — Marck.
Arise, pray to thy God. Perhaps God" will
thini upon us, think mercifully that we perish
not (compare the derivatives of the root t^WS
(Job xii. 5 ; Ps. cxlvi. 4). The heathen is obliged
to admonish the servant of God of his duty, and
to remind him of the fact that his God is a merci-.
ful God.
[Pusey quotes from Chrysostom the following
passage : " The ship-master knew from experience,
that it was no common storm, that the surges were
an infliction borne down from God, and above hu-
man skill, and that there was no good in the mas-
ter's skill. For the state of things needed another
the principal city of which was Tarstis, the native place of
the Apostle Paul. But it is now generally agreed that it
was Tarshish in Spain. The name occurs in Gen. x. 4,
among the sons of Javan, who are supposed to have peopled
the southern parts of Europe (comp. P.s. Ixxii. 10 ; Is. Ixvi.
19). In Ezekiel xxvii. 12, and Jeremiah x. 9, it is men-
tioned as sending to Tyre silver, iron, tin, and lead. It ifl
mentioned in Isaiah, chap, xxiii. in connection with Tyre.
In several passages of the Bible, " ships of Tarshish " are
spoken of, e.^pecially in connection with Tyre. The name
is probably of Phoenician origin. — C. E.]
3 [The Hebrew is Dn7Sn, the God. The German re-
tains the article, Der Got't'. Pxisey : " He does not call
Jonah's God, thy God, as Darius says to Daniel, thy flodj
but also ttu God, acknowledging the God whom Jtoall
worshipped to be the GoJ." — C. B.]
CHAPTEE I.
19
Master, who ordereth the heavens, and craved the
guidance from on high. So then they too left
oars, sails, cables, gave their hands rest from row-
ing, and stretched them to heaven and called upon
God." — C.E.]
Ver. 7. But God intends to make a complete
exposure of Jonah. [Luther fills up, in an ingen-
ious way, the break in the continuity of thought
between vers. 6 and 7. On a momentary survey
of the evil, which he had caused, Jonah was filled
with such a pungent feeling of repentance and con-
fusion, that he is speechless from deep compunc-
tion, and does not, because of shame, find courage
to make an open confession, because he considers
the disgrace intolerable. Therefore God must suf-
fer still something more to come to pass, in order
to drive him to confession.] i The lot falls upon
him. " Fugiiivus hie sorte deprehenditur, non vlri-
Ims sartium, sed voluntate ejit3, qui sortes reynbat in-
certas" (Hieronymus.) [The fugitive is detected
by lot, not from any virtue in lots themselves, but
by the will of Him, who governs uncertain lots.]
Ver. 8. His own confession must convict him,
that he intended to ttce from a God, of whose wide,
unUmited power he could not bo ignorant (Matt.
xii. 37).
[" When Jonah had been singled out by lot as
the culprit, the sailors called upon him to confess
his guilt, asking him at the same time about his
country, his occupation, and his parentage. The
repetition of the question, on whose account this
calamity had befallen them, which is omitted in
the LXX. (Vatican), the Soncin. prophets, and
Cod. 195 of Kennicott, is found in the margin in
Cod. 384, and is regarded by Grimm and Hitzig
as a marginal gloss that has crept into the text.
It is not superfluous, however, still less does it oc-
casion any confusion ; on the contrary, it is quite
in order. The sailors wanted thereby to induce
Jonah to confess with his own mouth that he was
guilty, now that the lot had fallen upon him, and
to disclose his crime (Ros. and others). As an
indirect appeal to confess his crime, it prepares the
way for the further inquiries as to his occupation,
etc. They inquired about his occupation, because
it might be a disreputable one, and one which ex-
cited the wrath of the gods ; also about his parent-
age, and especially about the land and people from
which he sprang, that they might pronounce a safe
sentence upon his crime" (Keil and Delitzsch,
Com, on Jonah, chap. i. 8).
" Questions so thronged have been admired in
human poetry," St. Jerome says. i"or it is true
to nature. They think that some one of them will
draw forth the answer which they wish. It may
be that they thought that his country, or people,
or parents, were under the displeasure of God.
But perhaps more naturally, they wished to " know
all about him," as men say. These questions
must have gone homo to Jonah's conscience 'What
is thy business ? The office of prophet which he
had left. Whence oomest thou ? From stand-
ing before God as his minister. "What thy ooun-
tiry, of what people a.rt thou ? The people of
God, whom he had quitted for heathen ; not to
win them to God, as He commanded ; but not
Rowing what they did, to abet him in his flight.
Ver. 9. " Jonah answers the central point to
*hich all these questions tended : ' I am a He-
Jrew.' This was the name by which Israel was
known to foreigners. It is used in the Old Testa-
1 [Though it does not appear that Jonah confessed his sin
to the captain of the ship, yet there is no reason to doubt
that h« obeyed the awakening call (wr. 6). — (J. B.J
ment, only when they are spoken of by foreigners,
or speak of themselves to foreigners, or when the
sacred writers mention them in contrast with for
eigners." (Pusey, Com. on Jonah, chap. i. 8, 9.)
" He does not say a Jew, as the Targum wrongly
renders it; for that would have been false, .since he
was of the tribe of Zebulun, which was in the
kingdom of Israel, and not of Judah ; nor does he
say an Israelite, lest he should be thought to be in
the idolatry of that people, but a Hebrew, which
was common to both" (Dr. Gill, Com. on Jonah,
chap. i. 9).
And I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven,
which made the sea and dry land. SH'* has been
rendered correctly by the LXX. a-iffo/iai, colo, re-
vereor ; and does not mean " I am afraid of Je-
hovah against whom I have sinned " (Abarbanel).
By the statement, " I fear," etc., he had no inten-
tion of describing himself as a righteous or inno-
cent man (Hitzig), but simply meant to indicate
his relation to God, — namely, that he adored the
living God who created the whole earth, and, as
Creator, governed the world. For he admits di-
rectly after, that he has sinned against this God,
by telling them, as we may see from ver. 10, of his
flight from Jehovah. He had not told them as
soon as he embarked in the ship, as Hitzig sup-
poses, but does so now for the first time, when they
ask about his people, his country, etc., as we may
see most unmistakably from ver. 10, b. In ver. 9,
Jonah's statement is not given completely ; but the
principal fact, namely, that he was a Hebrew and
worshipped Jehovah, is followed immediately by
the account of the impression which this acknowl-
edgment made upon the heathen sailors ; and the
confession of his sin is mentioned afterwards as a
supplement, to assign the reason for the great fear
which came upon the sailors in consequence."
(Keil and Delitzsch, Com. on Jonah chap. i. 9.) —
C. E.]
Ver. 10. The heathen perceive the bearing and
extent of this confession. Danger teaches to take
heed to the word (Is. xxviii. 19). [See the Hebrew
and Luther's German translation of Is. xxviii. 19.
— C. E.] Great fear of the great God, who pursues
them closely [is at their heels] seizes upon them.
The second half of the verse is an explanatory
clause added by the narrator, from which it is evi
dent that the reply of Jonah (ver. 9), does not give
the exact words that he uttered, but only their sub-
stance in condensed form. Indeed, if the question
(10, a), is admitted to be intelligible, he must have
told them of his flight.
[What hast thou done ! Jp"''?? D^^-rnO,
is not a question as to the nature of his sin, but an
exclamation of horror at his flight from Jehovah,
the God of heaven and earth, as the following ex-
planatory clauses, ISI, ^Vl"^ ^3 clearly show.
The great fear which came upon the heathen sear
men at this confession of Jonah, may be fully ex-
plained from the dangerous situation in which they
found themselves, since the storm preached the
omnipotence of God more powerfully than words
could possibly do." (Keil and Delitsch, Com. on
Jonah, chap. i. 10.) — C. E.]
Ver. 11. Still more evident is it from this verse
that Jonah must have told them that he was a ser-
vant of God consecrated by a special call ; for they
do not cast him into the sea immediately, but ap-
ply to him with a kind of awe for instructions whai
to do. Moreover, afterward (vers. 13, 14), they
exert themselves most strenuously to bring him to
20
JONAH.
land, to preserve his life for the execution of his
divine commission ; and only when they do not
succeed, do they throw him into the sea.^
The participle 'iT2'~'i ^r- H, frequently stands
as an auxiliary verb, with the idea of continuance,
increase : the sea continued to rage (2 Sam. iii.
1 ; XV. 12).
Ver. 12. Jonah pronounces his own sentence.
" Non tergivcrsatur, non diasimulatj rum negat, sed qui
confessus erat defuga pcenam lihenter assumit se cu-
viens pertre ne propter ae et ceteri pereaTit." ( Hierony-
mus.) [He does not refuse, or prevaricate, or
deny ; but having made confession concerning his
flight, he willingly submits to the punishment, de-
siring to perish, and not [to] let others perish on
his account.] With the same resignation, with
which the prophets are accustomed to announce
the sad fate of their nation, he utters his own sen-
tence as a divine oracle, and joins with the tone
of prophecy the promise of deliverance.
Ver. 13. The holier he seems to the men, the
greater is their dread of putting him to death.
Will not God have mercy upon them, if they re-
store him again to the mission, from which he
was intending to escape, if they put him on
shore 1 They row hard [ ^~IFin?1, literally, broke
through, namely, the surging waves] to bring the
ship to dry land ; Cyrill : irpoaKeT^aL r^v vavv' the
object can be omitted as being easily understood,
a usage common to the German. ^ But they do
not succeed. It must be evident to them that the
word of the prophet must indeed be accomplished.
He is a servant [Mann] of Jehovah, whom they
are about to sacrifice ; therefore it is natural that
they should pray, not to their own gods, but to Je-
hovah to pardon them because of the victim.
Ver. 14. — O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for the sake of the soul of this
man. "^1^ has not arisen from WJ'^S (Keil)
whereby a useless accumulation of synonymous
words would arise, but it is the usual particle of
entreaty, contracted from S3"nS, which is just
as readily joined with positive requests (2 Kings
XX. 3). The 3 pretii [the beth of price, reward,
exchange. — C. E.] stands here as in Micah i. 5.
The added petition, impute not to us innocent
blood, does not mean, suffer us not to destroy
in this man an innocent person (Hitzig) ; but vW
]n3 has the meaning of imputation and retribu-
tion. Against them Jonah had done no wrong;
with respect to them he is guiltless ; and in his
mission as a prophet, he stands or falls to his God
alone : this they feel ; no worldly power has a right
to pass sentence upon the prophet of God ( Jer. xxvi.
19). [N^p3 is irregularly written with H, as in
Joel iv. 19.] But God showed them that they
must serve Him as his executioners. For thou,
O Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee. Thou
hiist determined it. This is their justification.
The lot and the word of the prophet are to them
the finger of God.
1 [Perhaps it ia too much to assume that the strenuous
Sfforts of the sailors were put forth principally to effect the
landing of the fugitive prophet ; they had reg.ard to their
own safety, as the casting of Jonah into the sea proves. —
C. B.]
2 [The literal translation of the Hebrew is, '' They rowed
hard to bring to the dry land." The object of the verb ren-
lered to toring, namely, ship, is omitted. — C. E.]
Ver. 15. The prediction of the prophet is ful-
filled. The sea stood stUl [ceased] from its rag-
ing.
Ver. 16. The result of the fulfilled prophecy
is that the fear of God on the part of the heathen
manifests itself in action : they offer a sacrifice and
make vows, — the sacrifice immediately, the vows
for the time of landing.
[According to the Rabbins, Grotius, and some
others, they did not actually offer a sacrifice, but
only purposed to do it before Jehovah, i. e., at Je-
rusalem; but it is more natural to conclude that
they sacrificed some animal that was on board, and
vowed that they would present greater proofs of
their gratitude when they returned from their voy-
age. Michaelis thinks they intended to perform
their vows when they reached Spain.
u Quin; ubi transmisscR steteri^U trans aquora dosses;
Et positis arts jam vota in litore solves,^^ — .^neid iii. 403.
Henderson's Com. on Jonah, chap. i. 16. — C. E.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.4
See Introduction iii. p. 16.
HOMILKTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
There is no escape from the Almighty God. Foi
(1.) He has so arranged the world, that the work
of every individual is counted upon ; and his work
is not allowed to stand still, but must be accom-
plished. Ver. 1, 2. (2.) Distance is no protection
against Him ; for to Him belong heaven and earth,
the sea and the dry land. Ver. 3, f. 9. (3.) To
Him the winds and waves are subject ; for He has
made all things. — Ver. 4, 9. (4.) To Him also
are subject everywhere, in involuntary fear, the
erring hearts of men (ver. 5, 6) ; whoever, then,
expects to find in them a refuge against God, is
deceived. (5.) Even things seemingly accidental
must obey Him, whenever He intends to carry out
his purpose. — Ver. 7. (6.) Everything, however far
from, or near to Him it may be, must finally be-
come an instrument in his hand (ver. 11-15), and
cooperate for the glorifying of his name. Ver. 16.
V er. 1 . Whoever would speak the word of God
to others, must have received it himself. For the
office of the ministry a regular call is requisite.—
Ver. 2. Let no man say, that there is, or can he
anywhere, a sphere of life so distant, that Go.d can
entirely lose sight of it. The Lord has always
an eye and a heart for those also, who are with-
out. And he who would be his servant and has
not such a heart, is a servant like Jonah, that
is, an undutiful one. Tlie sins of Nineveh are not
specified. The savage desire for wars and thirst for
conquest, which characterized the Assyrians, were
certainly sins enough before God ; yet there may
have been others. God's call to repentance is
always a call of grace ; his call of grace always
a call to repentance. Jonah and Paul, Rom.
i. 5. — Ver. 3. What God appoints to thee to
do, do it without gainsaying. He who gives the
burden gives also the shoulders to bear it. He
who flees increases the burden. He who flees from
God is foolish and commits folly. Jonah must
8 [See Henderson's Cnm. jn Jonah, i. 14, and Geseniurf
Hebrew Lexicon, 8. v. — C. E.]
4 [For the heading of this part of the Commentary,
Kleinert has chosen the compound word Reir/is^edanken,
which means thoughts connected with the history and de-
velopment of the kingdom of God. His reasons for chooB-
ing this term in preference to dosmatisch-etkiscke Grtmd^e
danken are given in the Preface, pp. vi., vii. — 0. B.]
CHAPTER I.
21
have known in his heart that it is impossible to
escape irom God (ver. 9). It so happens that if,
regardless of Divine direction, we take our own
coarse, we will afterward be obliged to acknowl-
edge ourselves blind and foolish. — Ver. 4. Had the
Book of Jonah originated from heathen fables, as
some, assert, the Lord would not have sent the wind
upon the sea; but the god of heaven [Jupiter]
would have made an alliance with the god of the
winds [jEolus] and with the god of the sea [Nep-
tune] against Jonah. How simple and sublime is
the religion of the Old Testament ! Distress
teaches to pray. If thou dost not know and teach
this, thou wilt always be a poor comforter. If the
Lord seizes thy heart with violent alarms from
anguish of conscience, throw thy wares into the
sea. What is thine must perish, and if thou dost
not surrender it, thou must thyself suffer ship-
wreck. — Ver. 6. It is a sad thing and a bad sign,
if the unbelieving, and those in the congregation
weak in faith, must tell the minister what becomes
him to do. Happy he whose conscience is awak-
ened and quickened by an admonition so shameful
to him. Of whom the Lord thinks, him He also
helps (Ps. xl. 17 (17)). It often occurs that the
Lord must say : Verily, I have not found such
faith in Israel. — Ver. 7. Human means to learn
the will of God, in doubtful cases, are in them-
selves of no avail ; but God can ma,ke use of them,
if there is true earnestness in those who employ
them, and if they know no better means (comp.
Josh. 7). But when men, by means of prayer, can
receive the Holy Spirit, then they should seek the
will of God, not by lots, but by prayer (Matt. vii.
11). — Ver. 8. Jonah might purposely have left his
birth and vocation in darkness. Whoever engages
in his calling with half a soul, likes to avoid con-
fession ; he suffers himself to be considered as a
heathen, and puts himself on a level with this
world. Where the fear of God is not, there is the
fear of man. And moreover, the fear of man is
most unprofitable. Whoever frankly and honestly,
humbly and heartily, acknowledges the Lord among
men, will soon discover that it is the phantom oflF-
spring of fear to imagine that one will reap from
the acknowledgment only disgrace and not a bless-
ing. Such was not even the case among the
heathen; for when Jonah made his confession,
they honored him (ver. lO-li). Reflect how many
souls may be guided by the Lord to thee, to whom,
by confession at proper time, thou mayest have
it in thy power to render a service for eternity.
The commission [of the minister] is not confined
to Jerusalem and Bethel, not to the baptismal font
and altar, not to the confessional and pulpit, not
io canonicals ; but it is in thy heart and mouth,
'ind it shall, therefore, never depart from thee
(Deut. XXX. 14). — Ver. 13. So has the heathen
world also struggled to come to land ; but it could
not until Christ was buried in death (Rom. i.-iii.).
— Ver. 1,5. There are deeds of violence by which
God's will is carried into effect. But it does not,
therefore, follow that he who performs them is
guiltless ; but he stands in need of repentance and
forgiveness. — Vers. 15, 16. This is also a shadow
of things to come. 0, that it were only come to
this, — that all the heathen world would thank God,
that death, which swallowed up Christ, has no
more power over us.
Luther: Thus God is wont, when his great
wrath is at hand, to send his word before and save
lome. We have now the same grace and great
ight of the Divine word ; therefore it is certain
Ihat a great destruction is near ; since God intends
to rescue some before it comes. — -Ver. 2. We re-
gard the history with indifference, because we view
it from without, and it does not concern us. But
should the like occur in our time, we would think
that we never yet heard of a more foolish and
more impossible thing, than that a single man
should enter such an empire, with a proclamation
to repent. Now God's works are wont to appear,
at first, so foolish and impossible, that reason must
despair of their accomplishment and scoff; but it
is well for us to believe, for God accomplishes
them. — Ver. .3. The ancient holy fathers were
especially inclined to exculpate the prophets,
apostles, and great saints. But we adhere strictly
and inflexibly to the Word of God, and admit that
Jonah, in this instance, committed a great sin, on
account of wliich he would have been eternally
condemned, had he not, in the number of the elect,
been written in the book of life. This is a signal
token of grace that God seeks Jonah and punishes
him so soon after his sin, and does not suffer him
to profit by it, or to continue long therein. — Ver.
5. The natural light of reason extends thus far,
that it considers God kind, gracious, merciful, and
mild. This is a great light; but it fails in two
particulars. In the first place, it believes indeed
that God has power and knowledge to do, to help,
and to give; but that He is wUling also to do
such things for it, it knows not ; therefore it does
not continue steadfast in its opinion. In the
second place, reason cannot correctly bestow the
predicate of Deity upon that being to whom it
belongs. It knows that God is ; but who and
what He is, who has a right to be called God, it
knows not. Each one called upon his god, that is,
upon the object of his fancy, or that which he con-
sidered God ; therefore, they were all in error in
regard to the only true God. — Ver. 7. Where men
devoid of understanding are, they set about things
in a wrong, perverted way, allow the sin to remain
in the mean time, and consider only how they may
get rid of their anguish. This does not help : they
must consequently despair. But where men of
understanding are, they turn away their minds
from their anguish and think mostly of their sins ;
they confess them and get rid of them, though they
should remain eternally in anguish, and they re-
sign themselves to it, as Jonah does here. — Ver.
10 if. The faith of Jonah against trials (for that
he maintained his faith his deliverance proves) :
(1.) He takej the sin upon himself from others,
and acknowledges that he alone deserved death.,
(2.) He consents also to be brought to shame be-
fore God. (.3.) He chooses death, bitter and uu^
certain. If God so deal with us as to permit us to
see life in death, or if He show us the place and
abode of our souls, whither they must go and
where they must remain, then death would not be
bitter, but it would be like a leap over a shallow
stream, on both sides of which one feels and sees a
firm ground and shore. But now He does not show
us here anything of the kind, but we must spring
from the firm shore of this life into the abyss. (4.)
He bears in death the wrath of God. (5.) More
than this, he must die alone ; he has none to com-
fort him; the people in the ship sail away and
leave him in the midst of the sea as certainly
drowned and lost. (6.) To die simply is not
enough : he must yet enter the jaws of the fish.
Starke : Ver. 1 . Jonah came out of Galilee :
that was, therefore, a false declaration of the Phar-
isees (John vii. 52). From this, one sees how per-
nicious are all deep-rooted prejudices. Whoeveii
will rightly exercise the office of the ministry musl
22
JONjSH.
indeed be a Jonah, which, translated into Eng:lish,
Bignifies a dove. He must cherish the simplicity
of the dove (Matt, a. 16). — Ver. 2. He must also
not love ease, but cheerfully and willingly take
upon himself toil and hardship. The greater
cities are, the greater are their sins. God bears
for a long time, and finds with him no uncon
ditional decree for the destruction of the great
majority and the election of a small minority. —
Ver. 3. To rest on the divine will places man in
the highest tranquillity. Him who forsakes God
and duty, God, on the other hand, forsakes with
his grace and assistance. — Ver. 4. If we follow
our carnal nature [Fleisch und Bliit], it will bring
us into much company improper for us. It is no
small act of kindness, if He punish the sinner
severely soon after the commission of his sin. On
account of the sin of one man many others often
fall into great distress. — Ver. 5. It is very proper,
in danger, to make use of natural means for pres-
ervation. — Ver. 6. Even the heathen acknowl-
edged the power of prayer : it is a shame, if many
among Christians should doubt it. — Ver. 7. So
tdso they acknowledged that there is a God, who
rules over the human race, exercises the office of
Judge among men, and, in consequence of this,
brings the guilty to just punishment. — God has
many ways of bringing our sins to light before
his face (Fs. xc. 8). — Ver. 8. None should be con-
demned without trial. Even the law of nature
grants to each one the right of defense. Just as it
is a duty and necessity readily and willingly to
hear those who bring us to account for our life and
conduct, so also ought each Christian, as often as
he is accused by his conscience and brought, as it
were, before court, to consider the charges of con-
science, confess his wrong, and reform. — Ver. 9.
There is nothing so secret [so fein gesponnmi, so
finely spun], that it shall not finally come to light
(Luke viii. 17). Confession of our sina should
also be made, that God may be honored and glo-
rified, and that the ignorant and unbelieving
may be better instructed. — Ver. 10. The fact
■ that the heathen had heard from Jonah, how God
iheld the Ninevites in abhorrence, and would destroy
ithe whole city, with its inhabitants, if they did not
^repent, may have contributed (for each one could
I easily make the application to himself) not a little
*) their fear, which was merely slavish. God never
jiees evil to the sinner, but always good. He also
'intends all his dealings with him for good. That
which delights tlie sinner ij not a true good, but
4uit!maginary shadow : it is not genuine pleasure,
tl»ut|pure disgust [Udust]. Why then does he sin ?
iGfiSl Jmows how to propagate the true religion
Batiaeulously. — Ver. 11. In important matters
one -should undertake nothing without the advice
of heoaest teachers. — Ver. 12. It is the nature of
love:«ot to seek its own, but rather to suffer harm
than;to bring others into it; rather to lose its life
than 360 suffer the lives of the innocent to be en-
dangored (John iii. 16). — No one should take
away .his own life, though he may have forfeited it.
— Vol. 1.3. Against the divine will no human toil
nor labar can prevail. —Ver. 14. Though in divine
cbastiseJMents it is one's duty to subordinate one's
will to tlie divine, yet one ought not, on that ac-
count, to* cease to call upon God for the removal
and mitsgation of the chastisement. — Ver. 15.
He who kas God for his enemy has all nature for
his enemy; but to him who has God for his friend,
all creatures bear good will. When God has ex-
ecuted f&f, just sentence, then everything is again
at peaoe. — vVer. 16. God permits nothing so evil
to come to pass, but that He knows to bring some
good out of it; for his counsels are wonderful and
He carries them out gloriously. Men should ap-
ply divine judgments upon others for the purpose
of bringing themselves to a saving knowledge of
God.
PrAFF : Ver. 2. Great cities, great sins, great
judgments ; but so much the greater necessity that
they be warned by the prophets ol the Lord and
rebuked by them. — Ver. 3. Teacher and preacher
must not shun the cross, othenvise they forsake
the Lord. Thou also, my soul, roust follow the
call of God, though He lead thee in the paths of
extreme suffering [Kreuzeswege] ; and thou must
not seek to escape from this call. — Ver. 5. Tribula-
tion drives to God, and that is the greatest blessing
which lies hidden in the cross. — Ver. 10 ff. A
single pei-son can often bring a great calamity and
the punishment of God upon a community. 'There-
fore, it is necessary that the authorities watch and
punish and remove offenses. We have good rea-
son to entreat God that He will not punish the
whole land on account of the ungodly.
QuANDT ; The book of Jonah is the missionary
book of the Old Testament. — Ver. 3. There is in the
conduct of Jonah a twofold sin, — disobedience tb
God and flight from God. Even Christians defy their
God from dread of disgrace. Errors of the heart
draw after them errors of the understanding : from
religious pen'ersity spring erroneous opinions.
Flight fi'om God is also in our time a widespread
folly. — Ver. 5. Even the sleep of Jonah belongs
to his flight. Judas fled still farther, when he
hanged himself — Ver. 6. The children of the
world have always a feeling that the God of the
pious [Christians] is more powerful than what
they, in their delusion, reverence and worship. —
Ver. 8. It is not to be overlooked that Jonah first
mentions the sea. The words of Jonah are not so
much a confession of faith as a confession of re-
pentance.— Ver. 10 ft'. When the orator, Cyprian,
read the history of the prophet overwhelmed by
the waves, his soul was violently agitated : it be-
came a means of his conversion ; and the result
was that he became an eminent teacher of the
church.
F. Lambert : Ver. 1. It gives to us miserable
sinners great confidence in God that He received,
among his servants, David, Jonah, Peter, Paul,
and others, notwithstanding they sinned noto-
riously.
EiEOER : Ver. 2. Of such as, in their declension,
have wandered still farther from God, it is said
" their sins have come up before me ; I have hear,
the cry of them," etc. But of them who havi
intimate communion with God, or in the midst of
whom the Lord Jesus still walks, it is said, " 1
know thy works." — Ver. 3. He Who has become
sensible of his deficiencies, will consider the fool-
ishness of God wiser than all human wisdom,
from the fact that, in his word, instead of many
notable works, which He might have mentioned as
having been achieved by many of his servants, HB
rather exposes their weaknesses and failings ; be-
cause not merely brilliant and great examples are
necessary for our imitation ; but also examples for
our encouragement, that we may rouse ourselves
from the thoughtlessness of sin, seek forgiveness,
and seize the hand of God extended for our re-
covery. From the circumstance that Jonah im-
mediately found a ship, according to his wish, he
obstinately persists in his purpose. But even to a
flight undertaken in disooedicnce, eveiything in
external circumstances may accommodate itself.
CHAPTEK I.
23
If a man is in the right way, it mnst be deter-
mined by other indications [than favoring external
circumstances. — C. B.]
HiEKONTMtjs : Ver. 4. Great is he who flees in
this insluuce ; but still greater is He who pursues
him.
ScHMiEDER : Ver. 5. Jonah is in a quiet, con-
cealed comer of the ship. He shunned the light.
Augustine: Ver. 9. Si liomovelat, Deitsrevelat.
Si homo tegit, Deus detegit. Si homo agnoscit, Deus
iffnoscit.
, Rie&er: Ver. 10 ff. The entire connection of
events revealed God's just displeasure at the flight
of Jonah; but at the same time it must have pre-
pared him for the future courageous execution of
his mission. For the fact that Jonah found such
abundant evidence that a deep impression of the
fear of God had been produced in the consciences
of these strange people, and that great earnestness
in calling upon God had been awakened in them,
must have been adapted to prepare hira to under-
take, with less reluctance, the commission to
preach against a strange city. The godly sorrow
and repentance, which Jonah experienced, pro-
dnced m hira also the legitimate revenge (2 Cor.
vii. U), for he said : take me and cast me irtto the
sea. Yet he does not throw himself into the sea.
Such a difierence is found between an awakened
and a despairing conscience.
ScHLiER : Ver. 1 ."i. He chose the sea for himself
instead of going to Nineveh : the sea detained him
by the hand of the Lord : the sea was the place
into which the hand of the Lord plunged him for
punishment.
Sohmieder: Ver. 16. This was not a genuine
conversion to God ; had it been, they would have
abandoned forever the worship of all other gods
beside Jehovah, and not merely honored Him,
together with their gods, with offerings.
[Calvin : Ver. 2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it. God designed in this way
to try Jonah, whether he would prefer his com-
mand to all the hindrances of the world. And it
is a genuine proof of obedience, when we simply
obey God, however numerous the obstacles which
may meet us and may be suggested to our minds,
and though no escape may appear to us ; yea,
when we follow God, as it were, with closed eyes,
wherever He may lead us, and doubt not but that
He will add strength to us, and stretch forth also
His hand, whenever need may require, to remove
all our difficulties. — Ver. 3. All fiee away from
the presence of God, who do not willingly obey
his commandments. — Ver. 4. Though the Lord
may involve many men in the same punishment,
when He especially intends to pursue only one
man, jet there is never wanting a reason wliy He
nught not call before his tribunal any one of ns,
even such as appear the most innocent. — Ver. 5.
Hardly any religion appears in the world, when
God leaves us in an undisturbed condition.
This passage teaches, that men are constrained
by necessity to seek God; so also, on the other
hand, it shows that men go astray in seeking God,
except the^ are directed by celestial truth, and also
by the Spirit of God.
Marckius : 1 Ver. 3. God not only suffers the
wicked to advance prosperously in their sins, but
does not immediately restore the godly in their
declensions ; nay, He gives them every facility for
a time in their downward course, in order that they
may know themselves more, and that the glory of
God may become thereby more manifest. Foolish
then is the sinner, who, having begun life prosper-
ously, concludes that the end will be equally
happy. — Ver. 6. We see in this instance the great
danger in which unconscious sinners are often in-
volved, that the solace sought by them departs
from them, that a dead sleep remains, and even
increases under God's judgment, and that in the
performance of duty the godly are sometimes more
slothful than the ungodly.
The servants of God are sometimes surpassed,
reproved, and stimulated, by those far below them,
yea, even by brute animals ; a salutary admo-
nition, from whatever quarter it may come, ought
never to be despised.
Matthew Henry : Ver. 3. Providence seemed
to favor his design, and gave him an opportunity
to escape : we may be out of the way of duty, and
yet may meet with a favorable gale. The ready
way is not always the right way. — Ver 6. If the
professors of religion do an ill thing, they may ex-
pect to hear of it fi'om those who make no such
profession.
PusEY : Ver. 5. God, whom they ignorantly wor-
shipped, while they cried to the gods, who, they
thought, disposed of them, heard them. They
escaped with the loss of their wares, but God
saved their lives and revealed Himself to them.
God hears ignorant prayer, when ignorance is not
willful and sin.
A heathen ship was a strange place for a prophet
of God, not as a prophet, but as a fugftive ; and
so, probably, ashamed of what he had completed,
he had withdrawn from sight and notice. He did
not embolden himself in his sin, but shrank into
himself The conscience most commonly awakes
when the sin is done. It stands aghast at itself;
but Satan, if he can, cuts off its retreat. Jonah
had no retreat now, unless God had made one. —
C. E.]
1 [These extracts £rom Marckius are taken from the notM
appended to Calvin 8 Commentary on Jonah. — C. B.]
24 JONAH.
CHAPTER n.
f Jonah's Humn of Thanksgiving and Praise for his Deliverance from the Bowels of
the Fish.— G. E.]
1 Now [And] the Lord [Jehovah] had prepared ^ [appointed] a great fish to swallow
up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 And Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from the bowels of the fish and said,
3 I cried to Jehovah out of my distress :
And He answered me :
Out of the womb of Sheol ^ I cried :
Thou heardest my voice.
4 Thou castedst me into the deep,'
Into the heart of the seas ;
And the stream ■* surrounded me ;
All thy breakers and thy bUlows passed over me.
5 And I said: I am cast out from before thine eyes;
Yet I will look again towards thy holy temple.
6 Waters encompassed me even to the soul : '
The abyss surrounded me ;
Sea-weed ^ was bound to my head.
7 I went down to the foundations ' of the mountains ;
The earth — her bars were behind me forever :
And thou didst raise my life from the pit, Jehovah, my Grod.
8 When my soul fainted' within me,
I rememlaered Jehovah:
And my prayer came to Thee,
Into thy holy temple.
Those observing lying vanities
Forsake their own mercy."
10 But as for me, I will sacrifice to thee
With the voice of thanksgiving.
What I have vowed I wUl perform.
Salvation -^ belongs to Jehovah.
11 And Jehovah spake to the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — n3D, Piel of n3D, does not mean to create, but to dltot, to appoint.
[2 Ver.3. — biMtiJ 'JtOaiD, out of the womb of the under world The usual derivation of biSHJ is from vNt5,
10 asfc, to demand; but Gesenius says the true etymology is ^iVtt?, cavity, from v3?t27. Compare the Qeiman
Solle, hell, originally the same with Hdhte, a hollow, cayern.
[8 Ver. 4. — n V^tiQ, the deep is defined by " the heart of the seaa " — the deepest part of the ocean.
[4 Ver. 4. — ")n2, stream, current, fiood — the current or tide of the sea. Compare Ps. xxiv. 2.
[5 Ver. 6. — tt'DD""?^, even to, or to the yery soul, i. e., to the extinction of the animal life.
[6 Ver. 6. — ^-lO, atga, or weed, which abounds at the bottom of the sea, and from which the Arabian Gull takes
the name of ri^D"D^ the sea of weeds.
[7 Ver. 7 — D^D^p, sections, cuttings, dtfts. Vulgate, extrema montxum. Septuagint, eis uxi(t}lo.^ opiwv. The
foundations and roots' of the mountains, which lie in the depths of the earth, reaching even to the foundation of the
sea. (Compare Ps. xviii. 16).
[8 Ver. 8. — P]tS^rin, to be in a state o^faintntss, swoon, from PjtOl?, to cover, to involve in darkness. IXX. 'Ev
Tw eicAetTretv ttji' ipv}(i^v ixov dn' ejmoO.
[9 Ver. 9. — D'^pn, their mercy or goodness, by metonymy for God, the author and source of mercy and goodneflfl
Compare Pa. cxliv. 2.)
[10 Ver. JO. — HenderaoD says the paragogic H in nn^^ti?^ is intensive ; but it Is merely a poetical form. Com-
pare Ps. iii 3 ; Ixxx. 3. It is appended to nouns for the purpose of softening the termination, without affecting the
eense. — 0. h.]
::haptee II.
25
Verses 1,2. The Crisis. [In the English Ver-
sion ver. 1 forms the conclusion of the preceding
chapter. In the original Hehrew it is the open-
ing verse of chap. ii. — C. E.]
The narrative says nothing of the kind of
fish that swallowed Jonah ; it attaches no impor-
tance to the question. Inutitis inquisitio. (Marck.)
The Septuagint and the New Testament (Matth.
xii. 40), translate it by the indefinite word KijTos,
a sea monster; compare Bocharti Hierozoicon, i. 1,
7 1 ii. 5, 12. [Suidas following jElian : Ktjtoj OdK-
dcffioy Brjpioy woKvelBes ' etrrl 5e \fwUy ^iiyaiva^
TTiipSaXis, (pi(Ta\os, irpTJo-Tis, ^ \eyoii4vri ^aWri ^
(«£A6r).] Still more general [than ktitos] is the
feminine form ^3"^, which occurs in ver. 2, in-
stead of 2'^, and which is used everywhere else
(also in Dent. iv. 18) as a collective noun.
(The opinion of Izchakis that Jonah was first
swallowed by a male fish, and that because he did
not pray in it, he was vomited up and swallowed
by a female one, in which his situation was more
confined, and that from this circumstance he was
driven to prayer, deserves mention at best as a
curious and warning example of the absurdity to
which adherence to the letter may lead in exege-
sis).
One may suppose the fish to have been the
shark or sea-dog, Cants carcharias, or Squalus car-
charias, L., which is very common in the Medi-
terranean, and has so large a throat, that it can
swallow a living man whole. (Keil). It could
hardly be the whale, as Luther thinks, for these two
conditions [being common in the Mediterranean,
and having a large throat — C. E.] do not meet in
it. The cachalot also, mentioned by Quandt, is
not found in the Mediterranean.
[Dr. Pussy, in his introduction to Jonah, quotes
largely from modern works on zoology and nat-
ural history, to prove that the Canis carcharias can
easily swallow a man whole. He states on the
authority of Blumenbach, that it has been " found
of the size of 10,000 pounds and that "horses have
been found whole in its stomach. " "In all mod-
ern works on zoology," says Dr. Pusey, quot-
ing from Lacepfede, Hist, des Poissons, " we find
thirty feet given as a common length for a shark's
body. Now a shark's body is usually only about
eleven times the length of the half of its lower
jaw. Consequently, a shark of thirty feet would
have a lower jaw of nearly six feet in its semicir-
cular extent. Even if such a jaw as this was of
hard bony consistence, instead of a yielding carti-
laginous nature, it would qualify its possessor for
engulfing one of our species most easily. This
power, which it has by virtue of its cartilaginous
skeleton, of stretching, bending, and yielding, en-
ables us to understand how the shark can swallow
entire animals as large or larger than ourselves." —
C. E,]
" There is nothing in the original word, i^^O,
which at all suggests the idea of creation or produc-
tion All that can be legitimately in-
ferred from its use in this place, is, that in the
providence of God, the animal was brought to the
spot at the precise time when Jonah was thrown
into the sea, and its instrumentality was wanted
for his deliverance." ( Henderson, On JbnaA.) "The
fact here stated is the gi'eat stone of stumbling and
rock of offense tc that class of critics who deny
ihe existence of miracles. We need have no
pecial sympathy with their perplexities or their
stumbling ; for there can be no good reason for
rejecting miracles. Besides in this case, our di-
vine Lord distinctly recognizes the presence of mir-
acles by saying that Jonah was " a sign," i. e., a
man in whom miracles were manifested " It is not
necessarily a miracle that a great fish should swal-
low a man. There are several varieties that are
capable of swallowing a man whole, for they have
done it. But that a man should live three days
and three nights, or indeed one hour, in the belly
of a fish, must be a miracle." (Cowles, On Jonah.)
C. E.]
Jonah lives three days and three nights in tha
inside, literally in the bowels of the fish. Three
days and three nightis is a current Hebrew expres-
sion, which does not describe, with chronological
exactness, the space of seventy-two hours, but cor-
responds to our mode of designating time by such
phrases as " the day after to-morrow," " the day before
yesterday.^* (1 Sam. xxx. 1 ; comp. ver. 12,
Esth. iv. 16; comp. v. 1; Matth. xii. 40.)
[The three days and three nights are not to bo
regarded as three times twenty [four] hours, but
are to be interpreted according to Hebrew usage,
as signifying that Jonah was vomited .up again
on the third day after he had been swallowed.
(Comp. Esth. iv. 16 with v. 1, and Tob. iii. 12, 13
according to the Lutheran text.) (Kcil and De-
litzsch. On Jonah. — C. E.]
[Ver. 2. The prayer which follows (vers. 2-9)
is not a petition for deliverance, but thanksgiv-
ing and praise for deliverance already received.
It by no means follows from this however, that
.Jonah did not utter this prayer till after he had
been vomited upon the land, and that ver. 10
ought to bo inserted before ver. 2; but as the earlier
commentators have shown, the fact is rather this :
that when Jonah had been swallowed by the fish,
and found that he was preserved alive in the fish's
belly, he regarded this as a pledge of his deliver-
ance, for which he praised the Lord.
Luther also observes that he did not actually
utter these very words with his mouth, and ar-
range them in this orderly manner, in the belly of
the fish ; but that he here shows what the state of
his mind was, and what thoughts he had when he
was engaged in this conflict with death. The ex-
pression " his God " M''v' -^0 must not be ovei^
looked. He prayed not only to Jehovah, as the
heathen sailors also did (ch. i. 14), but to Jehovah
as his God, from whom he had tried to escape, and
whom he now addresses again as his God, when
in peril of death. " He shows his faith by adoring
Him as his God." (Burk.) The prayer consists
for the most part of reminiscences of passages in
the Psalms, which were so exactly snited to Jonah's
circumstances, that he could not have expressed his
thoughts and feelings any better in words of his
own. It is by no means so " atomically compound-
ed from passages in the Psalms " that there is any
ground for pronouncing it " a later production
which has been attributed to Jonah, " as Knobel
and De Wette do ; but it is the simple and natural
utterance of a man versed in Holy Scripture and
living in the word of God, and is in perfect ac-
cordance with the prophet's circumstances and the
state of his mind." (Keil and Delitzsch, On Jo-
nah.)—G. E.]
[" Some of the Rabbins, Hezel and others, would
argue from the use of 1^, from, out of, and not 2,
in, before ^?S3 that the prayer of Jonah was not
26
JONAH.
presented while he was in the belly of the fish,
but after his deliverance ; but this interpretation is
justly rejected, both by Aben Ezra and Kimchi.
The preposition marks the place from which he
directed his thoughts to the Most High." (Hen-
derson, On Jonak) — C. E.]
Vers. .3-10. The prayer of Jonah, which is not
a supplicatory, but a thanksgiving prayer, is in
this place to be understood only from the design of
the book (compare the Introduction, 3, pp. 6, 7).
Also what Keil, following the early interpreters,
observes, has its truth only from the point of view,
that when Jonah had been swallowed by the fish
and had found that he was preserved in its belly,
he regarded this as a pledge of his future complete
deliverance, and for this thanked the Lord. Con-
sidered in a purely historical light [Bei. rein histo-
rischem Verstandniss], it might be said that the
prolongation of life in this manner [in the fish's
bellyj would rather awaken the idea of a much
more loathsome death than drowning, and hence
the accompanying feeling must have been, not
that of thanksgiving, but of painful uncertainty.
Moreover, something at least would have been said
in the prayer, of that intermediate idea of a pledge ;
but no trace of it is to be found.
The structure of this hymn, composed after
the manner of the Psalms and filled with reminis-
cences of passages from them, falls into three
strophes, namely ver. 4 f . . 6 f . . S ; which are set
in the frame of a brief exordium and of a conclu-
sion summing up the whole in an aphorism and a
vow, ver. 9 f. Each of these strophes represents
a degree in the ascent from distress to deliverance ;
80 that strophe I advances to hope ; strophe 2 to
deliverance ; and strophe 3 stops on this eminence.
Compare, concerning the form and kind of prayer,
the Introduction, p. 8.
Ver. 3. The brief preamble : I cried out of
the distress which was upon me, to Jehovah,
and He answered me. Comp. Ps. cxvi. 1 f. With
trifling variations, " which very naturally occur in
quotations from memory "(Goldhorn), it resembles
Ps. cxx. 1, which has ^7 i^'ip'^^?) whereas this
verse with the same periphrastic suffix reads, n~l-!5p
''/. The parallel : Out of the womb of Sheol I
^oried : Thou heardeat my voice. That the ex-
pression woinh of Sheol is figurative, is proved by
its parallelism to '"'"J^- Sheol in the language of
the Psalms, is often used for the inevitable peril
.^of death : compare the way to perdition. Proverbs
"rvii. 27. To ascribe to it a belly or a womb, as at
I other times a mouth (I's. clxi. 7), or jaws (Is. v.
il4), was certainly not indicated by the situation
-«e the act of Jonah, who describes something past
and not present, but was done by the narrator, who
T>t«duces the prayer. (Compare Luther's observa-
tioitt, in the Introd., p. 8j.
IThe alleged mechanical compilation of this
prEyer from passages in the Psalms reduces itself
alss here to mvoluntary reminiscences of isolated
expressions found in them. (Comp. Ps. cxxx ; 2 ;
xxvSii. 1 ft'.) [Comp. Ps. cxx. 1 with Jonah ii. 3 ;
Ps. xlii. 8 with ver. 4 ; Ps. xx.xi. 23 with ver. 5 ;
Ps.exlii. 4 with ver. 8 ; Ps. xxxi. 7 with ver. 9 ; Ps.
iii. S with ver. 10.' Henderson On Jonah. — C. E.]
Sl}mphe I., vers. 4, 5.
Vw. 4 is an enlarged picture of the painful situa
1 lit must be remembered tli.-it Dr. Henderson numbers
he ilftst verse of the first, chapter as it stands in the
KagUah Version, as the trst verse of the second chap-
tion that he experienced. The connection indicatec
by 1 conjunctive, is not so close as to prevent the vert
from being rendered in the pluperfect. Yea, thou
hadst cast me into the abyss, into the roidst ol
the seas (comp. Ps. xlvi. 31 : and thy streams
surrounded me ; all thy billows and waves
went over me (Ps. Ixxxviii. 7 f. ; Ps. Ixix. 2 ff).
These are frequent images of the deepest misery,
which, in this instance, receive, from the situation,
a particularly impressive character, and give the
key to the understanding of the symbolism of the
whole narrative. In Jonah overwhelmed by the
waves, Israel, whose frame of mind is exhibited in
Ps. Ixxxviii., is again represented. The state of
heart required by God for deliverance, a state pro-
duced by faith, which, in the deepest distress, rests
upon the word and promise of God, and which,
contrary to all external experience, does not relin-
quish its confidence in invisible things, which are
the objecrs of hope in our present condition, is ex-
quisitely described by the brief antithetic contrast
in ver. .5 : And I said (comp. Ps. xxx. 7) I am
cast out from before thine eyes — the gracious
experience of thy favor — (Is. xxxiv. 16 ; Ps. xxxi,
23), yet surely [tjK, » particle of strong opposi-
tion, of decided contrast (Is. xiv. 1.5)] I will look
again toward Thy holy temple, for which Israel,
in his forlorn condition, ardently longs (Ps. xlii,
5). Compare a similar fla.sh of hope in the night
of suflFering, in Job xix. 22 if. [" Green would
supply the negative ^^ before Fl^ois ^"d Hitzig
would point Tj^^ 'rj^ for 'n'<S, how; but both
without any authority. Such sudden transitions
from fear to hope are frequently expressed in
Scripture." (Henderson On Jonah.) — C. E.]
[" The thought that it is all over with him is met
by the confidence of faith that he will still look to
the holy temple of the Lord, that is to say, will
once more approach the presence of the Lord, to
worship before Him in his temple, — an assurance
which recalls Ps. v. 8 (7)."
" The figure of bolts of the earth that were shut
behind Jonah, which we only meet with here ("^23,
from the phrase ^375 '"1!??.^ "•3^1 to shut the
door behind a person : Gen. vii. 16 ; 2 K. iv. 4, 5,
33 ; Is. xxvi. 20), has an analogy in the idea which
occurs in Job xxxviii, 10, of bolts and doors of the
ocean. The bolts of the sea are the walls of the
sea-basin, which set bounds to the sea, that it can-
not pass over. Consequently the bolts of the earth
can only be such barriers as restrain the land from
spreading over the sea. These barriers are the
weight and force of the waves, which prevent the
land from encroaching on the sea. This weight of
the waves, or of the great masses of water, which
pressed upcm Jonah when he had sunk to the bot-
tom of the sea, shtit or bolted against him the way
back to the earth (the laud) just as the bolts that
are drawn hefore the door of a house, fasten up
the entrance into it ; so that the reference is neither
to " the rocks jutting out above the water, which
prevented any one from ascending from the sea
to the land,' nor " densissinm terrai compages, qua
alys.su.'i tecta Jonam in hnc constitutum occludebat."
(JVIarck), Keil and Delitzsch. — C. E.]
ter. This explanation is necessary in order to undal
stand the references quoted above. — C. B.l
CHAPTER II.
27
Strophe II., vers. 6, 7.
The picture recehKis again a deeper shade, in
view of the misery which he experienced.
Ver. 6. Waters encompassed me (Ps. xviii. 5)
even to the soul (Ps. Ixix. 2) : the abyss sur-
rounded me ; seaweed was wound around my
breast, — all individual and independent state-
ments descriptive of his situ.ition.
[" tJ733"^5, even to, or to the very soul, i. e.
the animal life ; meaning to the extinction of life.
^^D is the alga, or weed, which abounds at the
bottom of the sea, and from whicii the Arabian
gulf takes the name of ^''D'Q j the sea of weeds.
Kimchi explains it by 1^P"13, the papyrus, or bul-
rush. Gesenius refines too much when he attaches
to t0^3n in this place the idea of binding round
the head like a turban. Assuredly Jonah had no
such idea in his mind. He rather describes how ho
felt, as if entangled by the sedge or weeds through
which he was dragged." (Henderson, On Jonah.)
-C.E.]
Ver. 7. To the extremities, i. «., to the foun-
dations of the mountains, which lie deep under
the sea (Ps. civ. 4 (3); xviii. 16 (15)), I dived
down ; the earth — her bars — the beams with
which her foundation structure is fastened (Ps. civ.
5) — were around me [Hitzig : behind me; then
I seemed thrust out from the land of the living,
(Jer. xi. 19)] for ever ; so thought the sinking
prophet; for present sufferings and the perils of
death made upon his mind the impression of the
everlasting and the inevitable (Ps. xiii. 2 (1)).
Thou didst paise my life from the pit (HntJ?,
as in Job xvii. 14), Jehovah, my God (Ps. xxx.
4(3)).
Strophe HI.
Ver. 8. Casts once more a glance upon his afflic-
tion: When my soul (Ps. cxlii. 4) fainted to
dying (Ps. xlii. 5) within me ; in order to include
with it directly the deliverance : Jehovah (a beau
tiful inversion) I remembered (Ps. xlii. 7 (6))
and my prayer came to Thee into Thy holy
temple, from which prayers are heard (Ps. xviii,
7(6)).
The conclusion (vers. 9, 10) places in an anti-
thetic manner, which is of frequent occurrence in
the Psalms, the vow of the pious man, who,
through divine grace, has resolved to lead a new
life, in contrast with the destruction of the un-
godly, whom God does not deliver.
Ver. 9. Those who observe lying vanities —
the Piel of "laC-' like the Hithpael (Mich. vi. 16),
for the intensive degree of the Kal signification —
forsake their own mercy. The reference to the
heathen sailors, which the earlier interpreters,
almost Tvithout exception, give to this verse, is,
according to the description of them in the first
chapter, certainly altogether unauthorized. The
thought is entirely general, but (from the scope of
the whole) with parenetical, secondary application
to the Israelites, who in calamity did not seek
their help in God, but in idols (D''73n, comp.
Deut. xxxii. 21). These apostates come by the
short and energetic expression, in harmony with
Gen. xxiv. 27, into direct opposition to God, who
never abandons his mercy. ^D^ is the gracious
condition of the D^7^Dn, the pious (Is, Ivii. 1)
[" D'^pn, lit. their meraj, or goodness ; by meton-
ymy for their Benefactor, i. e. God, the author and
source of all goodness ; the supreme good. Comp.
Ps. cxliv. 2, where David calls God IpD- The
word properly signifies kindness or benignity, and
most appropriately designates Hira who is good to
all, and whose tender mercies are over all his
works." (Henderson, On JonaA.) So also Keil and
Delitzsch and Pusey. — C. E.]
Ver. 10. But I, says Israel, conformably to Ps.
1. 14, will sacrifice to thee with the voice of
thanksgiving. What I have vowed I wiU pay.
With the joyful ascription, salvation belongs to
Jehovah, the whole prayer closes, like Ps. iii.
That is the salvation, which He will give to his
people, after their affliction, at the time of the con-
summation, looking to which the true Israel, even
in the belly of the fish, in the sorrows of banish-
ment and exile, praises Hira (Is. xxvi. 2 ; xxv. 10;
Gen. xlix. 18).
Ver. 11. The Deliverance. Jehovah spake to
the fish and it vomited up Jonah on dry land.
TlpofTraTTfTai Jrd\iu rh KrjTos $€ia rlvl Kal aTro^p-i]T(f
5uvd/j.ei dead Trphs rh avr^ ^okovv Ktvodix^vov. Cyril.
Cocceius, in order to bring the miracle nearer to the
natural understanding, refers to the statements of
Gregory Nazianzen and Oppian, concerning certain
fish, which swallow their young when danger
threatens, and vomit them out again. He refers
also to the accounts in Pliny and Athenseus, that
an entire man clad in armor has been found in the
belly of a great sea-monster (Pliny, Canicula,
Athen. Carcharias). There were found, says Keil,
on the authority of Oken {Animal Kingdom, vol.
iii. p. 55 ff., 1836), about a dozen of tunny-fish,
undigested, in a shark caught in Sardinia ; and in
another even an entire horse. (This fish can erect
and lay its teeth at pleasure, because they are
fastened only in the cellular tissue [HautzeUen]) .
Rondelet says that he has seen one on the west
coast of France, through whose throat a fat man
could easily pass. In the year 1758, a sailor, dur-
ing a storm, fell overboard from a frigate into the
Mediterranean sea, and was immediately seized by
a shark and disappeared. The captain of the
vessel caused a cannon, which was standing on
the deck, to be discharged at the shark, the ball of
which struck it, so that it vomited out the sailor, who
was then taken up alive and only a little injured,
into a sloop that had come to his assistance, and
thus saved. On the other side, Cornelius a Lapide
attempts to explain the vomiting, at least, as a
natural occurrence produced by the uncomforta-
bleness of the fish. We think that no service is
done either to the matter or to the interpretation
[Verstandniss] of the book by this rationalizing
apologetic attempt (see above, p. 2), and especially
in reference to the latter question we are of the
opinion of Theodoret, who calls subtle inquiries
concerning these things an av6'riTOs iroXvirpaKixoff-
wn, a foolish officiousness.
UOOTKEJAL AND ETHICAL.'
(See above, pp. 5, 6, 9, 10.)
HOMILEIICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Eteknal Redemption in Time. Introduction.
— Israel, a prefiguration of Christendom ; Jonah,
1 IReiclugedaHken, 8«e note, p. 20. — C. E.]
28
JONAH.
a type of Israel. Comp. ver. 8 with 1 K. viii.
46 ff.
1. We still wander in the place of imprisonment,
2, 4, 5a, 6, Tab. [Daily sins and the common
guilt of the human race encompass us within and
without ; our body is an earthly house, in which
our immortal part lies shut up ; around us is the
sighing of the creature, which longs for the glori-
ous manifestation of the sons of God.]
2. But we are redeemed, ver. 3, 5b, 7c-10. [The
fact is absolute and eternal: the appropriation is
effected in time, and that through faith, which is a
certain, confident apprehension of that which is
still invisible, 5b, 8. Whoever renounces it [faith]
has no part in redemption (ver. 9). In the service
of God we bring that which is eternal into time,
and think as if we were perfected; because the
beginning of redemption, planted in us, includes
within it its completion (vers. 3, 10).
Ver. 1. In that which for the moment seems
most painful and most insupportable, the gracious
hand of our God is often very near to us. Every-
thing which God sends has its ti.xed time and ap-
pointed end ; a time not longer than we are able
to bear it. Thou who complainest of affliction,
hast thou ever thought what grace it is on the part
of God that thou art alive % — Ver. 2. There is no
place so desolate and dark that it cannot be turned
into a temple of God by the praying saint. — Ver.
3, There is no failure in God's answer, but the
failure is in calling upon Him. Can we need hu-
man mediators, in order to be heard by Him, who
hears the voice of him who cries from . the bosom
of hell? The invocation of saints is a relapse into
a practice, that is far below the teachings of the
Old Testament. — Ver. 4. We ought never to for-
get, that wherever we are, we are placed there by
God \wir von Oott dahin gethan sind], and that all
the waves and billows that go over us are his
waves and billows. In the Old Testament God
sends the tempest of the waves and billows. In
the New Testament He commands them to be still ;
in both they are obedient to Him. — Ver. 5. With
the natur.al man arises first defiance, then despair
with the redeemed man strength is realized out of
despair by the power of the spirit. The declara-
tions of faith are all parado.xes and contrasts.
Because I suflTer, I shall be glorified. — Ver. 6 flP.
If I descend to hell, behold Thou art there. Such
is the anguish of the hour of death that one no
longer perceives aught of love around him, but all
aroiind the head and on every side waters, which
go even to the soul, so that the spirit faints within
us. God's temple is near in all places. But who
ever speaks of it as Jonah does here, it is evident
that he also loves the visible place, where God's
honor dwelleth. Whoever despises this place, to
him that truth will not come to remembrance in
the time of trouble. The want of the means of
grace is not damnable to him only, whose soul does
not despise them. — Ver. 9. Where lying vanities
take up their abode in the heart, there is the con-
tempt of God, or there it grows ; it is there also
where man either makes earthly things God's, or
forms for himself delusive ideas concerning God.
Falling from a state of grace, may happen alto-
gether insensibly; but it certainly commences with
a divided heart, — Ver. 10. The history of Jonah
is a shadow of future things ; he leaves it to the
heathen to bring a sacrifice (i. 16), he himself offers
thaaksiniving. — Ver. 11. Turn the prison of the
world into the temple of God, and it will not be
able to detain thee. God does not leave his saints
in hell (Pb. xvi. 10). We are buried with Christ
by baptism unto death ; that like as Christ wa£
raised up from the dead, even so we also should
walk in newness of life (Rom. vi. 4).
LuTHEK : Ver. 3. Two great and necessary les-
sons : 1 . That we should before all things run
speedily to God, and cry to Him in trouble and
make our complaints to Him. Canst thou ca''
and cry, then there is no more danger. For even
hell would not be hell, nor continue hell, if in it
one could call upon ani cry to God. Nature of
course cannot do otherwise, nor be otherwise, than
as it feels. But now while it feels God's wrath and
punishment, if it "regards Him as an angry tyrant
it cannot rise above such feelings and press through
to God. Therefore, since Jonah has gone so far
as to cry, he has won. 2. That we also feel in our
hearts, that it is such a cry as God will answer.
This is nothing else than to call with true faith of
heart. For the head does not erect itself, nor do the
hands raise themselves, before the heart is raised.
What hell is before the last day, I am not posi-
tive. That it is a particular place, where lost souls
are now constantly kept, as painters portray and
as gluttons preach, I do not believe; for the devils
are not yet in hell (Eph. vi. 12 ; John xiv. 30).
Therefore, the Scriptures use the word Sheol with
propriety, for the purpose of designating the last
agonies of death. But at the last day it will cer-
tainly become a diflferent thing. — Ver. 5. The
idea of his being cast out from God's countenance,
has in the first place a reference to his body ; for he
felt in his heart that he must die ; in the second
place, to his soul, as if he were eternally cast out
from God. ^ Ver. 8. The powers and energies of
his soul yielded to despair. But that he thinks of
the Lord and begins to believe, is not the work of
his soul ; the spirit and no one else can think of the
Lord. When the remembrance of the Lord enters
the heart, then a new light arises ; then life once
more sheds forth its rays ; then the heart again re-
ceives courage to call ; and then too he is certainly
heard. In the Old Testament all prayers were re-
quired to come to the mercy-seat ; so now in tho
New Testament all prayers must come to Jesus
Christ. — Ver. 9. Jonah reproves in this verse
those devoid of understanding, who seek holiness
by their own deeds, and hypocrites, who do not
trust in God's grace alone, but in their own works.
— Ver. 10. Where the saints in the Scriptures
speak of paying vows and do not express any one
[vow] in particular, wc must understand the common
vow of all, Avho are God's people, .namely, that we
will have no God but Him alone. — Ver. 11. Now
everything is reversed : that which before tended to
death must now tend to life.
Stakkb : Ver. 1 . God can preserve a man
miraculously against the course of nature (1 K.
xvii. 4 ff ). — Ver. 2. God is not only the God of
all believers in general, but also of each one par-
ticularly (Ps. Ixiii. 2). — Ver. 3. Nothing can
better excite a man to gratitude toward God than
to consider diligently the trouble and danger fVom
which God has delivered him. — Ver. 4. It is
great misery to lie in the water ; but tne greatest
is to be cast out from God. — Ver. 5. When we
have bodily trouble, it ordinarily so arouses the
guilty conscience, that our distress is doubled. In
the hour of death Satan is most active with his
temptations, and would like to cast us into despair.
— Ver. 6. God, moved by righteous judgment and
wise design, often visits with many trials and af-
flictions of different kinds those who have already
exercised true repentance. — Ver. 7. It is a spe-
cial, gracious work of the Holy Spirit, if He give*
CHAPTER n.
29
to believers, in tlie midst of their troubles, not only
a good hope of the divine aid, but also strengthens
them in the faith, so that they consider it as al-
ready actually attained (Ex. xiv. 13 ; 2 Chron. xx.
13 ft. ). — Ver. 8. When we come into the pains
of death, and our mouth can no longer speak, then
should our heart sigh to God. — Ver. 10. One
should keep his vows (Eccles. v. 4). — Ver. 11.
God gives beyond our asking and our understand-
ing. The almighty hand of God will one day
restore to life those who have perished in the waters
(Rev. XX. 13).
Pfaff : Ver. 4. 0, how good it is for the soul
to feel the anger of the Lord and to be driven into
Straits ; for thereby it is brought right to God, and
its faith is strengthened. — Ver. 5. A child of God
longs for the temple and public service of God, in
order to praise the Lord becomingly in the con-
gregation and to be quickened by the mutual prayer
of the pious.
QuANDT : Our Lord has interpreted to us, in
the New Testament, the history contained in this
chapter as a prophecy of Him ; as a sign of his
death, of his descent to Hades, and of his resur-
rection. On this account this chapter acquires a
glory, which the other three have not. — Ver 1 .
If a man should be received unhurt into a fish's
body, according to the course of nature he cannot
breathe and live a single hour. At all events the
Lord wrought a miracle in the case of Jonah ; we
can in his case altogether dispense with natural
history. With many repentance is a mere specu-
lation on the act of bestowing grace, — a specula-
tion that fails, when the Lord leads the soul still
deeper into judgment or misery. Not so with
Jonah. — Ver. 2. Jonah was very well acquainted
with the Psalter and had committed to memory
many a prayer of the saints. This was of great
advantage to him now, as his prayer shows. There
is good reason why a man should come before the
throne of the Merciful One, with his own words,
instead of set forms. But in times of spiritual
droaght a manual has also its advantages. — Ver.
4. With Thon and Thine Jonah clings to the same
Divine hand, which punishes him, and therefore
this hand must raise him from the deep to a high
place. — Ver. 8. ff. Jonah trusts that God, who had
delivered his soul, would now also do the less and
save his body. By faith he sees his deliverance as
already accomplished, and for that reason prom-
ises to God offerings of thanksgiving.
AnoosTiNE : Ver. 1. Jonah prophesied of
Christ, not so much by his words as by sufferings ;
and evidently more clearly than if be had an-
nounced his sufferings and resurrection by words.
Makok : God often makes an end of temptation
2ontrary to human expectation (I Cor. x. 13),
and never denies his favor, because He cannot
deny Himself (2 Tim. ii. 13).
Lavater : That Jonah could draw breath in
the belly of the fish, or receive as much air as he
had need of, was just as possible as that a child
can live in its mother's womb.
BtjROK : Ver. 2. Wonderful change (i. 6) — he
Bade little haste to pray ; he suffered himself to
be driven to it. Now in the deepest misery he prays
not only most earnestly, but most confidently.
Theodoket : Ver. 3. I, says he, who hereto-
fore thought that thou dwellest only in Jerusalem,
mi only there revealest thyself to the prophets,
found thee present in the belly of the fish, etc.
BuKCK : We have in this prayer an example of
the right use of the Psalter. Even the holy men
of God, who were partakers of the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost, have not refused to appeal to and
to cite formally the be oks of Scripture, which ex.
isted already in their time. A strong argument
for the authority of the holy Scriptures.
RiEGEK : We should in this sign consider Jonah
particularly as a type of the deep humiliation of
the Son of God in the midst of the earth and oi
his reviving from the dead, that event, whose light
ever afterward falls on all the paths of life, other-
wise still so deep and dark.
RiEGEK : To attain good by means of the wrath
which one experiences is no small matter. It is
as if one were obliged to pass through nothing
but spears and swords. Many expressions in the
prayer of Jonah are taken from the Psalms. So
in similar circumstances something out of the
Scriptures will occur, often only after a long time,
to the memory of the sufferer.
RiEGER : Ver. 5. What an eternal sting do all
our humiliations carry with them, when three
days and three nights can become as long to a
man as if he were forever isolated.
BuECK : Ver. 7. Here first, in the end of his
prayer, Jonah ventures to use the direct and con-
fident address : Jehovah, my God, doubtless with
the most heartfelt delight. Before he had humbly
and anxiously abstained from it.
HiEEONYMUs : Ver. 9. Those who not merely
practice vanity ( for all is vanity, therefore all prac-
tice it), but observe it as if they loved it and found
a treasure in it.
Schmiedek: Ver. 10. All help comes from the
Lord, even where He helps through means ; there-
fore we should not trust in the means, whether
things or persons, but in the Lord, and thank Him
first for all help. — Ver. 1 1 . The instinct of beasts
can be controlled by the will of God. (Comp.
Dan. vi. 22.)
ScHLiER ; What was likely to be the effect upon
Jonah, who experienced such a miraculous inter-
position on the part of his God ! What was likely
to be the effect upon others, who heard of it, for
the report of the miracle soon spread abroad.
Even the heathen fables know something of it.
[In the poem, Cassandra, ascribed to Lycophron,
and in a fragment of the logographer Hellenicus,
cited by the Scholiasts on Homer's Iliad, xx. 145,
it is related, that Hercules delivered Hesione by
entering into the belly of a sea-monster, to which
she was exposed, whose entrails he tore in pieces
and came out again in safety ; and the church
fathers state that the myth ascribes to his stay in
the monster's belly three days' continuance.]
[Calvin: 9 (10.) It must be noticed here that
the worship of God especially consists in praises,
as it is said in Ps. 1. : for there God shows that he
regards as nothing all sacrifices, except they an-
swer this end — to set forth the praise of his name.
It was indeed his will that sacrifices should be of-
fered to Him under the law ; but it was for the end
just stated ; for God cares not for calves and oxen,
for goats and lambs ; but his will was that He
should be acknowledged as the Giver of all bless-
ings. Hence He says there " sacrifice to me the
sacrifice of praise."
Matthew Henrt : Ver. 2. No place is amiss
for prayer. / will that men pray everywhere ;
wherever God casts us we may find a way open
heavenward, if it be not our own fault. — Ver. 10
Jonah's experience shall encourage others, in al!
ages, to trust in God, as the God of their salvation ;
all that read this story, shall say it with assurance,
say it with admiration, that salvation is of th<
Lord, and is sure to all that belong (o Him.
30
JONAH.
PusEY : 7 (8). But when it came to the ut-
most, then he says, I remembered the Lord, as
though, in the intense thought of God then, all his
former thought of God had been forgetfulness.
So it is in every strong act of faith, of love, of
prayer; its former state seems unworthy of the
name of faith, love, prayer. It believes, loves,
prays, as though all before had been forgetfhlness
— Ver. 9 (10). God seems often to wait for the
full resignation of the soul, all its powers and will
to Him. Then He can show mercy healthfully,
when the soul is wholly surrendered to Him. So
on this full confession Jonah is restored. — C. E.]
CHAPTER III.
^The Renewal of Jonah's Commission (vers. 1, 2). His Preaching to the Ninevites
(vers. 3-4). Humiliation and Reformation of the Ninevites (vers. 5-9.) Re-
versal of the Divine Sentence (ver. 10). — C. E.]
1 And the word of the Lord [Jehovah] came [was communicated] unto Jonah
2 the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto
3 it the preaching [make the proclamation to it] that I bid thee. So [And] Jonah
arose, and went unto [to] Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord [Jehovah].
Now [And] Nineveh was an exceeding great city [a great city to God] of three
4 days' journey. And Jonali began to enter into the city a day's journey [a journey
of one day], and he cried [proclaimed], and said. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall
5 be overthrown. So [And] the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed
a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For [And] word came [had come] unto [to] the king of Nineveh, and he arose from
his throne, and he [oOTiihe] laid his robe from him [put ofFhis robe from him], and
7 covered him [himself] with sack cloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be pro-
claimed and published [and said] through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his
nobles, saying. Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing : let
8 them not feed, nor drink water : But [And] let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and cry mightUy unto God : yea [and] let them turn every one from his
9 evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell ' [knoweth] ij
[but that~\ [the] God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger
1 0 [glow of anger], that we perish not ? And [the] God saw their works, that they
turned from their evil way ; and God repented of the evil that [which] he had said
that he would do unto them ; and he did it not.
TEXTUAL AND GBAMSIATICAL.
[1 Ver. 2. — nS''^t7, that whioh is proclaimed, proclamation ; ro jc^pvy/xa, (LXX.) ; pradicatio (VuJgate)
[■2 Ver. 7. — C^tO =^ D^tS, Dan. iii. 10, 29, a teclmical term for tile edicts of the Assyrian and Bahvlonian kings.
[8 Ver. 9. — 5?li"'""'J3, who is knowing ? _ C. E.]
EXiiaETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1-9. The preaching of Repentance hy Jonali
in Nineveh and its Result.
Ver. 1, 2. God sends the prophet, the second
time, to make his proclamation — his Kriah —
against Nineveh ; the same that was to be put in
his mouth. "'5'^, part. fnt. as in Is. v. 5. ["1.3'^
signifies, according to the idiomatic use of the par-
ticiple, ahout to tell, and suggests the idea of a
proximate futurity. — C. E.]
Ver. 3. Jonah is made wiser by the chastise-
ment which he experienced, and does not again
attempt to evade the call.
Wow Nineveh was a great city (comp. the
Introduction, p. 9) before God [fur Qott]. The
datii-us ethiciin designates not an inward peculiar
relation of Nineveh to God, as in the passage
( Acts vii. 20) quoted by Hitzig ; but it corresponds
to the phrase " before God," which is applied to
Nimrod, the founder of the city (Gen. x. 9), and
denotes here the world-position of the city, there
of the person. Men may appear great to their
people; cities to their possessors, or spectators,
and still not occupy a world-position. (Deut. i.
28). [" D^rrbsb nbil3 T'J?, a dty great to
God. This phrase has been variously explained.
Some, with Kimclri, deem it merely a superlative
form ; Gesenius construes the V instrumentally,
great through God, i. e., through his favor. Others
consider it to be equivalent to D''i7 vS \3D7 be-
fore God, Gen. x. 9. Thus the Targum ^'^ Dir.
Of tliis last interpretation I approve, as it was
most natural to refer the size of a city, of which
CHAPTER in.
S31
the Hebrews could fovm no adequate conception,
to the Divine estimation. I have accordingly ren-
dered the words literally, as our preposition to is
often used to note opinion, or estimate." Hender-
son On Jonah.
" But Nineveh was a great city to God (le'lohim),
I. e., it was regarded by God as a great city. This
remark points to the motive for sparing it (cf. ch.
iv. II) in case its inhabitants hearkened to the
word of God." Keil and Delitzsch.
" Nineveh was an exceeding great city ; lit. great
to God, i. e., that would not only appear great to
man who admires things of no account, but what,
being really great, is so in the judgment of God
who cannot be deceived. God did account it
great, who says to Jonah, Should not I spare
Nineveh that great city, which hath more than six
score thousand that cannot discern between their right
and their left ? It is a diff'ei'ent idiom from that,
when Scripture speaks of the mountains of God, the
cedars of God. I"or of these it speaks, as having
their firmness or their beauty from God, as their
Author." Pusey.
" The phrase ' an exceeding great city,' stands in
the Hebrew, 'a city great to God,' i. e., great before
Him, — great as to Him, in his estimation. The
Hebrews were accustomed to express their highest
ideas of the superlative degree by using the name
of God, e. g., ' mountains of God,' etc. The sense
of this passage may be somewhat more specific,
representing the city as great in its relations to
God, and not merely as very great apart from
these relations." Cowles.
See Lange on Gen. x. 9 ; also the note by T. L.
— C. E.]
Three days' journey — accusative of measure,
as in Gen. xiv. 4.
Since (comp. on i. 2 ) the direct diameter of the
city was only a day's journey, then the circum-
ference is either designated by ?J?l]P (this sig-
nification of 'n^'^rPi though consistent with the
statement that the circumference of the city was
four hundred and eighty stadia in extent, cannot
be maintained), or the way (comp. Ez. xlii. 4),
which united together the market-places of the
different individual cities forming the great aggre-
gate [complexes^, and which it was, therefore,
necessary to travel over, in order to go entirely
through the city. Ver. 4, in which TJvnO desig-
nates the way which Jonah travelled over, during
the first day ("rnS Ci'", Ges. sec. 120, 4), points
to thb latter supposition. So certain is he of his
message, and so impressed with the urgency of his
mission, that he immediately begins to enter into
the city, before obtaining a survey of it, and com-
mences to preach on the first day's journey. His
sermon is short, but powerful : Yet forty days
and Uineveh sliall be overthrown. Forty days
are here a round number, meaning after a short
time, whose term Jonah measures by the period of
the deluge. The LXX. translate it by a still
more rigid formula, — Yet three days. This
shortening of the time, however, would not har-
monize with the facts of the case, since no time
would have been left to the Ninevites for repent-
ance,' for Jonah required three days to go tf rough
the city. The word employed to denote the de-
Itruction is the old prophetical technical term
1 For the H«b. Text are Aqu., Symm , Theodot., Syr. ;
»Is:, Hieron., Thcodotet, Aug. Lange, Bibeitoerk O. T.,
TJQn, evertere (Is. i. 7 ; xiii. 19), which every-
where points back to the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrha. (Original passage. Gen. xix. 25.)
[Ver. 4. " Its greatness amounted to a ' three
days' walk.' This is usually supposed to refer to
the circumference of the city, by which the size of
a city is generally determined. But the statement
in ver. 4, that Jonah bege.n to enter into the city
the walk of a day, !. e., a day's journey, is appar-
ently at variance with this. Hence Hitzig has
come to the conclusion that the diameter of the
city is intended, and that, as the walk of a day in
ver. 4 evidently points to the walk of three days
in ver. 3, the latter must also be understood as re-
ferring to the length of Nineveh. But according
to Diod. ii. 3 the length of the city was one hun-
dred and fifty stadia, and Herod, (v. 53) gives just
this number of stadia, as a day's journey. Hence
Jonah would not have commenced his preaching
till he had reached the opposite end of the ciiy.
This line of argument, the intention of which is
to prove the absurdity of the narrative, is based
upon the perfectly arbitrary assumption that Jonah
went through the entire length of the city in a
straight line, which is neither probable in itself,
nor implied in "^""V^ ^"'2. This simply means
to enter, or go into the city, and says nothing
about the direction of the course he took within
the city. But in a city, the diameter of which
was one hundred and fifty stadia, and the circum-
ference four hundred and eighty stadia, one might
easily walk for a whole day without reaching the
other end, by winding about from one street into
another. And Jonah would have to do this to
find a suitable place for his preaching, since we
are not warranted in assuming that it lay exactly
in the geographical centre, or at the end of the
street which led from the gate into the city. But
if Jonah wandered about in diiferent directions,
as Theodoret says, ' not going through the city,
but strolling through market-places, streets,' etc.,
the distance of a day's journey over which he
travelled must not be understood as relating to the
diameter or length of the city ; so that the objec-
tion to the general opinion, that the three days'
journey given as the size of the city refers to the
circumference, entirely falls to the ground. More
over, Hitzig has quite overlooked the word -'O'l
in his argument. The text does not affirm that
Jonah went a day's journey into the city, but that
he ' began to go into the city a day's journey, and
cried out.' These words do not affirm that he did
not begin to preach till after he had gone a whole
day's journey, but .simply that he had commenced
his day's journey in the city when he found a suit-
able place and a fitting opportunity for his proc-
lamation. They leave the distance that he had
really gone, when he began his preaching, quite
indehnite ; and by no means necessitate the as-
sumption that he had only begun to preach in the
evening, after his day's journey was ended. AH
that they distinctly affirm is, that he did not preach
directly he entered the city, but only after he had
commenced a day's journey, that is to say, had
gone some distance into the city. And this is in
perfect harmony with all that we know about the
size of Nineveh at that time. The circumference
of the great city Nineveh, or the length of the
boundaries of the city of Nineveh in the broadest
sense, was, as Niebuhr says (p. 277), 'nearly
ninety English miles, not reckoning the smallei
viudiiigs of the boundary; and this would be jua
32
JONAH.
three day's travelling for a good walker on a long
journey.' 'Jonah,' he continues, begins to go a
day's journey into the city, then preaches, and the
preaching reaches the ears of the king (cf ver. 6).
He therefore came very near to the citadel as he
went along on his first day's journey. At that
time the citadel was probably in Nimrod (Calah).
Jonah, who would hardly have travelled through
the desert, went by what is now the ordinary
caravan road past Amida, and therefore entered
the city at Nineveh. And it was on the road from
Nineveh to CaUih, not far off the city, possibly in
the city itself, that he preached. Now the distance
between Calah and Nineveh (not i-eckoning either
city), measured in a straight line upon the map, is
eighteen and a half English miles.' If, then, we
add to this, (1) that the road from Nineveh to
Calah or Nimrod hardly ran in a perfectly straight
line, and therefore would be really longer than the
exact distance between the two parts of the city
according to the map, and (2) that Jonah had first
of all to go through Nineveh, and possibly into
Calah, he may very well have walked twenty Eng-
lish miles, or a short day's journey, before he
preached. The main point of his preaching is all
that is given, namely, the threat that Nineveh
should be destroyed, which was the point of chief
importance, so far as the object of the book was
concerned, and which Jonah of course explained
by denouncing the sins and vices of the city."
Keil and Delitzsch. — C. E.]
Ver. .5. Then the men of Nineveh believed
God. That the Babylonians had a great respect
for divination, so that what is here related does
not appear strange (Keil), may appear apologet-
ically an important observation ; but this was
probably not in the mind of the writer : it was
his intention to relate something extraordinary.
Moreover, he would not have employed the ex-
pression "believe,'' but the more common ^^2,
fear, or a similar word. (See moreover below at
ver. 8.) The word believe here, as often elsewhere,
is used with special reference to the appropriation
of prophetical instruction to the soul's inner life
(Is. vii. 9 ; Hab. ii. 4), without however excluding
the element of justification, when confidence is ex-
ercised in the mercy of God. Its fruits, ver. 5 ff ,
are those which are required from preaching, re-
pentance, and conversion (Joel ii. 15 ff). And
this repentance was indeed a general one, a re-
pentance of the people, as it was carried out by
bringing over to it all the inhabitants, the king, and
even the beasts. Ver. 6 ff. is only a fuller recital of
the brief historical statement in ver. fi, and should,
according to the context, be rendered in the plu-
perfect : For the matter had come to the King
of Nineveh, etc., to ver. 9. Our author is fond
of such pluperfect adjuncts (i. 5-10). Following
the natural, epic character of the narrative, we
have retained the aorist in the translation. The
king rises from his throne (comp. 2 Sam. xiii. 31),
and lays aside his royal robe (comp. Josh. vii. 21),
puts on a mourning-dress and sits in ashes — all a
sign of sorrow and repentance (Ez. xxvi. 16).
The verbs in ver. 7 if. have the indefinite sub-
i'ect " one " : one proclaimed and said in Nineveh
ly the command of the king and his nobles also,
etc. The royal heralds are meant, to whom the
txecution of the D213 (a north-Semitic word =
nni/^, comp. Dan. iii. 29 f.) was committed.
That the beasts were included in the public humil
lation is nothing unusual in the East. When
Masistios fell at Plataja, the Persians, in honor
of him, sheared the hair from their horses. (Herod,
ix. 24. Comp. Brissonius, De Regni Persarum
Principiis, ii. c. 206 ) Horses hung with black
were, in the time of Chrysostom, frequently seen
at funeral processions, and they are frequently
to be seen at the present day. The custom has its
foundation in the lively feeling of the mutual
adaptation of man and nature. (Comp. Joel i.
1 8, and the description of the great grief in the
fifth Eclogue of Virgil [also JEneid, -xi. 89, c. e.].)
Besides it is especially mentioned here as a reason,
just as " great and small " ver. 5, that not merely
repentance of sin, but also compassion toward
guiltless creatures should move God to spare them
(iv. 11). But it is not required to press to the
utmost the separate applications of the royal edict,
in the interest of the fides historica, otherwise we
would be obliged to infer from ver. 8 that the cat-
tle were clothed in mourning and that their low-
ing was taken for prayer, which was certainly not
so. The strength of the expressions paints the
depth of the repentance, and ver. 8 b shows the
reason of their use by the king and by the narra-
tor, who reproduces the edict : and let them turn
every one from his evil way (Ez. xviii. 23), etc.,
that we perish not (comp. i. 6). It is too strongly
asserted that this result of Jonah's denunciation of
doom is psychologically incomprehensible in itself
( Hit/.ig), because he spoke as a foreigner to a foreign
people in a foreign language. But the esteem of
antiquity for the oracles of the gods [Gotterstim-
men] is known ; and the fact that the limits of
riational worship Avere thereby left undetermined,
in proof of which we cite the well-known fact that
Croesus consulted the Grecian oracles (comp.
Ezr. i. 1 ff . ; Gen. xli ; Numb, xxii ; Luke vii).
And the more threatening these oracles were, the
more certain were they to obtain belief, as is natu-
ral, since the threatenings of divine punishment
have a powerful ally in the conscience of man. If
one reflects on the excitement, which ruled the
souls of men about the year 1000 a. d. ; on the
results which the discourses of a Peter of Amiens,
Capistrano, and others of their time had, though
delivered in a language not understood ; and con-
siders that awe in which holy men were held by
antiquity, of which even profane writers alford
frequent examples, then the psychological difSculty
vanishes, and there is no need of bringing the
aflnnity of the Hebrew and Assyrian languages to
our help, in order to find the result possible. It
is injudicious to remove, in the interests of apolo-
getics, everything miraculous from the narrative ;
but it is equally so to push, in the interest of po-
lemics, the miraculous to silliness. Another psycho-
logical motive to repentance on the part of the
Ninevites our Lord indicates, Luke xi. 30, when
by the expression ariiiiuov to?s Nii/eufrais, he un-
doubtedly brings to light that the account of the
wonderful events of his life formed an essential
part of Jonah's sermon on repentance. (Comp.
Luke xi. 32, and the Ob. of Luther on ver. 4 be
low.)
With reference to DTt^SH, vers. 9, 10 (comp.
i. 6) Burck remarks: " Non hie adhibetur nomen
Jehovah, quia de poptjo gentili sermo est. Jehovas
coynitio sablimior, guam Dei.'^
Ver. 11. The Compassion. As faith expects, so
it comes to pass. (Comp. Ex. xxxii. 12, 14.) God
looked upon the Ninevites ; He turned his coun-
tenance, with kind thoughts, toward them. (Comp
ver. 9. 1, 6.)
CHAPTEK III.
33
[" But however deep the penitential mourning
of Nineveh might bo, and however sincere the re-
pentance of the people, when they acted according
to the king's command ; tlie repentance was not a
lasting one, or permanent in its effects. Nor did it
evince a thorough conversion to God, but was
merclv a powerful incitement to conversion, a
wakmg up out of the careless security of their
life of sin, an endeavor to forsake their evil ways
which did not last very long. The statement in
ver. 10, that " God saw their doing, that they
turned from their evil ways; and He repented of
the evil that He had said that He would do to
them, and did it not" (cf Ex. xxxii. 14), can be
reconciled with this without difficulty. The re-
pentance of the Ninevites, even if it did not last,
showed, at any rate, a susceptibility on the part of
the heathen for the word of God, and their will-
ingness to turn and forsake their evil and ungodly
ways ; so that God, according to his compassion,
could extend his grace to them in consequence.
God always acts in this way. He not only for-
gives the converted man, who lays aside his sin,
and walks in newness of life ; but He has mercy
also upon the penitent who confesses and mourns
over his sin, and is willing to amend. The Lord
also directed Jonah to preach repentance to Nin-
eveh ; not that this capital of the heathen world
might be converted at once to faith in the living
God, and its inhabitants be received into the cov-
enant of grace which He had made with Israel,
but simply to give his people Israel a practical
proof that Ho was the God of the heathen also,
and could piepare for Himself even among them
a people of his possession. (Keil and Delitzsch.)
Dr. Pusey expresses himself unwarrantably,
when he says : " But, what Scripture chiefly dwells
upon, their repentance was not only in profession,
in belief, in outward act, but in the fruit of gen-
uine works of repentance, a changed life out of a
changed heart Their whole way and course
of life was evil ; they broke oft', not the one or
other sin only, but all, their whole evil way. Dr.
P. has inserted the adjective " whole " before " evil
way." It is not used by the sacred writer. The
repentance of the Ninevites was — though in some
instances, it may have been more — a public con-
fession and humiliation ordered by the" king and
his nobles." — C. E.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1
See Introduction, p. 5 if.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
The repentance of the Ninevites, a model of a
genuine national repentance.
1. It hears God's proclamation and asks not
why % vers. 1-4.
2. It springs from faith and is accompanied by
faith ? vers. 5, 9.
3. It bows itself under the curse of the common
guilt, and not a single person asks : how much
have I deserved 7 ver. 6. ff.
4. It is united with the purpose of amendment.
On ver. I. The Lord does not withdraw his calls.
(Comp, John xxi. 16.) It is a great and enduring
grace to be called by Him. Ver. 2. No one should
undertake, of his own absolute power, to thfeaten
others with the Divine wrath and punishment.
Preachers, who speak from their own mind, have
1 {Reuhsgedanken, see note, p. 20. — C. E.].
no right to do so. Therefore, consider well and
pray for the Holy Spirit, and entirely humble thy-
self, and forget thyself, if thou hast in mind to, ot
must perform such a duty.
Ver. 3. Whoever feels that he is sent of God
should not be afraid of the greatest city. As
many as the Lord intends shall hear Him, will
hear Him. — Ver. 4. Speak promptly and delay
not. In God's kingdom every moment is precious.
The time, when He puts his word in thy mouth,
is the right time ; not that which thou fanciest for
thyself. — Ver. 5. Because the Ninevites believed,
they repented. Repentance comes not from the law
alone ; but from the law and faith. Prom the law
alone comes death. Children are not innocent. —
Ver. 6. It becomes a king, who takes precedence
in everything, to take the lead also in repentance.
(Ps. li.) In repentance and especially before
God, all are on a level ; purple is of no avail, but
only a broken heart. Magistracy is of God's ap-
pointment ; but those who possess it are neverthe-
less sinners. — Ver. 7. It is a good work and be-
longs to the office of the magistrate to foster true
piety. The state has not merely the negative duty
of providing that those who observe their religious
festivals [Feiertage] be not disturbed, but also a
positive duty. There is no state con(;eivable with-
out having duties to discharge to religion and tha
church. The kingdom of God can subsist without
it, but not the reverse. To repentance belongs
necessarily the purpose of amendment. — Ver. 9.
The heathen do not despair of God's mercy,
though they do not yet know Christ. It is worse
than heathenish to doubt that God is gracious and
ready to forgive. — Ver. 10. The repentance of
God is included in his gracious decree. It is tha
harmonizing of [die Auseinandersetzimg zwischen,
lit., the settlement between] wrath and forgiveness,
justice and love. Wrath is not the final end;
but it has for its end and object, love. Law with-
out the Gospei vvould be an ungodly thing : the
Old Testament cannot subsist without the New.
Woe to him who makes light of the wrath of
God: ho can never taste of love.
Luther : Ver. 1. It is therefore written that
we may bear in mind, that nothing is to be under-
taken without God's word and command. For
the first commatjd of God having been violated by
disobedience, had not God renewed it, Jonah
would not have known, whether he should do it,
or not. (Comp. Num. xiv. 1 fi^. ; Dcut. i. 41 f.)
The Israelites at first would not fight at God's com
mand ; afterward they wished to do so of their
own accord and were beaten. (1 Pet. iv. 11.) —
Ver. 2. Nineveh, the city of God. God cares also
for the heathen. (2 Kings v. 1 ; Jer. xxv. 9.) —
Ver. 4. He doubtless did not confine himself iu
preaching to these words ; his proclamation is
briefly reported.. — Ver. 5. They do some things,
which God does not command. Therefore He,
afterward, ver. 10, does not commend their fasting
and sackcloth, but that they turned from their
evil way. God saw their earnestness ; theretbra
He permitted the foolish things — that the animals
should fast, etc., — to be acceptable to Him, which
He would not have beheld with favor, had the
earnestness been wanting. Free will, or our own
power, does not produce such earnestness ; but
faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Ver. 9.
The king speaks as if he doubts. But he doubts
not ; for doubt does not call upon God and em-
ploy such earnestness. A truly penitent heart
stands with fear in the contest, and fights against
despair ; but as it has not yet won, it speaks as ii
34
JONAH.
it were ancertain. If there were no faith, it would
not hold out amidst such toil and trouble. There-
fore, words are rather u sign that faith is there.
— Ver. 10. Here the works are commended; what
shall we say against it ! Here the legalists have
the advantage, yes, a fine advantage ! Look at
the text. It says, God saw their works, that is,
they pleased Him. But what kind of works were
they '! The text shows : They turned from their
evil way. Such works do and teach, then we will
not refuse to thee the praise of works ; but we will
help thee to extol them. To turn from one's evil
way is not a trifling- work ; it includes, not fasting
and sackcloth, but faith in God from the heart,
and the loving of our neighbor as ourselves ; that
is, it requires the whole man to be pious and just
in both body and soul. For God requires the
whole man, and dislikes half-converts and hypo-
crites.
Starke: Ver. 1. God's purpose and command
must succeed and be accomplished; for it cannot
be hindered or frustrated by any human designs.
God by means of the ministry saves sinners by
sinners. — Ver. 2. God even during the time of the
Old Covenant, sought the salvation of the heathen.
— Ver. 3. Nineveh, a great city to the Lord,
should surely have been devoted to God : .God had
wrought for it {iv. 10). naflTj/iara, fj.aBT}^aTa,
nocumenta, dociiinenta, poor in spirit, rich in faitli
{armaelig mackt f/oUscdig, Is. xxviii. 19). God can
well tolerate great cities, if they only give place to
Him and his word. — Ver. 4. Since God has still
his own everywhere, these most likely were the
first to have been awakened, and to have served
as coadjutors in the preaching of repentance. —
Ver. 5. Credidit Ninive et Israel incredulus per-
severat; credidit prt^putinm, et circumcisio perinanet
injidelis. Where the Word of God is preached
sincerely and purely, there it brings fruit in its
season, if notm all, at least in some. (1 Thess. ii.
13.) Jonah did in his mission, as did the Apos-
tles. Wherever thcv came, they did not seek first
permission fi-cr^i the magistrate; but they rested
[their ?.acnority] upon the command of Christ.
— Ver. 7. It is well for the masses of a commu-
nity, when pious magistrates have also pious ser-
vants around them. It is a strong proof of sin-
cere repentance for sins committed to remove
every occasion to lust out pf the way. — Ver. 8.
One must prove his repentance by external acts.
It is a peculiar instance of Divine justice that
God suffered Israel to be destroyed by the
same people, who repented at the voice of his
prophet, while on the contrary, the Israelites had
despised all the prophets from Samuel down.
God's decree has always a fundamental reference
to conversion [hat die Ordnnng der Bekehrung im-
mer zum Grunde],
Pfaff : God does not change his commands.
He repeats his calling grace. He calls the sinner
twice, thrice, yea, even to the end. — Ver-. 4 : A
preacher must speak the truth frankly [deutsch],
and not sugar it over and deprive it of its power
by ornaments and flattery. One must plainly say
to sinners that they are hastening to destruction.
— Ver. 7. Here we tind established the right of
the magistrate in spiritual things; especially in
regard to the externals of Divine worship and its
right ordering. — Vers. 9, 10. It is certain that
God bestows his grace upon the penitent.
QuANDT : Ver. 1. With God nothing is impos-
•ible. Truly, the heart must suffer itself to be
broken, otherwise even God cannot break it by his
Almighty power The same word of God which
was rejected and despised by us in former times, is
received by us with devotion, when it comes to JS
the second time and we in the meantime have
become different persons. Many individuals and
families want nothing but the cross to bring them
back. — Ver. 3. Alas ! Jonah has more followers
in the way of flight than in the way of obedience.
— Ver. 4. Three ways may be pursued on receii-
ing such a terrible message — despair, frivolous
mockery, repentance and conversion. The Nine-
vites chose the third. — Ver. 9. Kaith disappoints
nobody. — Ver. 10. That Nineveh was converted
was a wonder. With us, it is a wonder, if we are
not converted.
Marck : Ver. 1. God is so good and sc mdul-
gent to the weaknesses of his servants, that even
after repeated proofs of his grace. He makes
known his will to them, not once, but oftener, in
order that they may have no pretext of ignorance,
but may know the true object of their redemption,
namely, to obey the commands of their Redeemer
and to manifest his glory.
BuRCK : God does not utterly reject him, who
has failed once ; but He rather gives him a new
opportunity of correcting former faults.
RiEGER : To him, who comes out of trouble,
danger, and sickness, God commonly permits an
opportunity soon to occur, when he can pay his
vows.
ScHLiER : In renewing the command, God says
not a word about the guilt of Jonah ; for Jonah is
humbled. In the miracle of his deliverance he
has learned what obedience is, although he does
not yet know what Divine compassion toward the
perishing heathen is.
BuRCK : Ver. 4. Preaching is usually effica-
cious, from the very first, among those who do not
receive the Word in vain. There is very little
hope of those, who have heard the Word of God
proclaimed by the same messenger, not merely
many days, but years, without becoming better,
even if they should have the opportunity of hear-
ing the same preaching a thousand years.
Marck : Ver. 5. There is not only a very close
connection between evil, guilt, and punishment, so
that they are commonly mutually dependent, but
also the good is connected by intimate bonds, since
from one virtue of one man other virtues of others
flow, and the Divine blessing follows virtue. This
is illustrated by the obedience of Jonah, with
which the repentance of the Ninevites and the Di-
vine compassion were closely connected.
RiEGER : The exercises of repentance are here
described for the most part by the outward cir-
cumstances that accompanied them, — quite differ-
ent from what is practiced at the present day,
when one would perform the several acts of re-
pentance, devotion, and prayer, in such a quiet
way as to be scarcely perceived by those who are
nearest about him. But where there is genuine
earnestness within, there the outward manifesta-
tion is not so readily suppressed.
Bdrck : Ver. 6. There is a diff'erence between
a court, which is a stranger to the true religion,
and one that is attached to it in only a hypocrit
ical way. The former is more easily moved ; the
latter, in consequence of God's decree, is more
hardened.
Bochart: Ver. 7. This edict, issued to the
Ninevites, in order to appease the anger of God;
the edict of Darius (Dan. vi. 26 flF.) ; that of Neb-
uchadnezzar (Dan. iii. 20), and others, were just
so many preparations for the conversion of the
heathen, which followed the advent of Christ. In
CHAPTER IV.
S.'i
this way God's goodness and glory became gradu-
ally, and in a certain measure, known to the na-
tions, which were strangers to Israel (Exodus v.
2)-
SoHMiEDER : Ver. 8. The understanding may
call the penitential acts on the part of the beasts
foolish; but the heart will seize upon them, be-
cause they show deep contrition of heart ; and
this is certainly the main point here.
HiEBONYMUS : Ver. 10. God soon chant'ed his
purpose, because He saw that their works were
changed. He did not hear words, such as Israel
was wont to say ; " All that God has said will we
do" (Ex. xix. 8; xxiv. 3) ; but He saw works.
He will rather that the ungodly turn from their
evil way, than that they should die. (Ez. xviii. 23,
32).
Talmud: Dear brethren, sackcloth and fasting
avail nothing ; but repentance and good works.
For it is not said of the Ninevites, etc.
BuRCK : How far are God's thoughts removed
from the thoughts of man, even from the thoughts
of men, who seem unto others to be sound in the
faith.
RiEGEB : The Lord Jesus bears testimony to
this repentance of the people of Nineveh (Matth.
xii. 14), that, in its good consequences, it will ex-
tend to the day of judgment; and hence, in spar-
ing thom, God must have been sincerely and kindly
in earnest. But because Nineveh fell back into
its former sins, it was overthrown by the wrath of
Jehovah scarcely a century after this salutary con-
version : so also it befell Jerusalem, because it did
not acknowledge and receive Him, of whom Jonah
was a type.
[Calvin : Ver. 3. He went, then, according to
the command ofJehooah ; that is, nothing else did
ho regard but to render obedience to God, and to
suffer himself to be wholly ruled by him. We
hence learn how well God provides for us and for
our salvation, when he corrects our perverseness ;
though sharp may be our chastisements, yet as
this benefit follows, we know that nothing is bet-
ter for us than to be humbled under God's hand,
as David says in Ps. 119. — Ver. 10. God had re-
spect to their works — what works '! not sackcloth,
not ashes, not fasting ; for Jonah does not now
mention these; but he had respect to their works,
because they turned from their evil way.
Faikbaien : " Why should God have sent his
prophet to admonish us of sin, and foretell his ap-
proaching judgment, a prophet, too, who has him-
self been the subject of smgular mercy and for-
bearance ? If destruction alone had been his
object, would he not rather have allowed us to
sleep on in our sinfulness? And why, in particu-
lar, should these forty days have been made to
run between our doom and our punishment ■?
Surely this bespeaks some thought of mercy in
God ; it must have been meant to leave tlie door
still open to us for forgiveness and peace." So un-
doubtedly they reasoned, and, as the event proved,
reasoned justly.
PusEY : Ver. 10. And he did it not. God willed
rather that his prophecy should seem to fail, than
that repentance should fail of its fruit. But it
did not indeed fiiil, for the condition lay expressed
in the threat.
CowLES : Ver. 10. Works meet for repentance
will infallibly secure the revci-sal of threatened
and impending doom. God's immutability is that
of principle — not of plan and action. He im-
mutably hates and punishes sin : hence, when a
sinner becomes a penitent, God turns from threat-
ened vengeance to free pardon. — C. E.'
CHAPTER IV.
'jTonah repines at God's Mercy to the Ninevites. God employs a Palmchrist as a
means to reprove and instruct him. — C E.J
I 2 But [And] it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.^ And he
prayed unto [to] the Lord [Jehovah], and said : I pray thee [Ah ! now], O Lord
[Jehovah], was not this my saying, when [while] I was yet in my country ?
Therefore I fled before [I anticipated it by fleeing] unto Tarshish : for I knew that
thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
3 repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord [And now, 0 Jehovah] take,
I beseech thee, my life from me ; for it is better for me to die than to live [my
4 death is better than my life]. Then [And] said the Lord [Jehovah said], Doest
5 thou well to be angry ? ^ So [And] Jonah went ' out of the city, and sat on the east
side of the city, and there made him [for himself] a booth, and sat under it in the
6 shadow [shade], till he might [should] see what would become of the city. And the
Lord [Jehovah] God prepared a gourd [palmchrist] and made it to come up over
Jonah, that it might be [to bo] a shadow [shade] over his head, to deliver him from
7 his grief [distress]. So [And] Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God
prepared [appointed] a worm when the morning rose [at the rising of the dawn]
8 the next day, and it smote the gourd [palmchrist] [so] that it withered. And it
came to pass, when the sun did arise [at the rising of the sun], that God prepared
[appointed] a vehement [sultry J east wind ; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah
36
JONAH.
that [and] he fainted, and wished in himself [asked his soul, i. e., asked for him-
self] to die, and said. It is better for me to die than to live [my death is better
9 than my life]. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well [is it right] to be angry
for the gourd [palmchrist] ? And he said, I do well [It is right] to be angry, even
10 unto death. Then [And] said the Lord [Jehovah], Thou hast had pity on [wast
grieved for] the gourd [palmchrist], for the which [on which] thou hast not
labored, neither madest it [and which thou hast not caused to] grow ; which came*
11 up in a night [which was the son of a night], and perished in a night: And
should not I spare [have pity upon] Nineveh, that great city, wherein [in which]
are more than sixscore thousand persons, that cannot discern [distinguish] be
tween their right hand and their left hand ; and also [omit, also] much cattle.^
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — "17 "in^l [auger] was kindled to him, i. e., lie was angry. Sometimes this formula expresses the feeling
of grief, sadness. In the Hil^pa. the Terb signifies to fret one's self, Ps. xxsvii. 1,7, 8. The LXX. sometimes render it
by ^UTre'ojuai, iv. 4.
[2 Ver. 4. — TJ^ rr^n ^p^nn, Xeil and Delltzsch : " jg thine anger justly kindled ? " Henderson: "Art thou
muchTexed"'' ^tS^THrT is used adyerbially. Compare Deut. ix. 21; xiii. 15; and 2 Kings xi. 18. LXX.: Ei
(r066pa AeXvTTTja-ai ff^' ; Vulgate : Fiitasne, bene irasceris tii ?
[3 Ver. 5. — The verbs in this verse may be rendered in the pluperfect : " Jonah had gone had sat .... had
made . . . and had sat under."' Newcome and Kleinert so render them. See the Exegetical and Oi-itical notes on the
verse.
18 Ver. 10. — ^^H n7^7"1D^ nTI nb^7"12t£?, Uterally, which was the son of a night, and perished th«
"^ TT t:t'. tt t:— '.■.■'
Bon of a night. T2, « son, is used idiomatically to express what is produced, or exists, during the time predicated ol it
[5 Ver ll. — In Nineveh, and also m Babylon, there were probably large spaces where cattle fed. — C. E.J
EXEGETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Jonah's Discontent and Correction. This chapter
does not form, as Ch. B. Michaelis thinks, two dia-
logues between God and Jonah; but as is evident
from the retrospective reference of ver. 8 to ver. 3,
and as the translation shows, ver. 5 f gives the
scenery for the preceding verses, and these verses
presuppose that Jonah must have already gone
out of kineveh, sat a long time in his observatory,
and waited in vain for the destruction of the city.
For he does not complain because the Ninevites
repented, but because God had already shown
Himself merciful toward them. (Comp. below at
ver. 3; and the solution of the difficulty from the
idiom and literary character of the book, Intro-
duction, p. 8.
Ver. 1. He was, therefore, already sitting in the
glowing heat of the sun, when the discontent, ver.
1, came over him. The verb 5^1' is used here of
the feeling, in a metaphorical sense, It seemed evil
to him, which is usually accompanied in other
places by the additional clause, in his eyes. [Same
as here, Neh. ii. 10; xiii. 8; only with 7 insteivd
of ^SJ. He was not angry because he had pon-
dered in his mind the dangers, which were destined
to come upon his country and people, in the fu-
ture, throiigli tlie Assyrians, who had just been
delivered ( Abarbanel) ; nor because he had seen the
final doom of the Jews and heathen prefigured by
the acceptance of the rejjentance of Nineveh con-
trasted with the impenitence of Israel (Hicron.) ;
(this God would have corrected in another way) ;
but his displeasure, as Calvin justly admitted, arose
from a common littleness of mind incident to hu-
manity, which, for the moment, thought only of his
mortified honor as a prophet ; and because the lie
had apparently been given to his prediction, he en-
tirely forgot that the life and death of hundreds of
thousands were involved in its fulfillment. There
\b no intimation in the text that he envied the
heathen the divine mercy and wished the destruc-
tion of Nineveh, either from ardent love to his
people (Hengstenberg), or from a wrong notion
of God (Keil following Luther), though such a
feeling might have influenced him as a secondary
motive. Rather his notion of God was in nowise
perverted, for he must have known from the law
[Torah] (Ex. xxxiv. 6), and he did know (ver. 2),
that God is merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and rich in mercy; and the whole of the second
verse is spoken out of ill humor that he had been
sent, not with the object of delivering a prophecy
that was to be fulfilled, but of delivering one that
was revoked, which was intended as a means of re-
pentance.
As above i. 12, so also here, ver. 2. Jonah's
wi'ong disposition of heart iloes not prevent his
mouth from speaking the whole truth of God.
Office and word, apart from the person, his weak-
nesses, and sins, arc, according to the Scripture
conception, intimately connected with one another.
(Compare the striking example, John xi. 50 f ).
Jonah, it is said, prayed to Jehovah. " Necesse
est in hac Jonts precatione aliquid agnoscere pietatis
et simutmnltavitia." (Calvin.) It is true that when
he fled to Tarshish he did not say that he would
not prophesy because of the mercy of God (comp.
at i. 3) ; but it is quite human to palliate an orig-
inally unreasonably undertaken step by motives
drawn from wisdom subsequently acquired, or
from fortunate accident. Therefore I antici-
pated — TTpo4(pda(ra, LXX. — the errand, whose
fruitlessness I foresaw, and fled to Tarshish.
These, of course, were not his words, when he fled
to Tarshish, that he was unwilling to prophesy,
because of the mercy of God (comp. i. 3) ; but it
is human nature to color an undertaking, for
which originally no reasons can in truth be as-
signed, with the reasons derived from n mere re-
cently acquired wisdom, or from the event. The
infinitive with 1' is gerundial. The phrase " in
my country," is an important element for the sjm
CHAPTER IV.
37
Dolical interpretation of the book. (See above, p.
5 ; comp. Jer. Hi, 27).
As in chap. 3 the fifth Terse gave a brief sum-
maiy of the longer statement which follows ; so
here vers. 3, 4, are in part the literal quintessence
of the following detailed account. Vers. .'5-7, as
a commentary to be added by way of supplement
to ver. 1 ff. give the moving cause (Jonah, to wit,
had, etc.) ; and the more exact psychological un-
derstanding of ver. 3 results from ver. 8.
The non-consideration of the forty days belongs
to the symbolical character of the narrative, which
cares more for the essential circumstances than for
the chronology; and, in any case, it furnishes no
reason to assume with Keil, that ver. 1 ff. should
be placed witliin the forty days and during Jonah's
sojourn in the city, and that ver. 5 ff. should be
placed after. Jonah was certain that the punish-
ment was revoked, consequently the expiration of
the time is presupposed in ver. 1 as in ver. 5 ; and
it is neither probable that Jonah should wait in
the city for the threatened destruction, nor that,
after the completion of the time, within which the
Spirit had instructed him to announce it, he
should then go out of the city and wait for it. If
Calvin remarlcs in favor of the latter supposition:
" Etsi enim pneteTierant quadraginia dles^ Jonas
tamen quasi constrictus stetit, quia nondum poterat
etatuere, quod prius ex mandato Dei protalerat carere
tuo effectu," then, on the other hand, it may be ob-
served that he was only too ready to maintain the
latter, according to ver. 2, and that the ^37 ver.
6, " till he might sec," indicates a state, not of con-
sternation, but of easy expectation. We accord-
ingly abide by the rendering of ver. 4 in the plu-
perfect tense, the grammatical probability of which
even Keil cannot deny, and the necessity of which
is also acknowledged by Starke, Ch. B, Mich.,
Hitzig, and others ; only that we should not restrict
the same to ver. 4 exclusively, but extend it to the
verses immediately following till ver. 8.
[Ver. 5. " This verse regarded by many com-
mentators as a supplementary remark, ^^'^^1, with
the verbs which follow, being rendered in the plu-
perfect: 'Jonah had gone out of the city,' etc.
We grant that this is grammatically admissible,
but it cannot be shtyvn to be necessary, and is in-
deed highly improbable. If, for instance, Jonah
went out of Nineveh before the expiration of the
forty days, to wait for the fulfillment of his proph-
ecy, in a hut to the east of the city, he could not
have been angry at its non-fulfillment before the
time arrived, nor could God have reproved him for
his anger before that time. The divine correction
of the dissatisfied prophet, which is related in vers.
6-11, cannot have taken place till the forty days
had expired. But this coiTcction is so closely
connected with Jonah's departure from the city
and settlement to the east of it, to wait for the
final decision as to its fate (ver, 5), that we cannot
possibly separate it, so as to take the verbs in ver.
5 as pluperfects, or those in vers. 6-11 as historical
imperfects. There is no valid ground for so forced
an assumption as this. As the expression ^T'.*]
1 [" Angustiae, following the LXX. and Syr. versions, was
In favor of, the rendering ^ourd, which waa adopted by
Luther, the A. V., etc. In Jerome's description of the plant
tailed in Syr, karo, and Punic el-ktroa, Celsius recognizes
the Ricinus, Palma Christi, or casfor-oil plant (Hierobot., U,
873 if, ; Bochart, Hieroz., ii. 293, 623), The Ricinus was
Been by Niebnhr (Descript. of Arab., p, 148) at Boara, where
rtDV 7b^ in ch. iv. 1, which is appended lo ^57':
iT^y in ch. iii. 10, shows that Jonah did not be-
come irritated and angry till after God h,ad failed
to carry out his threat concerning Nineveh, and
that it was then he poured out his discontent in a
reproachful prayer to God (ver. 2), there is noth-
ing whatever to force us to the assumption that
Jonah had left Nineveh before the fortieth day.
Jonah had no reason to be afraid of perishing
with the city. If he had faith, which we cannot
deny, he could rely upon it that God would not
order him, his own servant, to perish with the un-
godly, but when the proper time was arrived,
would direct him to leave the city. But when
forty days elapsed, and nothing occurred to indi-
cate the immediate or speedy fall of the city, and
he was reproved by God for his anger on that ac-
count in these words, 'Art thou rightly or justly
angry 1 ' the answer from God determined him to
leave the city and wait outside, in front of it, to
see what fiite would befall it. For since this an-
.swer still left it open, as a possible thing, that the
judgment might burst upon the city, Jonah in-
terpreted it in harmony with his own inclination,
as signifying that the judgment was only post-
poned, not removed, and therefore resolved to wait
m a hut outside the city, and watch for the issue
of the whole affair." (Keil and Dclitzsch.)
Dr. Pusey is inclined to Keil's opinion. Hen-
derson, to that of our author. Newcome renders
the verbs, ^'?5.*1, etc., ver. .5, had gone, had sat, etc.
— C.E,]
But Jonah liad gone out of the city and had
sat down east of the city — on one of the moun-
tains eastward, which border on the valley of the
Tigris, from which the city spreads out over the
valley to the river, [Here he made a hut, or a
booth, and sat in its shade, " till he might see
what would become of the city," — C. E.]
Ver. 6. As the fish, so also the ricinus plant
obeyed the command of God : He appointed it
(Ps. iciv. 30). The kiJcayon'^ is, according to
Hieronymus, the kiki ot the Egyptians (Herod.,
ii. 94), the kik of the Rabbins, the el-keroa of the
Arabs, the Kpdraiv of the Greeks, Besides Hier-
onymus, Pliny, h, iv, 15, 7, mentions the Ricinus
plant, which grows wild in Arabia, Egypt, and
Syria, and shoots up rapidly to the height of a
tree. It has at first a herbaceous, then a woody
stem, hollow within, full of knots and joints;
large petiolate, peltate leaves, which, accoi'ding to
Niebuhr, when broken off, or injured, wither in a
few minutes, and which are moreover liable to
perish quickly, from the fact that, in a gentle rain,
black caterpillars, or worms (HV /^Pl, ver. 7), oi
a middling size, are produced on them, which
strip the plant of all its foliage in a single night.
(Niebuhr, Description of Arabia, p, 148. Rumpf,
fferb. Amboin, iv. 95.) Such a plant God caused
to shoot up, about the time when Jonah was
thoroughly convinced of the fruitlessness of his
waiting, and when he had already given vent to
his ill humor (ni7~l), in order to recover him from
it waj? distinguished by the name d-ktroa ; by Rauwulf
{Trav., p. 52),' it was noticed in great abundance near Tripoli,
where the Arabs called it el-kenia ; while both Hasseiquist
and Robinson observed very large specimens of it in the
neighborhood of Jericho (" Ricinus in altitiuJineni arborii
insignit,^' Haseelq,, p. 555; see also Robins., i, 553), Smiths
Dictionary of the Bible, s. v " Gourd." — C, E.]
38
JONAH.
his discontent.^ ( V instead of tlie ace. Ew., sec.
292 e.).
This succeeds. To iiis great petulance, ver. 1,
soon succeeds great joy.
Ver. 7. A worm (the sing, used collectively, as
in Deut. xx^^ii. 39), comes at the command of
God, during the night — at the rising of the sun,
next morning. (Comp. Gen. xix. 15,2.3.) And
it smote, destroyed (Am. iv. 9) the plant, so that
it withered. And as if this wei'e not enough,
God, to attain his disciplinary purpose with Jonah,
appointed, in the third place, ver. 8, the silent, that
is, the deadly sultry east wind, whose scorching
heat is proverbial throughout the Old Testament
(Ez. xvii. 10). The glowing heat of the sun beat
upon Jonah, so that he fainted (Amos viii. 13),
was out of his mind. Then were suggested those
petulant words, that we have already lieard, ver. 3 :
he wished in himself to die, literally, he asked
as to his ,soul to die (ace. c. inf. 1 Kings xix. 4;
Is. liii. 10 ; Ew., sec. 336 b), and said, it is better
for me to die than to live. Ch. B. Mich. : " Prce-
stat me mori, quam sic vivere."
Ver. 9. And God said to Jonah : Dost thou
right to be angry for the gourd ? namely, on
account of its destruction. SQ'^nn is not used
adverbially (Keil), but as an auxiliary construed
"vith the impersonal 3 sing. mH (comp. Deut.
f. 25). The short question : Dost thou well to be
angry ? comprised within itself, by aposiopesis at
ver. 3 above, the whole dialogue, vers. 9-1 1 ; here
it is analyzed into its elements.
Jonah answers : I do right to be angry, even
unto death, that is, to the bottom of my soul,
even to weariness of life. (Comp. Matt. xxvi.
38.) God now convicted him from his own words
(comp. Matt. xii. 37 ; Luke xix. 22), how wrong
was his whole anger, in which this momentary
vexation only forms an element with a fresh stim-
ulus, but which had its origin in the sparing of
Nineveh, by a conclusion a 7ninori ad majus.
Ver 10. Thou art grieved for the gourd,
for which thou hast not labored . . . and
perished. Bin-lailah, a son of the night, of a
night's duration. (Comp. Ex. xii. 5, and the
Syriac translation of Deut. xxiv. 15.) It is evi-
dent from ver. 10, why a rapidly growing plant
should shoot up over Jonah. If it had been of
slow growth, he would have watered and nursed
it; consequently the reproof would not have been
so forcible. Ll3 instead of 1.3 on account of the
following liquids, Num. xiv. 38. |
Ver. 11. And should not I . . . . who can-
not distinguish between the right hand and
the left (57T' sensu pra'gnanti, as in 2 Sam. xix.
3fi [35 A. V.]), who cannot consequently be very
guilty; and besides much cattle, which are not
guilty at all, and which are of much greater worth
than a ricinus plant? By the 120,000 mentioned
in the relative clause, must be understood young
children (comp. Is. vii. 15). The limit of this
period of lift, in the East {e. g., among the Per-
sians), is usually the seventh year. If we assume
1 That n^~t has reference to the ill humor of the
prophet ver. 1, 13, consideriag the simple tenor of the nar-
rative, which docs not hinder that ver. 5 ff. must be con-
sidered US preceding vor. 1, most probable. We cannot
well think of the phys-'cal illness produced by the glowing
hea: of the sun: the sulflx points too definitely to an al-
Taady known evil. It would rather be possible to view the
the ratio, fixed by statistics, of those tinder seven
years of age to the whole number of the popula-
tion as 1 : 5, we have for all Nineveh the not im-
probable number of 600,000 inhabitants. This
would give, as in the province of Naples, 40,000
persons to the square [German] mile (comp. at i.
2). The English Admiral Jones, from a survey
of the e.xtent of the ruins, without any refer-
ence to the statement in this verse, has estimated
the population of the city, at about the same num-
ber. (Comp. Jow-nal of the Asiatic Society, vol,
XV. p. 29. M. V Niebuhr, Assyria and Babylon, p.
278 f.)
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.2
See Introduction, p. 6.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTIOAL.
Jonuh, a type of the misery and vanity of the hu-
man heart. (Homily).
1. The impatience of the human heart compared
with the long-suifering of God. When God for-
gives, it is angry. When God is patient, it is im-
patient,ver. 1. And yet Jonah, too, was saved only
by grace.
2. The idea of its own honor compared with the
great heart of God, who readily foregoes his own
honor, when the salvation of men is concerned (iii.
10). But Jonah would have preferred that all men
should perish, that his office and vocatien should
be relinquished, to the mortification of the idea of
his own honor, ver. 2, a.
3. Its bitterness compared with the kindness of
God. God speaks tomfort ; but the human heart
extracts irum his consolatory words a sting, ver. 2, b.
4. And so inconsiderate is the human heart of
the most precious gifts, even of life itself, that on
account of the empty shadow of honor, it even
thinks that it should despise its own life, ver. 3
But how seriously does God speak of death.
5. In short, how little can the heart, notwithstand
ing all instruction, dive into the deep thoughts of
God ! And yet, at the same time, it is always ready
to maintain that it is right against God, vers. 1-3.
6. In such miserable selfishness, it is destitute of
all love, and lurks for the ruin of others ; it wishes
that otliers should be judged^nd judges them i^
self; but it does not lilie to judge itself.
7. It always has only real pleasure in that which
happens to its advantage ; and should it be some-
thing of the most trifling importance, it is more
highly prized by it than all the great mercy vouch-
safi'd to others, vers. 6, 7.
8. Therefore, is life full of misery. For these
short pleasures, on account of which we neglect the
eternal good, soon come to an end. And we do not
afterward think that they were favors for which we
ought to be thankful, however transient they may
have been ; but imagine that they were our own,
that we had a right to them and therefore a right
to complain, ver. 8. And what bitter complaints I
2 Cor. IV. 17.
9. And if God's ways are ever so clear before
our eyes, yet our eyes are closed that we cannot
matter, in such a way that the whole perverted condition
of the prophet's soul is meant by n^~l, which God in-
tended to cure by means of the ricinus, or rather by tht
lesson connected with its withering. By this the difQcnlty
mentioned before would also be solved.
2 IHeichsgedanken
> note, p. 20.— 0. £.1
CHAPTER IV.
39
perceive them, and we will continually grope in
darkness, unless God open our eyes by his spirit,
<ers. 9-11.
Ver. 1. Here we see how it would be, if God
would allow each one his own will. It is well that
He alone sits at the helm. God's messengers are in
great danger of forgetting that they are messengers
and that they act merely under authority. The sin-
ful heart is ever ready to act the Lord, and it won-
ders when it is forsaken by God. --Ver. 2. There
are even wicked prayers. It is not a mark of piety,
therefore, to disburden one's heart before God, but
to pray in the name of Jesus, according to the pat-
tern of Luke xxii. 42. Man is always eloquent in
exculpating himself If the heart is in a wrong
state, it distorts God's Word, and applies it ac-
cording to its own pleasure. — Ver. 3. Suppose
the Lord had taken Jonah at his word 1 How in-
considerately does a man speak, who does not
bridle his tongue. The sorrow of the world works
death. — Ver. 5. Some say that God, out of re-
spect to his justice, has delight in viewing the
punishment of the lost ; that Abraham also, when
Lazarus lay in his bosom, reveled in God's pleas-
ure in the torment of the rich man. These look
upon God and Abraham in the same light that
they do upon the prophet Jonah. (Luke ix. 55.)
His heart even breaks for the souls of the con-
demned, and if they would be saved. He would
save them. (Matt. xii. 31.) — Ver. 6. The crea-
ture was made for men ; and the death of the crea-
ture is, in every way, instructive to men To a
heart devoid of peace, the good gifts of God are
only a source of vexation. — Ver. 7. " When the
morning rose " ! Often, at the moment when
every thing seems to smile, misfortune is on the
way. With the rising star of fortune comes also
always a misfortune, even though we do not see it
at the moment. Hence the injunction to be always
prepared, always humble. — Ver. 11. At iirst
sight, it appears as if common guilt and sin were
denied in this verse, since God speaks of the chil-
dren, as if they, like the cattle, did not deserve
punishment. But He says only that the severe
punishment, which Jonah expected, was not de^
served by these relatively to many others, whose
death Jonah himself would not desire. TThe fact
that the Ninevites were spared on account of their
repentance, would have been sufficient to reprove
him for this (Ez. xviii. 23) ; but God would bring
before the eyes of Jonah his uncharitableness in
that he did not consider the relatively innocent
and harmless creatures in his blind zeal to see vile
sinners perish. The Scriptures have regard for
beasts also. (Deut. xxii. 6 ; Rom. viii. 18 S.) These
have no part in the sin of man, but in his punish
ment. As they appear here by their participation
in the repentance of the Ninevites, so at other
times, in the Old Testament, they appear by their
blood for the curse of sin. Yet this is only a
shadow of things to come.
LoTHEK : How can such a state of grace and
such untoward conduct in Jonah be consistent
with one another ^ We cannot deny that he was
unreasonably angry, and did wrong, for God pun-
ished him for it. We must also acknowledge that
to had faith and was acceptable to God, because
God spoke so kindly with him and gave him a sign.
We should observe from these facts (1) how won-
derfully God deals with his saints, so that no one
may inconsiderately judge or condemn any one on
»ccount of works alone. (2.) We should learn, how
God permits his dear children to act vei'y foolishly
tad commit grave faults, as Christ did with the
Apostles, in the Gospel, for the consolation of all be-
lievers who sometimes sin and full. (3.) We should
see how kindly, fatherly, and amiably God deals with
and treats those, who cotiHde in Him in trouble.
It is a daily sinning on the part of his children,
which the Father graciously suffers. With the
ungodly He does not deal thus : they cannot
reconcile themselves to his dealings, but are alto-
gether insolent and intractable.
Starke : Ver. 1. Even well-meaning minds can
fall into an indiscreet zeal for God and criticise his
wise government according to their weak and sor-
did ideas, although they do not break out into
open murmurs against Him. — Ver. 2. To excuse
sin, which deserves punishment, is presumptuous-
ness. — Ver 3. There is a great diffbrence between
a well-regulated desire for a happy departure from
this world and one that is inordinate and self-
willed, which arises from impatience, and, alas,
often enters into well-disposed minds. — Ver. 4.
As often as thou art provoked to be angry, ask
thyself at once, am I justly angry? Teachers
should be moderate in their zeal and seek to re-
store the erring by friendly words : the example
of God admonishes them to this. — Ver. 6. God
has always been accustomed to guide men by ex-
ternal things and visible signs to the consideration
of heavenly things. Hieronymus hits upon the
thought that the Jewish people, who have sat
under the shadow of ordinances and ceremonies
are hereby represented. — Ver. 7. Even the very
least animals must serve the powerful government
of God. — Ver. 8. We must not be too much de-
lighted by our success nor too much distressed by
our misfortune. — Ver. 9. One must really be
astonished at God's love to men, manifested in his
patience with his servants. Jonah is nothing else but
a li ttle, naughty, spoiled child. — Ver. 1 0. God has
pity upon little children. He loves them tenderly,
numbers tliem exactly, and oftentimes spares old
people on their account, whom He would otherwise
destroy on account of their sins. Did God love
the little children in Nineveh so well, and was
He pleased to spare the city on their account, then
how can he reject those, who are born in Christen-
dom, but die without baptism ?
fFAFF : Ver. 1. Men are much more wrathful
and vindictive than God ; for God soon repents of
the punishment, provided men comply with the
condition of repentance. — Ver. 4. Even prophets
commit faults. Guard thyself against impatience,
and learn composedness and self-denial. Nothing
adorns the conduct more, than entire self-abnega-
tion and submission to the will of the Lord, com-
bined with efforts to accomplish it. What a
dreadful thing ambition is ! To wish rather to die
than to be humbled ! It must not be so, but thou
must willingly bow and humble thyself, if God's
honor is thereby advanced. — Ver. 8. Let no one
wish for death from a desire to escape the cross.
QuANDT : Ver. 1. There is joy among the an-
gels of God over one sinner that repents ; among
us there is joy at the success of the mission ; with
Jonah there is indignation This did not arise
from the cii'cumstanee that the repentance of Nin-
eveh was not sincere and honest ; but Jonah's own
repentance was not sincere. He had retained the
principal part of his old man at his conversion. —
Ver. 3. Even other holy men have had such dark
hours. (Num. xi. 15; Job vii. 15 f; 1 Kings
xix.) Notwithstanding Jonah's preaching had the
proper effect. The faith of the preacher does not
work faith in the hearers, but the preaching of
faith. — Ver. 5. The word of God, ver. 4, was de
40
JONAH.
signed to convince the prophet of how little reason
there was for his anger; hut it had exactly the
opposite effect. He explained it in his own favor ;
as if God meant to say : Wait yet a little ; and he
gORs forth to wait. The piety of the heathen is a
matter of total indifference to him, but curiosity
and a mischievous delight in the miseries of others
abide with him. This is instructive to Christians
in their relation to the missionary cause. — Ver. 8.
Before, Jonah was angry at God's mercy ; now he
is angry at his seeming unmercifulness. This is
a movement in the right direction There is in-
struction connected with this. — Ver. 1 1 . The old,
obstinate Jonah has displayed himself enough in
this book ; now, at the close, he vanishes, and God,
in the end, stands, with his word, alone and ma-
jestic : the new Jonah is lost in Him.
Marok : Ver. 1. Although all the works of
God are entirely irreprehensible, yet there is not
one among them, which may not be censured by
some one ; and the degree of censure is in propor-
tion to the want of understanding on the part of
the fault-finder.
RiEGER : Before we find fault with Jonah, we
should consider well first what would be the result
if we were to describe our thoughts and feelings
concerning niany events in the government of God
as frankly as Jonah does here. The worst is that
our wickedness remains bidden in us, and we con-
ceal it from ourselves and others. We must also
judge Jonah according to his times and tempta-
tions ; for it could easily be that a man of God
should have little regard for the heathen, since
Peter, in New Testament times, had to be in-
stinicted concerning them. Moreover the solicitude
that the Ninevitcs, inexperienced in the ways of
God, might turn his long suffering into contempt
and despise his thrcateniugs, was not unfounded.
In our estimate in general of the faults and oifenscs
of others, it should be borne in mind, that God
knows how our temper exposes us on the one hand
to peculiar temptations, but also on the other
makes us useful for some purpose ; hence no one
should cling to the defects of others, but should in
advance turn to good account the good qualities
with which they are endowed. The vehement dis-
position of Jonah had plunged him into these
faults, bui what useful purpose this very disposi-
tion served in his office, must not be forgotten.
That is a wicked art o( our hearts, of which Sol-
omon says. The sluggard is wiser in his own con-
ceit, than seven men that can render a reason :
namely he who never undertakes anything, com-
mits, after his way of thinking, fewer faults, and is
well pleased with his own conceit.
BuEcic : Ver. 2. Thou hast not to consider
what God will accomplish by thee, or without thee,
but what He requires of thee and what becomes
thee. God bears with much murmuring and impa-
tience on the part of his servants, — Ver. 3. Jonah
Hi not pray for the destruction of the Nicevites,
but for his own death. They are the readiest to -ic
this, who know least the severity of God in 'he
sentence of death. But Jonah has already endurvd
a tenfold death in the sea. And now zeal for nis
ofBce and for the honor attached to it by God
presses upon him to such a degree that he wishes
rather to die than to live. But God can require
an offering from us such as He pleases : He did
not now i-equire the surrender of Jonah's life, but
a patient waiting ; and therefore Jonah found an-
other kind of death and of a more salutary sort,
than if God had taken his life away [in answer
to his prayer] . — Ver. 6. The best way to refute
a murmurer consists not in arguments, hut in
deeds.
Marck : God does not always lead sinners in
the same manner to the right way; but at one
time by severe chastisements, at another by kind-
ness in word, or deed.
CoccEins : We always think that our affliction
is something sacred, and yet it is often worldly;
for how often are we obliged to see that it is miti-
gated by worldly consolation !
RiEGER : Ver. 7 ff. With others we often
think that a word and a remonstrance should be
enough ; but in our case we experience, that we
first became acquainted with ourselves under the
actual dispensations of God, and thus too are made
thoroughly healthy. Such is the vanity of our
heart that it can be made glad and be troubled
about trifling things. And yet God uses this ex-
perience in us as a means of discipline. If we are
too much delighted Mith a gourd. He knows that
nothing more than a worm-hole is required to
sober us again.
Bdrck : Ver. 11. The book begins and closes
with the woi-ds of God. Jonah is silent, and imi-
tates, without doubt, the example of Job. (Job
xl. 3 f )
[IWatthew Henry : Ver. 1. Jonah was m?'ra6-
ilis homo, as one calls him, an amazing man ; the
strangest, oddest, and most out-of-the-way man,
for a good man and a prophet, as one shall ever
hear or read of.
PusEY : Ver. 2. Jonah, at least, did not mur-
mur or complain of God. He complained to God
of himself — Ver. 3. Impatient though he was,
he still cast himself upon God. By asking of God
to end his life, he, at least, committed himself to
the sovereign disposal of God.
Keil : Children who cannot distinguish between
right and left, cannot distinguish good from evil,
and are not yet accountable.
CowLES : Ver. 2. It is awful that a sinner,
plucked himself as a brand from the burning, and
living on mercy alone, should object to God's
showing the same mercy to his fellow sinners. —
Ver. 1 1 . Who can estimate the amount of sparing
mercy which the guilty of our world owe, in this
life, to God's pity for infants and for the sentient
but unsinning animal races ? — C. E.]
THE
BOOK OF MICAH.
EXPOUNDED
PAUL KLEII^rERT,
riROK AT SI. OERTKAUI), AND PROFESSOR 09 OLD TESTAMENT THKOIiOaT IN IHK
UNrvERSirr of Berlin.
TBAN8LATED FROM THE OERUAN, WITB ADDmOSB
GEORGE R BLISS, D. D.,
PKOFESSOR IN THE UNITERSITr AT LB^?ISBURa, PBNH.
OTIW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS,
Sstend according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
ScRiBNEE, Armstrong, and Compaut,
fa tbe Office of tlie Librarira of Congress, at Wasbingtoa.
MICAH.
INTRODUCTION.
1. Historical Situation and Date.
Like Isaiah, Micah also belongs to the great critical period in the latter half of the eigLth
century before Christ. At that time, the Assyrian kingdom, just prior to its fall, recovered
its power, under Salmanassar, and with irresistible might carried the profound commotions
of God's judgments, predicted by Amos, chapters i. and ii., over the peoples of Western
Asia, and even to Africa. His activity, also, like Isaiah's, belongs to the kingdom of Judah,
and numerous coincidences show the close proximity, in time and character, of these two
mightiest of the prophets (compare esp. Mic. ii. 11 ; iii. 5 if., 12; iv. 1 ff. ; v. 2 ff. with Is.
xxvili. 7 ; xxix. 9 ff. ; xxxii. 13 if. ; ii. 2 if. ; vii. 14 ; ix. 15). Yet the historical horizon of
his prophecies is narrower than that of Isaiah. Concerning this we have an express state-
ment in Jer. xxvi. 18. It is there argued by certain elders of Judah, that Jeremiah should
not be held blameworthy for the hard prophecies which the Spirit impelled him to utter, but
be left unharmed, and receive honor rather, on the ground tbat the good king Hezekiah did
not punish Micah's sharp threatenings against Judah, but received them with fear and humil-
iation before God. In proof of this the passage in ch. iii. 12 of our book is cited. Now,
since there is nothing to prove that the discourses which are collected in our book were com-
posed at different times, since rather chaps. 1-5 in particular form a beautiful and consistent
whole, we are obliged to fix the date of the book under Hezekiah, 727-698. This determi-
nation of the time is supported by the fact that just in those chapters (i.-iii.) in which it
has been supposed there were indications of a period earlier than Hezekiah, the coincidences
with Isaiah relate, without exception, to discourses of lais delivered under Hezekiah.
Still more definitely can the period be ascertained from intimations given by our book it-
self. For, Jirst, idolatry, which had become triumphantly prevalent under Hezekiah's pred-
ecessors, particularly Ahaz (2 K. xvi. ; 2 Chr. xxviii.), appears here throughout as still un-
broken in Judah (v. 11 flf. ; i. 5 ; vi. 16). But Hezekiah, not long after the destruction of
the northern kingdom by Salmanassar (Sargon), and in connection with the great Passover,
by which he sought to attach the remaining inhabitants of that kingdom to Judah (2 Chr.
xxxvi. 6), extirpated idolatry. Not less clearly, in the second place, is the early portion of
his reign pointed to by the circumstance that in Micah we find a corruption of the higher
classes especially, and of the official dignitaries, such as in the time of Ahaz, and even in
the first years of Hezekiah, exercised the scourge of Isaiah (v. 7 ; xxviii. 14), but such as can-
not have existed long under the strict and pious rule of the latter king. We may add,
thirdly, that all reference to the calamity from Sennacherib is still wanting, and that the
prophet rather takes his stand, in the first chapter, clearly before the destruction of Samaria.
We must accordingly place the time of the composition between 727 and 723 B. c.
We must draw our knowledge of the character of this period from our author, whose
lively rebukes and chastisement of the rampant sins and follies of the age, taken together
with the corresponding features of Isaiah's picture and with statements of the historical
books, give a tolerably complete portrait of the time.
The internal corruption of the nation, which under Jotham was still gilded with a super-
ficial splendor (2 Chr. xxviii.), had under Ahaz, through the participation in criminality of
this morally unripe monarch (Is. iii. 12, cf oh. vii.), everywhere broken out. Ahaz is de-
scribed as one of the most flagitious kings ever belonging to the house of David. He intro-
duced the Baal-worsliip, sacrificed his children to Moloch, sanctioned by his own acts the
worship of the high places, which had hitherto been barely tolerated, made arbitrary changes
MICAH.
in the Temple after patterns which he had seen at Damascus, and finally closed the doors of
the sanctuary altogether (2 K. xvi. ; 2 Chr. xxvii.). Wliat wonder if the example from
above was efficacious in poisoning the morals of the people ? It was the privileged classes,
in particular, who, as soon as they felt the hand over them relax, began to turn to advantage
the opportunities aflforded them. Covetousness and luxury were the sins most in vogue, and
Isaiah v. 8 fF. gives us a melancholy evidence that nothing was holy to the wanton nobility,
not the paternal field of the poor, not sacred justice itself, to prevent them from stealing the
field and perverting justice, that they might bring tribute to their own lust. This condition
of things Hezekiah found at his elevation to the throne, and although his will was good fi'om
the very first (2 Chr. xxix. 3), and the bulk of the people showed themselves not unfavor-
able to his zeal for restoring the old worship and the old piety (2 Chr. xxix. 28), it was still
all the more difficult to restrain those inveterate sins of the ruling classes. The tendency of
the people also was more toward an outward churchliness than toward inward religion,
Isaiah and Micah zealously supported the efforts of the king to effect a reformation of those
faults among the people which must have abounded especially in the first years of the reign
(when our book was composed). To the bitter complaints of Isaiah, and the lively sketches
which he threw out concerning the practices of the great (xxxii. 5, 6), the details drawn
out in Micah ch. iii. correspond.
The patriciwis as magistrates know the right, but abuse it to fill their purses and enlarge
their lands (iii. 1 ; ii. 1 f. 9 ; vi. 10 f.), and thus become rather flayers than guardians of the
people (iii. 3 ff.). Strong in their combinations with each other, they have organized a for-
mal system of public law-breaking (vii. 3; iii. 10).
The priests, who should cover the rights of the poor with the protection of God's law, are
covetous, and judge for hire (iii. 11). With special energy of indignation, however, both
prophets contended against the true source of the prevailing sin, namely, the prophetic class,
whose members, according to their vocation and office, should be the organs of divine rev-
elation, but who have degraded themselves into cheap sycophants toward the great. They
stand at the head of the libertines, and speak what the ears of the latter itch for, so that it
is no wonder if the rebukes of the true prophets seem to the wanton scorners of the Most
High to be unintelligible drivel (ii. 6), which despising they either seek to refute with com-
monplaces (ii. 7), or, in the lust of revelry, deride with brutal stupidity (Is. xxviii. 8 ff.). Yet
the prophets sit with them (iii. 5), feast with them, and wrest the consecrated language of
the Spirit learnt in the schools of the prophets, to draw from it lulling lies of peace and of good
days to come (ii. 11 ff. ; iii. 5) ; nay, they do not shrink even from the use of heathenish arts
forbidden in the law (iii. 7). Thus public life has by degrees, even in Jerusalem, reached
that state on account of which Samaria was brought into one calamity after another, and
finally into the last (vi. 10). The better part of the people is prepared to fulfill the cere-
monial requirements of the law, and even to go beyond them (vi. 6 ; cf. Is. i. 11 ff.), but
that this law has a moral significance, and demands holiness of heart, without which the offer-
ings are of no value, is hidden from them, or is too bitter a truth. With severity therefore
is the prophet compelled to remind them how they plunder the fugitives of the sister king-
dom of Israel, as these are flying through Judah before the Assyrian army (ii. 8), and to
point them to what the law requires of the inner man (vi. 18). Under these circumstances
the judgments are approaching, by threatening which Micah would rouse their conscience
to the final decision.
Although the title of the book names, beside the reign of Hezekiah, that also of Jotham
(758-742), and of Ahaz (742-727), as the time in which Micah received his word from the
Lord, and thus seems to suggest a contradiction to the date just now deduced, still there is
no reason in this for doubting the trustworthiness of either of the two statements, that of the
title or of the notice in Jeremiah. For if the declaration of the elders in Jeremiah is in
itself credible from its antiquity, and as having been made before enemies, so is the age of
the title guaranteed by the consideration that a later writer, if he had wished to furnish the
book with a superscription, would certainly have considered the account in Jeremiah, and
avoided the apparent contradiction by leaving out Jotham and Ahaz. In view of the fact
that the book is well arranged, and that no subsequent title occurs in it, one can hardly es-
cape^ the conclusion that the prophet edited, and gave the title to, his own work. And in
fact it is not difficult either to harmonize the two statements. For although the discourses
of our book were poured forth at one gush, so to speak, they make the impression, not of
having arisen from one and the same transient situation, but of presenting the summary re-
INTRODUCTION.
Bult, in some sense the resume, of an entire life previously spent in the activity of prophetic
discourse. Indeed the prophet, in the flow of his discourse, involuntarily falls into the tone
of narration: "Then said I" (iii. 1). We may, accordingly, assume with the title that the
various contents of the book arose before the vision of the prophet between the years 7S8
and 722 b. C. ; but with Jeremiah that, under Hezekiah, somewhere near the close of his hr-
bors, he wrote out what was of permanent value in his several discourses, in the two chief
discourses of the book before us (i.-v. ; vi., vii.), and published it as a perpetual testimony
(cf. Hab. ii. 2.) i
2. The Person of the Prophet,
The name Micha (n3"'l3, Gr. Mi;!(aias, Lat. Michceas) is not of rare occurrence in the Old
Testament. It is, as shown from Judg. xvii. 5 comp. w. v. 4, an abbreviation of n^3''S3 or
•in^S'^n, of which two forms the first is to be read also in Jer. xxvi. 18 in the Kethib.
The signification is, accordingly : Who is like God ? = bwDD. The prophet seems himself
to allude to this meaning of his name (vii. 18).
Of his person we know next to nothing. That he was not, as some following Hieron. have
supposed, the same with the prophet Micaiah, son of Imlah, who foretold to Ahab his ap-
proaching destruction (1 K. xxii.), is self-evident : Ahab died 897 B. c. The identity of the
words which open his discourse (i. 2) with the closing words in the prophecy of that Micah
(1 K. xxii. 28) is an intentional allusion. Tradition has manifold stories to tell concerning
him (cf. Carpzov, Introd., Ui. 373 flf.). The surname '>ntt?'lb, which the title and Jer. xxvi.
18 attach to the name, is not a patronymic, as the LXX. take it (rov rov MwpacrSet), but
marks the place of his origin : he himself names this, as Vitringa had remarked, Moresheth-
gath (i. 14), that Moresheth which lies near the Philistine city of Gath (cf. Abel-maiim, Abel on
the waters, 2 Chr. xvi. 4). This locality was still known to Eusebius in the Onomast. and to
Hieron. who, in the Prol. ad explanandum Michceam, says: " Michceam de Morasthi,qui usque
hodiejuxta Eleutheropolin (five Roman miles north of Gath) hand grandis est viculus ; " and in
the Epist. 86 ad Eustoch. epitaph Paulce, p. 677, ed. Mart., he relates that there was once the
grave of Micha, but that in his time a church had been erected ; and Robinson found ruins
of a church and hamlet twenty minutes southeast from Beit-Jibrin, which corresponds to the
EleutheropoHs of the ancients (Bib. Res. in Pal., ii. 423). The derivation of the name Mo-
rashti, from the name of the town Mareshah (ch. i. 15), although common among interpreters
through the influence of the Chaldee version, is inconsistent with the vocalization.
That, finally, Micah had dwelt in the region of Gath, appears to be proved in another
way also by the fact that he shows himself familiar with localities there, i. 10-15 (but cf.
on V. 10). It is saying too much, however, when Ewald maintains that the whole character
of the book betrays the inhabitant of the low-land, and that not merely the rough and un-
even language, but the exaltation of Bethlehem as compared with Jerusalem, proves the
origin of the prophet.
3. Contents and Form of the Boole.
As Micah, compared with Isaiah, embraces a shorter space of time, so his horizon is locally
more restricted. The breadth of view, sweeping over all history, with which the latter sur-
veys the greatness and recognizes the importance of his time, and sheds the light of prophecy
on all sides, over aU nations — over the distant islands of the Mediterranean, where, at that
very time, Rome, the great city of the future, was building, and over the young Aryan peo-
ples in the East, — ■ indicating to them their place in the history of the world — all this is
foreign to our prophet. His gaze is fixed imperturbably on his own people, but within this
field he moves with the greatest intensity.^
1 [With this Dr. Pusey substantially agrees. After arguing plausibly that some portions of the book were spoken
earlier, — ch. iv. 1 S. as early as the reign of Jotham, — he concludes : " At the commencement, then, of Hezekiah 's reign,
he collected the iiubstance of what God had taught 'by him, recasting it, so to speak, and retained of his spoken proph
ecy so much as God willed to remain for us. As it stands, it belongs to that early time of Hezekiah 's reign, in which
the sins of Ahaz still lived on. Corruption of manners had been hereditary. In Jotham's reign too, it is said expressly,
In contrast with himself, tke people were still doing corruptly. Idolatry had, under Ahaz, received a fanatic impulse from
the king, who at last set himself to close the worship of God. The strength of Jotham's reign was gone, the longing
for its restoration led to the wrong and destructive policy, against which Isaiah had to contend. Of this Micah says,
such should not be the strength of the future kingdom of God. Idolatry and oppression lived on ; against these, th«
taheritance of those former reigns, the sole residuum of Jotham's might or Ahaz' policy, the breach of the law of love of
fiod and man, Micah concentrated his written prophecy." Introd. to Micha, p. 291. — Tb.]
* ['^ He lingers, in his prophecy, among the towns of the maritime plain (the Shepbelah) where his birth-place lay
MICAH.
If now we distribute his book, as is generally granted, into two obvious divisions : the
pioplietico-political, chaps, i.-v., and the ideal- contemplative, chaps, vi., vii., then in the First
division, discourse /rsi, ch. i., we see that he finds in the judgment immediately impeniling
over Samaria the text for his threat, that the judgment will reach even to the gates of Jeru-
salem (i. 9). Following immediately then, in ascending succession, the second discourse, chaps
ii., iii., called forth by the sin, whicn can no longer be restrained, and security of the people,
especially of the leaders among them, now breaking out openly everywhere,- — announces
that Jerusalem herself shall become a stone-heap (iii. 12). Not until then can the Messiah
come, amid great distress and necessity, from Bethlehem, as Micah proclaims at the culmi-
nating point of this division and of the whole book, namely, in the third discourse, chaps, iv., v.
To this external representation of guilt, penalty, and salvation, the second division, chaps, vi.,
vii., adds the inner one. Here, in the form of a suit-at-law between God and his people, which
ends first in painful certainty of the suifering soon to be experienced, but finally in the as-
sured confidence of salvation at last, the whole depth of Israel's mission, and his tangled
ways woven out of grace and election, out of sin and forgiveness, are considered and exhib-
ited in an evangelical Ught.^
As regards the form of the representation, Micah stands next to Isaiah in the force, pa-
thos, freshness, and continuity of expression, and in the plastic choice of his words. In the
arrangement of his thoughts, however, abrupt and fond of sharp contrasts, he reminds us
more of his older contemporary, Hosea. The beautiful plan of his discourse is admirable.
In the first division each of the three addresses falls into two symmetrical halves, whose
subdivisions, again (of. especially chaps, iv., v.), are for the most part regularly constructed.
And in the second division also the structure of his thought is grounded on a beautiful and
well defined numerical proportion.^
4. Position in the Organic System of Holy Scripture,
In the organic order of the Bible, and specially in the prophetic development of the Mes-
sianic theology, this book takes a fundamental position. Micah stands immovably within
the inner sphere of the history of the Kingdom of Israel : Israel is the people chosen by
God, with whom he has established a covenant from of old, and ratified it with an oath (vii.
20) ; in whom, from Egypt and the wilderness, he has glorified himself (vi. 4 ff.) ; to whom
he gave a law which is altogether of a moral and spiritual character (vi. 6 if.). This people
have become alienated, not in part merely, but Judah also has followed the apostate northern
kingdom (vi. 16), and a corruption of all divine institutions, offices, and orders has broken
in (chaps, ii., iii.), which has thoroughly devoured everything (vii. 1 ff.). On this historical
cround grow the constituent elements of his proclamation: (1). The necessity of the judgment.
God hardens himself against their cry of distress (iii., iv.), for idolatry must be rooted out
(iii. 10 ff.), the false prophets must be put to shame (iii. 6 f.). From Zion he issues the judg-
ment (i., ii.), .ind unto Zion, in the centre of the kingdom, reaches the desolation by the
enemy (i. 9, 12; ii., 4 ; iii. 12) ; the people are even swept away into captivity, and become
Among; the few places in that neighborhood, which be selects for warning and for example of the universal captiyity, is
his native Tillage, "the home he loved." But the chief scene of his ministry was Jerusalem. He names it, in the be-
ginning of his prophecy, as the place where the idolatries, and with the idolatries, all the other sins of Judah were con-
centrated. The two capitals, Samaria and Jerusalem, were the chief objects of the word of God to him, because the cor-
ruption of each kingdom streamed forth from them. The sins which he rebukes are chiefly those of the capital. Ex-
treme oppression, violence among the rich, bribing among judges, priests, prophets; building up the capital even by
cost of life, or actual bloodshed ; spoliation ; expulsion of the powerless, women and children from their homes ; covet-
ousness ; cheating in dealings ; pride. These, of course, may be manifoldly repeated in lesser places of resort and of
judgment. But it is Zion and Jerusalem which are so btiiU up wilh blood ; Zion and Jerusalem which are, on that
ground, lo be ploughed as a field ; it is tlie city to which tke Lord's voice crietli ; whose rich men are full of violence ; it \s
the daugliter of Zion which is to go forth out of the city and go to Babylon. Especially they are the heads and priocefl
of the people, whom he upbiiiids for perversion of justice and for oppression. Even the good kings of Judah seem to
have been powerless to restrain the general oppression." Dr. Pasey, Cojn, on Min. Prophets^ p. 289 — Tn.J
1 [Dr. }'usey finds three main divisions in the book, chaps, i.-ii. ; iii -v. ; vi.-vii. Further, he agrees in general with our
author. " This book has a remarkable symmetry. Each of its divisions is a whole, beginning with upbraiding for sin, threat-
ening God's judgments, and ending with promises of future mercy in Christ. The two later divisions begin again with
that same characteristic Hear ye, with which Micah had opened the whole. The three divisions are also connected, as well by
lesser references of the In ter to the former, as also by the advance of the prophecy." . . . . " There is also a sort of prog-
ress in the promises of the three parts. In the first, it is of deliverance generally, in language taken fi*om that first de-
liverance from Egypt. The second is objective, the birth of the Redeemer, the conversion of the Gentiles, the restora-
tion of the Jews, the nature aud extent of his kingdom. The third is mainly subjective, man's repentance, waiting
upon God, and God's forgiveness of his sins. Minor Prophets, p. 291. — Tr.]
2 [Dr. Pusey's characterization of Micah'a style is faithful and interesting. He has very elaborately investigated th(
Tarieties and adaptations of his poetic rhythm, and compared them with other of the Minor Prophets, p. 292. — TK.J
INTRODUCTION. 7
ft prey to the world-power, which is here designated by a name, typical from the earliest
times, the name of Babylon (Babel), iv. 10. But (2), the certainty of salvation is not thereby
abrogated ; it will come notwithstanding, and that through the Messiah, whose person, office,
and name are described more directly and plainly than we often find them (v. 1 ff.). Thus
becomes established in Zion (3) the glorious Idngdom of the future (iv. i. f. 3), a kingdom of
peace and blessing (iv. 3 f. ; v. 4, 9 ; vii. 14 ff.), founded in God's pity and readiness to for-
give sin (vii. 18 f.), on the ruins of the world-power (v. 5 f). Its members are the " dis
persed of Israel," the wretched, " the remnant" (iv. 6 f. ; v. 2, 6 ff.). But the heathen
nations also, overcome by God's glory and might (vii. 16 ; iv. 3), will seek, instead of their
oracles, the living God (iv. 2), for the separating barrier of the statute is far removed (vii.
LuTHEn : The prophet Micah lived in the days of Isaiah, whose words he also quotes, as
in the second chapter. Thus one may discern how the prophets who lived at the same time
preached almost the same words concerning Christ, as if they had taken counsel with each
other thereof. He is, however, one of the excellent prophets, who vehemently chastise the
people for their idolatry, and brings forward always the future Christ and his kingdom. And
he is for all a peculiar prophet in this, that he so plainly points out and names Bethlehem
as the city where Christ should be born. Hence he was also in the O. T. highly celebrated,
as Matt. ii. 6 well shows. In brief, he rebukes, prophesies, preaches, etc. But in the end
this is his meaning, that although everything must go to ruin, Israel and Judah, still the
Christ will come vyho will restore all, etc.
[Dr. Pusbt : The light and shadows of the prophetic life fell deeply on the soul of Micah.
The captivity of Judah, too, had been foretold before him. Mosi.s had foretold the end from
the beginning, had set before them the captivity and the dispersion, as a punishment which
the sins of the people would certainly bring upon them. Hosea presupposed it ; Amos fore-
told that Jerusalem, like the cities of its heathen enemies, should be burned with fire. Micah
had to declare its lasting desolation. Even when God wrought repentance through him, he
knew that it was but for a time ; for he foresaw and foretold that the deliverance would be,
not in Jerusalem, but at Babylon, in captivity. His prophecy sank so deep that, above a
century afterwards, just when it was about to have its fulfillment, it was the prophecy which
was remembered. But the sufferings of time disappeared in the light of eternal truth.
Above seven centuries rolled by, and Micah reappears as the herald, not now of sorrow, but
of salvation. Wise men from afar, in the nobility of their simple belief, asked. Where is he
that is born king of the Jews f A king, jealous for his temporal empire, gathered all those
learned in Holy Scripture, aud echoed the question. The answer was given, unhesitatingly,
as a well-known truth of God, in the words of Micah, For that it is written in the prophet.
Glorious peerage of the two contemporary prophets of Judah I Ere Jesus was born, the
Angel announced the birth of the Virgin's Son, God with us, in the words of Isaiah. When
He was born, he was pointed out as the Object of worship to the first converts from the
heathen, on the authority of God, through Micah. — Tr.]
Literature, vid. Gen. Introduction.
Special Commentaries. Theod. Bibliandri Comm. in Micham, Tig., 1534. Ant. Gilbi
In Micham, Cond., 1551. Dav. Chytraei Explicatio Michm Proph., Rost., 1565, 12mo. J. Dra-
ehonites, Michaas Propheta cum Translationihus ac Explicatione, Viteb., 1565, fol. Dan. Lam-
bert, In (Joelem, Amos) Micham, Gen., 1578, 8vo. Joh. Brentii Comm. in Micham, 0pp., t.
iv.. Tub., 1580. Alb. Graweri Proph. Michoe Explicatio Plana et Perspicua, Jense, 1663, 4to.
Ed. Pococke, A Commentary of Micha and Malachia, Oxf, 1677. Joh. MusEei Scholce Pro-
vheiicce in Danielem, Micham, et Joelem, Quedlinb., 1719, 4to. C. T. Schnurrer (resp. Andler),
Animadv. Phil. Crit. ad Vat. Michm, Jena, 1798, 8vo. H. W. Justi, Micha iibersetzt und erlau-
tert, Leipz., 1799 2d (title-page) edition, 1820. A. T. Hartmann, Micha neu iibersetzt und
erlailtert, Lemgo, 1800.
Treatises and Monographs. H. L. Bauer, Animadv. Criticce in Duo Priora cc. Proph.
Michce, Alt., 1790, 4to. C. P. Caspari, Ueber Micha den Morasthiten, 2 Th. Christiania,
1852.
Practical and Devotional Expositions. Winkler, Anleitung zum richtigen und
(rbaulichen Verstdndniss des Proph, Micha, 1766, 8. G. Quandt, Micha der Seher von Mo-
•eseth, Berlin, 1866.
MICAH.
FIRST DIVISION.
FIRST DISCOURSE.
Chaptee L
1 "Word of Jehovah, which came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham,
Ahaz, Hezekiah, kiags of Judah, which he saw concerning Judah and Jenisalem.
2 Hear, all ye peoples,
Attend, O earth,^ and all that is therein !
And let the Lord, Jehovah, be a witness against you,
The Lord from his holy temple.
S For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place.
And cometh down, and treadeth on the high places of the earth,
4 And the mountains melt under him,
And the valleys cleave asunder,
As wax before the fire.
As waters poured down a descent.
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this,
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
Who is the transgression ^ of Jacob ?
Is it not Samaria ?
And who are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem ?
6 And I * will make Samaria a heap in the field,
Plantations of vines;
And will pour down into the ravine the stones thereof
And lay bare her foundations.
7 And all her carved images shall be broken in pieces,
And all her hires be burned with Are ;
And all her idols wiU I make a desolation :
For from the hire of a harlot has she gathered,
And to the hire of a harlot shall they return.
8 For this let me wail and howl.
Let me go stripped and naked ;
I wiU make a wailing like the jackals,
And a mourning like the ostriches.
9 For deadly are her wounds ;
For it has come unto Judah :
He has reached unto the gate of my people, unto Jerasaleiib
10 In Gath [Annunciation ^] announce it not ;
In Acco ° [vale of tears] weep not ;
In Bethleaphra [Dusthouse] I wallow in the dust,
11 Pass on with you, inhabitant of Shaphir [FairviewJ,
In shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of Zaanan [Outlet] goeth not out ;
The wailing of Beth-ezel ' [house of separationj
Taketh from you its standing-place.
10 MICAH.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth [Bitterness] is anxious about good,
For evil has come down from Jehovah,
lo the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Bind the chariot to the courser, inhabitant of Lachish;
The beginning of sin was she to the house of Zion ;
For in thee were found the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore must thou give a release''
For Moresheth-gath [Gath's possession] ;
The houses of Achzib [Place of deceit] ^ shall be a deception
To the kings of Israel.
15 Yet will I bring an heir to thee
Inhabitant of Mareshah [Possession] ; "
To AduUam will come the glory of Israel.^^
16 Make thee bald and shave thy head,
For the sons of thy delight ;
Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle ;
For they are carried away from thee.
GRAMMATICAL AND TEXTUAL.
[1 Ver. 2. —Although Dr. Kleinert, in the confessedly difficult question, Who are comprehendeij within the scope of toll
iddress? leans to the opinion that 0*^733? means "peoples," and not "tribes of Israel," still he would hare y^lM
denote siniply the '^ land " of Israel. We prefer the judgment of Maurer and others (falling in with the Eng. vers.)
which regards the people of the "earth " as summoned to the great coutroverBy. This leaTes, indeed, some difficulty,
if the next clause be understood to refer strictly to the sacred nation, but not serious. Nothing, however, but the ap-
parent unanimity of commentators in such reference, would prevent the present writer from suggesting that the S in-
D32 should be regarded rather in its more usual signification, " in," " among." Then the conception would be that
God makes this great display of judgment in tbe midst of the nations, at the central point, in Palestine. All would thua
be preliminary to the announcement of its occasion aud object, until the fifth yerse, which points directly to Israel and
Judah. — Tr.J
[2 Ver. 6. — '* ^227^3 et nittS, mc ton. pro eorundem causa et auclore.^^ Maurer. — Tr.}
[8 Ver. 6. — '^^Dt27'1. Dr. Pusey, speaking (p, 292) of the sioiplicity of Micah's style, as exemplified in the frequen
use of the conjunction and, in place of more explanatory coojnnctions, says very truly what admits of wider applica-
tion than be giTf.s it ; " An English reader loses some of the force of this simplicity by the paraphrase, which, for the
simple copula, substitutes the inference or contrast, therefore, then, but, notwithstanding, which lie in the subjects them-
-selves. The Bnglish reader might have been puzzled, at first sight, by the monotoaous simplicity of the and, and, join-
ing together tbe mention of events, which stand either as the contrast or the consequence of those which precede them.
The English version accordingly has consulted for the reader or hearer, by drawing out for him the contrast or conse-
•quence which lay beneath tbe surface. But tbis gain of clearness involved giving up so far the majestic simplicity of
.ihe Prophet, who at times speaks of things as they lay in the Divine Mind, and as, one by one, they would be unfolded
ito man, without explaining the relation in which they stood to one another."' It might well be added that it ia often
.difficult to make this relation more plain than the prophet has expressed it, with full certainty of not having mada
'u^t something different. — Tb.]
[[-4 Ver. 9. — Kleinert understands God to be the subject here (with Eng. Vers.), which is not unlike the prophet's sud-
vt den changes of person, but the mapc. form of the verb may possibly be accounted for by the general want of concord
■ '{sixxs- adj. for plur., and sing, verb for plural) in the preceding clauses, cf. Maur. and Uitz. — Ttt.j
[6 Ver. 10. — Kleinert, in bis version of vers. 10-15, has followed the plan of adding to the names of places mentioned,
vvoiiiGr names (real or imaginary), denoting more plainly the sense which he supposes the prophet to have attached to them
; lin hie play upon the words. A difi"erent etymology is thus assumed in several instances, for the geographical names,
(froBi tflfeat ascribed to them by the best authorities. Gath, e. g-., which Gesen. derives from l^l*^, and Fiirst from nHS,
iBUeinant treats here as if from T^S. Similarly with Zaanan, and Beth-ezel. — Tr.]
ije"Ver.;lO. — Dr. Pusey (with Rosenm ,Hieron., Eng. Vers.) : ^^Weep not at all " {lit., weeping, weep not). Weeping is the
fiffiJlest ifflLpression of grief. We speak of " weeping in silence." Yet this also was too visible a token of grief Their
wfflftpiijg would be the joy and laughter of God's enemies." In a foot-note he severely, almost scornfully, rejects the
inljcsjpretui&on of our author (and most modem commentators), and brings strong reasons in support of his censure.
Kl(Mieit?B measons may be seen in the Exeget. note.) He seeuiB to me not to have allowed enough for tbe requirements
of tflfteipairallelism in this connection, and to have maintained a sense of the clause which is strikingly incompatible with
the ean^pioaous mourning of the next member. — Tr.]
[7 Ver. m. — Locus vexati.fsimus ! The exceeding conciseness of the expivsaion renders it simply impossible, at this
day, ito-8foy with full confidence whether c should be connected with the preceding, as the terminus ad guemj or witli the
foUowii^g.afl its subject. Dr. Kleinert adopts the former view, and translates, —
The population of Zjianan (Aiiszuff) will not go out
To the mourning to Bethhaezel (House of removal),
For he takes away from you his place.
He tlins -(approximates to the view of the Eng. Vers. But Hitzig, Umbrelt, and Keil, quoted in the Exeget. notes, all W
fa.rd "fibem»uming," etc., as the subject of the following verb. With this agree Maiu«r and Pusey : —
The mourning of Beth-ezel
Will take (or takes) from you its standing ;
Mch wSUi-.BaHje varieties of interpretation Translating as we have done, literally, the meaning Is likely to be; •*Th«
CHAPTER I.
11
ilBtreseed inhabitants of Zaanan cannot leave their walls, because the supposed neighboring town of Beth-ezel can givfl
DO standing in it, being in like affliction from besieging foes." Zunz gives a peculiar rendering : " (Yet) has not the in-
habitant of Zaanangone forth, (and) the funeral procession of Beth Haezel (already) takes its station by you." — Tr.]
[8 Ter. 14. — DTl-lvty, Ht. "dismissions," and applicable to the act or form of giving up possession of anything
Borne prefer to take it here in the sense of " dowry " or " bridal presents," with which the feither sent his daughter away
(released her to her husband) in marriage (1 K. ix. 16). The effect is the same. — Tb.]
[9 Ter. 14. — Kleinert, following Ilitzig, translates ^T^W, " deceitful brook," relying apparently on Jer. xv. 18 ; bu
there the addition of !l3aK3 ^7 D'D alone warrants that metaphor in 3TpS. — Te.]
[10 Ver. 15. — So I'lirst ■ '(jesen. : " hill city." — Ttt ]
[11 Ver. 15. — The choice which the English version gives between this and : " He will come to AduUam the glory o
Israel," still remains open, each rendering being supported by many high authorities. — Ta.]
EXEQETIOAL AND CRITICAL.
The Judgment upon Samaria and the land of
Judah. Concerning the inscription and the date of
the writing, see the Introduction. i The event fore-
told is, evidently, in the immediate historical sense,
besides the capture of Samaria (ver. 6), the expe-
dition which, after this conquest, the Assyrian
king (Salmanasar, [Shalmanezer,] or Sargon) sent
out, under his general Tartan, against Philistia
and Egypt (Is. xx.), and which sorely wasted
Judah (ver. 9 ff.). The same fact formed the sub-
ject also of the prophecy of Isaiah x. 5 ff., with
which ours has otherwise much similarity (cf. also
on ver. 10).
The discourse, in a rapid but beautiful flow, runs
through a great circle of thought. Its structure is
outwardly characterized by several leading themes
which are expressed in brief sentences of lively
rhythm, and about which as fixed centres the dis-
course revolves (5 b, 9 b, 12 b). It thus falls, in
respect to its contents, into two main portions, each
of which has an exordium and two subdivisions :
1. The threatening of the destruction of Ephraim,
vers. 2-7.
(a) Exordium, ver. 2.
lb) General threatening, vers. 3-5.
(c) Special threatening, vers. 6, 7.
2. The lamentation over the chastisement of the
land of Judah, vers. 8-16.
(a) Exordium and new theme, vers. 8, 9.
(i) Song of lament, vers. 10-12.
(c) Particular description, vers. 1.3-16.
Inform, we clearly distinguish the two parts,
symmetrical in the number (25) of their members,
vers. 2-7, and 10-16, from the lyrical part thrown
in between, vers. 8, 9,
1. Th&threatening, vers. 2-1, The exordium, ver.
2, attaches itself directly through the exclamation ;
Hear ye peoples aU,^ to the discourse of Micah's
namesake in the Book of Kings (1 K. xxii. 28),
with whom our author had the common fate of be-
ing compelled to encounter false prophets (compare
ii. 11, with 1 K. xxii. 23). In other respects also
our Micah coincides frequently with the Book of
Kings. Compare the allusion, vi. 16, the phrase
in iv. 4, with 1 K. v. 5 ; iv. 13, 14, with 1 K. xxii.
U, 24; the mode of writing "'j?*;? (instead of
'^''3S), i. 15, with 1 K. xxi. 29; so that even
Hitzig cannot shut out the perception that the
1 [" No two of the prophets authenticate their prophecy in
txactly the same way. They, one and all, have the same
limple statement to make — that this which they say is from
3od and through them. A later hand, had it added the titles,
would have formed all on the same model. The title was an
38sential par*; of the prophetic book, as indicating to the
people afterwards, that it was not written after the event.
It was a witness, not to the prophet whose name it bears,
>ut to Qoi 1) Puaey. — Tb.]
historical sources of that book must have lain be.-
fore him to read. Whether the address C'Qy de-
denotes merely the tribes of Israel, or all nations, is
hard to decide. For the former view speaks not
only the further tenor of the discourse, which is
directed to Israel alone, but also the parallel Deut.
xxxii. 8. For, towards the same song of Moses,
the subsequent sentences of this exordium point
back (as indeed that song sounds on through the
whole course of prophecy) : Attend, O land and
its fulness. Cf. Jer. xxii. 29 ; viii. 16. Micah ex-
pressly addresses the land alone, and omits the
addition commonly made to the other repetitions
of this phrase, " and 0 ye heavens," which would
give to !J"1S the signification " earth : " there is the
same limitation to Israel as in ammim. The land
is appealed to, as in the first of the passages cited
from Jeremiah,^ not, as in Is. i. 2, as witness of a
judgment, or, as In Ps. 1. 4, a messenger; but Jeho-
vah's complaint is begun in the very address ; give
attention, and let the Lord Jehovah become a
witness against you ; 2 in a hostile sense, as 1
Sam. xii. 5 ; Mai. iii. 5 ; the Lord from his holy
temple ; whence all his holy and powerful announce-
ments go forth over the land (Am. i. 2). The
temple is emphatically a temple of the holiness of
Jehovah, because by the messages and deeds of
judgment which proceed from it does He show
himself as the Holy One (Is. v. 16).
Vers. 3-5. The Testimony itself. Jehovah will
in person, and that soon (part. c. i^SH), appear in
a theophany (Ps. xviii. 50) for judgment. For
behold Jehovah comes forth out of His place.
From the temple proceeds the discourse of God,
his appearance from heaven, for there He has his
habitation (Ps. ii. 4) ; and comes down and
treads on the heights of the earth, ;'. e., the
mountains (ver. 4), which are nearest to heaven,
and the highest of which, Sinai, saw the first theoph-
any of God concerning his people (Deut. xxxiii.
2 ; Hab. iii. 3). The word T'P^ is, according
to the constant reading of the Keri, regarded and
pointed as plural of an obsolete form np3, while
the Kethib everywhere reads '''T'S?, or ''ril^S,
a double plural of n»3 (Ges. § 87, 5, Eem. 1).
Ver. 4. And the mountains melt under him,
2 [" D v3, Tiegli^entitM, pro DD yS." Maurer. — Tr ].
8 [But in this passage the context plainly restricts the
application of the term to the country of Israel. The
phrase, " Hear, 0 Karth," had become stereotyped as a
solemn invocation of the world itself to appear as a witness
or a party in God's contest with man Kind. Vid Textual and
Oram on this verse. — Ta.].
12
MICAH.
and the valleys cleave asunder as the wax be-
fore the fire, as water poured down a descent.
The description rests as in other places, on the an-
alogy of a tempest, when the mountains are veiled
in clouds, and the earth, dissolved into flowing
mud, pours down so that deep gullies are torn
' through the plains (Judg. v. 5). Mountain and
valley, height and depth are, furthermore, a more
somprehensive expression for the shaking of the
whole land. The two comparisons, c, d, have the
down rushing torrent of water tor their object ; the
first is proper and one often employed (Fs. Ixviii.
3), the second comes back to the reality; the ?
is often (pleonastically) used in such comparisons
also (Is. i. 7 ; xiv. 19). As salvation comes amid
the peacefulness of surrounding nature (Is. xi.), so
the judgment with prodigious disturbances of the
natural course of things (Matt. xxiv. 7, 29) ; for
it is the consequence of sin, which has broken up
the harmony of the world.
Ver. 5 connects this representation with its
ground in the present state of things. For the
transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the
sins of the house of Israel. " ^ pretii, compare
e.g., 1 Sara. iii. 27 with 30." Hitzig. "House "is,
as often, collective for " sons." But the discourse
does not pause with even this statement; it pro-
ceeds to a more exact indication in the decisive
sentence 5 b : Who is the transgression of Jacob ?
Is it not Samaria ? In Samaria sin has reached
such a climax that it has become the substance of
the popular life, and from the capital outward has
poisoned and polluted all the land (Hos. vi. 10).
And already from this point forward the light is
thrown in a striking parallel on the sin and fate
of Judah, to which principally he will later turn :
and who are the heights of Judah ? Is it not
Jerusalem ? Jerusalem is a prominent city ; the
hills on which it lies should be sanctuaries of God
(Ps. xcix. 9), but as it now stands, the eternal
heights have, through idolatry, become Bamoth
(Ez. xxxvi. 2) sensu odioso, i. e., hiah places for
idols (1 K. XV. 14).
It is accordingly not doubtful on whom the judg-
ment of Grod must take effect. First Samaria ;
vers. 6, 7. Therefore will I make Samaria a
heap in the field, plantations of vines : i. e., not
merely lay it in ruins (Hos. xii. 12), but make it
waste for so long a time that husbandmen shall
devote the depopulated region to tillage, and con-
vert the fertile territory (Is. xxviii. 1 ) into a vine-
yard ; and pour down the stones of it into the
vaUey, down ft'om the hill on which it lay (Am.
vi. 1) (Robinson, Bib. Res. in Pal., iii. 138 ff., 1st
ed. ; cf. Joseph., Ant., xiii. 10, § 3), and lay bare
its foundations, j. e., destroy it to the very ground
(Ps. cxxxvii. 7). " The whole mountain on which
the ancient city lay is now cnltivated to the summit,
but in the middle of it, on the field, a heap of ruins
is to bo seen, and notfkroff lies amiserable village,
Jabustiah." Quandt.
Ver. 7. And all her carved images (^D9, Ex.
xxxiv. 1 ) shall be broken in pieces ; and all her
hires be burned with fire. Hires (of harlotry)
are primarily the consecrated offerings lavished on
the idol altars, by which the preparations for the
service were maintained (Ros., Casp., Keil) ; for,
since God is the rightful husband of Israel (Hos.
ii. IS ff), idolatry is whoredom (Hos. ix. 1). But
they are alsD all the possessions of the city, be-
cause she looks upon her riches not as the gift of
3od, but of the idols, her paramour (Hos. ii. 7,
15), (Hitzig). And all her idols will I make a
desolation. For from the hire of a harlot has
she gathered, and to the hire of a harlot shall
they return : become a prey to other idolaters,
who will devote these things again to their idols
3W, as in Gen. iii. 19.
2. The lamentation, vers. &-16. Already in ver. 8,
the prophet turns and prepares the transition vers.
8, 9, to the new discourse, which according to 5 b
is directed against Judah. For, that the complaint
has reference specially to Judah appears from the
connection and contents of what follows. It be-
longs to the theanthropic element in the nature of
prophecy, that the prophets, on the one hand,
standing above the people, utter with seeming mer-
cilessness the decrees of God's justice, while on the
other, as members of the people, they enter sym-
pathizingly into the deepest popular suffering.
Therefore let me lament and waU, let me go
stripped and naked. HD^'^S has the incorrect
scriptio plena, like Ps. xix. 14 ; Ex. xxxv. 31 ;
77''t£7, from the stem /7t£7, after the formation
"'^''O (Is. xvi. 9), signifies robbed, spoliatus; the
Masoretes have without reason substituted another
form ^7£i7, after Job xii. 17. Wherein the rob-
bery consists is shown by the addition : naked,!, e.
without the over garment (1 Sam. xix. 24). The
prophet's complaint also is symbolical prophecy;
when he represents his nakedness as robbery it be-
comes the emblem of the fate of his people (cf. Is.
XX. 3 ff.).
I win make a complaint like the jackals, and
a mourning like the ostriches. In Job xxx. 29,
also these animals appear as types of the cries of
pain.
Ver. 9. For deadly are her wounds [lit,
"the strokes" inflicted upon her]. The plural
msa is construed with the fem. sing, of the
predicate according to Bw. 317 a [Ges. § 147 bj.
There is implied in the subject the thought that
the sad fate comes from God, is from above ; in
the pred., the common comparison of public cal-
amities to diseases. (Is. i. .5 tf.) The suffix to
^13^ takes the place of a genii, ohj. ; it refers to
Samari.1. The prophet mourns so bitterly over
the afHictions appointed to Samaria, beca\ise they
are deadly ; and deadly for all Israel ; for they
come even to Judah ; HE (Jehovah, cf. Job iii.
20) reaches even to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem. Therefore are the wounds deadly,
because they strike the heart of the land and the
seat of the sanctuary ; and yet according to ver.
5 b, it cannot be otherwise. The gate is, in east-
ern countries, the place of solemn assembly;
hence Jerusalem is called the gate of God's people,
because there Israel held his solemn courts (Is.
xxxiii. 20). Notice the affecting increase of in-
tensity in the discourse, which reaches its climax,
in the last clause of verse ninth. With this the
theme is given also of the new turn to the thought,
and now begins, —
Ver. 10, the proper lamentation itself. Follow-
ing a view common in the 0. T. (Ps. xxv, 3;
Lam. ii. 17), he thinks first of the malicious joy
of their heathen neighbors. In Oath announce
it not, the Philistine city on the northwest bordeJ
of Judah. With this expression the prophet re-
calls an earlier occunence, David's lamentation
CHAPTER I.
13
wer the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i.
20). The paronomasia which he finds in the
Tfords of the song — for HS may be regarded, like
rO 1 Sam. iv. 1 9, as an "infinitive from ^33 —
gives him occasion to repeat this figure to the end
of the chapter, in ever new applications. (Com-
pare the translation, where the paronomasia is in-
dicated mostly after the manner of Riickcrt).i The
very next member shows another instance of this
play on words. The pre.sent text seems indeed to
be capable of meaning only : Weep not. But in
the apparent inf. abs. 133, there lurks (as Reland,
Pal. lUustr., 534 ff., first perceived) a contraction
1355 : in Aeco weep not. Acco is the later
Ami or riToAe/tais, a city of the Canaanites lying
northward on the coast (Judg. i. 31). That such
contraction in fact exists is proved by a compari-
son of the LXX. who, according to the common
reading of the Vatican, translate ot 'E.faKeLfi, with
the statement in Euseb. ( Onomast., ed. Larsow, p.
188), that in Micah, a city named 'EvaKel/j. is men-
tioned. This can refer only to the passage before
us, and the statement in Eusebius rests evidently
on the LXX. But the word 'EvaKel/j. which they
offer is nothing. The Enakites, of whom alone
they could be thinking, did not, according to Josh.
xi. 21, dwell so far up as Acco, and are besides
always called 'Evaiciii or ui'ol 'EvaK by the LXX.
Hence the Alexandrian reading oi iv Ax^'M '^
evidently preferable. (Some MSS. and the Aldina
read Iv Baxei/J., not understanding the contraction,
and regarding the 3 as belonging to the name).
In "AxeiV; 'AKciju, then, we have the name of a
city, especially if with Hitzig we assume that it
was originally iv "Aicei, and that the fj. has been
drawn back by mistake from the following jurj. —
For our explanation speaks first, the fact that
thus the parallelism is completely established, and
the grammatical impossibility of connecting an
inf abs. with 7S instead of N v is avoided. And
secondly, that the contraction is possible is proved
by the analogous examples '^i^'''^ for iTypti^S,
Am.vui.8; *'3for''V5: nbn for nbr3, Josh.
xix. 3 ; XV. 29, and the altogether analogous iOv
Ps. xxviii. 8, for "lH?7i the replacement of the
pened syllable by the lengthening of the
vowel being a familiar fact. Finally, that it was
necessary, when a paronomasia obvious to the ear
was aimed at, is obvious.
After the malignant triumph of their enemies, the
prophet sees next the sorrow of his fellow-country-
men. A series of devastated places meets the eye of
the seer, and their names become to him the texts
of his lamentation and gloomy previsions. Whether
the designation of the places is connected, as in Is
X., with the route of the hostile anny is, owing to
their generally more or less questionable position,
and to the absence of any such express intimation
as we have in Isaiah, very doubtful. So much at
least is clear, however, that the territory in which
the places named are contained reaches but a little
beyond Jerusalem on the east, while westwardly it
stretches to the border of the Philistines at Gath ;
that, accordingly, just such cities are named as
must naturally be most harmed by an array
streaming over Judah upon Philistia. The prete-
rites arc prophetic. ^ For Bethleaphra, on account
of the misfortune of the Benjamite city Ophra,
(Jos. xviii. 23), not far from Jerusalem, I scatter
dust on myself [better, " roll myself in the dust "],
in token of deep affliction ; cf. Jer. vi. 26, in
accordance with which passage the useless correc-
tion of the margin is here made. Verba sentiendi
are construed with 3 (Ew. § 217 f. 2 B.) [Ges.
s. V. B. 5 c] ; n''3 is an addition to names of
places which may also be omitted (cf. ver. 11 be-
low, and Ges., Thes., 193).
Ver. 1 1 . Set out on thy Journey inhabitant
of Shafir (pleasantness) in shameful nakedness
The dat. eth. 03^ is in the plural because nntl"
here, and in all the follo%viug verses is understood
collectively ; "13^ stands here, as in Ex. xxxii.
27, in antithesis to 31E7: depart, go away.
Shaphir lay, according to the Onom., near Eleu-
theropolis, and is perhaps identical with the
Shamir, Josh. xv. 48, which was on the south-
west of the mountain of Judah, ITWJ. /T^IV,
nakedness-shame = shameful nakedness, is a com-
pound idea, like Ps. xlv. 5, humility-righteous-
ness, and stands in ace. adv. (cf. Prov. xxxi. 9.
The meaning of what follows becomes plain
when once we take 13D!3 as an ace. of direc
1 [Cowles on this passage, well says : " The remaioing
part of this chapter, is a graphic painting of the first re-
sults of the Assyrian invasion, as they were felt in one city
after another along the line of his march. In most of the
cases, the things said of each city are a play on the signi-
ficant name of that city — a method of writing well adapted
to impress the idea upon the memory. Sometimes there is
merely a resemblance in sound between the prominent
word spoken of a city and the name of that city. Both
of these cases fall under that figure of speech, technically
called a paronomasia. The latter form of it — resemblance
In sounds — is of course untranslatable. The other form —
l.play upon the significance of the name of a city — is as
f one should exclaim : What ! is there quarrelling in Con-
!ord ? war in Salem [PeaceJ ; family feuds in Philadelphia
LBrotherly Love| ; slavery in Freetown ? '■
Dr. Pusey {Intr. to Min. Proph.. p. 293) : " His description
of the destruction of the cities or villages of Judah corre-
sponds hi vividness to Isaiah^s ideal march of Sennacherib,
the fiame of war spreads from place to place, but Micah
relieves the sameness of the description of misery by every
variety which language allows. He speaks of them in his
3WD person, or to them ; he describes the calamity in pa«t
tion, as it often stands with
(Gen.
or in future, or by the use of the imperative. The verbal
allusions are crowded together in a way unexampled else-
where. Moderns have spoken of them as not after their
taste, or have apologized for them. The mighty prophet
who wrought a repentance greater than his great contem-
porary Isaiah, knew well what would impress the people to
whom he spoke. The Hebrew names had definite mean-
ings. We can well imagine how, as name after name
passed from the prophet's mouth, connected with some
note of woe, all around awaited anxiously, to know upon
what place the fire of the prophet's word would next fall,
and as at last it had fallen upon little and mighty rouni)
about Jerusalem, the names of the plates would ring in
their ears as heralds of the coming woe ; they would be
hke so many monuments, inscribed beforehand with the
titles of departed greatness, reminding Jerusalem itself of
its portion of the prophecy, that evil should come from the
Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem ■'''' — Tr.]
2 [The abrupt change, indicative of intensity of excito
ment,from the imperf. in ver. 8, to the pret. in vers. 9, 10.
11, 12, and to the imperat. in 11, 13, 16, is worthy of at
tention. — Tf ]
14
MICAH.
3 ; I Chr. v. 18). Not the mhabitant of Za-
anan (departure) shall go forth for mouming at
Bethhaezel [Kleinert, Niimnhausen ; Ges , Fixed
'ioitse]. Zaanan is perhaps the Zenan mentioned
in Josh. XV. 37, in the western lowland, and
Bethhaezel (cf. on ver. 10) the Azel named by
Zech. (xiv. 5), which lay at the foot of Mount
Olivet, and bad gained, according to that passage,
a mournful celebrity in the days of Uzziah, not
long before Micah's time, from the fact that the
people took refuge there in a great earthquake.
There seems to have been an annual mourning
hold at that place, as was usual in commemorat-
ing such national calamities (Zech. xii. 11).
This, according to our verse, can no more be
the case with the cities of Judah, for which Zaa-
nan, on account of the paronomasia, is made a
representative, for he, who executes the judgment,
as vcr. 9, takes away from you his (Ezel's) sta-
tions. It is carried away according to God's ap-
pointment, by the enemies' liand. Herein also lies
a paronomasia, because vSS as well as Hp^
means : to take away. Ilitzig translates : Zaanan
goes not forth because the lamentation of the
neighborhood takes away from you its standing-
place. Umbreit: The grief of Bethhaezel turns
away its places for you. Keil : The cry of Beth-
haezel takes away from you the standing with it.
[Maurer : '* Planctus Betliaezel, i. e., quod oppressi
ab hostibus tenentur Bethhaezelenses, id aiifert
vobis hospitium ejus, facit ut nullum ibi refagium
haheatis/'] ^
Ver. 12. For — as leading sentence must be
supplied all along, from ver. 8, " I cannot " —
the inhabitant of Maroth [bitterness] writhes in
pain because of the [lost] prosperity. Maroth,
a village, as the mention of it in connection with
Ezel shows, lying near Jerusalem ; otherwise of no
significance. 7 before the object of emotion (Ew.
217 d. 2 c). For, so the discourse turns, with a
resumption of the main theme from verse 9, to its
last division, evil comes down from Jehovah
unto the gate of Jerusalem.
In place of the sympathizing lamentation we
have again, as at the beginning, the pi-ophetic
threat, first in the indirect, imperative form, so
that actions are enjoined upon the object of the
tlu'catening, which must come as immediate effects
of the threatened judgment (Is. ii. 10); ver.
13. Harness the chariot to the courser, inhab-
itant of Xiachish, to escape, namely, from the
punishment. The play upon words here lies in
the homophony of the roots tC3~l and t£7D A
Lachish, a fortified city, not far from Eleu theropolis,
still remaining as a ruin under the name of Um
Lakis. The beglmilng of the sin was it for the
daughter of Jerusalem, for the population of
Jerusalem, that in thee were found the trans-
gressions of Israel, i. e., the idolatry of the ten
tribes, which had, accordingly, first found admis-
sion at Lachish, and from thence had inundated
Judah (vi. 16).
Ver. 14. Therefore wilt thou give the re-
lease upon Moresheth Gath. Lachish is no
longer addressed, as the connection shows, but
Israel, which throughout, even in ver. 6, is the ob-
ject; and '!i37 is, as frequently, a free connective.
At the marriages of princes a dowry was given,
and this is expressed by DTI^Vtr '[,'13 (l K. ix.
I |Cf. the Textual aud Gram, note on this passage. — Tr.]
16); this Israel gives to the enemy in the form
of Moresheth — although certainly not freely re-
nounced. But there lies at the same time in the
idea of D'n-lvtT, the side thought that one di-
vorces himself from the abandoned property, Jer.
iii. 8 (Hitzig). Hence also the play on the
words : the homophonons nt&"lSD signifies the
betrothed (Deut. xxxii. 23). On Moresheth-
Gath, i. e., Moresheth near Gath, the home of
the prophet, which likewise lay in the southwest
portion of Judah, cf the In trod. 2.
The houses of Achzib [deception] will become
a deceitful brook to the king of Israel. C^HtDS,
are brooks which dry up in the summer, and de-
ceive the thirsty wayfarer who knowing their site,
goes in search of them (Jer. xv. 18; Job vi.
15 if. ; Ps. cxxvi. 4j. Like them will Achzib
slip from the hands of the kings of Israel,
i. e., those of Judah, for after the destruction of
Samaria, the kingdom of the ten tribes has ceased.
The city lay, like the others, in the lowland o
Judaea (Josh. xv. 44) ; now the ruins Kussabeh.
Ver. 15. I will moreover bring (^3N instead
of H^DS, as in 1 K. x.xi. 29,) the coniiueror
upon thee, inhabitant of Mareshah (conquered
town). Maresha near Achzib (Jos. xv. 44) is
the present Marasch (Tobler, Dritte Wanderung,
p. 139; 142 f.); even to Adullam (Josh. xii.
15 ; XV. 35) northward from Maresha, but not dis-
covered as yet, shall the nobUity (Is. v. 13) of
Israel come, namely, to hide themselves in the
mountain caves there, in which David once sought
refuge from Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 1).
The prophet has named twelve cities of Judah,
six in the lamentation, and six in the threatening,
and, still further intensifying his lament, closes the
whole, ver. 16, with an address to the mourning
mother, Israel, who must see her children dragged
away into exile (Jer. xxxi. 15; Is. iii. 26). Make
thee bald aud shear thy head — in spite of the
prohibition, Deut. xiv. 1, this had remained a
common sign of sorrowful lamentation for the dead
(.Jer. xvi. 6; cf. Job i. 20; Is. xv. 2)— for the
sons of thy dehght ; enlarge thy bajdness like
the eagle (the giiffin vulture is meant, which is
often met with in Egypt and Syria, and has the
whole forepart of the head bare of feathers) ; for
they are carried away from thee, led away cap-
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
Very differently goes the course of the two sis-
ter kingdoms (cf. Ezek. ch. xxiii.), and yet goes
with both to the same destruction. The sacred
heights, on which the Lord will set his foot when
He comes down to his people, have become in Judah
also heights of corruption. What has she now of
advantage over her apostate sister, Samaria, whom
j^et the Lord had let go her own way (cf. Kom.
iii.) ■? She has, indeed, much still ; she has the holy
temple, the fountain of God's holy ordinances, and
with that the certainty that God cannot allow her
to be utterly destroyed, although he has overthrown
Samaria to the very foundation. But through judg-
ment must Judah pass like Samaria; the holy ordi
nances profit not the sinful generation to whom they
have become a dead and despised possession (cf. 2
Mace. V.19 f.). Nay, such a possession insures to ths
people among whom it exists, a serious trial, foi
CHAFTEH I.
15
God's holiness, proceeding fi-om the " Temple of his
holiness," is a beaming light which becomes a con-
suming fire when it finds no longer life but death
round aboutit (Is. x. 17). All the names of auspic-
ious presage become then omens of judgment. For,
as sin is the distortion of that which should be be-
tween man and God, the judgment is the turning
straight again of that which has been turned awry
(Ps. xviii. 27 b). Israel, the mother who parted
from God (Hos. ii. 8), has neglected her children;
therefore will she have no friends in these children,
but in her widowhood be also childless. Where
the churches become empty the church herself is to
blame for it.
Hengstenberg : The discourse, beginning with
the general judgment of the world, turns suddenly
to the judgment upon Israel. This is to be ex-
plained only from the relation in which the two
judgments stand to each other, they being in es-
sence completely the same, and different only in
space, time, and unessential circumstances ; so that
one can say, that in every partial judgment upon
Israel there is the world-judgment. Here, as al-
ways in the threatenings of the prophets, we must
take care that we do not, in a particular historical
event, lose sight of the animating idea. Let this
be rightly apprehended, and it will appear that a
particular, historical occurrence may indeed be spe-
cially intended, but never can exhaust the predic-
tion ; that in this passage also we ought not, on ac-
count of the primary reference to the Chaldsean ( 1 )
catastrophe, at all to exclude that in which, before
or afterward, the same law was realized.
BiEGEK : From the (threatening) nature of the
time we may most easily perceive the purport and
aim of such prophecies, namely, to rebuke the then
prevailing sins, to announce the judgment of God
on account of them, but ever also to bring forward
the promises of Christ, and thus to call to repen-
tance ; most especially to support believers, that
they may find effectual comfort in the general dis-
order, and abide in patient waiting for the king-
dom of God and Christ. Nay, when many were
first awakened from their sleep under the punish-
ment of their sins, they would be turned by words
of this kind to their covenant God, and not despair
of his promise.
On the Fulfillment. Keil : Micah prophesies in
this chapter, for the most part, not particular defi-
nite punishments, but the judgment in general, with-
out precise indications as to its accomplishment,
80 that his prediction embraces all the judgments
against Judah which took place fi'om the Assyrian
invasion on until the Koman catastrophe.
HOMILEIICAL AND PRACTICAL.
The judgment must begin at the house of God.
1. It must begin, for God, the injured One, is
Judge of the world ; vers. 2-4.
2. It must begin at the house of God, «'. e., at the
congregation of his people. For —
(a) He has here his seat and place ; ver. 2.
(b) Upon this his eye first falls when He comes to
judge the whole earth ; ver. 3.
■(c) Here is the right knowledge of God, to have
fallen away from which to idolatry is a peculiar
gvult; vers. 5 b, 7.
3. In the congregation, moreover, it strikes all ;
vers. 8-16.
(a) Not the godless only but the pious also,
Vfho. see it come and must share in the sorrow and
bmentation; vers. 8, 9.
(b) Not merely the capital, but all places are
stations and signs of the judgment ; vers. 10-15.
(c) Not merely the sin itself, but the generation
that practice it must away to the place of punish-
ment; ver. 16.
Ver. 2. When Jehovah speaks, the whole land
must tremble. Land and people belong together,
and He smites both, the field for man's sake ( Gen.
iii. 17). Hence the creation also sighs for the re-
demption which comes to it too with the glorious
liberty of the sons of God (Rom. viii. 19). — "Ver.
3. Jehovah is not a God afar off, but always going
forth out of his holy places to see and to judge
what is on the earth. — Ver. 4. His holy congrega-
tion lies so near his heart that for their sake he
shakes the earth. Ver. 5. Great cities, great sins
(Gen. iv. 17 ; Is. xiv. 21). — Ver. 6. When man
builds without God, let it be ever so firmly fast-
ened with stones to the strongest ground, the
storm breaks from, above, lays bare the I'oundation,
and hurls the stones asunder. The best established
church-system, when it becomes essentially sinful,
is, in God's hands, a spider's web. The judgment
deeds of God are declarative; while He lays bare
the ground. He shows that it is sinful, and with that
the annihilation is pronounced. — Ver. 8. God's
spirit in the congregation itself sympathizes with,
when it must punish, the congregation. His right-
eousness is a self-infliction upon his love. — ver.
13. God retains accurately in mind the individual
responsibilities and the starting-points of sin. Pop-
ular sins proceed from certain places, from certam
classes, out over the whole ; the whole is judged,
but the root is not forgotten.
Theophylact (on ver. 1) : The prophets
spoke to hard and disobedient hearts ; hence they
said : The vision is divine, and from God is the
Word ; that the world might give heed to the Word,
and noj despise them. Matthew, however, spake to
believing and obedient souls, and therefore placed
nothing of this kind at the beginning. Or thus :
The prophets saw in the spirit what they saw,
since the Holy Spirit made the exhibition, and so
they named it, a vision. But Matthew saw it not
spiritually and in a representation, but had bodily
intercourse with Him, heard Him by the senses, saw
Him in the flesh ; therefore he says not " vision,"
but Book of the generation of Jesus Christ.
OsiANDER (on ver. 3) : At the present day it
is not necessary in preaching to call persons and
places by name, in which we must proceed very
prudently, in order not to tear down more than
we build up ; and yet the preacher may use sucb
freedom and plainness in indicating errors and
vices that those who need improvement may feel
themselves aimed at, and repent and be saved.
Hengstenbeeo (on ver. 11): The instances
of play upon words are no mere empty sport. They
have throughout a practical aim. The threaten-
ing is to be located by them. Whoever thought of
one of the designated places, in him was the
thought of the divine judgment quickened.
Ch. B. Michaehs (on ver. 12): From Ji
hovah, he adds to make it plain that the calamity
came not by blind chance, but was brought about
by the supreme control of God, the righteous
Judge.
Stabke : Ver. 1 . Teachers must have a reg-
ular call, partly because of the divine command
(Heb. V. 4), partly for the sake of order (1 Cor
xiv. 40). Preachers must not preach differently
from God's Word (1 Pet. iv. 11). Those who
practice like sins may expect like punishments. — ■
Ver. 2. The Lord be a witness >n yoa: let the
16
MICAH.
Lord bear witness in you. For he who takes to
heart the word concerning the judgment is con-
vinced of his sins thereby, and feels the wrath of
God. Even yet also God always puts in the
mouth of his servants what He has to speak to his
people, especially when teachers and hearers heart-
ily call upon Him for this. — Ver. 3. So secure is
the natural man, that he perceives not God's pres-
ence, nay even denies it, until He finally makes his
presence known by notable punishments. God de-
scends not actually, or as it regards his being, but
He ceases to conceal himself, to be long-suft'ering,
and begins to punish sin, to reveal and expose it.
He assumes in effect another kind of presence. —
Ver. 5. God pours not out his anger upon inno-
cent people. " Desine peccare et civitas non peribit "
(Ambros.). Divine services set up without God's
word, although with good intention, are an abom-
ination before God. And, — Ver. 6, God's judg-
ments against the false system%of worship are
terrible ; for He is jealous of his own honor. —
Ver. 7. Idolaters have in general more of worldly
goods than those who sen'e the true God. — Ver.
10. It is often advisable to withhold our tears
that the world may not rejoice over our misfortune.
If one will weep he must do it before the outbreak
of judgments, for when they are already here it is
too late. — Ver. 11. When God will punish a
land for its sins He takes away their courage from
the people. — Ver. 12. That is the way of most
men : that they mourn over the loss of their goods
but not over their sins. On account of their bodily
troubles, also, the righteous sometimes fall into
great sorrow and fear. — Ver. 13. Offenses given
remain not unpunished. — Ver. 14. Well may a
stronghold proudly bear the name of deception,
when it with its walls and good preparations^causes
the besiegers to be deceived in their hope. Princes
should not ti'ust in strong castles and towns, be-
cause they may be disappointed in them. — Ver.
16. Those who give themselves up to luxury
are at last given up to miserable slavery. When
a man makes his children effeminate, he makes for
himself grief and heart-pangs.
Pfaff : Ver. 1. Think not, ye great sinners,
that the word of the Lord which was formerly
spoken concerning the Jews is of no concern to
you, it is written for your punishment also. —
Ver. 2. When the Lord speaks we should listen,
yea, and give good heed : with great reverence,
with all humility, with fear and trembling, with
most willing obedience. — Ver. 8. God's servants
properly mourn over the wretched condition of
their congregations. It would indeed be a poor
promise of their doing anything to improve them
if they did not pour out their tears before God,
and if it did not touch their heart that the people
are drawing near to their judgment.
Riegeb: Even to the last (Micah lived still
after the fall of Samaria), God shows that He has
no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but, before
the outbreak of such judgments, seeks once more
by his word to save what can be saved. But He
teaches us also that we should not, from the riches
of his word, the crowd of gifted servants of God,
the earnestness with which they urge the word of
the Lord, be drawn into security, nor suppose our-
selves on these accounts far from the evil day ; but
if often in respect to these circumstances, we seem
to see planting and cultivation, it is often also near
to the hewing down. — Ver. 2. What a case it is
when the protection which they hitherto had en-
joyed from the golden altar in the temple of God,
a thus declared at an end! (Rev. ix, )3ff > —
Ver. 4. All should truly feel their inability t«
stand before God, and not only with their power,
but also with heart and courage, be like melted
wax. — Ver. 7. How accurately God knows in
what way a property has been gathered, and how
He directs himself m punishment accordingly ! —
Ver. 11. How far God lets himself down in his
word, in that He connects what He has detei-mined
in his holy temple with the names which we have
given of old to our towns, in order the better to
impress it upon us I
QuANDT : That God by his prophets causes
this dark picture to be drawn for the people, ia
itself a fact which affords hope. For if He had had
pleasure in the death of the wicked, He would,
straightway, and without wasting many words,
have let them go to destruction. If He still takes
the trouble to threaten, this threatening can only
be a sign of his enduring love. The Last Day
has many solemn types in the precursory days of
the wrath of God ; and the universal judgment at
the last has many a preliminary token in the
partial judgments that are taking place on par-
ticular peoples. — Ver. 4. The mountains sym-
bolize the high and mighty in the creation ; their
melting down, therefore, signifies the annihilation
of earthly greatness. 'The valleys symbolize the'
masses of the nations ; the rending of them, there-
fore, their crumbling and being turned into dust,
like water, signifies the annihilation of the nations.
— Ver. 9. A preacher renders poor service to God
and man, when he remains silent about the plague
which God threatens to sinners ; but when he has
plagues to announce, he should never do it with
laughing mouth, nor even with indifferent man-
ner, but, like Micah, with sorrow and with tears,
as being also u child of the people, who suffers
when all suflf'er. Our God will have even for his
Job's-posts messengers who are not only obedient
but also full of sympathy.
[Db. P0SET : Ver. 3. Since the nature of God
is goodness, it is proper and co-natural to Him to
be propitious, have mercy and spare. In this way,
the place of God is his mercy. When then He
passeth from the sweetness of pity to the rigor of
equity, and, on account of our sins, showeth Him-
self severe (which is, as it were, alien from Him),
He goeth forth out of his place. Cited from Dion.
— Ver. 6. There is scarce a sadder natural sight
than the fragments of human habitation, tokens of
man's labor, his luxury, amid the rich beauty of
nature when man himself is gone. For they are
tracks of sin and punishment, man's rebellion and
God's judgment, man's unworthiness of the good:
natural gifts of God. — Ver. 7. All forsaking of
God being spiritual fornication from Him who
made his creatures for himself, the hires are all
that man could gain by that desertion of his God,
all employed in man's intercourse with his idols,
whether as bribing his idols to give him what are
the gifts of God, or as himself bribed by them.
For there is no pure service, save that of the love
of God. — Yet herein were the heathen more
religious than the Christian worldling. The hea-
then did not offer an ignorant service to they
knew not what. Our idolatry of mammon, as
being less abstract, is more evident self worship, a
more visible ignoring, and so a more open dethron-
ing of God, a worship of a material prosperity, of
which we seem ourselves to be the authors, and to
which we habitually immolate the souls of men,
so habitually that we have ceased to be conscious
of it. — Ver. 10. The blaspheming of the enemiei
of Gc<i is the sorest part of his chastisements, — il
CHAPTERS II. l-III. 12. 17
is hard to part with home, with country, to see all
desolate, which one ever loved. But far, far above
«11, is it, if, in the disgrace and desolation, God's
honor seems to be injured. — Ver. 12. Strani^e
contradiction! Yet a contradiction, which the
whole unchristian world is continually enacting ;
oay, from which Christians have often to be awak-
ened, to look for good to themselves, nay, to pray
for temporal good, while living in bitterness, bittei
ways, displeasing to God. The words are calcu-
lated to be a religious proverb. " Living in sin,"
as we say, dwdling in bitterness, she looked for good.
Bitternesses ! for it is an evil thing and bitter, thai
thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear
is not in thee. — Ver. 13. Beginning of sin to — ,
what a world of evil lies in the three words ! — Te.]
SECOND DISCOURSE.
Chaptees II. 1-in. 12.1
Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds ! In the mom-
2 ing light they will practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.^ And they
have coveted fields, and seized them, and houses, and taken them ; and have op-
3 pressed a man and his house, even a man' and his possession. Therefore thus
saith Jehovah : Behold, I am devising against this family an evil, from which ye
shall not remove your necks ; and ye shall not walk loftily, for an evil time is this.
4 In that day shall one take up a by-word concerning yon, and wail a fwil of woe,*
[and] say :
We are utterly destroyed !
He changeth the portion of my people ;
How he removeth it from me ! '
To an apostate he divideth our fields !
5 Therefore thou shalt have none to cast a cord upon a lot [of ground] in the as-
6 sembly of Jehovah. Prophesy ye not, they prophesy.' They shall not prophesy to
7 [or, of] these : shame shall not depart. Thou that art called ' the house of Jacob,
was the spirit of Jehovah impatient, or are these his doings ? Do not my words
8 do good* to him that walketh uprightly ? But lately my people has risen up as an
enemy: from oiF the garment ye strip the mantle, from those that pass by securely,
9 averse from war. The women of my people ye drive out of the house of their
10 delight; from their children ye take away my ornament forever. Arise ye, and
depart ; for this is not the rest : because of pollution it shall destroy [you], and
11 with a sharp destruction. If a man walking in vanity* and falsehood should lie,
saying: I will prophesy to thee of wine and of strong drink, he would be a
prophet for this people.
12 I will surely gather all of thee, O Jacob,
I will surely collect the remnant of Israel,
I will put them together as sheep in the fold,
As a herd in the midst of his pasture ;
It shall be noisy with men.
He that breaketh through has gone up before them :
They have broken through, and passed the gate,
And gone forth by it.
And their king passes on before them,
And Jehovah at their head.
rn. 1 And I said : Hear now, ye heads of Jacob, and ye magistrates of the house ot
2 Israel : is it not for you to know the right ? Ye that hate good and love evil,
3 and tear their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones ; and who
eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones,
4 and divide them, as in the pot, and as flesh within the kettle. Then will they cry
to Jehovah, and he will not answer them ; and he will hide his face from them at
that time, even as they have made their deeds evil.
18 MICAU.
5 Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that lead my people astray, who
biting with their teeth cry : Peace ; and he that giveth nothing for their mouth,
against him they sanctify war.
6 Therefore a night shall be for you without a vision,
And darkness for you without divination,
And the sun shall go down over the prophets,
And the day be dark over them,
7 And the seers shall be ashamed,
And the diviners shall blush ;
And they shall cover the beard, all of them;
Because there is no answer of God.
8 Nevertheless I am filled with power, through the spirit of Jehovah,^° and judgment,
and boldness, to announce imto Jacob his transgression, and unto Israel his sin.
9 Hear this now, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye magistrates of the house
10 of Israel, that abhor judgment; yea, they pervert all that is right, building Zion
11 with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Her heads judge for a bribe, and her
priests teach for a reward, and her prophets divine for money, and lean upon
Jehovah, saying ; Is not Jehovah among us ? evil shall not come upon us.
12 Therefore, for your sakes
Zion shall be ploughed as a field,
And Jerusalem shall become heaps.
And the mountain of the house high places of a forest.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 We follow Kleinert's course In printing these chapters, aa if less decidedly poetical than the remainder of the boofc.
In some parte the style gives reason for this procedure, yet interpreters generally make no such distinction ; and to
those who differ with our author in not making a separate dirision of these two chapters, his conception of the forra. of
the discourse will seem particularly arbitrary. — Tr.]
raVer. 1. DT^ vW /"ti?'' '^S. There is in this, almost certainly, a reminiscence of Gen. xsxi. 29 (ef Prov. iii.
L y .....
27 ; Deut. xsviii. 32 ; Neh. ver. 6) ; otherwise there would be much plausibility in the rendering : " For their hand is as a
■ God."— Tr.]
[8 Ver. 2. We must foil somewhat here In representing the original, from the lack in our language of a word for " man "
IBS generically human being (CyW, here =av8pMTroi, homo, iWcTwcA), in distinction from "man" sensu emineTiti ("1112,
Aw}pf i*'>, Mann). — Tr.]
[4 Ver. 4. So Pusey happily indicates the paronomasia in rT^HD ^rT3 71713 : "Trail a wailing wall" would be Rtili
.anore analogous in sound, if the expression could be allowed.
Kleinert, sustained by Qesenius and others, separates the arraf Aey. 71*^773, from the preceding, and translates aa if it
-were a part. Niph. of 71^77 : (it was ; Ilium fuit) " All is over ! they will say," etc. This is ingenious, almost toomuch
■SQ, having the appearance of a modem improvement. For although the form was long ago regarded by some aa I^ph,
prert. or part, of 71TT, It seems always to have been with a different interpretation. Vid. Pooocke in loc. — Tb.]
[5 ^er. 4. *'7, dat. iucom. : " for me," " to my hurt." — Tr.]
[eiP'^r.e. ]^D^t3^ ?lD'^t2Jn"7K. ^^3, "to drop," "drip," "distil," is here, as in other places (cf. Eng. Vera.
Am. .'vm. 16), applied to the utterance of discourse. As to the reference of the several verbs here, and in the remainder
of the Terse, there has been the greatest diversity of opinion. One can hardly know how far any interpretation which
one may prefer agrees with what has been taught before. We take it thus : The ungodly crowd, weary of the pious and
faithfiil iuculcations of the true prophets, meet their exhortations to repentance with the contemptuous order to atop preach-
ing. " Prophesy not," in their taunting sense is, Don't keep driveling, drooling. Compare (we shrink from quoting it
here, yet we think it well illustrates the spirit with which the mass always meet their pious advisers) the slang of our rab-
ble : " ©ry up ! '" — '-' They prophesy " (drivel) is thus the expression of the prophet, retaliating in the right use of the
word whikcli their feeble sarcasm had suggested. What follows, in the most literal translation, " they shall not prophesy
to the3e •, shame (lit. shames) shall not depart," may then be understood as God through his prophet taking them at
their word : " Even so ; people like these shall cease to enjoy the benefit of that which they call driveling ; I willgive
them up to their own wish, and the shames, which my word should have turned away, shall not depart, but come upon
them." This we think consistent with the most direct rendering of the verse word for word.
Kleinert's somewhat modified view will be seen in the Bxeg. note, where he gives a synopsis also of the principal recent
translations. Pococke in loc. gives a good and tedious account of what had come into men's heads about it in previoua
»ges. We may add, that Zunz renders (less literally than usual) ; Preach not, ye that preach 1 let none preach to such,
^that) they bring not disgraces upon them. — Ta.]
[7 Ver. 7 ''"H^Il '^^DWn. Our author denies that the usual rendering of this, which we also have, with some
tifiBitation, adopted, can be harmonized with what follows, but Maurer explains very well : " O ditta domus Jacobi (»«
CHAPTERS II. l-III. 12
19
mam tot m tanta beneficia contuUt Jova /) . . . . detrectatis vo.r guidem audire quas jacimua minas (ver. 6). Sed q\ia
iindem ?ai«a est minarum? deusne? at ilie. gimm tonge alium se exkihet agentibus rede ! In rausa esse ipsos IsraMtas
iicii versus proximus,"
[8 Ver. 7. Or, " are not my words good," etc.?]
[9 Ver. 11. Lit. " wind." Maurer rendem not badly : " St quis irel, (f() vtntum et mendacium mentiretur." Dr. Kleinerl
Bnds the appdosis liere begining witli 3;T3, wbicll rtTTl would thou merely continue. Thus he puts vers. 12, 13
Into the mouth of the supposed false prophet, as grammatically the object of ?l''t2!2. We think rather, that the conj
In n^m must almost necessarily mark the apodosis, and that the sentiment of the two following Terses is too unlike
the probable expression of the false prophet to be balanced by the alleged antithesis in ch. iii. 1. — Ta.l
[10 Ch. iii. 8. The absence of the conj., and use of riN with '> Hjl alone of the four nouns well warrants the idea
of the Bag. Vers., adopted by Pnsey, that " spirit of Jehoyah " stands out of the series, as rather the ground and cause
)( all the rest — by the spirit, etc. — Tb.]
parturition (Ps. vii. 15 et al.), is here described,
without figure, by the stages of 2JDn "to devise,"
form the plan (Ps. xxxvi. 5), b^Q, "to prepare
ways and means," and nWV " to put in execu-
tion " (Is. xli. 4}. The construction proceeds
from the partic. to the vei'bura finit., as in 1 Sam.
ii. 8 ; Ewald, § 350 b. Upon their bed thej think
it out, at the time when the pious still their heart
(Ps. iv. 5 ; i. 2) ; in the light of morning they
carry it out; — their first thought, therefore, at
the gray dawn, is not of prayer (Ps. v. 4) but of
covetousness : for it is in the power of their hand,
i. e., they are able to do it and no one hinders them
(Gen, xxxi. 29 ; Neh. v. 5), cf the LXX. at Gen.
1. c. : (Vx^ei V X^'^P /^'"'' Hitzig and Keil translate :
"for their hand is their God " [ist zum Gott], their
power avails to them as a God, none else do they
fear. But this would require Drfnbsb Dl^ B\
Hab. i. 11.
Ver. 2. We are now told wherein these their evil
deeds consist; And they covet (against the law,
Ex. XX. 17, whose expression ^Z^^ is not without
emphasis repeated here) fields and seize them ;
and oppress a man and his house, even a man
and his heritage. The transgression of the laws
for the protection of each man's real estate and
inheritance (Lev. xxv. 23 if.), by destroying the
property of the peasants and oppressing them
themselves, this is what the prophet, like his con-
temporary, Isaiah, ch. v. 8 ff., most bitterly re-
proves, as being the surest way to the creation of
a helpless proletariate, to the hostile separation of
proprietors from those without property, and so to
the ruin of the national welfare and the popular
life. (The second rV^ may, for the sake of the
parallelism, be referred to the household or family,
as iu Gen, vii. 1). This one breach of the law is
sufficient to provoke God's anger and judgment
upon this generation.!
Ver. 3-5 : Therefore, thus saith Jehovah,
behold, I devise evil upon this generation,
[fiimily]. The phrase 3JT 2tt7n is emphatically
repeated from ver. 1 , to set clearly before our eyes
the_;'«s taJionis prevalent in God's providence (Ex.
xxi. 23; Is. xxxiii. 1). "This generation," is, as
in Am. iii. 1, the whole people ; cf. the yivei, Matt
xii. 41, 42. There is the same antithesis to the
" oppression " in ver. 2, in the following phrase :
Jehovah devises evil, from which ye shall not
withdraw your uecks ; like a yoke becomes the
hard rule of the stranger on the fat cows of Israel
(Am. iv. 1 ), and does not allow itself to be shaken
off ( Jer. xxvii. 12), And ye shall not walk loftily
nC'l"l, ace. adv. with verbs of going (Ps. Iviii
BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
As the first discourse fell into two parts, by the
parallel between Samaria ^nd Jerusalem, so" this
jecond one falls into the two nearly equal divisions,
chaps, ii. and iii., thus carrying through the princi-
ple of parallelism. The ground of division, how-
ever, is here not the analogy, but the antithesis of
the leading thoughts. Thus chap. ii. begins with
a description of the corruption of the great (ver. 1-
5), and then proceeds to depict the current false-
hood of the sham prophets (ver. 6-13), the essence
of which is comprehended at the close, in a deceit-
ful but brilliant prediction of the certain prosperity
of Judah in the afflictions which are soon to be
experienced (vers. 12, 13). Corresponding to this,
chap. iii. also begins with denunciation of the
g.uilty nobles (vers. 1-4), and then turns likewise
to the judgment against false prophecy (vers. 5-13),
at the conclusion of which, however, Micah com-
municates the substance of his genuine proclama-
tion, so opposite to their spurious illusions (ver.
12).
This obvious plan, which represents the dis-
course as a double climax, is of itself a sufficient
justification of the compass which we ascribe to
the whole. With those interpreters who connect
chaps, i. and ii. outwardly in one discourse (Hitzig,
Umoreit, Hengst., Havernick, Keil) we, although
not denying the interior connection of chaps, i.-v.
in general, cannot agree, for this reason, if no
other, that chap. i. manifestly bears the character
of a pure prophecy, complete in itself, while in the
division before us, from beginning to end, rebuke
and opposition to the reigning sins of the day are
the main characteristic ; with those who (eel obliged
to put a full period to the discourse before ch. iii.,
we differ, because they rend asunder the beautiful
symntetry of chaps, ii. and iii. The reason given
for this separation, that a new beginning is marked
by the "Hear, I pray, you" (iii. 1), proves noth-
ing, since the same summons is found ch. iii. 9,
where no critic could suppose a new discourse to
begin.
Ch. ii. The Thesis, vers. 1-5. The Nobility, vers.
1, 2. Their Conduct. The discourse runs parallel to
the similar denunciation of Isaiah (v. 8 if.) against
the sins of the higher ranks, and like that, this
takes, from the beginning, the character of a "woe."
Woe to them that devise iniquity, and prepare
evil on their beds ; in the morning light they
practice it, because it is in the power of their
hand. Wickedness is more criminal in proportion
M it ie more deliberate. The gradation from the
Jesign to its accomplishment, elsewhere often rep-
resented by the steps of conception, pregnancy,
1 [" Such is the lire of concupiscence, raging within, that,
M those seized by burning fevers cannot rest, no bed suiHces
theiu,so no houses or fields content these. Yet no more
than seven feet of earth will suffice them soon. ' Death only
owns how small the &ame of man.' " Kib apud. Pusey In
loo. — Tr.]
20
MICAH.
9 ; Ges., Lehrg. § 178, 4) ; the necks that are
used to carrying themselves stiffly (Is- iii. 16) will
have to benil ; for an evU time is this, in which
iepression of spirits and gloomy silence comes
over the people (Am. v. 13). This also is said
with an application : your guilt causes the present
to be an evil time before God, and so God will
bring a time which is evil for you, the irovijpiv,
sensu activo and passivo at once ; Eph. v. 6 ; Matt.
Ti. 13.
Ver. 4. In that day will one (the verbs are
used impersonally, Ewald, § 294 b 2 7.) take up a
taunt against thee (cf. Hab. ii. 6; Is. xiv. 4), and
utter a lamentation. What in the mind of the
adversaries is derision, is, in the mouth of friends
and the members of this community, a lamenta-
tion : cf. i. 10 ; and what follows is spoken from
the position of the latter; aU is over, will one
say, n^n3, actum est, all is lost, cf. Dan. viii. 27,
and also the ytyo^/t, Rev. xvi. 17.' We are ut-
terly destroyed. On the form with u instead of
0, cf. Olsh., § 263 b. " The obscure vowel is adapted
to the sound of lamenttition," Hitzig. — The por-
tion of my people he (Jehovah, cf. i. 9) takes
back, ^^a^ of taking back of a promised bene-
fit (Ps. XV. 4). Thus God repents of having
granted it (Gen. vi. 6). How he withdrav^s it
from me ! — Cf ver. 3, against Hitzig's transla-
tion : how he lets me depart ! To the apostate —
i. e., to the heathen (Jer. xlix. 4), who is born and
grows up in apostasy from God — he divldeth
our fields !
Ver. .'5. Therefore, the prophecy proceeds, look-
ing back to ver. 3, thou (all Israel, transition, as
i. 14) Shalt have no one to cast a measuring
line on a lot of ground ( Judg. i. 3) in the assem-
bly of Jehovah. For to the congregation of God
belong the lots of ground so long only as they
bear in mind that it is God's land ( Lev. xxv. 23 ) ;
but since they, by the sins named in vers. 1, 2, ap-
propriate it to themselves, there is no longer a con-
gregation of Jehovah, and the owner, God, gives
his land to the apostate, who have been rebellious
from their birth, and so with less guilt. The words
of the prophet are keen, and provoke to contradic-
tion. Imagining this present to him, he comes to
the new turn of the discourse.
Vers. 6-13. Stateofthe Prophetic Function. Ver. 6.
The people will not listen to any genuine prophecy
(Am. V. 10). This second reproof also runs par-
allel to one of Isaiah (ch. xxviii. 7 f}.). Indeed,
the prophet associates Isaiah with himself in
thought, when he makes the people call out to a
plurality of prophets : " Drivel not," they drivel.
The expression H"'^'? (from H^^j therefore prop,
"to let drop," trickle (Am. Lx. 13), to pour out
copious discourse, to prophesy = t^33, cf. 5.^?'7i
to let bubble, gush forth ; Ps. xciv. 4), appears
here, as in Am. vii. 16, in the mouth of the malig-
nant opposition, whose organ the false prophets
are, to carry with it a tone of contempt. (But cf.
Ezek. xxi. 2, 9.) The prophet straightway re-
turns this contempt; their indignation is in real-
ity an unreasonable driveling, as he then (ver. 7 e)
further evinces. Pirst, however, he answers their ob-
jection by the double sentence, 6 b, c, which, accord-
mg to the analogy of the following verse, is best un-
1 [Cf. Test, and Sram. in loc.].
2 [Cf. Text, and Oram, in loc. — Tr.]
8 [Cf. Text, and Gram, on this ver. — Tr.]
4 A good connection for thR whole verse would be af-
iirded if, taking the sentence ''^V «.t.A., a8 parenthetical,
derstood as an impatient question. Shall they not
drivel for that ? shall the shame not depart ?
For such rhetorical questions without the particle
of interrogation, cf. Hab. ii. 19 ; Jer. xxv. 29 ;
Hos. xiii. 14. — Ewald, Hitzig, Maurer, Umbreit,
Caspari : " Let them not prate of these things ; th(l
reviling has no end." Ch. V. Michaelis, Hengsten-
berg, Keil : " If they prophesy not to these, the re-
proach will not depart."'^ — The preceding verb
stands in the sing. (Gesen., § 147, a), and i^lQ/S
signifies not merely revilings but everything, which
can serve as reproach and ruin to one (Is. xxx, 3).
Ver. 7. The first words of this verse also are an
impatient exclamation ; O for what is spoken in
the house of Israel ! cf. on this ace. indignationis,
Ewald, § 101, 6 ; Is. xxix. 16. In like manner, Um-
breit. — Caspari, Hitzig : num dicendum ? But the
gerundive idea is not contained in the part. pass.
Rosenmiiller and Keil : " 0 thou so called house of
Jacob ! " But that in connection with the following
gives no sense. 3p5^ H^— is not stat. abs. but ace.
loci, while "IIQS, regarded as a verbal form, is (aa
Is. xxvi. 3 : if he is stayed on thee) : " 0 for the fact
that it is said in the house of Jacob," as follows,
cf. 1 Kings vii. 48 ; Ruth i. 9.^ The prophet (ver.
7 a), quite in the manner of ver. 6, brings up the
words of the opposers, in order then to reply to
them. They say : is then the spirit of Jehovah
become short, i. e., Impatient P That would b?
against the word of God (Ex. xxxiv. 6), to which
they appeal like Satan before Christ (Matt. iv. 6),
Or are these — the plagues prophesied by the proph-
ets— his deeds ? Should he plague Israel whom
he is wont to foster as his first-born son (Ex. iv.
23). The prophet replies to this foolish speech,
which claims the promise for itsell regardless of
the condition, by reminding them that God re-
mains indeed the same, but that 1 ley (ver. 8 ff,)
have changed, so that the promise can no longer
avail for them. Do not, in fact, Diy words deal
kindly with him that walks uprt ^htly ? " The
word ItD'', as an appositive to the person in
TJlpi^ (Job xxxi. 26), could take «he place which
the emphasis resting on it assigns ..0 it, because as
an adjective it draws to itself the k/ticle belonging
to holech." Hitzig.
Ver. 8. But lately — properly : yesterday — my
people has stood up as an enemy. My words
would have remained kind, as they were, but you
have sought hostility. The hostUe attitude still
continues, as the imperf indicates. On the use of ^
cf. Ewald, § 217, d. a. 1. — Others, retaining the
causative signification of D^*lp, translate : but my
people make me stand up as their enemy. But
the suiBx is wanting, and the Polel is not neces-
sarily causative.* — And in what does this hostility
consist 1 Off from the garment ye strip the
mantle of those who in secure coniidence of
safety (Lev. xxv. 18) pass by, averse from war,
i. e., peaceably (Ps. cxx. 7). The part. pass. 21t£?
takes the place of the part. act. 3® (Olsh., § 245
a, cf. Ps. cxii. 7).
Ver. 9. And as they spare not the peaceable,
so still less the defenseless : the women of my
we should translate : " but lately, when my people," namely,
the northern kingdom, Israel, already attacked, " stood up "
(cf. Job XX. 27) against the enemy, Assyria, "from off th«
garment ye stripped off the mantle, from them that pa8Be4
by securely," those namely, that fled from the war.
CHAPTERS II. l-III. 12.
21
people, the unprotected widows (Is. x. 2), ye drive
out of the house of their delight, the house in-
herited from the husband, to which they are at-
tached by the memory of their wedded love ( Cant,
vii. 7 ; Ecc. ii. 8) ; from their children (the suif.
is in the sing, not to denote the children severally
as sons of the widows, fatherless (Keil), for that
would be a nota mala, but because Q'^E'J '^ taken
coUec'Ively i. 9), ye take away my ornament for-
ever. To belong to Jehovah is the honor and
ornament of every individual Israelite (Jer. ii. 11 ;
Ps. Ixxiii. 28) ; whoever thrusts out the children
in Israel among the heathen takes away this orna-
ment of God (1 Sam. xxvi. 19).i
From this results now (ver. 10), of itself as it
were, the threatening, according to the law of the
lo/io (cf. on ver. 3, "those that expel shall be ex-
pelled ") : Arise ye, and go : for here is not the
rest (Zech. ix. 1) which was promised to the
righteous people in Canaan (Deut. xii. 9 f. ; Ps.
xcv. 11; cf. Heb. iii. 11 if.): for uncleanness
worketh destruction (cf. Lev. xviii. 25 ; Is. liv.
16), and that a sharp destruction. So must God's
prophet speak (vers. 3, 6), whether the hearers re-
gard it as driveling or not. Were he, indeed,
one of the prophets whom they would fain hear,
(cf. Is. XXX. 10), the proclamation would sound
vei'y differently ; what they announce we are told
m vers. 11-13.
Ver. 1 1 . If a man followed vanity, H^l, as in
Is. xxvi. 18, and falsehood (.17, aim part, as Ps.
Ixxxi. 14 i 2 Sam. xviii. 12), he would lie (the
apodosis iurvvSeras, as Deut. xxxii. 29) : I will
prophesy to thee, people of Israel, of wine and
strong drink, i. e. either : of these things, that
they shall be bestowed on you, or better : so that
my predictions shall come to you as sweet as wine
and strong drink, or also : prophesy to thee at the
banquet (cf ver. 6).^ And would prophesy to
this people:' namely, what follows in vers. 12,
13. iTni continues the apodosis begun by 3T3,
and, with the part, takes the place of the simple
fj'^^n, while hinting besides that this prophesying
is permanent (Ewald, § 168 c.).* Instead of the
verbal construction t^^/' ''^^ part, is construed as
a noun with stat. abs. as ver. 8 (Hab. ii. 15 ; Ps.
XXX. 4).
Ver. 12. To the part, is adjoined, as ver. 7, the
direct discourse : I will surely gather all of thee,
1 [Primarily, the glory, comelioess was the fitting apparel
which God had given them, and laid upon them, and which
oppressors stripped off from them. But it includes all the
gifts of God, wherewith God would array them. Instead
of the holy home of parental care, the children grew up in
want and neglect, away from all the ordinances of God, it
may be, in a strange land. Pusey in Loc, — Tr.].
2 [" Mao's conscience must needs have some plea in
speaking falsely of God. The false prophets had to please
the rich men, to embolden them in their self-indulgence, to
tell them that God would not punish. They doubtless
■poke of God's temporal promises to his people, the land
flowing with milk and koney, His promise of abundant
harvest and vintage, and assured them, that God would not
withdraw these, that Ho was not so precise about his law.
Micah tells them in plain words, what it all came to ; it was
a prophesying of wint and strong drink.^'' Pusey in toe. —
Is.].
8 Or, adhering more closely to the accents : If a man
AiUowed the wind and lied deceit : I will prophesy for thee
to wine and strong drink, he would prophesy to this people ;
itc. The translation above is logically more perspicuous,
ind appropriate to the Heb. words.
so would the liars, clothing themselves iu the garb
of the old prophets, prophesy in the name of Jeho-
vah, O, Jacob, I Trill surely collect the remnant
of Israel. That, indeed, a remnant only can be
spoken of, who shall be gathered (according to
Obad. 17 ; Joel i. 5, cf. Am. v. 15), even the iid.se
rophets know ; but in view of the destruction of
iaraaria, they might tickle the ears of the men of
Judah by pretending that the whole ("jbs) of
Judah, unpuvified, was this reran jnt, and would
undoubtedly enter alone into the promise. They
might plausibly appeal to the precedent set by
Hosea, who (Hos. ii. 2 [i. 11], cf. ch. i.) had said
that after the punishment of Israel and the bestow-
ment of favor on Judah, both would gather about
One Head. They evidently refer to the nrf in
that passage when they go on to say : I will bring
them (Israel) together as sheep in the fleld, as
a herd in the midst of its pasture. The appel-
lative signification of rn^2, septum-ovilt, is quite
possible according to the eiyniology, is found in the
oldest versions, and is sufficiently supported by the
parallelism of " pasture." — So Hitzig, TJmbreit,
Caspari ; Hengstenberg, on the con trary : the
Moabite, Keil : the Edomite Bozrah. — The article
with the suffix in '^"^^^^, as Josh. vii. 21 ; Ewald,
§ 290, d. And not merely Judah and Israel in their
present condition, but also all the scattered and
sold will return, of whom Obadiah (ver. 20) before,
and Joel (iv. 6 if.) had made mention: They,
the fold and pasture of Israel, shall swarm
(naa'^nn instead of n3''a''nn, oish., § 244, e.)
with men, for the multitude of the men also is a
necessary element of the promises of prosperity
(Hos. ii. 2 [i. 11]). D^n is, like Din, a cognate
form for nan, Dan (Ps- Iv. 3). But how do
they suppose that this can take place when, after
the destruction of Samaria, the northern part oi
the holy land is inclosed by the Assyrians round
about 1 This question is answered by ,
Ver. 13. There will go up before them — a tra-
ditional Messianic expression (Ob. ver. 21) — He
that breaks through ; the head, the leader whom
they will set over them, according to Hos. ii. 2.
He will place himself at their head in the holy
city whither God will gather Israel, will collect
them into an army and break the ring of the
heathen.^ They break through, pass into the
gate (cf. on ch. i. U ), and go out through it. And
their king passes on before them, for no other
i [Cf. Gram, and Text. note. — Te.]
5 [Dr. Pusey expresses well the opposite and more satis
factory view, that the breaking through and the going forth,
is out of captivity. " The image is not of conquest, but of
deliverance. They break through, not to enter in, but to
pass throitgh the gate and go forth. The wall of the city is
ordinarily broken through, in order to make an entrance, or
to secure to a conqueror the power of entering in at any
time, or by age and decay. But there the object is ex-
pressed, to go forth. Plainly then they were confined be-
fore, as in a prison ; and the gate of the prison was burst
open, to set them free. It is there the same image as when
God says by Isaiah : 1 will say to the North, give up : and
to the South, hold not back, or, Go ye forth of Babylon, Say
ye, the Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob,^^ etc. This
author's long note on the verse before us affords an admira-
ble specimen of the manner in which he connects a treasure
of evangelical sentiment with the brief hints of ancient
prophecy. But it is often rather put on than drawn out '
it is a crystallization of the gospel around a Hebrew sen.
tcnce rather than a blossoming forth &om the bud of
clearly enfolded truth."— Tb.]
MICAH.
than the king, out of the house of David, can be
that "Breaker" (Am. ix. 11), and Jehovah at
their head, as in the marches in the desert (Num.
A. 3.5 ; Ex. xiii. 21).
The foregoing explanation of vers. 12-13, which
regards these as the quintessence of the golden
promises with which the false prophets steal the
favor of the people, rests not only on the plan of
the whole discourse (chaps, ii., iii.) but also espe-
cially on the impossibility of establishing otherwise
a clear connection between vers. 11 and 12, and on
the numerous references of the following chapter.
The objections which have been raised against it,
particularly that from the term " remnant," have
been met in the exegesis. The passage is similarly
explained by J. D. Michaelis, Hartmann, Ewald,
Hofmann in the Schrifibeweis, while the majority,
however, and among them of recent authors, Heng-
stenberg, Hitzig, Caspari, Keil [Maurer, Pusey],
separate the last two verses from the connection,
and explain them as a Messianic promise from
Micah's point of view.
But according to this latter tmderstanding of
the subject, it is unintelligible how, immediately
after this, the antithesis (ch. iii.) can begin, as indi-
cated by the manifestly adversative ^OHI, " I'ut I
say" (cf. Is. xxiv. 16), and by the diametrically
opposite prophecy, which continues, with the ex-
press assurance (ver. 8), that it gives the proper
sentiment of the prophet, to the end of the chapter
and culminates in the last verse.
Chapter III.
Here also the discourse applies directly (vers. 1-
4) to the nobiiity, and particularly here to those
in high official station, as called guardians of the
administration of justice. Hear, now, ye heads
of Jacob, and ye judges (|^?i^^Arab. Kadi)
of the house of Israel, Is it not for you (2
, Chron. xiii. 5), for you above all, to fcnow the
right. To know=to regard, give heed to (Is.
xiii. 25).
Ver. 2. Ye that hate good, and love evil,
that steal away their skin firom off them, fiom
the house of Israel (ver. 1), and their flesh from
off their bones. They may well be pleased with
the prophesying concerning the " flock " of Israel
(ii. 12), for meanwhile they have the privilege of
shearing and flaying the flock.
Ver. 3. Yea, those who eat (the discourse
turns to the third person, for in vision the prophet
sees how those addressed have already stopped
their ears, and turned away from him, and he
makes his complaint before God and the congrega-
tion) the flesh of my people, etc.
Ver. 4. Then — at the time of the revelation
of the wrath of God (cf. Fs. ii. 5 ; Prov. i. 18), at
the very time for which their lying prophets hold out
to them the prospect of nothing but golden hills,
— wiU they rather cry to Jehovah, and he will
not answer them, for they are not worthy of the
gracious promise (Hos. ii. 22 if.), since they have
let their day of grace pass by ; and will hide his
face from them (impf Iliphil with e instead of i,
as Ps. XXV. 9) at that time even as they have
made their deeds evil. Jehovah's countenance
is the fountain of life (Ps. civ. 29); when it is
turned away it is death ; He will not break through
before them, but will let them perish in misery, as
their deeds deserve ; cf. the last words, with ii."3, 7.
Ver. 5 ff. Transition to the false prophets, par-
»llel to ii. 6 rt'. Thus saith Jehovah against
(b^? as Jon. i. 2) the prophets who lead mj
people astray, God's people are Israel, and he who
hurts them, hurts God (Zech. ii. 8). The proph-
ets should be eyes for the people (Is. xxix. 10),
and without prophets the people are blind ; but
whoever leads the blind astray is accursed (Deut.
xxvii. 18). They lead astray because they arc
bribed by the great (ver. 1 <f.). Who, when they
have anything to bite In their teeth (cf. ii. 1 1,
12), i, e. who when they receive any good to eat,
cry. Peace — prophesy as desired ; and whoever
gives them nothing for their mouth, against
him they sanctify war [Kleinert : declare a sa-
cred war] . By the antithesis of the two sentences,
the meaning, " to bite," " to chew," is demanded
for ^tJ73: the construction of the first [Hebrew]
sentence is parataxis pro syntaxi, and the first finite
verb as following what precedes has been changed
into a participle : they sit with the rich at their
tables, eat their bread, and sing their song. The
description answers completely to that which the
Greek tragic poets, from a like moral indignation,
give of the venal soothsayers of their time (cf. e.
g. Soph., Antig., 1036 ; ^sch., Agam., 11C8). To
sanctify a war is the solemn formula for the dec-
laration of a war which should be undertaken for
the honor of God against enemies (Joel iv. 9, cf.
Is. xiii. 3) ; for by the destruction of his foes
God is proved a Holy One (Is. v. 16). The false
prophets abuse this formula, as they do all the
others of true prophecy (cf. on Ii. 12 f.).
Ver. 6. Therefore, because you darken God's
light in the daytime, there shall be to you a
night without vision, yea, a darkness shall be
for you without divination. The punctuators
read the 3d prast. fem. impers. : " and it shall be
dark for you." But, according to the parallelism the
substantive n3E?il (choshkah), with dagesh lene
is to be preferred. The word chasdn, vision, which
is elsewhere used of the genuine visions of true
prophets (Is. i. 1), is here defined by the parallel
hesom, the comprehensive designation of all the
heathen arts of augury (Deut. xviii. 10, H; Ezek.
xxi. 26). In the uSe of the word chasSn, however,
there lies the idea that the night will so break upon
the people that all prophecy, even the genmne,
will cease, all answer from Jehovah (cf. ver. 4 ;
Lam. ii. 9). Indeed, the latter half of the verse
says the same : And the sun shall go down over
the prophets, — all of them — and the day be
dark over them. The words are designed to
complete the picture of the visionless night in the
first member of the verse (cf. Am. viii, 9), and
thus can hardly have the reference, whicTi Hitzig
supposes, to the eclipse of the sun on the 5th of
June 716 B. c, the day in which Romulus died
(Dion. Halic. ii. 56).
Ver. 7. And the seers will be ashamed, and
the diviners blush (ef. 1 Kings xviii. 29).
" Their lying being punished in its results, they
become, since God by no word of revelation helps
them out of their necessity, entirely disgraced."
Hitzig. And cover the beard, all of them, they
will hide the face up to the nostrils, a Sign of sor
row (Lev. xiii. 45), here of shame (cf. Ezek. xxiv
17), as elsewhere the covering of the head (Jer,
xiv. 4), Because there is no answer from God,
i^.?^.'?! Bubst. as Prov. xv. 1, 23 ; some MSS. givt,
the better sounding part, with seghol in ult. ; for
God answers not.
Ver. 8. To the liars Micah sets himself and his
prophesying in contrast. But I am filled with
CHAPTEKS II. l-III. 12.
9?
power (cf. Jer. i. 18). This first accus. (cf. Gesen.,
I 138, 3, b), is explained epexegetically by what
follows ; with power, i. e. with the spirit of Je-
hovah.i in whom alone is power (Is. xxxi. 3),
while those speak out of their own spirit (Ezek.
xiii. 3 ; Jer. v. 13) ; and with judgment (judi-
cial sentence), by metonymy for : with an impar-
tial (opposed to ver. 5) utterance of God's right-
eous judgment (.Ter. i. 16), which the adversaries
should indeed know, but did not wish to know :
and with courage, which is not to be bought off
by a dainty meal, like the slavish soul of the false
prophets (ver. 5) ; to declare to Jacob his trans-
gression, not the lies of false peace (ver. 5 ; ii.
11), and to Israel his sin,
Ver. 9, follows with a summary view of the
final consequences of this sin and its punishment.
Hear this, now, ye heads of the house of
Jacob, and judges of the house of Israel who
abhor judgment, and make crooked that which
Is straight, through the desperate arts of a sophis-
try which perverts right because it has the power
(vii. 3; Is. v. 20).
Ver. 10. Building Zion with blood-guiltiness
(Ps. xxvi.9,cf Mic. vi. 16,withl Kings xxi.), and
Jerusalem with iniquity. They care not that
the city in which they build their palaces (Hab.
iii. 6; Jer. xxii. 13) with the gain of sin and
bloodshed, is God's own holy city (Is. i. 21).^
When the prophet remembers Jerusalem, his an-
gry and complaining word passes over to her.
Ver. 11. Her heads judge for a bribe, there-
fore to the injury of the innocent poor (Ps. xv. 5 ;
Ezek. xxii. 12), and her priests teach for are-
ward; while it was their duty to give (Lev. x. 11 ;
Deut. xvii. 11; xxxiii. 10) information concern-
ing the decisions of the law (cf e. g. Hag. ii. 16
IF.), they receive a fee for every consultation, so that
the poor have, in fact, no part in the rights estab-
lished by God (Is. v. 23), nay, can attain to no
knowledge at all thereof And their prophets
divine for money, according to direction, like the
heathen prophets (Num. xxii. 6 f.), and appeal to
[lean upon] Jehovah, saying : Is not Jehovah
among us ? or, as the adversaries of Jeremiah ;
here is Jehovah's temple (Jer. vii. 4) : Therefore,
no evil can come upon us.
Ver. 12. Therefore, so culminates in the clos-
ing verse, the threatening begun in ver. 8, now in
the sharpest contrast to the conclusion of the pre-
ceding chapter ; therefore, for your sakes, because
you make the Lard's temple a den of murderers
(Jer. vii. 11), Zion shall be ploughed as [Klein-
ert: into, ace. of result, Ges., § 139, 2] a field,
and Jerusalem not less than the previously de-
stroyed Samaria, become heaps — the stones built
up with blood will be torn asunder, because Je-
hovah makes inquisition for the blood ; and the
1 [Cf. Oram, and Text. note. — The "power" is ratlier
the ability to exert a lioly iotluence given from God. — Ta.].
2 [" Or, by blood he may mean that they indirectly took
Bway life -in ♦hat through wrong judgmenti, extortion,
Uflury, fratd, upyriaxin, reducing wages, or detaining them,
(hey took away whao was necessary to support life. Or it
Way be that these men thought to promote the temporal
prosperity of Jerusalem, by doings which were unjust, op-
pressive, oruBhing to their inferiors. So Solomon, in his de-
generate days, made the yolce upon his people and his ser-
vice grievojcs^ so ambitious monarchs by large standing
armies, or filling their exchequers, drain the life-blood of
their people. The physical condition and stature of the
poorer population in much of France w.as lower(.d purnia-
nently by the conscriptions under the first emperor. In
'.llr 'Wealthy nation the term poverty describes a condition
mountain of the house, n^3, the temple, as 1
Kings vi.-viii., high places of a forest ! On the
Aram, plural '[•'"'J?, cf. Gesen., § 87, 1, a. On the
threatening of Is. xxxii. 13, 14; on the incidental
meaning of maa, on i. 5.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
■The people of Israel are formed, as a holy seed,
to inherit the blessing. To this end they have a
lioly land (ii. 4), a holy place, and the Holy God
in their midst (iii. 11)," who answers them by the
mouth of the prophets (iii. 7).
But the straightforward development of the
mission of Israel has been interrupted. The whole
substance of the popular life in these holy arrange-
ments has been thoroughly poisoned with the sin
of seeking their own, and proudly trusting in their
own power, instead of meditating on God's law (Ps
i. 1), and trusting alone in his power (Ps. ii. 12).
But as a people stands toward God so He toward
the people ; with the froward He will show him-
self froward. When the people devise iniquity He
dcvi.ses it against them ; when brother prepares de-
struction for brother, destruction is prepared for
all from on high. He has given to Israel the por-
tion of goods that fell to him, but in his hands it
ha? been squandered, and falls to those to whom it
does not belong.
The people is a body made up of members duly
organized But no community, even that which is
best and most divinely organized, has any guar-
antee of continuance (to say nothing of the eter-
nal promise), unless its individual members, with
a full comprehension of their calling, stand and
labor therein (iii. 1-8). And radical corruption
exists where that rank which ought to serve a^
the conduit for the stream of life from the heart
of God to the whole life of the people has become
putrid, and sends forth, instead of the juices of life,
deadly fountains ; where between the natural op-
position of the arrogant and desponding thoughts
of men, for which the Word of God, under all cir-
cumstances, has a somewhat unwelcome sound,
and between the cowardice and self-indulgence of
the servants of God, the compromise of false
prophecy has been agreed upon. We recognize
the preaching of lies by its one-sided emphasis on
the promises of God's Word, agreeably to the nat-
ural desire of men, while it forgets the conditions
of those promises ; by its sealing the crowd of
hearers that may present itself for the congrega-
tion of God, and assuring them all, without ex-
ception, and without the purification resulting
from divine judgment, of a share in his salvation.
The Gospel has come for sinners, it is true, but
not for drunkards and debauchees ; that is, sinners
of other days. We have had to coin a new name to desig-
nate the misery, offspring of our material prosperity. From
our wealthy towns (as from those of Flandera,) ascends to
heaven against us, "the cry of ' pauperism,' i, e,, the cry
of distress, arrived at a condition of system and of power,
and, by an unexpected curse, issuing from the very develop-
ment of wealth. The political economy of unbelief has
been crushed by facts on all the theatres of human activity
and industry " (Lacordaire). Truly we build up Zion with
blood, when we cheapen luxuries and comforts at the price
of souls, use Christian toil like brute strength, tempt men
to dishonesty and women to other sin, to eke out the scanty
wages which alone our selfish thirst for cheapness allows,
heedless of everythiug save of our individual gratification,
or of the conmiercial prosperity which we lave made on:
God.'' I usoy, ill toe. — Ta.]
24
MICAH.
as the object of the Gospel are those who heartily
confess, and desire to forsake, their sins. By such
f reaching of lies the judgment is simply hastened,
t brings out the contradiction of God's Word with
double energy, and prepares for corruption a rush-
ing progress among the other classes.
The result of this course is that not merely the
land becomes foreign, but prophecy disappears al-
together, the presence of God becomes a dead
shadow and his holy abode a stone-heap.
Hehgstenbeeg : The particular vices which
the prophet names are to be regarded at the same
time, and principally, as indices of the whole dis-
eased condition of the people. The severity of his
speech, says the prophet to the false prophets, was
rather true mildness, since it alone could avert
the approaching judgment. Not from want of
patience, not from unmercifulness does his God
punish, but the fault lay with the sinners who vio-
lently drew his judgments upon themselves. The
false prophets are to be looked upon as the accom-
plices of the corrupt nobility, as the bulwark, that
is, which they oppose to the true prophecy and to
its influence on the people, and their own con-
science ; as the material power always looks about
for such spiritual allies.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
On chap. ii. Several signs that the state of a
people is hastening toward judgment and needs
amendment.
I. The reign of selfishness.
1. Each one strives and plans for himself alone.
Ver. 1 a, b, c.
2. Each one trusts in his own strength. Ver.
1, d.
3. Regard for the restraints of law and moral-
ity is done away (ver. 2). Consequent judgment
threatened. Vers. 3, 4, 5.
II. Unbelief in the judgment and the conse-
quent impenitence.
1 . The sting is taken from the preaching of the
judgment, while they find fault with the form in-
stead of attending to the matter of the message.
Ver. 6.
2. They lull the conscience with half truths.
Ver. 7.
3. They suppress the consciousness of manifest
sins and abuses (vers. 8, 9). Consequent judgment
threatened. Ver. 10.
III. The corruption of the prophetic oflice.
1. There are those who sing the slumbering
consciences completely into a dream. Ver. U.
2. These people mislead even honest consciences
by clothing their false doctrine in the style of God's
Word (Matt. vii. 15). Vers. 12, 13.
Ver. 1 f. No man can serve two masters. He
that seeks his own is the slave of self-seeking, and
cannot escape from it day or night. Where your
treasure is there is your heart also. Coveting is
the original sin, and to fulfill the last command-
ment is a duty as fundamental as to fulfill the first.
— Ver. 3 f As the wicked fastens his thought on
wickedness so will God fasten him to the conse-
quences of the wickedness. Not to be able to free
one's self from what is once begun, that is the
curse of evil. — Ver. 4 f. He who acts as if he had
nothing, and is not satisfied with gathering and
scraping together, from him shall be taken even
that wliich he hath. — Ver. G. Many a one doubt-
less drivels because he loves to drivel ; such should
take heed, lest by th^ir ungentle words they give
excuse to the adversaries. He is rightly zealom
who cherishes a burning desire thai the reproach
may cease. — Ver. 7. The Lord is long-suffering j
but so much the more shameful is it to abuse his
patience. — Ver. 8. If God would enter into judg-
ment with us, He needs not to go back to long
past sins ; yesterday, the hour just past, convicts
thee of thy sin. — Ver. 9. The corruption which
thou workest in thy children is an everlasting cor-
ruption.— Ver. 10. When man makes thislowei
world his rest, God will trouble him out of it. —
Ver. 1 1 . The " inner mission in a social way " has
many dark sides, and is seldom accomplished with-
out a certain sacrifice of the truth, or neglect of it
and casting pearls before swine. Avoid even the
appearance of evil ! — Ver. 1 2. He who would once
give out a perverse sentiment as God's Word, will
have little difficulty in finding Biblical expres-
sions ; and every one to whom theology is merely
a thing of the memory stands in this danger. The
test of all preaching is, whether it increases thy
earnestness for improvement, let it give thee pain
or not. If it lulls thee to sleep, it is false even
though made up of Scripture phrases.
Ch. B. Michaehs : On ver. 1. When one takes
his stand on the fact that he has the power, there
is abuse of the power.
Luther : Ver. 2. The Papists may boast of the
donation and beneficences of the Emperor Con-
stantine, and others — charitable foundations, ca-
thedrals, cloisters, rents, and tolls — but when we
look at the truth, we must think of all such dona-
tion, as the prophet speaks of it, that they have
coveted such goods, and have then snatched them
tor themselves. Not with open violence, but by
plainly deceiving men with a false pretense, as if
they could by such donation gain access to eternal
life.
ScHLiEK : On ver. 5. While they think they
have become rich through violence, they have
rather thereby lost their whole land.
Luther : Ver. 7. As to the grand boasts of the
Papists, that God has given great promises to his
church, I do not deny that the promises may be
near at hand. But I do deny that they (the Pa-
pists) are the true Christian Church. — Ver. 9. The
Greeks said well, one's own hearth is better than
gold. Eor that is the best house in which thou
wouldst fain be and reside. To widows and or-
phans, accordingly, their own houses, however
small and humble, are true houses of delight. For
there they are at home. This affection the prophet
desired to magnify, that he might the more strik-
ingly portray the tyranny of the covetous people.
BuRCK : On ver. 7. Injustice against the wives
is soon followed by injustice against the children
And this is a reason why dissension between the
married couple is to be abominated, because it
must occasion inexpressible harm to the education
of the children.
Starke; Ver. 1. The proverb, "Thoughts are
duty free," holds good in human courts, it is true,
but not before God's judgment. Covetousness is
a hard thing, and leaves a man no rest day or
night. — Ver. 2. We should earnestly resist the
first attacks of the old Adam, that he may not ac-
quire power. — Ver. 3. That there is a law of ^e^
ribution, is attested not only by Holy Scriptute,
again and again, but also by sound human reason
— Ver. 4. Those who boldly deride divine admon
itions, and make of them a mock, shall in turn be
come a mock to their enemies. — Ver. 7. Th«
nearer their punishment the more secure, gener-
ally, the ungodly become. — Ver. 8. Where mani
CHAPTERS n. 1-ni. 12.
25
feat hostility, where robbing and stealing prevail,
and go unpunished, there the ungodly are near to
judgment. It does not follow that all who are
called God's people are on this account in favor
with Him. — Vcr. 9. Whether to remain single or
to marry, is optional ; by no means is it optional
to break up marriage, and drive away one's
spouse. As all God's works are glorious and
good, so also is matrimony, which God has in
many ways adorned and blessed. — Ver. 10. He
that will not hear must feel. — Ver. 11. Upright
teachers must preach nothing but what God com-
mands them.
Ppaff : Take heed, 0 soul, to thy thoughts !
If thou wakest in the night, on thy bed, let the
place serve to engage thee in holy thoughts. —
ver. 4. What avails to lament, when God's judg-
ments are actually receiving accomplishment! Re-
pent in time! — Ver. 5. Woe to those who have
no part in the congregation of God's people ! They
have also no part in God and in the heavenly in-
heritance. — Ver. 7. It is an idle fancy, that God
cannot punish the sinner because Ho is merciful ;
would they become subjects of bis mercy, why
then let them be converted. — Ver. 9. Ye judges,
do the widows and orphans no hurt ! They should
be written on your heart. — Ver. 11. A preacher
should with fill freedom, but with a mind and
spirit like that of God, reprove vice.
RiEGEit : Here also, as in chap. i. the presenta-
tion of the sin and announcement of the penalty
are connected together, but with the difference that
there corruption of God's sei-vice is rebuked, here,
rather, violence and injustice in the civil relations
of the people. One draws the other after it. —
Ver. 1 f. What a temptation it is, to have the
power to do what evil spite suggests ! What
would many a one do if the power of the hand
were as great as the boldness of the heart ! As it
is, however, God judges according to the counsel
of the heart, and brings to light what a man has
been occupied with even on his bed. — Ver. 7.
That is the old and still practiced way of avoiding
God's threatenings, namely, that men so readily
form conceptions of God, and imagine that it is
not to be supposed that God can be angry. Let
one learn first of all to understand God from His
own sayings. He who hates the light may for a
while resort to imaginary comfort, but it cannot
help him. — Ver. 8. Public outrages resulting from
corruption in the civil order, draw after them
many private outrages in unhappy marriages, im-
proper divorces, by which the children especially
are permanently corrupted, and the ground is laid
for all corruption in all classes. Give us peace on
every account and in every way.
QuANDT : Ver. 1 ff. Where such is the state of
tilings in a countiy, there the glory of the people
has departed, and there breathes a savor of death
unto death, which attracts the eagles. — Ver. 3.
The evil which the Lord devises is so named only
because to the evil it appears evil, while in truth
it is holy and good. — ver. 5. Since the ungodly
men of power have inwardly separated themselves
from the congregation of the Lord, neither can
they outwardly share in its advantages { Ps. xxxvii.
9). — Ver. 6. At the present day also the office of
the preacher of righteousness is made specially dif-
ficult by the hypocrites who give forth their own
carnality, and cry. Peace, peace, when there is no
peace. — Ver. 8. O, that all who do violence to
poverty would consider that, while they abuse the
poor brethren, they set themselves against the
great Go.i in heaven. — Ver. 9. True religion ii.
to visit the widows and the fatherless in their
affliction ; the devil's worship, to rob widows and
orphans.
On chap. iii. To whom much is given in th(
kingdom of God, of him God's judgment will re-
quire much.
I. The more is given him the greater is his
guilt.
1. He cannot excuse himself from want of
knowledge. — Ver. 1 .
2. Rather is his sin a contradiction to the known
commandment. Vers. 2, 9.
3. And as such, aggravated by the design to
deafen the conscience, it comes to view practically
in a very abominable light, and that
(a.) In externis as want of natural affection,
and as bare egotism. Ver. 3 c, 10, 11.
(b.) In intemis as desecration of what is holy.
Ver. 5.
II. The greater the guilt the greater also the
punishment.
1 . The abused word and office loses power with
respect, and is as if it were not. Vers. 4 b, 6.
2. It loses also its power with, God ; He no
longer hears, and remains dumb. Vers. 4 a, 7.
3. And all which God does further is to an
nounce and bring on trouble. Vers. 8-12.
Ver. 1 f. When once reverence for God's com
maud is destroyed, with the men in power, sin
goes irresistibly toward its final end, like a flame
which rests not till all is consumed. But against
even the fury of the elements God has set his bar-
rier (Job xxxviii. 11). How a right magistracy
should be constituted we learn from Is. xxxii. 2. —
The Word of God is not partial, but the Most High
is above the heights. Neither should his servants
be partial. God values the magistracy not accord-
ing to its legitimacy, but according to its works.
But it may well be that the horrid works of a
usurped power should first and most speedily come
to an issue {vi. 16). To hold men like beasts for
fattening and slaughter, is an abomination in the
eyes of God. What held good in the 0. T. within
the nation of Israel, holds good of mankind in the
N. T., and with a N. T. application the word of
the prophet is true of slavery. Yet not even the
prophet preaches revolution, but delivers his testi-
mony, and sets home God's judgment. — Ver. 5.
A sei-vant of God, in his judgment on men, and
liis conduct towards them, should be influenced by
no possible tokens of love toward himself person-
ally. — Ver. 6. In hours of drought we ought to
prove ourselves, whether we are not ourselves to
blame through deficient joyfulness and devotion in
the service of God. — Ver. 8. The human virtues
also grow only out of the fullness of the Spirit of
God, which a servant of God in his office needs. —
Ver. 9. To make the straight crooked and to brand
right as wrong — who does not shudder at the sin ''
And yet this is the bosom sin of these our highly
cultivated times ; scarcely one has not a part in it :
it is the necessary result of all partisanship (Eccles.
vii. 29). — Ver. 10. Whoever builds with gold
from extortion and usury builds with blood (1
John iv. 15).— Ver. 11. What profits all the
knocking at the outward form of the church, when
the fact proves that God by his Spirit is not there
but has left it t In such a case the breaking up
of the form also is only a question of time. The
church is only a result of labor spent on the king-
dom of God; labor spent on the church is in itself
of no profit, as a schoolmaster is not the carpentei
who builds the school-house, no ■ the public office!
who brings up the children, but ae who forms theii
26
MICAH.
souls. — Ver. 12. Better for a land to be quite un-
cultivated than cultivated in the service of sia.
LuTHEE : On ver. 1. As the parson of the mag-
istracy, beoRuse they are in office, is public and
common, so their sins and transgressions also are
public, and much more offensive than those of or-
dinary citizens, not only on account of the scandal,
from the fact that the common herd are any how
inclined to imitate the sins of the great lords, but
also becatise the magistracy thus become more
slack to blame and punish in the lower orders
those iniquities which they find and feel in them-
selves.
Ch. B. Miohaelis : Ver. 2. When the prefect
advised Tiberius to lay heavy burdens on the prov-
inces, he wrote, A good shepherd shears the sheep,
but does not flay them.
Taenoy ; Ver. 3. David would not drink the
water which his attendants had procured for him
at the hazard of their lives (2 Sam. xxiii. 16);
ought there to be then, among Christian men, any
so bad that by them the blood of their dependents
is drunk, and in a moment what those have con-
tributed drop by drop 1
Ch. B. Michaelis : Ver. 4. By this the prom-
ise is not broken that God will hear all that call
upon Him. Here such are meant as wickedly call
upon Him (James iv. 3), not in truth (Ps. cxlv.
18) but hypocritically, and merely in the anguish
of punishment (Prov. i. 28), without repentance
and faith (Is. i. 15); as Esau wept (Gen. xxvii.
34), and as the lost lament (Wisd. v. 3).
Tarnov : On ver. 8. He speaks of the gift
which God has given him, not to boast of it, but
compelled, as Paul (2 Cor. x. 11 ff.).
Luther : On ver. 10. He condemns not priests
and prophets because they take reward and money,
for the pious and God-fearing preachers of the
Word are worthy of their hire, but because they
abuse their office to their own gratification, and
for the sake of gain, and see through the finger
when the people sin, whom they should justly have
punished.
Hengstetibeeg : On ver. 13. Righteousness
Duilds up because it brings God's protection and
blessing; imrighteousness tears down because it
brings God's cnrse.
Starke : On ver. 1 . Those are dangerous
preachers who reprove only the crowd, that they
may flatter the lords. Magistrates should of ne-
cessity know justice, because only thus can they
speak what is just. — Ver. 2. Love of evil is al-
ways connected with hatred toward the good, al-
though men commonly, in practicing the evil, keep
up a semblance of love for the good. — Ver. 5. It
is indeed a great hardship to live under a tyran-
nical government, but still more dangerous is it to
be supplied with false and ungodly teachers, for
they preach the people not only out of the land
but into hell. That is a certain sign of an anti-
christian disposition, which has always manifested
itself as soon as the truth has arisen here or there
in the world ; the devil has at once roused up re-
vilers, who attacked the mtnesses for the truth,
and accused them of horrible crimes. So it is still,
and so it will remain to the last day. — Ver. 6. He
who loves the light of divine truth walks also in
the light of blessedness (Job xxii. 28) ; but he
who chooses darkness rather than light walks also
m the darkness of error and falsehood, and does
the deeds of darkness. — Ver. 7. When the day of
divine vengeance comes, the teachers of error will
not be overlooked. — Ver. 8. Here we perceive
the distinction between a false and a true prophet.
between a converted and an unconverted teachar,
and the different ground, nature, and object of
their office. There is with the true man, spirit,
power, light, self-denial, wise temperance, pure,
uncorrupted delivery of God's plan of salvation j
and with the false, envy, imagination, selflove
which puffe up, personal gain, respect of persons,
deception of the fancy, etc., etc. — Ver. 10. By
tyranny and injustice neither the church of God it
built nor the kingdom of a prince established.
Pfapf : Ver. 1 . We have here the condition of
the magistracy. God has established this to dis-
pense right and justice, to further the public good,
to be an example of virtue to the people, and
surely it should not take this away from the peo-
ple by injustice and tyranny. — ver. 4. Repenfr
ance which comes to us from an experience of tha
punishment deceives not before God. — Ver. 5.
Behold the criterion of a false and ungodly teacher.
He is one who for his own enjoyment comforts tha
ungodly in their sins, who looks only for a good
revenue and reward, who preaches to please men,
who calumniates the real servants of God that
speak the truth, who rebukes only when his gains
are disturbed. — Ver. 12. The more secure men
are, the heavier are the judgments of God which
come upon them.
Eiegee: Ver. 1. God has given to every class
in the Avorld both its external advantages and its
tendency and adaptation to usefulness. Thus even
the great ones in the world should find in their
more complete culture, understanding and discern-
ment, an impulse to become acquainted with the
rights which God has establishei If then in the
world they hate good, it is not only for themselves
a sorry proof that they are children of the devil,
but also opens the way for the eternal destruction
of otliers, because much good is nipped in its blos-
som by the hate, or at least suspicion, which th«
great direct against it. The more enjoyment and
advantage one can procure from his unrighteous-
ness, the less readily does one give it up. — Ver.
4. As little as the violent are generally disposed tQ
cry to the Lord, there still come occasions even to
them, as war, etc., when their cries are awakened.
As the promise that his prayer shall be heard is
the most consoling to wretched man, so is the
threat of having to hear the judge the most dread-
ful. Let him who thus turns away the sufferer,
who should have had the benefit of bis office, hides
his face from him, refuses him an interview,—
let such an one be careful what he does. — Ver.
5 f. The times when, in the earthly rule things go
sadly and in disorder, commonly bring also great
danger of temptation upon the church. — Ver. 2
f. Misbelief often does as much mischief in the
land as unbelief. Amid increasing corruption of
life, to trust to purity of doctrine alone, and think
one's self on this account far from the evil day,
is misbelief. True, the kingdom of God cannot
come to a stand, but meanwhile it may be taken
from us and given to others.
QuANDT : Ver. 1. Those are the right conrt
preachers who are not restrained by the star oB
the breast from inquiring whether the heavenly
morning star shines also in the breast ( Urlsperger).
— Ver. 3. There are people who spend money
enough on a single meal to support a teacher or a
missionary for a considerable time. — Ver. 6. Only
a sudden thought of the dark eternity can now fill
with anguish the soul which rejoices in sin. — Ver
7. When once the world perceive that they arc de-
ceived, they turn with scorn from their own proph-
ets. — Ver. 8. Inward certainty, and having the
CHAPTEKS IV. AND V.
27
loul established in God, is the best call for a
preachei . ^ Ver. 12, The times are become still
worse before the judgment came (Is. xxvi. 18).
Bremer : Sermon on vers. 1-4. Wai'ning to the
judges. (1.) Their responsibility as possessors of
knowledge. (2.) Their sin ; violation of duty, and
eelf-seeking. (3.) Their punishment. — Synodal
sermon on vers. 5-8. Warning to the heralds of
Grod's Word. (1.) Their ideal character (vor. 8).
(2.) Their danger of darkening God's Word
through self-seeking, in that either they for per-
sonal advantage preach what the ears of people
lust after, or brand their personal enemies as God's
enemies. (3.) The aggravation of their sin ; dese-
cration of the Word ; confusion of God's congre-
gation. (4.) Their punishment; they lose the
capacity to discern God's Word, and speak to the
disgust of others and of themselves. Sermon on
vers. 11, 12. False confidence in God. (1.) Its
ground, an outward temple — saci-aments. (2.) Its
danger, disregard of the distant future, indiffer-
ence, indulgence given to the natural man. (3.)
lis end. Fate of the Jewish state ; the holy city
becomes as the world, and shares the fate of the
world. So likewise we. If we forsake God He
will forsake us.
[PosET : Chap. ii. 1 . Upon their beds, which
ought to be the place of holy thought, and of com-
muning with their own hearts and with God.
Stillness must be filled with thought, good or bad '
if not with good, then with bad. The chamber,
if not the sanctuary of holy thoughts, is filled with
unholy purposes and imaginations. — Ver. 6.
Shall not depart. It hath not now first to come.
It is not some new thing to be avoided, turned
aside. The sinner has but to remain as he is ; the
shame encompasseth him already, and only dtpari-
eth not. The wrath qf God is already upon him,
and abideth on him. — Ver. 13. So then, Chutetians,
following Him, the captain of their salvation,
strengthened bv his grace, must burst the bars of
the flesh and of the world, the bonds and chains of
evil passions and habits, force themselves through
the narrow way and narrow gate, do violence to
themselves, endure hardness, as good soldiers of .Jesus
Christ. The title of our Lord, the breaker-through,
and the saying, they break through, together express
the same as the New Testament doth, in regard to
our being partakers of the sufferings of Christ. —
Chap. iii. 6. The prayer is never too late, until
judgment comes ; the day of grace is over when
the time of judgment has arrived. They shall cry
unto the Lord, and shall not be heard, because they
too (lid not hear those who asked them, and the
Lord shall turn his face from them, because they
too turned their face from those who prayed to
them. 0, what will that turning away of the face
be, on which hangs eternity ! — Tb.]
THIRD DISCOURSE.
Chapters IV. and V.
Chap. IV. 1 And it shall be in the last days,
That the mountain of the house of Jehovah
Shall be established on the top of the mountains ;
And it shall be exalted above the hills .
And peoples shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall go,
And shall say : Come ye,
And let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah,
And to the house of the God of Jacob ;
That he may teach us of his ways.
And we walk in his paths.
For out of Zion shall go forth law,
And the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem,
3 And he shall judge between many peoples.
And decide for strong nations, to a great distance ;
And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
And their spears into pruning-knives.
They shall not lift up sword, nation against nation,
Nor shall they learn war any more.
4 And they will sit, each one under his vine,
And under his fig tree.
And none shall terrify ;
For the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken,
5 For all the peoples walk.
Each in the name of his God ;
And we will walk in the name of Jehovah,
Our God for ever and ever.
2s MICAH.
6 In that day, whispers Jehovah,
I will gather her that is lame,
And her that is dispersed will I collect together,
And whom I have afilicted ;
7 And will set the lame one for a remnant.
And the far removed for a strong nation ;
And Jehovah shall reign over them in Mount Zion,
** Henceforth and forever.
8 And thou, tower of the flock,
Ophel, daughter of Zion, to thee shall approach,
And come, the former dominion,
A kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem.*
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud ?
Is there no king in thee ?
Has thy counsellor perished,
That pangs have seized thee as the travailing woman?
10 Wrrie, and bring forth.
Daughter of Zion, as the travailing woman !
For now thou must go forth out of the city,
And dwell in the field.
And come unto Babylon.
There shalt thou be redeemed.
There shall Jehovah deliver thee,
Out of the hand of thy enemies.
11 And now are gathered against thee
Many nations,
That say : Let her be defiled.
And let our eye gaze upon Zion !
12 But they know not
The thoughts of Jehovah,
And understand not his counsel ;
That he collects them as sheaves into the threshing-floor.
13 Ai-ise and thresh, daughter of Zion !
For thy horn will I make iron.
And thy hoofs will I make brass,
And thou shalt beat in pieces many nations.
And I will devote ^ to Jehovah their gain,
And their treasure to the Lord of all the earth.
14 (Ch. V. 1.') Now gather thyself in troops, thou daughter of troops
They have set a siege against us ;
With a staiF they smite on the cheek
The judge of Israel.
Chap.V. 2. (1) And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah —
Small to be among the thousands of Judah, —
From thee shall come forth for me
He tliat is to be ruler in Israel ;
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From the days of eternity.
3 (2) Therefore will he give them up.
Until the time when she that travaileth hath borne ;
And the residue of his brethren shall return
To the sons of Israel,
4 (3) And he shall stand and feed.
In the strength of Jehovah,
In the majesty of the name of Jehovah, his God ;
I fCh. V. 1 of the Eng. vera is ch. It. 14 of the Hebrew Bible. — Tm-I
CHAPTERS IV. AND V. 29
And they shall dwell ; for now shall he be great
Unto the ends of the earth,
5 (4) And he will be peace ;
Asshur, when he cometh into our land,
And when he treadeth upon our castles.
Then will we set up against him
Seven herdsmen,
And eight anointed of men ;
6 (5) And they shall pasture the land of Asshur with the swotd,
And the land of Nimrod in her gates :
And he will deliver from Asshur,
When he cometh into our land,
And when he treadeth on our borders.
7 (6) And the remnant of Jacob shall be
In the midst of many peoples.
As the dew from Jehovah,
As rain upon the grass.
Which tarrieth not for man,
Nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 (7) And the remnant of Jacob shall be
Among the nations, in the midst of many peoples,
As a lion among the beasts of the forest,
As a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
Which, if he pass through, treadeth down,
9 (8) High be thy hand over those that distress thee,
And let all thy enemies be cut off !
10 (9) And it will be in that day, whispers Jehovah,
That I will cut off thy horses from the midst of thee,
And will destroy thy chariots ;
11 (10) And I will cut off the cities of thy land,
And pull down all thy fortresses ;
12 (11) And! will cut off incantations out of thy hand,
■And sorcerers thou shalt not have ;
13 (12) And I will cut off thy carved images.
And thy statues out of the midst of thee.
And thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands ;
14 (13) And I will tear down thy Asherahs, out of the midst of thee,
And lay prostrate thy cities ;
15 (14) And will in anger and fury execute vengeance
On the nations who have not heard.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
p Ch. IV. 1. Kleinert and Pusey : at the end of the days ; but ri^^^HM means, properly, the " latter part,'' " end " in
HiatBense. — Tr.]
[2 Ver. 8. The only considerable objection to the translation above, regarded merely as a translation, is that it makes
too little account of the Atknack ; but this pause seems here no more than a rhetorical suspension of the construction, and
the repetition of the verb (not the same verb) "approach," "come" (and with chanj^e of tense), makes no tautology,
but only " mises the soul to think of the greatness of that which should come." (Pusey.) This view appears to ba
bvored also by the Rebliia in the second member, and is that adopted by Dr. Pusey, except that he treats ^^~ IS'riD as a
genitive, not appositive, and translates "Ophel, of the daughter of Zion." This is an allowable alternative. On OpheL
'•id. Smith's Diet, of the Bib., Am. Ed.
Zunz's version reads : " And thou flock-tower, the height of the daughter of Zion will come to .hee," etc., which makes a
Separate subject for each verb, and allows a more complete division at the Aihnach ; but it labors under the equally
serious difficulty of an irregular concord between vD^ and nj"1Sn, and keeps not quite so close to the order of thfl
Hebrew.
Klelnert's translation, given in the exeget. notes, sacrifices the accent in making ^55? a^ a genitive, limit the tw«
preceding words as a compound term ; but his interpretation deserves very careful consideration. — Ta.]
p Ver 13. On Qin, vid. Lange on Josh. ii. 10. — Tr.]
30
IIICAH.
EXEaETICAL AND CRITICAL.
TWs discourse also falls into two main portions,
chapters iv. and v., the close connection of which
is shown by their contents and arrangement. The
leading thought common to both is, that the deliv-
erance and glorification of Israel is certain to come,
because the promise cannot be broken, while yet it
will come only throuijh grievous afflictions, and
after the deepest hunjiliation. In respect to the
plan, ch. iv. begins, in an immediate antithesis to
the threatening which had preceded, —
a. Vers. 1-8. With a description of the future
glory of the kingdom of God in Israel, having Je-
rusalem for its central point (eight verses with forty
members), and then passes, —
b. Vers. 9-14. (Six verses with thirty members),
to the description of the heavy affliction, distress,
and banishment of the people, which must come
before their salvation.
Parallel to this, ch. v. begins : —
a. Vers. 1 -8. By describing the person and work of
the Messiah,wi th whom that glorihcation must arrive
(eight verses and forty members), and proceeds, —
b. (Six verses with fifteen members), to the
threatening which, from the nature of the case, is
pronounced with this promise upon all ungodly
practices in Israel.
There is nothing in the historical situation to
oblige us to assume a chronological advance from
the preceding discourse. For, although in ch. iv.
9 ff. the picture of the affliction appears to be drawn
into the immediate present, still it is prophetically
given throughout, and we easily perceive that the
prophet speaks not out of a state of facts corpore-
ally visible, but from prophetic intuition.
Chap. iv. vers. 1-8. The future kingdom of God in
Jerusalem, the centre of the world. And it "will come
to pass — nTTl, the usual form by which the dis-
course is transferred to the future, so that we have
to recognize an antithesis to the conclusion of the
preceding chapter, without any immediate progress,
but with a new flight of the discourse (Hos. ii. 1 ;
Joel iii. 1 ). At the end of the days, therefore not
soon, as those false prophets supposed (ii. 12f. ), but
only in the final completion of salvation. The phrase
Q^a'^n i-mn«3 (Targ. Hjai^ fl'iD?. "at the
end of the days," LXX. eV rais ^trxttTats ^/iepais),
is the opposite to n^tpS^3 (Gen. i. 1), and thus
denotes in the prophets (Hos. iii. 5; Joel iii. 1 ;
Ezek. xxxviii. 16, cf. Deut. iv. 30), 'the comple-
tion of the world in contrast^to its creation, the
aim of all ages, the last time, with which closes the
historical development in which the prophet stands
and in the light of which he tests the present time
and foretells the future — the Messianic time. Then
shaU the mountain of the house of Jehovah,
which represents, according to the connection, the
whole elevated, (i. 5), holy city, including Zion,
called in the Messianic Ps. Ixxxvii. also a founda-
tion of God on the holy mountains; — thus in
gaining a universal character prophecy gives, in-
stead of the localities named in connection with
the destruction (iii. 12), etc., the ideal conception
1 [Literally, " upou " it, as though the stream would over-
flow the mountain. " It is a miracle, if waters ascend from
a valley and flow to a mountain. So It is a miracle that
earthly nations should ascend to the church, whose doctrine
and life are lofty, aiduous, sublime.-' Lap. In Pusey in
«!. — Tb J
of Jerusalem (cf. the Doctrinal and Ethical bp
low), — be established, not on the top of the moun-
tains (Kengstenberg, Keil) for in this sense ]133
is construed with bs (Judg. xvi. 26), and the con-
ception could not be carried out, but as the heai
of the mountains (3 predicative as 1 Chron. xiL
18 ; Ps. xxxv. 2; Ex. vi. 3 ; E7T1 metaphorically
for " the first, most eminent," as 1 Chron. xii. 18.
Thus the question is already answered, whether
the exaltation is to be understood as physical
(Hofm., Drechsl.) or moral (Casp., Hengstenb.).
The ideal Zion will be elevated above all else in the
world (Is. ii. 17; 2 Cor. x. 5). The apocalyptic
style of directly designating the kingdoms of the
world by mountains (Rev. xvii. 9), would suit well
here, but cannot be supported for the 0. T., by the
passages adduced by Hengstenberg. At the bottom
of the phrase lies the image presented in Ps. Ixviii.
17, where the advantage which Zion enjoys as the
dwelling-place of God is indicated by the envy with
which the higher mountains look upon it. Before
God, not the lofty but the low has value (cf. v. 1).
1133 stands emphatically as the expression which,
from the ancient promise 2 Sam. vii. 16, 26, has bo
come the usual one, for the unchangeable establish-
ment of anything by Almighty God, who can build
firmly even on the floods of waters (Ps. xxiv. 2, cf.
xciii. 2). Parallel to this the following member
says : and it (Zion) shall be exalted above tha
hills (cf Ezek. xvii 22 f.). The ideal significance ot
both sentences is proved by the parallel third mem-
ber ; and the peoples shall flow unto it,' seeing
it as it were from afar; not by constraint, but
willingly. It lies in the universal character of the
prophecy, that the word "peoples" here should
not, as in i. 2, be the tribes of Israel, but the na-
tions of the world, and accordingly, in the second
verse, CIS immediatelv takes its place (cf. Is. ii
2).
Ver. 2. And many nations shajl go, D'^S'l
like the N. T. 01 woWoi, e. g. Matt. xxvi. 28 ; nol
in reference to those who exclude themselves, bu\
to the great number of those who come (cf. Is. ii. 2,
v3). A powerful movement will go through thi
heathen world, so that their own feeling will turn
them all toward Zion (Zech. viii. 20. ff.), and shall
say to each other Come ye ! and let us go up (for
a mountain is thought of) to the mountain of Je-
hovah, and to the house of the Grod of Jacob, no
more to our deceitful idols from one land to ths
other (Deut. xxx. U ff.) ; that he may teach ua
(imperf. instead of pert', conv. because the connec-
tion is final) concerning his ways, 7?? TTCpi, as Is-
xlvii. 13),- that we may walk in his paths. God
teaches sinners the path in which they should go,
(Ps. XXV. 8, 12). For out of Zion shall go forth
direction, and the word of Jehovah out of Jeru-
salem. The Thorah rests immediately on th&
preceding THV, and is, therefore, not to be under-
stood ( wi th Hengstenberg ) as the Mosaic law strictly,
but in its proper, more comprehensive sense, " in-
struction," as also the explanatory " word of Jeho-
vah," in the parallel member, is not at all tke word
already written merely, but one that is to be
2 [Dr. Pusey understands the ^tt partitively, and happilj
applies the expression to the infinite variety and degrees ol
understanding to which individual saints have attained, cpn.
I eerning (rod. and of experience of his grace. ^' They do DOl
go to God because they Imow Him, but tluit they may kDO»
I Him." — Te.)
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.
8J
Bonnded out anew.i Theodoret : " The word of
the gospel, beginning as from a fountain, runs out
through the whole inhabited world/^ Jerusalem,
accordingly, is considered in that time of salvation,
not as the seat of culture, but as the source of the
living revelation of the Lord.
Ver. 3. And He wiU judge between many-
peoples. War comes from the fact that men
would procure justice for themselves, and so exer-
cise violence (cf. Gen. iv. 23 ; Rom. xii. 19) ; the
new kingdom, however, will be (Is. ix, 11 ) a king-
dom of peace ; God will discharge the duty of a
judge. Compare, concerning the spread of such
intimations of a reign of peace, in the heathen
world, about the time of Chi'ist, Virgil, Eccl. iv. ;
Ovid, Fast.,\. 699; Martial, xiv. 34. And will
correct mighty nations, " who were hitherto for
the most part inclined of their own will to grasp
the sword. Hcngst., cf. Is. liii. 12. Par away into
the remote distance : accordingly, the flowing up
in vers. I and 2, is a spiritual movement which is
1 [a.6 speaks of it as law aimply , not the Jewish law an such,
but a rule of life from God. Man's better nature is ill at
ease, being out of harmony with God. It cannot be other-
wise. Having been made in His likencES, it must be dis-
tressed by" its unlikeness ; having been made by Him for
Himself, It must be restless without Him. What they indis-
tinctly longed for, what drew them, was the hope to be con-
formed by Him to Him. The sight of superhuman holiness,
life, love, endurance, ever won and wins those without to the
gospel or the church."— Pusey.]
2 These three verses are found again in Is. ii. 2-4. almost
word for word. It is disputed which of the two prophets
borrowed them from the other. At first view the reference
of them to our author seems to be favored by the obvious
ciicumstance that they stand in a vital and complementary
coDnection, are essential to the understanding of what fol-
lows, and through the antithesis to the immediately preced-
ing context, have an appropriate and truly constructive
position (cf ii. 12 with iii. 1 and iv. 14 with v. 1). In Isaiah,
on the other hand, the three verses stand entirely apart at
the head of a long discourse, whose subsequent parts are
easily intelligible without them, and have only the interior
connection with them that Isaiah shows : " So it ought to
be and might have been, hot how unworthy are ye now,
that such salvation should come." It is in this view evident
that Isaiah in that passage quotes from aome source, and
granting this, it seems most obvious that he quotes from
Micah. But now we learn from Jeremiah xxvi. 18 f. that
Micah published his prophesies (cf. the In trod. ) under king
Hezekiah. And although one might restrict this statement
to that which was immediately connected with the verse of
Micah (iii. 12} there cited, and belonging to the same time,
fltill. on this principle chaps, i., vi., ii., possibly, at the mo&t,
could be assigned to an earlier date of composition, but pre-
cisely for the series of discourses, chaps, ii.-v. , would Jeremi-
ah's statement remain decisive. But Isaiah's discourse, ch.
Ii., belongs not to the time of Hezekiah, but at the latest, to
fchatof Ahaz, probably to that of Jotham, and was composed,
accordingly, before Micah ii.-v. Besides, the assumption
{otherwise improbable) chat Micah has presented us in our
book with a total collection of the revelation, communicated
by him at different times, does not solve the enigma. For
thus the verbal identity of the citation in Isaiah, made from
the oral discourse, with the written expression of Micah
remains unexplained. This latter must have Iain before
Isaiah, on the supposition that he was the borrower from
Dur prophet.
Thus commentators have been led to assume that both
prophets made use of one and the same earlier prophet
(Hitzig : Joel), whose writing has been lost. But how can
this be proved, especially since it stands written expressly
over those verses in Isaiah, ^'The word of Jehovah,*' which
appears to do away utterly with such, and with every
WRumption of borrowing? I can understand this caption,
vhich, besides, would be altogether supertiuous, only by
wgarding it as belonging to the discourse jt.<!elf of Isaiah,
not, theretore as a title, but as an integral beginnii]g of the
UscourHK itself, 1 should accordingly paraphrase Is. ii 1-5
compatible with their externally remaininjr at
home. Then they wiU beat their swords, which
were still drawn aj^ainst God's kingdom (Joel iv.
10), into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks, i. p., into the implements of peace.
For they will not lift up the sword nation
against nation, they will not learn war any
more ; Jehovah teacics them, and his instruction
is peace.2 But they shall dwell, each one under
hia vine and under his fig tree,^ images of un-
disturhed peace in Solomon's time (1 K. v. 5 ;
Zech. iii. 10). " Our evening meal," says the mis-
sionary, R. Schulz {Leitungen des HochsieUy v. 28.')),
" we enjoyed" {in Beit Jibrin not far from Akko)
" under a great grape-vine, whose stem was about a
foot and a half in circumference, while it stretched
upward to the height of thirty feet. It covered
with its branches and side-canes a cottage of more
than thirty feet in length and breadth. The clus-
ters of such a vine weigh from ten to twelve
pounds. They cut them off, lay them on a table,
in this way : Isaiah onco spoke the famiUar word (n'^Dn),
etc. (vers. S-4) ; but now (ver. 5) it must be spoken thus
(vers. 5 ff., cf. Is. xvi. 13. ff.). Isaiah should thus before
the whole discourse in ch. ii. have uttered the vers. 2 ff. as
an independent prophecy, which henowrej)eats under altered
circumstances to show how it is that it cannot be fulfilled.
Isaiah quotes, accordingly, from himself On the other side,
however, Rlicah also has taken up again that old promise of hia
respected colleague, which might very naturally have made
a strong impression among the people, in order, not antithet-
ically but expansively to carry it forward, and to attach thereto
his own new revelations. In a similar manner Jeremiah
also {vid Introd. to Obad. } has reproduced and modified older
predictions. [The very general view of commentators is
that Isaiah {'^ not after the reign of Jotham," Pusey) bor-
rowed these verses from our prophet. See Dr. Pusey "s very
strong judgment, Introd. to the Bropk. Micah^ p, 289 f. —
Tr.1
8 [Pusey finds the fulfillment of this enchanting prophecy
of " Peace on Earth " " (1) In the character of the Gospel.
(2) The prophecy haa been fulfilled within and without,
among individuals or bodies of men, in body or mind, in
temper or indeed, as far as the Gospel has prevailed." Alas !
to how small an extent then, has the Gospel prevailed !
True, the coming of Christ to the earth was remarkably,
providentially coincident with a universal jieace, the second
which had been experienced throughout the Roman domin-
ion since the reign of Numa (Livy, i. 19). Very impressive
also are the testimonies of the early Christian writers to the
change which the world had even then undergone, through
the influence of Christianity, in respect to the frivolousness,
the frequency, barbarity, rage, and destructiveness of wars.
Indeed, the expressed sentiments and the actual practice oi
Christians, at times, in former centuries, might well have
encouraged the hope that ere now war would be remembered
throughout Christendom only as the nightmare of a darkness
forever past. But what is our feeling when those of us who
are older retrace the bloody history of Christendom through-
out our own lifetime! What, when we see the foremost
nations of the world, and those most clearly enlightened by
the rays of the Gospel, still most conspicuously distinguished
above the heathen precisely in respect to the magnitude, the
costliness, the scientific pertection, and the destructive effi-
ciency, surpassiog all ancient example, of their apparatus
for mutual slaughter and devastation! It is but partial
consolation to the Christian heart, that in all the wars which
have stained the record of our century, one of the parties
may have been in the right ; because, even so, the other
party, Christians also, were necessarily wrong. Still, it is
true that the spirit of peace, " averse from war," is the spirit
of individual Christian hearts; and among the thousand
painful evils due in our time to the sectarian division, dis-
crepancy, belligerency of Christians, without any authori-
tative unity of organization, or possibility of expressing freely
their common thought and will, there is none more painful,
humiliating, disastrous, than their incapacity to combine,
and so make efficacious, their hatred of war. — Te.]
32
MICAH.
sit around and eat as much as each one desires."
fig trees of equal luxuriance were seen by the
same traveller between Arimathea and Jerusalem.
Without a disturber, as is promised, Lev. xxvi. 6 ;
for the mouth of Jehovah of Sabaoth has
spoken, and before Him must all the world be
dumb (Hab. ii. 10 ; Zeph. i. 7), just because He the
Lord of hosts is strong and mighty in battle (Ps.
xxiv. 10, 8).
Ver. 5. In Him lies the guaranty for the final
salvation of Israel : For all the peoples go hence
each in the name of his God, but we walk in
the name of Jehovah, our God, forever and
ever. The name of the God of Israel is Jehovah,
that is, the eternally living and forever unchange-
able one ; and this name describes his being (Ex. iii.
14). He, therefore, who walks in this name, in
the power of this name, will eternally walk (Ps. liii.
25 ff. ; John xvii. 21 ff.). The true sense of the
first half of the verse results from the antithesis,
that mere " going," in contrast with " going eter-
nally," has the incidental signification of " passing
away " (Job xix. 10 ; xiv. 20). It is the opposition
of transience to permanence, inferred from the
union (solidai-ity) in which the worshipper stands
with the object of his devotion : the idols are
perishable, because made of perishable materials ;
God is eternal, and therefore, etc. Compare on
the whole thought. Is. xlv. 16 f. Bolder yet would
appear the prophetic conception if we were to refer
the final words ^y^ D7157 to both verbs, and thus
find the promise expressed that, in the time of salva-
tion, every people would, under the name of its God,
adore the true God and walk with Him eternally.
The view might be supported by Ps. xcvii. 9, 7,
where a time is promised in whicii the gods should
bow before God, and by Ps. Ixxxii., whore it said
that the gods like men will pass away, and Jehovah
will enter into their inheritance. Still the form,
in which it would appear here in Micah, transcends
perhaps the horizon of the O. T. [" To walk in
the name," etc., may probably mean " to walk con-
sistently with the character and will," etc. — Tr.]
Ver. 6. In that day, saith Jehovah, will I
gather. He will gather, but not immediately now,
as they allow themselves to be persuaded (ch. ii.
12), but in the last days (ver. 1 ), and not the popu-
lation of Zion as it is, but her that halteth, i. e.,
who has been pitifully treated, and her that is
cast off will I collect, and her whom I have
aftticted. As such, therefore not till after many
hard blows, after abuse and rejection (cf. ver. 10),
will the Lord be gracious again to the daughter of
Zion, the population of Judah. The assumption
of Quistorp and Burck, that by "the lame" and
" the dispersed," the kingdom of Samaria was
meant, never deserved refutation.
Ver. 7. And will set the lame for a remnant,
will regard and treat them as the remnant to whom
the promise applies (of on ii. 12) ; and the dis-
persed (cf Am. V. 27) those who have been
thrust into exile, for a strong nation. And
Jehovah is king in mount Zion from now on
unto eternity (cf Obad. 21). The "now" is
spoken of the time of the fulfillment; from that
point onward at which God shall establish his
universal dominion (Ps. xciii.) ; not as if this
dominion did not exist also now, but now it is not
perceived. Instead of the Messiah of David, Micah
tiames God Himself as ruler in the kingdom of the
future : " Non nt exchidat regnum illud Davidis (cf
V. 1), sed lit ostendat Deum palam facturum se aiic-
torem illius regni esse, immo se ipsum tenere totam
votentiam." (Calvin.)
Ver. 8. And thou, flock-tower of Ophel, th«
daughter of Zion will oome to thee. Yea there
is to be (zukunftig ist) the former dominion, the
kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Com-
mentators connect the words of the first clause
differently : " thou tower of the flock, hill of the
daughter of Zion, to thee will arrive and come,"
etc. But this is condemned by the tautology, una-
voidable in this view of nS3 and nnSW. Ac-
cordingly, the Masoretes also close the sentence by
the Athnach under nnHn, and our construction,
which is found also in the LXX., is to be thought
of as the right one. As regards the sense, the eon
nection shows that there must be a reference in th?
tower of the flock to the royal house of David;
for as vers. 1-7, are antithetically related to iii. 12,
inasmuch as the destruction of the temple hill is
immediately followed by the promise of the con-
secration of it to be the centre of God's eternal
kingdom, so our verse 8 forms the text for the fol-
lowing symmetrical discourse vers. 9-15, of which
the theme is the near approaching ruin of the
kingdom. Now there is a tower or David men-
tioned in Cant. iv. 4, which is described as a ma-
jestic structure, adorned with trophies. On the
other side, Nehemiah (iii. 25) speaks of a tower
which rose above the king's castle, and therefore
must have stood on Mount Zion. Both are ex-
plained by Keiland Hengstenberg as identical each
with the other, and both with the tower of the
flock in our passage. But, first, it is very doubtful
whether those two towers are identical. The tower
of David (Cant. iv. 4) can just as well beidentica'
with the tower mentioned Neh. iii. 11, or iii. 28.
There were many towers in Jerusalem, and any
one which David had built might be called the
tower of David ; but again, granting that identity,
the identity of the tower of David on Zion with
the tower of the flock, is still more questionable,
for why in that case should not this latter be called
here also the tower of David. Finally, the tower
is called by Micah expressly the tower of Ophel,
not the tower of Zion. But Ophel is not Mount
Zion, but the steep spur on the south of the tem-
ple mountain. 1
To arrive at an understanding of our passage,
we must turn to another of its connections. The
designation "tower of the flock" (Migdal-edar),
occurs also in Gen. xxxv. 16 IF. We there read
that as Jacob went from Bethel to Bethlehem,
Rachel his wife died in her confinement, and that
he then pitched his tent beyond Migdal-edar.
There must, accordingly, have been a tower not
far from Jerusalem, in the open field, such as were
common in antiquity, to afford refuge to the in-
habitant^ of the flat country in times of hostile
invasion. Cf Faber, Archaologie, 192 ft'. German
antiquity also is familiar with these towers visible
from afar, in the open fields ; in the Alexander-
legend of Parson Lamprecht, they appear undet
the name of " Bergfrieden," with which is con-
nected the German-French name belfroijs, beffms.
And that Micah has this tower of the flock in
mind is unquestionable, for, in the first place, thus
only can we explain the connection of ideas, by
virtue of which (ver. 9 ff.) the pangs of the woman
in child-birth follow in a manner parallel to ths
connection of the tower of the flock with the pangl
of Rachel (Gen. xxxv.). And secondly, the men
tion of the name Ephrata (v. 1 ), in connection witll
Bethlehem, is a reminiscence of Gen. xxxv. 16.
1 [On Ophel, via. Smith's Dictionary of the BiUe, i T.
and Stanley's <Sina{ and Palestine^ p. 490. — T*.]
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.
33
If now we inquire more precisely after the posi-
tion of this tower of the flock, we may infer with
great probability from the two passages combined,
thjit it lay within the limits of the subsequent city
of Jerusalem. For here it is called the mount of
Ophel, and Ophel lay in Jerusalem ; there we read
that it lay on the way from Bethel to Bethlehem,
and within the inconsiderable distance which there
was (nn53» ver. 16) between the place where
Rachel died and Bethlehem. Now Jerusalem lies
on this road, twelve Roman miles from Bethel, and
six Roman miles from Bethlehem. We may add,
that from 1 Sam. x. 2, it must be inferred that
Rachel's grave lay still north of Jerusalem ; tliat
Jacob, therefore, after her death, on his way further
to Bethlehem, must have passed the site of .Jerusa-
lem ; but that Salem, the residence of Melchisedek,
did not include the temple-mountain, is evident,
since Abraham offered Isaac on this mountain
without coming in contact with Melchisedek.
On the other hand, that the temple mountain,
particularly, was well suited for a fortification of
the kind above described, is obvious from the fact
that Hyrcanus also and Herod found it altogether
convenient to be the site of a strong tower (.Joseph.,
Ant., xviii. 6), and the south point, Ophel, espec-
ially, looked far out into the land, and was on three
sides almost inaccessible. David may, therefore,
have found this old tower on Ophel, and fortified
it anew. For that he established such strong
towers outside of Ziori, also, is shown by the name
of the tower, Neh. iii. 11. Further, Is. xxxii. 14
indicates that beside the palace on Zion (Armon),
there stood a stronghold, and superfluously, Neh.
iii. 27, directly proves that Ophel was fortified, for
a wall of Ophel is there spoken of.
That Micah now names this Flock-tower, in
particular, as an emblem of the kingdom of David,
18 not because the establishment of a shepherd re-
lation between God and his people is in question
(Henestcnberg) ; for it is here said that the domin-
ion shall come to the Flock-tower, not to God ; but
itrests on historical agreements and parallels. The
Flock-tower is directly a symbol of the royal house
of David, as having come from the flock. Once
already has Zion turned to the flock, to gain her
king from thence ; and so will she a second time,
in the day of salvation, turn to the dominion which
springs from the flock ; the people turn to Jerusa-
lem, Jerusalem to the heir of David. — "TS de-
notes either the place up to which one comes, or
the object toward which one turns. The first sig-
nification does not suit here; and we must there-
fore, as in Deut. iv. .30, xxx. 2 ; Is. ix. 12, have
recourse to the second. — There thus lies at the
bottom here, also, by implication, as in the two pre-
ceding verses, the conception of an unhappy inter-
val, during which the kingdom of David is fallen
down ; and the thought is similar to that in Am.
ix. 11. This is expressed still more clearly by the
following member : there comes the ancient domin-
ion, the kingdom for the daughter of Jerusalem. —
b to designate the dominion over any one, as Num.
xxii. 4. — At the same time there runs parallel
that other reference to Rachel, namely, that for the
Jewish community this progress to salvation, to
the Flock-tower, is a dangerous one : the Messiah
is horn amid deadly birth-pangs. With this
thought, which is fully developed, ch. v. 1 ff., the
following section connects itself.
Vers. 9-14. Instrikingcontrast to the rapturous
vision of future splendor, appears the suffering which
mint first be endured. As in the preceding ver. 7
(cf. Ps. XXXV. 15, 18), so here ver. 1 1 looks back to
Ps. XXXV. (vers. 15, 16). Now why dost thou cry
aloud? In spirit the prophet perceives the cry
which the daughter of Jerusalem must raise at the
approach of the Assyrian (Is. xxii. 3 ft'., cf. x. 30).
The nomen actionis stands as a strengthening ob-
ject (Gesen., § 138, I, 3). Is there no king in
thee P Or has thy counsellor perished, that
pangs have seized thee as the travailing woman
in travail ? The afliiction will consist in the fact
that the kingdom goes straightway to ruin, and
Zion is thereby thrown into the deepest lamenta-
tion. " The loss of the king was much more pain-
ful for Israel than for any other people, because so
many glorious promises were connected with the
kingdom. The king was the visible representative
of the divine favor, and his removal a sign of
God's wrath, and a nullification of all the blessings
pi'omised to the people in him." Keil. " Counsel-
lor" is an explanatory synonym for king (Is. ix.
5). What here is directly a figure becomes, as v.
2 shows, to the prophet, looking back to the pangs
of Rachel, from ver. 10 onward, a symbolical real-
ity. The painful struggle of the people in their
forsakenness serves, as Is. vii. 14, for the ground
of the Messianic view that amid the writhings,
from this people as mother, the Messiah should be
born.
Ver. 10. But truly that must be preceded yet by
much distress. Writhe and thrust forth, namely,
the fruit of the body, who may counsel thee, since
thou hast no counsellor. The cognate form U^i
stands here as Ps. xx. 10 transitively instead of
the intransitive n"'2 ; cf. a similar irregularity in
3^tl7 instead of 3''t»n (Ps. cxxvi. 4, et seep.].
"Writhe, daughter of Zion, as the travaUing
woman. It is high time that the birth which
brings deliverance should follow, for the deepest
trouble is at hand ; for now thou must go forth
out of the city. " To go forth," spoken of those
besieged, is the same as " to surrender " (Is. xxxvi.
16; 2 Kings xxiv. 12). That TT^-ip has no
article, does not make it equiv.alent to the Latin
urbs (Caspari, Keil), for the Latin has no article,
and the Latin urbs (the well-known city) would be
paralleled rather by H^'^i^H, but there lies in ^Q.
as often, the negative consequence : to go out so
that thou art no more a city (Is. xxiii. 1). And
must dwell in the field, while thou art carried
away captive (Is. xxxvi. 17; Hos. xii. 10); and
oome unto Babylon. This sharp announcement,
reaching far beyond the immediately threatening
danger from Assyria, marks the summit level of
Micah's threatening, the last step of the climax
(i. 9 ; ii. 4; iii. 12; iv. 10). It is of decisive im-
portance also for the historical criticism of the
prophets, since by it the criterion that everything
must be easily understood from the present posi-
tion, according to which the prophecy Is. xiii. f.,
e.g., has been denied to Isaiah, falls to the ground.
The prophecy is to be comprehended not by what
an acute thinker might gather in a natural way
concerning the immediate future, but only from
an insight into the entire body of Old Testament
prophecy. We can, to be sure, by that natural ex-
planation, point to the fact that Babylon in Micah's
time belonged to the Assyrian monarchy, that it
with its alternative name Shinar appears also in
the undisputed portions of Isaiah (ch. xi. 11) as a
land in hostility with Judah, into which the Assyr-
ians used to deport their captives (" Chr. xxxiii.
34
MICAH.
11 ) ; that it lay in pai t on this side of the Euphra-
tes, therefore nearer to Judah than Nineveh beyond
the Tigris ; and finally, that it was the older (cf.
Gen. X. 8, 10), and so the more celebrated capital
of the Mesopotamian country.
Still, all these circumstances, while they deserve
to be taken into the account, do not suffice lor ex-
plaining how, just here in the decisive passage of
Micah, instead of the real hostile power, Assyria,
the subordinate vassal is named, and that so that
the designation, although intended in a purely
natural manner, could have appeared to the scorn-
ful and unbelitving men of that day (ch. ii) as
nothing but a ridiculous paradox. Rather does
Micah, in using this name "Babylon" (Babel),
assume the position, resting on the Pentateuch,
which regards the history of Israel as a history of
the kingdom of God. This is by preference pre-
sented in the Scriptures, under the view of an an-
tithesis between the holy city Jerusalem, on the one
side (and the holy king David), and, on the other,
the God-hating city Babylon, and the God-despis-
ing king Nimrod (ver. 5). The reason why the
world ill enmity against God should be represented
by this particular type, which runs on through the
whole Scripture (Rev. xvi. 19; xvii. 5; xviii. 21),
lies in the account given in Gen. xi. (cf x. 10 f).
This purports that just here mankind had the au-
dacity to attempt the building of the tower, against
the will of God, a view which is supported by a
comparison of that report with Is. xiii. 13 ff., where
the punishment threatened against Babylon is re-
ferred to that original transgression. On the other
hand, the etymology of the name Nimrod also
came to the support of this symbolism. — Tl"^t??
N. Semitic = Heb. 'Tl'O'], derived from TIQ (as
mn^, " the Existing," from nTI), therefore " the
insurgent" (cf. Job xxiv. 13). With the Assyrain
termination — ak : IWerodach.
The threatening of our passage, accordingly,
theologically considered, indicates nothing less than
that God's commonwealth, before the coming of
salvation, must be given up amid fearful catastro-
phes to the kingdom of the world. This theolog-
ical view is, in the spirit of the prophets, the only
possible one. That the simply historical apprehen-
'sion does not suffice, is palpable : the oppression
tof Sennacherib carried away no Jew to Babylon.
iAccordingly, the Elders in Jeremiah .xxv. 18 ff. in
^agreement with ver. 12 of our chapter — where
»also it is said that the immediate assault of the
enemy will be baffled, — regard this prophecy of
Micah as having been taken back.
The prophet is perfectly conscious that with this
threatening he has spoken the severest word which
could bo uttered against the city ; not merely op-
pression, division of lands, destruction of their
houses and sanctuaries ; not merely annihilation
of the kingdom and worship ; not merely shameful
defeat and prostration under an insolent foe; but
removal from the land with which all the promises
were inseparably connected (Gen. xii. 7 ; xxvii.
28) ; the curse in which all the curses of the law
culminate. Hence he offers a word of comfort at
once, before he proceeds with his threatening :
There shalt thou be delivered ; there will Je-
hovah redeem thee, properly, buy thee back (Ps.
Ixxviii. 54), since the delivering up of Isra«l is
conceived of as a sale on God's part (Ps. xliv. 13 ;
Is. iv. 1 ff. ) out of the hand of thy enemies. In
the end it must yet again become light above the
people of God.
Ver. 11. The brief gleam of sunlight, however,
in the distant future, is immediately overshadowed
by the clouds of the nearer time ; Yea, now are
gathered against thee, not to hear the law (ver.
2), but for war — 7J? as Ob. 1 — many nations.
The distress is naturally, in the prophet's view, the
same as that at which he had glanced ver. 9, as the
parallel use of nni? proves. The chronological
interpretation of Theodoret, adopted by Calvin,
Cocceius, Marck, Hengstenberg, that after the re-
demption from the Babylonian captivity there will
be another time of oppression, together with the
discovery of the Maccabees in our passage, which
it necessitates, regards Micah not as a prophet, but
as a diviner. It is opposed, moreover, both by the
nni?, which never signifies deinde, and by the fact
that we have here to do with the hostile invasion
of " nations," by which the national army of Mes-
opotamia may well be intended, but the mercenary
collections of Antiochus cannot. ^ Who say : Let
her be defiled by our encampment on the holy
places (Ob. 16; Ps. xxxv. 16), and let our eyes
feast upon Zion. — Singular of the verb with
plural of the following subject, Gesenius, § 147, a ■
ntn with n, cf Ob. 12.
Ver. 12. Forthe present, however, God wills the
affliction only, not the destruction of Zion, which
is reserved for the later judgment. But they
know not the thoughts of Jehovah, which are
very different from men's thoughts (Is. Iv. 8 ff.),
and understand not his counsel, to wit, that he
collects them, brings them in ti'oops before Jeru-
salem to assault her (Joel iv. 9 ff.), not to deliver
Jerusalem into their hands, but as a sheaf (sing,
coll.) into the threshing floor, that he may have
them together for the judgment. The shadow of
Sennacherib falls across the scene.
Ver. 13. And thus there comes, before the final
deliverance, a moment of proud delight for Judah :
Arise, and thresh daughter of Zion : Trample
down as an ox which will tread upon the outspread
grain in the straw, to stamp out the corn with the
hoofs. Cf. Is. xxviii. 28 and Cyrill. on the passage:
IlaiSes ffvv^vi'yK6T€s ^| aypuiv i-rrl ttji/ aKuiva bpay/xara
elra ^ous i7ra(pi€VTe^ Kal eV KVK\(f} T^piKOfxi^ovTes
KaTa\€irTuyov(n rais x^^^*^ 'r^^ acTax^^^' '^^^
comparison with the threshing cattle leads the
prophet, through the association of ideas, to repre-
sent the power of the attack of the Jews upon the
enemy by the familiar figure of the horns, as a
symbol of strength, while yet he continues the pic-
ture of the threshing by the mention of the hoof:
for thy horn wUlImake iron (Deut. xxxiii. 17),
and thy hoofs I will make brass (Job xxviii. 2).
And thou shalt beat in pieces many nations.
And I will devote (cf Lev. xxvii. 28) to Jehovah
their gain (the goods they have collected by rob-
bery. Judges V. 19), and their treasures to the
Lord of the whole earth, to Jehovah, who through
the subjugation of the heathen will have shown
himself such (Ps. xcvi., xciii).
The distinction which here appears, between tha
revealing God speaking in the prophet, the Logos,
.ind the God dwelling in heaven, presents itself
also elsewhere in prophecy (Hos. i. 2; Is. xlviii.
16). Zachariah calls the former " the angel that
talked with me" (ch. i. 13, et scape). He is, ax!-
cording to our passage, the same that also in the
name of God crushes the enemies (Ps. xxxvi. 5,
6).
1 [Dr. Puaey m loe. presents strongly, and enlargeflj tin
arguments for understanding this of the oppressions in til
time of the Maccabeee. — Ia.l
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.
36
Verse 14 [Eng. vers. v. 1] however, puts a check
upon the expectation raised high by this aunouncc-
ment. There will indeed a judgment follow upon
the heathen hefore Jerusalem, and the prophecy
of Isaiah (xxx. 27 ff. ) concerning the overthrow
of the next approaching a.rmy of Assyria has its
truth ; but just as certainly has that of Micah
himself also, previously given (iii. 12), concerning
the extreme humiliation of Jerusalem. — This ex-
planation of the seeming contradiction between
vers. 13 and 14 appears the most obvious. Still
the other view, supported byKeil, that vers. 12,
13, concerning the Assyrian calamity, contemplate
the final catastrophe of the heathen before Jerusa-
lem (cf Ezck. xxxviii.), and so belong to thees-
chatology of Micah, cannot be absolutely rejected
as untenable. — Now, for this time of the judg-
ment, which will strike thee also, gather thyself
in troops (Jer. v. 7) thou daughter of the troop.
n3 before ^^"'3, as before Zion (ver. 10), has the
significance of a personifying address, in a relation
of apposition with the following word : thou daugh-
ter of war-troops, i. e., thou people of Zion gathered
in troops (1 Sam. i. 16), crowded together after
the manner of a troop in war ; i gathered in troops,
not indeed for attack merely, but from melancholy
necessity ; for they have set a siege against us.
The prophet reckons himself with his people (cf
on i. 8). Nor does the trouble stop with the siege ;
With a staff they smite on the cheek the judge
of Israel ; it leads to the extreme disgrace of Is-
rael (cf 1 Kings xxiii. 24 ; Job xvi. 10) in the per-
son of their judge, i. e. of him who stands at the
head of the people, and who, if probably the king
is meant, as Am. il. 3, is still not called '^(Q
7B7D, because this dignity, in the view of the
prophets, is reserved for the Messiah (ver. 2), and
in the afflictions preceding the Messiah properly
exists not at all or only in a God-forsaken plight
(ver. 9).
Vers. 1-8 [Eng. vers. v. 2-9]. The description
of the birth-pangs of salvation is ended, and the
prophet turns, as in iv. 1 ff, to the prediction of
that by which the salvation described shall come,
namely, the person and work of ih& Messiah. While
Jerusalem labors and has no strength to bring
forth, God of his own strength sends the Messiah.
With the aggravation of the threatening the prom-
ise also is enhanced.
Vers. 1-4 a [2-5]. As the little Zion will become
great among the mountains of the world, so among
the cities will the little Bethlehem. The new
flight of the discourse connects itself with iv. 14,
as iv. 1 does with iii. 12, and iv. 9 with iv. 8. But
thou Bethlehem-Ephratah ! The addition of the
ancient name from Gen. xxxv. 16 heightens the
impression of solemnity, and contains an allusion
also, judging from the paronomasias In chapter
first. The stem n^Q, Hiph. " to make fruitful,"
recalls the name of the Messiah, " Zemack,"
"branch" or "shoot" (Jer. xxiii. 5; Zech. iii.
8) ; as also in the name Bethlehem itself, i. e.
Bread-house, an allusion may be discovered to the
time of blessing in the kingdom of David, cf the
Abi-ad of Is. ix 6. The name is construed as
masculine, not because the population is addressed
(Keil ; but then precisely the feminine would be
1 L"T^*T2l almost always means an irregular band of
plandering soldiers, on a foray or raid, and in calling Jeru-
lalem the daughter of such a troop, the prophet seems to
Intiiiute the lawlcwness, violence, and ii^ustice of wliich
required), but on account of the masc. ^^3 con-
tained in the name ; " thou Bread-house of fruit-
fulness." Small art thou among the districts
of Judah. Some : too small to be, but in that case
IQ must stand and not 7, and ~1^^^ could
hardly fail to have the article to mark the apposi-
tion. Rather ^"'3JH is a predicate, and the infini-
tive with 7 stands, as often, in place of the finite
verb (Prov. xix. 8 ; Ps. cxiii. 8, cf ver. 9 ; Is. xxi.
1 ; Eccl. ii. 3 ; 2 Chr. xi. 12), so that the transla-
tion in Matt. ii. 6 is correct even to the ouSa/jias
which anticipates the sense, and that of Luther
corresponds exactly to the original. The LXX
translate the j"lVn V twice : oKiyoa-rhs 6? toS
ehai. " Alafim, prop. " thousands," are according
to Num.i. 16, x. 4, the greater divisions into which
the tribes were parted.
Bethlehem was so small that it is wanting in
the catalogue of cities in the book of Joshua. The
LXX. indeed have it, and this warrants the con
jccture of Jerome that it originally stood in the
Hebrew text and was afterward stricken otit, not,
certainly, stricken out, as Jerome supposes, to ob-
scure the derivation of the Messiah from the tribe
of Judah, but plainly because the Rabbinic critics,
sharing the interpretation of our passage rejected
above, felt obliged to correct the text of Joshua
accordingly [?] In Ezra i. 21, and Neh. vii. 26,
Bethlehem is numbered in the Hebrew also as one
of the families of Judah ; but it is wanting in Neh.
xi. 25, among the cities rebuilt immediately after
the exile, and in the N. T. time it is called merely
a K(i>ii.rt (John vii. 42), a x"?'"" (Joseph., Ant., v.
2, 8).
As the Flock-tower will be again honored as the
seat of the old dominion, so will Bethlehem, the
home of David, as the starting-point of the new
Ruler. Out of thee will go forth for me (cf Jer.
xxx. 24) he who is to be a. ruler (cf. H^^tDZpO,
iv. 8) in Israel. nVn7 without subject rests on
the construction in the preceding member of the
verse. The subject is left undetermined because it
is immediately determined by the predicate, and,
besides, the idea " out of thee " must first be made
prominent, which would have been thrown into the
background by naming the subject in the former
member, — And whose outgoings are from of
old, from the days of ancient time. It is not a
new thing which Micah prophesies ; but he whose
origin he announces is one with the long promised
Messiah of the stock of David. That the "of old"
means directly the ancient time of the kingdom of
David, which lay for Micah already in the distance
of three hundred years, appears possible to be in-
ferred from Am. ix. 11, where it is said in a quite
similar connection : " I will build the house of
David as in the days of old (cf. sup., iv. 8).
Still, the prophet, who everywhere speaks out of
the full compass of God's organic kingdom (cf on
chap. iv. ver. 10), may have carried back his view
even to the origin of the promise, even to the
promise given to Eve, as the emphatic accumula-
tion of the phrase suggests. " For a period of in-
conceivable length the ruler goes forth, and is com
ing, who will finally proceed from Bethlehem. Fot,
since he it is toward whom the history of mankind,
Ehe had heen guilty, and for which she was to be repaid ia
tind. — Tk.)
2 Cf. Textual and Grammatical on the passage.
36
MIOAH.
of Israel, of the house of David, look, all the steps
in the progress of these are preparations for his
coming, goings-forth of the second son of Jesse."
Hoffman, Schriftheweis , ii. 1, 9. Only this are we
hardly allowed to say, that our passage, in the
sense of the pj-ophet, gives a strict proof of the
antemundane life of the Messiah. Besides, the
expression translated '* ancient times " is too am-
biguous. Matthew, if he had held that interpreta-
tion, would certainly not have left this so impor-
tant proof-text untranslated. Yet history has at-
tached to the ambiguous word of the prophet this
definite sense, and that we, when we read the pas-
sage, so understand it, is natural, and only an ap-
plication of the maxim, that God's revealing deeds
are explanations of his revealing words, and nice
versa. And, in fact, that no other reference of our
passage is historically possible, than that to the birth
of Christ, is obvious. So was it understood, not
merely by Matt. ii. 6, but also by the scribes (Matt.
ii. ,5; John vii. 41 f.), nay, even by the emperor
Hadrian, who, to kill the pseudo-Messianic disturb-
ances at the root, caused all the Jews to be driven
out of the I'egion round about Bethlehem (Reland,
J., 647 ; TertuUian, Cont. Jud., chap. 13), and
the refutation of the strange propositions of the
Jewish theology after Christ hardly required the
great toil which Hengstenberg has expended upon
them. The great freedom with which Matthew
gives the citation is to be judged according to 2
Cor. iii. 6. Calvin : " Semper attendant lectores,
quarsum addueant evangelistce scripturce locos, ne
scrupulose in singulis vei'bis insistant, sed contenti
sint hoc uno, quod scriptura nunquam torquetur ab illis
in alienum sensum." The word VHS^ID is chosen
in reference to Hos. vi. 3 ; the employment of the
plural is explained by the older interpreters (Je-
rome, Trem., Jun.) on the theory that Micah
speaks of the eternal, unceasing procession of the
Son from the Father. Cocceius : " Omnibus diebus
seeculi egreditur Jitius a patre et eternum est airavyaa-
fjLa ttJs S6^7is a^rov." That, however, is an importa-
tion of the previously conceived dogmatic notion,
without support from the language. Hengsten-
berg's explanation, " place of origin," is linguis-
tically more appropriate (Num. xxxiii. 2; Ps. Ixx.
7), yet apart from the true sense, for the " days of
eternity are not place, and the assertion that
S^ilQ in general cannot mean the actus exeundi,
is arbitrary ; cf. the forms n^QQ, riti71?tt, V'^'O,
etc. The plural may most simply be regarded as
the rhetorical plural especially frequent in poetical
diction (Ps. cxiv. 2 ; xlix. 4, and the niSiSin,
Prov. iv. 31) ; yet further on a deeper side-design
of the prophet will appear.
Vers. 2 [3]. But how does this gracious pur-
pose of God agree with the heavy threatenings in
chap. iv. ver. 14 1 That is explained by ver. 2,
since it begins, paradoxically enough, with )P^,
not " although," but " because." Therefore, pre-
cisely because Israel is to be redeemed not by his
own power, but by the gracious gift of the Mes-
siah, and because not out of the secure city of Zion,
but out of that despised Bethlehem, this Messiah
must come, will he give them up ; that is, God
gives Israel into the hands of the enemy, in3 as
2 Chr. XXX. 6, until the time that she that bears
has borne. Who she is that bears cannot be
doubtful fi-om chap. iv. 8 ff. Then the people were
eompared to Rachel. Kachel must groan anew at
the Tower of the flock, that the new birth might
come to pass. The one in travail, accordingly, ia
not any individnal woman, as for instance the
Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus (Hengstenberg),
but the people of Judah, of whom it was predicted
Gen. xlix. 10, that a ruler sprung from them
should never fail until Shiloh should come, which
Shiloh Micah understands as a person, and in ver.
4 a, replaces by Shalom. In Hos. xiii. 13, Israel
has not come to the birth, but Judah is in Is. vii.
14, cf ix. 6, also the pregnant maiden who shall
bring forth the Immanuel. In the last distress the
Messiah is born, whose outgoings, therefore, are
as old as the time when the first seed of promise
went forth, — as when God comforted his people
with the prospect of " a time when the travailing
woman should bear; " as old therefore as Abraham
and Adam (Gen. xii. 3). In Micah's mind, as the
connection of these two verses shows, the same con-
clusion is drawn as Paul plainly expresses. Gal. iii.
16: not of many seeds does the promise speak, but
of one : and so, all the births which have taken
place since that promise, and in the line of it, are,
as being only members of the genealogy leading to
the Messiah, goings-forth of himself, the One. And
as the people appear here as his mother, not a sin-
gle family line leads to him, but all. Thus there
is no incongruity in the fact that the people, after
the representative capital, is called the daughter of
Zion, while yet he comes from Bethlehem.
That is the fullness of the time when the gath-
ering of the people, which for the present only
false prophets can promise (ii. 12), will take
place. The sentence with !) connects itself to the
preceding as if after ^V stood instead of HIS?
a final temporal clause : until (she that bears
shall have borne) and the residue of Ms
brethren return (out of the captivity: iv. 10).
Instead of the customary terminus technicus,
!yi~{!>W (cf. on ii. 12), which returns again
afterwards, we have the synonymous "Ij?!!.^ (as
Zech. xiv. 2), perhaps to indicate that we have
to do not merely with the inhabitants of Judah
left from the judgment, but with other estranged
sous of Abraham, namely, with the members of
the ten tribes, now long revolted from David. So
the word is interpreted by Hoffman also, and Cas-
pari, an-d Keil. That these scattered ones ai'e his,
the Messiah's brethren, is manifest from our expla-
nation of the first half of the verse, but it is em-
phatically brought out : only as his brethren have
they a right to return to (7^ = 7, Prov. xxvi.
11) the sons of Israel, his race (Is. liiii. 8).
Vers. 3 [4]. For not theirs is the power, but he
wUl stand, in the position of a governor, as a
shepherd among his flock (Is. Ixi. 5), and feed,
perform God's office (Ps. xxiii., xcv.), as the true
follower of David called from the flock to the
kingdom (cf on iv. 8, but also Rev. xii.), in
the power of Jehovah (cf Is. ix. 5 ; xi. 2), in
the majesty of the name of his father, which
he himself will bear (Is. ix. 5; cf x. 21), and
whose Ga6n (majesty) has already, in ancient
times, proved itself mighty over his people (Ex. xv.
7). And they shall abide [Kleinert : settle},
dwell in peace, as is described chap. iv. ver. 4.
And now (nnj? spoken from the standing-point
of the fulfillment, as in iv. 7) is He great. He
alone (cf Joel ii. 21, 20, and the citation Luke i. 32)
unto the end of the earth ; the kingdom ba<
CHAPTERS IV AND V.
37
Decome a universal kingdom (chap. iv. ver. 1 ff. ;
Ps. Ixxii. 8).
The three first words of ver. 4 are to he con-
nected immediately with ver. 3, and to be separated
from the following : And He will be peace. Thus
only arises a satisfactory sense, and the beautiful
structure of the third verse comes into view : (1 a)
and He stands, (b) and He feeds in the power of
Jehovah, (c) and in the majesty of the name of Je-
hovah; (2 a) and they dwell, (b) for now is He
great even to the ends of the earth, (c) and He
will be peace. " Peace " is the Messiah called, as
quite similarly (Eph. ii. 14) a,vT6s ianv % eip-hv-ri
ilft&v, with which cf. Judg. vi. 24 ; Is. ix. 5. The
reference to Gen. xlix. 10, indicated on ver. 2 is
manifest, as Ezekiel also offers a personal inter-
pretation of the obscure term Shiloh (chap. xxi.
ver. 32). Peace is the characteristic feature in all
the descriptions of the Messiah's kingdom (cf par-
ticularly, Is. xi. 9, 6). And as David had already,
in reference to the great mission, named the heir
of the promise (2 Sam. vii.) Solomon, man of
neace, it was doubly natural for the prophet, who
Bad before his eyes everywhere the mutual connec-
tion of the historical relations, and who had also
(chap. iv. ver. 4) looked back to the time of Sol-
omon, to say : He will be the true Solomon, seeing
that the first one effected not the peace, but the sun-
dering of the kingdom (1 K. xi. 31 ff.).
Ver. 4 [5], b, 5 [6]. The security and power of
the new kingdom, God's kingdom, stands in antag-
onism to the world-kingdom, and can attain to its
restoration only by the destruction of the latter
(Ps. ii. 9). This is represented here under the
name of Assyria, also in its historical, typical
signification, as a universal empire, as in Is.
xxvii. 13, while in iv. 10 Babylon appears in
the same light. Asshur, whatever Assyria it may
be (L. Bauer : another Assyria;) Castalio com-
pares Virgil's verse: "Alter erit tunc Tiphys et
altera quie vehat Argo delectos heroas;" when
he Cometh into our land, — the prophet speaks
as a member of the people, — and when he
treadeth upon our palaces, then we will set
up against him {'^V, as Judg. ix. 43) seven shep-
herds and eight princes of men. The distinctive
terms, " palace," "seven," and "eight," connect
themselves with the threatening formula with which
Amos (chaps, i., ii.) announces the approach of
the avenging catastrophe. The grace will be
mightier than the sin; hence, instead of the three
and four sins, which, according to Amos ii. 4, make
the judgment necessary, seven and eight heroes
are named, who shall drive away the enemy. The
Beren and eight are, as we may suppose, not coor-
dinate with the one in whose hands, according to
5_b, the main transaction rests, but subordinate to
him. That the sense is only that the Messiah will
afford the same protection to the people as a num-
ber of heroes (Umbreit, and still earlier Hengsten-
bcrg), is intimated by nothing in the text. Obadiah
also in a quite similar connection has the plural
(ver. 21). They are called shepherds, since the
prophet, from ver. 2 on, has constantly used the
figureof feeding (pasturing) for dominion, to recall
the pastoral origin of the dynasty of David.
Whether here the function of leadership in war, or
that of which John (xii. f ) speaks, is most prom-
inent in the figure, cannot be determined. Jere-
miah (xxj, Ezekiel (xxxiv.), and Zechariah, after
.he example of our prophet, and of Ps. xxiii. and
*cv., present further developments of the figure ;
Ihefinal amplificat''-;>r! of it, within the limits of
Scripture, is given by Jesus himself in John x.
Nasikh is not an anointed one, but one formally
installed in office, a prince (Caspari, cf. Hupfeld
on Ps. ii. 6), and DIS ''3''D3 are princes among
the children of men (Ewald, § 287, g).
Ver. 5 [6]. And they shall feed [down], while
the protective agency for Israel is turned (cf. Ps. ii.
9 ; Rev. ii. 27) into a destructive one for the hea-
then, the land of Asshur with the sword, and
the laud of Nimrod with his [her] gates. Nim-
rod likewise is a typical designation (cf iv. 10).
The defeat of the enemy will drive them from the
gates of Jerusalem, into which they would press,
to their own gates, and crush them there (cf Is.
xxviii. 6). So wUl He, the Messiah, deliver from
Asshur when He cometh Into our land, and
when He treadeth on our borders. Climax;
not at all shall the enemy reach Jerusalem, but
at the very border shall they be met and thrust
back.
It appears from a comparison with chap. iv. ver.
2, that the prophet makes a distinction among the
heathen themselves between those who are disposed
to salvation and those who are hardened against
it. The one class will voluntarily press towards
salvation, the others, by irresistible, judicial power
be brought to a recognition of God's sovereignty
(Ps. ii. 12). Thus also the apparent contradiction
between our passage and Is. xix. 23 ff. is explained.
The same antithesis is carried through in what fol-
lows : —
_ Vers. 6-8 [7-9]. The people of God, in its par-
ticipation in the work of the Messiah, is a benefi-
cent dew for those who seek God, a destructive one
for those who hate Him ; Luke iii. 34 ; Rom. ix.
33 coll. Is. viii. 14; xxviii. 16. Then will the
remnant of Jacob, which through the Messiah
will have shared in salvation (cf. on ver. 2), be in
the midst of the abundance of the peoples (cf.
chap. iv. ver. 2) as dew, image of the vivifying
refreshment which descends from heaven (Hos. xiv.
6) from Jehovah, not by human caprice and cal-
culation, and with human failures (Is. Iv. 10), as
ralQ-showers on the grass. Grass without rain
presents a dry and withered appearance, and with
it, therefore, a God-forsaken people may well be
compared (Is. xl. 6), as again with a field full of
dry bones (Ezek. xxxvii.). If elsewhere the rain
coming from God is mentioned with reference to
the certainty of its fertilizing effect (Is. Iv. 10),
here it is thought of as that which tarrieth not
for men, and waiteth not for the children of
men, which (as is implied in the phrase "from
Jehovah," in the first member) is not at all depend-
ent on the doings and strivings of men, but alone
on the grace of God which supplies it according
to his own thoughts and his own laws (Is. Iv. 8)
Umbreit : The Lord's congregation is, in its heav
enly call, in its independence of the favor of men
a dew which falls in refreshing drops on the herb ■
age of the world ; it works with as fertilizing an
effect on the variously stocked field of the peoples
round about.
Ver. 7 [8J. But again will also the remnant
of Jacob be among the heathen, in the midst ol
the abundance of the peoples as a lion . . .
unsparingly. That the figures of dew and a lion
stand in contrast, is obvious ; and to attempt to
combine them with reference to the element com-
mon to both, suddenness — Israel will fall like
dew as unexpectedly as a lion on his prey (Hit-
zig) — empties the passage of meaning, to say
nothing of the turgidity. Our verse runs parallel
to ver. 5, as ver. 6 to chap. iv. ver. 2 ff.
Ver. 8 [9]. With exulting shout the proph«
38
MICAH.
cheers Israel on, as he marches towail the object
indicated in the preceding verse ; High be thy
hajid (Is. xxvi. 11 ) above thine oppressors, — he
goes forth, not in pride, but summoned by oppres-
sion, for defense, — and let aU thy foes be cut
o£F. Cf Is. Ix. 12.
Vers. 9-14 [10-15]. The Threatening which lies
in the Promise. If Israel, the kingdom of the fu-
ture, is to be established, it must be pure, pure from
confidence in any lielp beside God's, whether hu-
man measures, force of arras, and the lilte, or idols.
Accordingly, God must root out of Israel all abom-
inations, before the judgment on the rebellious
nations can come. Cf. 1 Pet. iv. 17 ; Jer. xxv. 29.
And it will come to pass in that day, saith Je-
hovah, that I "Brill destroy thy horses out of the
midst of thee, and . . strongholds. Parallel
to our prophecy, and serving as a commentary
upon it, stand many passages in the prophet Isaiah.
He also mentions first of all the war-chariots and
cavalry which had been brought in from Egypt
simultaneously with the origin of idolatry, as an
abomination in the eyes of God (ii. 7, cf xxxi. 1 ;
1 Kings x. 21 f ), and declares that the fortresses
must be destroyed (ii. 15) ; because all tliat is flesh
and not spirit, and Israel shall be delivered not by
man (x.xxi. 8). If the kingdom of peace is to
come, the putting away of the weapons of war
(iv. 8) must begin in Israel. From the same point
of view is the mention of cities to be regarded.
Sacred history derives the first origin of cities from
the first murderer; the close aggregation of men
for mutual protection (Gen. iv. 17), that is, on
account of the experience and further apprehen-
sion of murder and homicide. Compare the posi-
tive term of the prophecy, Ezek. xxxviii. 12 ;
Zeeh. ii. 8 f.
Ver. 11 [12]. As the self-help through war,
so vanishes also self-deception through unprofit-
able and ensnaring idolatry, which, in contrast
with the reverence for Jehovah expressed in proph-
ecy and worship, is characterized by the two marks
of divination and worship of idols : And I wiU
destroy divinations out of thy hand, and thou
Shalt have no more soothsayers. Sign-monger-
ing by hand (with staves, rods, drinking-cups,etc.)
and observations of the sky and clouds (both can
be understood from the word pI7D, from p3, a
cloud), are used to represent all kinds of sorcery
and magic.
Ver. 12 [1.3]. Then wUl I cut off thy stone
images and thy molten images out of the midst
of thee ; and no more shalt thou worship the
work of thy hands.
Ver. 13 [14]. And I will tear down thy Ash-
erahs — n~^CrW, as Dent. vii. 5 irregularly writ-
ten with > in the penult denotes, according to the
derivation from "lE'M, related to ~\W^, the tree-
trunk stuck upright in the ground to be wor-
shipped (Deut. xvi. 21 ), such as were the symbols
of the nature-gods in the Canaanitish idolatry —
out of the midst of thee, and destroy thy
cities. Tliese are regarded here not as fortified
places, but as seats of false worship, as i. v. cf Is.
XV. 1.
Ver. 14. Then, when thus the purification is
completed within thee, I vrill execute vengeance
in anger and wrath on the people who have
not heard. This last addition establishes, through
the implied consequence, that some heathen na-
tions will hear, the distinction made on ver. 5.
DOCTBINAI. AND ETHICAL.
A light, a city on a hill, toward which th«
heathen stream — that is the holy congregation
(Matt. V. 14). In the time of salvation she is
loosed, by the catastrophe spoken of in iii. 12,
from her natural substratum, the little earthly hill
of Zion, and in her spiritual significance, as no
longer a mere centre of a temporal system of wor-
ship, but the source of the perfect instruction con-
cerning God, exalted high above all that is high
on the earth. As upon the figure of David the
prophetic figure of the Messiah is developed, so
upon the figure of Jerusalem is the prophetic fig-
ure of the holy community of the future (cf Ps.
Ixxxvii.). As once from the tower of Babylon,
which they had raised for themselves, sinners were
scattered over the world, so God now sets up the
banner around which they are to assemble. Erom
men the multitude of ways, from Him the oneness
of way. From men the centrifugal power, from
Him the centripetal. Now must the deceitful
voices of the gods and the oracles be dumb, to in-
quire of which the heathen travelled over land and
sea ; inquiries of the heavens also and of the abyss
(Deut. XXX. 12 ft'.) must cease. The world is
aroused to receive the statute and watch-word of
God which goes forth from Zion. And this watch-
word is Peace, not the peace which the world
giveth, for "in the world ye shall have tribula-
tion," but which God alone can give, when He be-
comes judge of the nations. He has become the
God of the world, the calling of Israel the religion
of the world. Then there is a quiet, blessed abid-
ing ; God's congregation are the quiet in the land.
With glorified lustre the times of Solomon, the
Peaceful, return. And whatever of noble fame
there is among men grows pale before his name,
or receives new splendor through his name.
But that the light may burn clest it must first
be purified from the dross. Not with the proud,
who rejoice in their own light, dwells the Holy
who is the only light, and a burning flame for the
ungodly, but with those who are humble and of a
contrite spirit (Is. Ivii. 15). Not until he is crip-
pled in the contest with God does Israel receive
the blessing (Gen. xxxii. 25). The tower to which
the congregation turn is not a regal, but a flock-
tower. From the flock proceeds the rule, and the
flock are the ruled. David was a shepherd, shep-
herds flrst heard of the Saviour, a shepherd was
He himself.
But until then, until the spiritual completion of
things, the way is still long. Jerusalem is still
standing, and must first pass through the purify-
ing judgments, whose end was described, ch. iii. 12.
Heavily struggles the congregation which is to be
made perfect, under the terrors of the judgment.
Out of her must the Messiah be born, from whom
help Cometh. But wave upon wave rushes on and
dashes her that travaileth, yea, the waves will
sweep her away from the shore where she thought
herself concealed. Under God's severe dealings
there must flrst come upon Zion's lips the cry :
" Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinner," before
she can hear it said from his lips : " Fear not, for
from henceforth shall thou catch men." And al-
though she arise in might, so long as her Messiah
is not born, all her labors come to nought, she
labors in vain and spends her strength for nought
(Is. xlix. 4). She must endure the worst.
Over ajjainst her stands the world-power, defiant
from ancient times, aurl, Ejro-vu up together witi
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.
her. And to the fullest power of manifestation
must she come, yea, must accomplish the last
ehame of subjugation and extermination upon the
inheritance of God, before she can herself be
judged ; for God judgeth not before the time is
fiilfilled (Gen. xv. 16), But the days of the world-
power also are numbered. She is allowed by God
to perform her work and she performs it ; but
while she gathers all her might, she gathers it still
only for the destruction which God has appointed
to her.
For, when the time is fulfilled, the Messiah will
be born of the travailing congregation. Not in-
deed in the outward Zion. Over that hangs the
doom of destruction. But the poor of the world
hath God chosen. Out of little Bethlehem will He
come toward whom all the promises have pointed
from the beginning, because from the beginning
He was with God, and toward his coming all his-
tory looks. Israel is abandoned, but abandoned
for" the glory of God, which shall be accomplished
through the Messiah. When everything totters,
under the diviue judgments, He alone stands firm
and enters on his shepherd office to fulfill the
prophecy of the kingdom; through Him God be-
comes the world-God, and Israel's religion the
world-religion, and in Him is the Peace, yea, He
is Himself Peace.
But the world will not have the peace. The
heathen flow unto it; some of them however do
not join in this movement, but would destroy the
kingdom. These fiow on to be judged. It is an-
other David who acts the shepherd here. For fall-
ing and for rising again, one for life another for
death, thus stands the Messiah, and with Him the
congregation of God, in the midst of the nations,
in the midst of history.
Those who belong to Him are a congregation of
the holy, separated from all that is impure, from
all in which man trusts apart from God, which he
loves and fears besides God ; and therefore tri-
nmphant, because God maintains her cause.
Hbngbtenbekg : It makes no diiference as to
the thing whether the nations walk with tlieir bod-
ily feet or with the feet of the soul, whether they
move toward the proper Mount Zion, or toward
the Church, which was typified by that, only that
the beginning of the pilgrimage must belong to a
time when symbol and thing signified were still
together, the outward Zion was still the seat of
the Church. Incessantly strides the divine judg-
ment towards its final issue, irresistibly the divine
grace wrests from the enemy the prey which ap-
peared to be given up to them forever. New
phases of sin introduce new phases of judgment,
a new phase of worldliness a new onset of the
world-power. That the fulfillment of the prophecy
of the Old Testament forms a side object of the
occurrences of the New Testament, that, however,
this object was with none of the latter the only
object, that each of them, rather, has its signifi-
cance apart from prophecy, and that by this sig-
nificance prophecy and history are both equally
ruled, is everywhere manifest. Among the bless-
ings which the Messiah should bring to the con-
^Tegation of the righteous, is first perceived the
lundamental benefit, the condition of all others,
namely, the transformation which He will produce
'ji the disposition of the covenant people. This
time all things must be changed, if they are not
Btill further to be given up to judgment. False
Israel is the proper booty of the world.
ScH.MiEDER : The three periods of deliverance
in Micah give the basis for subsequent prophe<'y ;
(1.) The redemption from Babylon is unfolded bj
Is. xl.-lx., and in such a way that this redemption
becomes the typical form for the entire subsequent
development of the kingdom of God. (2.) The
deliverance of Jerusalem from the universal attack
of the nations is represented '.n Ezek. xx.xviii.-
xxxix. as the last triumph of Israel. (3.) The
rescue from the last calamity of all, in which the
city itself is conquered, and the judge of Israel is
mocked, lies at the bottom of the concluding
prophecy of Zechariah.
Calwee Bible : That is a comfort to him,
that God's instruments of punishment upon Israel
find also an avenger again for their tyranny, even
in the people of Israel, although these must first
have passed under the rod.
Schliek: Not until Zion the impure has been
destroyed, can it become the seat of God's holy
dominion ; Zion's people must first be led far
away as captives, before they become a people
strong in the Lord and victorious over all peoples ;
Zion's king must be deeply humbled before the
true king of David's lineage comes, who brings
everlasting peace to his people.
Of the fuljillment. JysTi.v Makttk {Dial. c.
Tr.) : As many of us as, moved by the law and
by the word coming out of Jerusalem, throngh
the Apostles, have come to the faith, and fled for
refuge to the God of Jacob and of Israel, filled
until then with war and slaughter and all iniquity,
we have everywhere changed the instruments of
war into instruments of peace, and are building
piety, righteousness, philanthrophy, faith, hope, etc.
Calvin : Although God governed the ancient
people by the hand of David, Josiah, Hezekiah,
yet there lay as it were a shadow between, so that
God ruled in a hidden way. The prophet, accord-
ingly, here expresses the difference between that
typical outline-shadow of the kingdom and the
later, new kingdom which God would reveal
through the Messiah, And that is truly and defi-
nitely fulfilled in the person of Christ. For al-
though Christ was the true seed of David, He was
still at the same time Jehovah, that is, God mani-
fest in the flesh.
Hengstenberg thinks himself obliged, follow-
ing ancient examples, to interpret iv. 9-14 in an
apocalyptic way, as a chronological series, so thai
in vers. 9, 10 the Babylonian catastrophe, in ver
U the Maecabean struggles, in ver. 14 the oppres-
sions of the Eomans should be foretold. Com-
pare, on the contrary, the explanation given above.
RosENM., Casp., and Keil give an eschatolog-
ical reference to these verses.
SoHMiEDEE : It is an entire mistake to interpret
this great prophecy of Mic.ih of any one historical
event, as though it was completely fulfilled in that.
The interpretation corresponds nowhere in its en-
tire fullness, not even with the expressly promised
deliverance from Babylon. This should not ex-
pose the prophecy to suspicion, but only warn us
against the undue haste of expositors. The proph-
ecy rests on visions which represent, not separate
historical events, but which in large, figurative
sketches show the course of the development of
God's kingdom. What the Holy Spirit thus
speaks, that the Holy Spirit alone can interpret
not all pious curiosity of historical learning.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
On iv. 1-8. Tlie kingdom of God.
1. Its central point: the glorified and exalted
Zion, the source of the statutes and revelations,
10
MICAH.
ind through grace, the ancient, chosen seat of
God's dominion. Ver. 1 a-c, 2 g, h, 8.
2. Its citizens : those who flow toward it thirst-
ing for righteosuness, longing for salvation. Ver.
1 a, 2 a-f, 6, 7.
3. Its order : God's law and God's peace. Ver.
3.
4. Its blessedness : rest, security, prosperity.
Ver. 4.
5. Its duration : eternal, like God Himself. Ver.
5.
Ver. 1. The sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory. The
city on the hill shines and is not concealed ; it is
thy own fault if thou see not. Salvation comes
of grace ; but that thou mayest possess it the voice
of desire must be in thy heart. He who would
not suffer law and justice, and longs not therefor
in humble prostration, is not ready for the Gospel
either. — Ver. 3. God's judgments are best, and
are clear enough for him who has part in the Holy
Ghost. Flougb and scythe cease not; sowing and
reaping are still attended with toil, but what was a
curse has become a blessing. — Ver. 4. Who longs
not for rest ? In the kingdom of God thou hast
peace. The terrors of the world are for him alone
who goes wiih the world. — Ver. 5. In God's
name ! With that begin all thy work, then will
it go on prosperously. — Ver. 6. Even the Old
Testament knows that not untU after the fullness
of the heathen will Israel after the flesh, humbled
and contrite, enter into the kingdom. Why is his
entrance delayed 1 Because Christians, instead of
regarding God's way, and thus living in peace,
consume each other in strife and spiritual warfare,
and so throw doubt over the certainty of the di-
vine promises. Until ver. 3 is fulfilled (in a spir-
itual sense), ver. 6 also will not be fulfilled. —
Vers. 7, 8. How will the dominion be? The ques-
tion is obscure, and can be answered only from the
New Testament. One thing only is sure — that
God will reign forever.
Hengstenberg : On ver. 2. The ways of the
Lord are the ways in which He would have men
walk, — the ways of living which are well pleasing
to Him. The antithesis is the walking m one's
own ways (Is. liii. 6), the direction of the life ac-
cording to the caprice of the corrupt heart itself.
MiOHAELis : The Messiah will be a teacher,
says Kimchi. And it is quite remarkable how the
old teachers of the .Jevvs themselves say expressly,
that the Messiah will interpret the words of the
law, and discover the errors of the Jews ; that the
doctrine which men learn before Him will not be
tonsidered in comparison with his new law.
BuiiCK : Ver. 3. Jehovah Himself will reign
Jirough his law and spirit. The oiBce which ye
most shamefully disregard (ver. 3), will be most
faithfully discharged.
MiOH.iELis : One may not object to this what
Christ says (Matt. x. 34 tf), that He was not come
to bring peace on the earth but a sword ; for this
happens per accidens through human depravity ;
and these disturbances Christians do not excite
but suffer. The perfect fulfillment of this proph-
ecy, moreover, is reserved for the final completion
of all things.
Calwek Bible : Ver. 4. Even under Solo-
mon's reign was it so (1 Kings iv. 25), as also the
great crowd of men in Israel, which is promised
(ii. 12), likewise existed in Israel, according tc 1
Kings iv. 20, under Solomon. Solomon's reign
ivas indeed the chief type of the final reign of
klessiah.
Caspari : Ver. 5. We have 'fl do with a prom-
ise. An admonition, or decree implying an ad-
monition, would not be appropriate here among
mere promises. The walking in the nameof Jelio
vah, however, is not to be regarded as a merit de-
serving salvation, but as a conditioning grace
which has been bestowed upon Israel.
Calvin : Ver. 8. The prophet here establishes
the souls of the pious, that they may hold out
steadfast through the long delay, and not be dis-
couraged by the present defeat so as to despair of
the fultiUraent of God's promises. The dominion
of the daughter of Zion is made prominent, be-
cause the king in Israel had obscured the glory
of God.
GuLiCH : It is called the ancient kingdom, (1.)
Because it is David's kingdom in his son Christ.
(2.) Because it is a kingdom proceeding from
among them, not of foreign princes. (3.) Because
it is the kingdom of God. (4.) Because it is the
kingdom of the twelve tribes reunited as at the
time of David and Solomon. (5.) Because it is
the kingdom over the heathen as David and Solo-
mon ruled over the heathen.
Luther: Ver. 1. The kingdom of Christ, or
the preaching of the Gospel, has been made so
sure, and so firmly established, that it can be stifled
or exterminated by no power, however great. —
Ver. 2. In particular, the prophet wished to show
the difference between the kingdom of Christ and
the kingdom of Moses and the law. Moses is a
dreadful teacher ; constrains and drives the people
to a shadow of obedience. But the kingdom of
Christ has a willing people (Ps. ex.), who of them-
selves like sheep follow their shepherd. For to
such willing obedience are they moved by the
great, unspeakable beneflits. — Ver. 3. If any one
is so utterly unacquainted with Holy Scripture as
to interpret this text to mean that a Christian
either may not bear arms, or not legitimately use
them, he very unskillfuUy perverts the whole sense
of the prophet. For he takes this saying concern-
ing the spiritual kingdom of Christ and applies it
to the bodily kingdom ; and this he does against
the plain Scripiure, which enjoins on the temporal
magistracy that they should protect their subjects
in the enjoyment of their rights, and help main-
tain the general peace. — Ver. 4. What a great
difference is there between householders ! Yet if
they be Christians, each of them has his noble
fruits, witli which to help and support others. —
Ver. 6. Yet who would be so pusillanimous as not
easily to allow God to take away his earthly goods,
if he only has sure hope of the heavenly goods ^
Starke : Ver. 1. At the time of Christ, Mount
Zion stood over all other mountains. The Church
of the New Testament has a great preeminenca
over the Church of the Old Testament. Christ
maintains and extends, even amid manifold dis-
ruption and desolation of the earthly kingdoms,
his spiritual kingdom — the Christian Church on
earth — by his Word and Gospel. — Ver. 2. It
is not enough that each one believes for himself,
one must also e.xcite another by fraternal means
unto righteousness. We must not only send
others to church, but also visit it ourselves. Not
all who come to the church are on that account
true members of the church, but only those who
come in true simplicity. — Ver. 3. Christians
should be a peaceable people and not live in bick-
erings, strife, and enmity. True piety is rewarded
in this worid also (1 Tim. iv. 8). — Ver. 5. It ia
a devilish opinion that men may be saveil in all
religions. Christ's kingdom ia not a worldly but
CHAPTERS IV. AND V
41
an eternal kingdom. A Christian must fear God
not for a time only, but constantly. — Ver. 6.
Bodily plagues and all kinds of chastisements be-
long to the strange ways of God, by which, how-
sver, He seeks to bring the erring into the right
way. The cross must give birth to the Church of
Christ. Hold fast and endure.
Pfaff : Ver. 1. The church of the New Testa-
ment rests on an immovable foundation. Even
the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. All
the kingdoms of the world are nothing to be con-
sidered of in comparison with the kingdom of
Christ. — Ver. 3. Because there is still everywhere
war, hatred, and enmity among those who should
be Christians, the Lord still judges the peoples and
punishes the heathen. — Ver. 5. No one is capable
of the peace of God except him who walks in the
name, and in the power, and according to the
commandments of the Lord.
QuANDT : Ver. 1. As Zion, so far as it signified
also Jerusalem, was the capital of God's kingdom
under the Old Testament, the language of the
prophets naturally adapted itself to that, and thus
the whole kingdom of God, from its Old Testa-
ment germs on toward its New Testament devel-
opment, on earth and in heaven, was designated
by the name of Zion, the mount of God. — Ver.
3. The kingdom of peace is building itself up
even in these periods, in so far as Christian people
have already beaten many a sword into plough-
Shares and many a spear into pruning-hooks ; this
imperfect fulfillment is a pledge of the complete
fulfillment.
On chap. iv. 9-14. Of the struggles of God's con-
legation.
They must be maintained —
1 . Under heavy sorrow in secure expectation of
the final redemption (vers. 9, 10).
2. Under the mighty assaults of the foe in sure
confidence that the Lord sits upon the throne (vers.
II, 12). -
3. In constant self-examination. For, although
the victory must certainly be given to God's cause
(ver. 13), nevertheless, until Christ is bom in the
congregation (and in each individual, ver. 1), the
result of every contest is deserved disaster and dis-
grace (ver. 14).
Ver. 9. Desperate complaint under the struggle
and sorrow which God lays upon thee is a sign that
Christ is not in thee. See to it that it becomes the
right complaint and sadness ; then will He, amidst
the pain, be born in thee. — Ver. 10. In his misery
the prodigal son first found his way to his father's
house. — Ver. II. How much more earnestly must
we be concerned that God's name should be hallowed
through our faith and life, since we know that to his
enemies nothing is more agreeable than to see us
dishallowed. While we are not unholy no one can
render ns so ; and those who attempt it do so for
their own condemnation and ruin. — Ver. 13. In
the fortunes of the congregation there is a constant
ebb and flow. Let us be on our guard against
]iride in apparently prosperous seasons, against
despondency in the drought. — Ver. 14. It is a
Very wretched thing, that many Christians re-
member not until amid the furious assaults of the
'enemy that they belong together, so as to spare
one another ; but at other times for trifling causes
refuse salvation to each other and will not dwell
under one roof.
Hengstenberg : On ver. 9. The mingling to-
gether of judgments with promises of salvation
thonld guard believers against vain hopes, which,
U not supported by the event, change into so much
the deeper despondency. It contains also an in
direct solace in itself, for He who sends the predic-
tion of what shall be, under his control must it
stand, and " He who sends can turn it away," The
greatest reason for our faint-heartedness under the
cross is the doubt whether it comes from God.
Caltin : Ver. 10. As soon as He has strength-
ened the souls of believers to bear the cross, He
adds the hope of salvation.
Luther : Birth-pangs indicate not a death but
a twofold life, that, namely, the mother is to be
delivered of her burden and the new man born. —
Ver. 11. Israel, with his claim to be alone the peo-
ple of God, was a thorn in the eye of the heathen.
Starke : Ver. 9. In great distress of heart
men often either forget God's promises, or begin
in some measure to despair of their fulfillment. —
Ver. 10. Then is the cross most lightly borne, when
we consider the will of God, and yield ourselves pa-
tiently to the trouble. — Ver. 12. The ungodly in
their persecution of the saints, always have, doubt-
less, an evil design, but God knows how neverthe-
less to turn it to good. — Ver. 13. A great army
can accomplish nothing unless God gives it
strength. — Ver. 14. And all preparation for war
is vain when God would punish. Those who de-
spise Him and his Word are despised by God in
return, and given over to the scorn of men.
Pfafp : Ver. 1 1 ff. The enemies of Christ's
kingdom must not think that, because by God's
appointment they are permitted to plague the
church for a time, this will pass unpunished. The
iniquity will be returned upon their own heads
Against God's judgments, when they fall, avail?
no military preparation, but only the preparation
through repentance and prayer.
RiEGER : Even in our Church, and amid the
priceless liberty of conscience with which God has
blessed ns, his kingdom is still everywhere hampered
and oppressed by the power and spirit of the world,
and one cannot make the least use of discipline,
still less discover traces of the kingdom of God in
the secular power. But the greater the need the
better can the promises come to one's help. If
God should even still further and more grievously
afflict, this must still be our consolation, that if He
breaks down that which He has himself built. He
will use all the living stones otherwise for his own
purposes. The certainty of the faith of Israel in
the Old Testament, and the solidity of all God's
promises through the prophets, have served at all
times as a support for the Christian faith. Where
there is little or no faith in the heart, and men
still esteem earthly good very highly, we often hear
premature and too sensitive complaints, against
which we must testify that there can and will be
a still further decay of external prosperity, while
yet God will not let his promise fail. Our heart
is either lost in the distress and forgets the prom-
ise, or it lends an ear to the promise and then
thinks there must nothing adverse intervene. It
is right to keep promise and threatening both be-
fore the eyes.
On chap. V. The Prince of Peace.
1. His coming.
(a.) In lowly guise, 1 a; humble.
(b.) And yet to the throne, 1 b; glorious,
(c. ) Because He was appointed to this from of
old, 1 c ; eternal.
(d.) At the appointed fullness of time, 2 a; tem-
poral.
2. His work.
(a.) To seek and save that which was lost^ 2 b,
(b.) To be a shepherd in truth, 3 a.
42
MICAH.
(c. ) To prepare God's kingdom even to the ends
of the world, 3 b.
(d.) To give peace to his followers through the
protection which He will afford and the bestow-
ment of power, 4.
(e.) To judge the world, 5, 14.
3. His Congregation.
(a.) A spiritual congregation. Ver. 6.
(b.) A powerful congregation. Vers. 7, 8.
(c.) A holy congregation, which (a) trusts in
God alone (vers. 9, 10) ; (/3) inquires after God's
will alone (ver. 11); (y) fears God alone (vers.
12, 13).
Ver. 1. God counts not but weighs; and the
lowly and small in the eye of the world He chooses
most fondly. He is a concealed God. His ways
reach from the deep to the height. — As David came
not from Bethlehem without previous signs, so
everything temporal in the kingdom of God has
eternal signification. — Kings should consider that
they ought not to esteem most highly their arse-
nals, but their stores of bread, and that those exist
for these. — Rulers are at all times by God's grace.
Christ's coming is from eternity and to eternity. —
It is little to believe that Christ was before the
world ; salvation begins not until you experience
that He is born in the world. — Ver. 2. God's
" therefore " is always hard to understand, especi-
ally when it goes against our flesh. Blessed he
who receives it. God forsakes, but only fur a cer-
tain time ; have patience in the time of drought,
his time is best of all. All his ways tend toward
new birth ; even death. He has forgotten none,
and goes after all, even the lost ; leaves the ninety
and nine in the wilderness, and seeks the one. —
Ver. 3. liaise tliy head ; the Saviour stands ever,
and if He veils himself the cloud is in the dim-
ness of thine eye ; he cannot fall. — Although Jesus
be thy salvation, thou shouldst not in a childish
way drag his nature into the dust, but cherish a
holy reverence for his divine majesty. In the
name of Christ call upon God ; in the name of
God cry to Christ; He will certainly hear thee.
Wherever thou art He is not far off. Even if thou
wert sitting in the abyss, his kingdom reaches
thither. But consider that time on earth has an
end, seeking may begin too late. — Ver. 4. He
gives Himself, therefore gives He peace. In the
congregation He, the One, is invisible ; his work
there is carried on by many hands. A visible head
to the congregation is against Scripture. — Ver. 5.
Even where He smites, it is only salvation. No
Christian should rejoice in the destruction of en-
emies, but only be thankful for the salvation of his
own soul. — Ver. 6. Amid the world must the con-
gregation stand. Flight from the world is con-
trary to the kingdom of God. Where the main-
tenance of the spirit and of strength fails, there
exists nothing of the true Israel. Again, where
grace is sought through human wisdom, and is
placed in an outward mechanism of Christianity,
rather than in tlie living, travailing power of God's
spirit, there too the true Israel is not. Times of
refreshing in the Church come not according to
the will and calculation of men, but according to
God's will. They cannot be made, but must be
prayed for. But for death God is not to blame,
but those who would not receive the dew of his
Spirit, and would rather remain dry. — Vers. 7,
8. If a preacher would indeed speak the Word of
the Spirit, he must know that God's Word, which
he proclaims, will triumph. He who believes not
speaks as if he spoke not. How much more earn-
est and diligent in our office should we be, if we
always thought that God does not without means
carry forward the upbuilding of his kingdom, but
has connected this with instruments, with the rem-
nant of Israel, his servants. — Vers. 9, 10. The
pride. of learning and wisdom also is horses ; the
pride of self-righteuusncss and good works is char-
iots, on which the natural man rides abroad ; and
if whole communities rest in them and suppose
that they are thus justified, they are cities and for-
tresses rejected of God. — Ver. 1 1 f Covetousness
and ambition also are idols. How many men ask
first these dark idols of their heart, before they in-
quire after God's will, and thus lose, alas ! labor
and profit ; adulterating also the fountain of grace
which had been opened in their hearts. — Ver. 14.
In the time of salvation, the idea of " heathen "
will no more be conceived as national and histor-
ical, but those are heathen who hear not the voice
of God, whether by birth they stand within or out-
side of the congregation.
MicHAELis : On ver. 1. "Days" and "eter-
nity " seem to be incompatible, but the Scripture
speaks of divine things Avhich it would reveal, in
a human way. Hence as we conceive always of a
space still beyond the uttermost world-spheres, al-
though it does not exist, so we imagine days and
seasons before the world, because we cannot do
otherwise. Thus the Apostle also speaks of the
days of eternity, and God is called (Dan. vii. 9)
the Ancient of Days.
Chrysostom : When He says ; His begin-
nings are from the beginning, from the days of
antiquity. He shows his preexistent nature; but
when He says : He will go forth a ruler to feed
my people Israel, He shows his temporal birth.
Calvin : "For me will He come forth; " thus
God indicates that He intends the destruction of
the people only so as to restore them again after a
certain time. Hence He calls back to Himself
them that believe, and to his plan, as if He would
say : So have I rejected you for a season, that you
still lie near my heart.
Hesgstenberg : God so ordeied circumstances
connected with the typical choice of David that
his human lowliness might appear in the strongest
light. It was God who raised him from a keeper
of sheep to be a shepherd of the people.
MiCHAELis ; On ver. 2. Therefore, because this
is the plan of God, first to punish Zion for her
sins and then to restore her through the Christ
that comes forth out of Bethlehem.
Calvin ; Ver. 3. The expression "feed " shows
how Christ stands toward his own, the sheep that
have been intrusted to him. He does not rule
over them like a dreadful tyrant, who oppresses
his subjects with fear, but He is a shepherd and
cares for his sheep with all the gentleness that
could be desired. But since we are surrounded
with enemies, the prophet adds : He works with
power, that is, with all the power there is in God,
all the protection there is in Christ, as soon as
there is need to protect the church. We should
learn, therefore, to expect from Christ just as
much salvation as there is power in God.
ScHLtEK : Ver. 6 ff. Christ's people are a
source of blessing everywhere, but where they are
opposed they become a lion which none can resist ;
they are also a victorious people.
Sciimieder: That the power of the holy peo
])le is a peaceful one, and that only the strength,
not the kind of their force is compared to the forc«
of a lion, is proved by what follows.
MicHAELis ; Christ is a lamb and a lion, c£
Kev. vi. 16.
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.
43
MlCHAELiB : Ver. 9. So did Joshua and David,
in order to break up false confidence (Josh. xi. 6
6f. ; 2 Sam. viii. 4).
LuiiiEE : How well ha; God fulfilled that al-
ready with the temporal Isi ael !
Stakke : Ver. 1. As believers under the Old
Testament comforted themselves, amid their afflic-
tions, with the promise of Christ's coming in the
flesh, so it becomes us, on whom the end of the
world has come, to comfort and strengthen our-
selves with the hope of Christ's coming at the
last judgment (1 Thes. iv. 16-18). Whatever
cities worthily receive Christ, these are his Bethle-
hem. Although God's throne is very high, yet
hath He respect unto the lowly. — Ver. 2. Let
him that afflicts afflict, until He comes with the
Gospel. Let him who loves happiness submit
himself to his government in humility. — Ver. 3.
The Gospel gives nourishment to our souls, and
glorifies Christ in us. Christ's kingdom of power
as well as of grace is and goes everywhere. The
Gospel can be detained and hindered by no human
power. — Ver. 4. Christ is our peace, because
through Him we have peace above us with God,
within us in our conscience, around us with other
men, and under us against Satan. — Ver. 5. God
can doubtless wink at the tyrants for a time ; but
when they have tilled up the measure it will be
measured to them again with the measure. — Ver.
6. God scattei-s his pious ones for this reason also,
that through them the seed of the Gospel may be
sown also in other places. God has always a little
flock left in the Church. True conversion results
neither from our own nor from the powers of other
men, but from God alone. The Gospel is the dew
by which God refreshes the thirsty earth. — Vers.
9, 10. Many things not bad in themselves may be-
come bad by abuse. The weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but spiritual and mighty before
God (2 Cor. X. 4). — Ver. 13. Insincere worship
also is a kind of idolatry. — Ver. 14. God in kind-
uess calls the sinner to repentance ; if he obey not
He chastises him in moderation ; but if not even
this helps. He overwhelms him utterly with his in-
dication.
Pfaff: Ver. 1. Since Bethlehem, with the
other cities of Judaea, has long been destroyed, the
Messiah must have been born already. Jesus
must reign by his Spirit in our hearts, if we would
be a portion of his Israel. — Vers. 2, 3. A beauti-
ful prophecy of the union of Jews and heathen in
the New Testament; then they shall form one
congregation to the world's end. — Ver. 6 f. Chris-
tians who walk in the power of the Saviour, are
like a fruitful dew and rain, which fertilizes others
also, makes them grow and bear fruit unto the
Spirit; they are endowed with a spiritual strength
from on high, whereby they may powerfully affect
the conscience of men, and triumph gloriously over
the kingdom of Satan.
RiEGEE : There remains much unexplained in
this chapter. We may, however, in that which is
clear and certain find our pasture, and have so
much reverence for the more difficult parts as to
OeUeve that there lies in them also something by
which already the faith of others has been strength-
ened, or of which others after us will have better
understanding. — Ver. 1 ff. Christ is here prom-
Bed particularly as He who should be Lord over
Israel, therefore in his kingdom. Where then is
his high-priesthood, his redeeming work, and all
the rest which is proclaimed of him in the Gos-
pel ' All that has its fulfillment and due relations
la the kingly rule. For this sets in motion his
whole vi'ork of redemption with its blessed fruits,
and procures its fulfillment for all the righteous-
ness of God. It was the case with the Jews tha{
they in an earthly sense rested on the kingdom
alone, and stumbled at the rest; now, it works
with many in Christendom almost precisely the
other way. — Ver. 2. It is not hard for faith to
apprehend that, as Christ was once born at Beth-
lehem, as regards his person, so also he, in his king-
dom, may once appear as the shepherd of nations,
born through so many pangs and sighs of all the
faithful, and may bring everything to the end pro-
posed in the counsel of God.
QuANDT : Ver. 1 . Out of the place which is too
small to be an independent member, goes forth the
head. Not the present Bethlehem, whose poor in-
habitants support themselves by the preparation of
mementoes for the pilgrims, out of the stones and
shells of the Dead Sea, but a converted Christian
soul is now the true birth-place of the Redeemer.
— Ver. 3. He who has the Messiah for a shepherd
finds in Him both pasture and protection. With
Him will the congregation dwell, not roam abroad
any longer (cf Am. viii. 11). — Ver. 6. The bless-
ings which Christianity has brought to the world
are not to be counted. — Ver. 7. Not to the souls,
but the sins of the nations will Israel be terrible ; for
the peace which the Messiah gives is in its nature
warfare against sin. — Ver. 10. Cities which are
fortresses fall under the judgments of God, that
confidence in them may fall also. — Ver. 14. It is
God's way to do wonders with broken reeds. Not
until He has washed Israel in the sharp lye of his
judgments, and taken from him all in which he
placed his vain hopes, is he a suitable instrument
for God, 'to execute his vengeance on the nations
through attestation of the word.
[Dr. Pcisey: On iv. 1. God's promises, good-
ness, truth, fail not. He withdraweth his Pres-
ence from those who receive Him not ; only to
give Himself to those who will receive Him.
Mercy is the end and sequel of chastisement. Mi-
cah then joins on this great prophecy of future
mercy to the preceding woe, as its issue in the
order of God's will. — Ver. 2. In Micah's time
not one people, scarcely some poor fragments of
the Jewish people, went up to worship God at
Zion, to call to remembrance his benefits, to learn
of Him. Those who should thereafter worship
Him, should be many nations. — They came not
making bargains with God (as some now would),
what they should be taught, that He should reveal
to them nothing transcending reason, nothing ex-
ceeding or contradicting their notions of God ; they
do not come with reserves, that God should not
take away this or that error, or should not disclose
anything of his incomprehensibleness. They come
in holy simplicity, to learn whatever He will con-
descend to tell them ; in holy confidence, that He,
the Infallible Truth, will teach them infallibly. —
No one ever saw or could imagine two human be-
ings, in whom the grace of God had unfolded it-
self in exactly the same way. Each saint will
have his distinct beauty around the throne. But
then each will have learnt of his ways, in a differ-
ent proportion or degree. — Ver. 3. The fathers
had indeed a joy, which we have not, that wars
were not between Christians ; for although "just
wars are lawful," war cannot be on both sides
just ; very few wars have not, on both sides, what
is against the spirit of the Gospel. For, except
where there is exceeding wickedness on one side,
or peril of further evil, the words of our Lord
would hold good, in public as well as private, '
44
MICAH.
tay unto you that ye resist not evil. — Ver. 10. God's
judgments, or purifying trials, or visitation of his
Baints, hold their way, until their end be reached.
They who suffer cannot turn them aside; they
who inflict them cannot add to them or detain
them. — There [in Babylon, "in tumult, and din,
and unrest, and the distractions of this life"] shall
it [the backslidden and chastened soul] be deliv-
ered, like the poor Prodigal, who came to himself
in a far country, when worn out by its hard ser-
vice. Even then it must not despair, but remem-
ber, with him, its Father's house, the Heavenly
Jerusalem. Its pains within or without, whereby
it is brought back, are travail pains. Though all
is dark, it must not say, / have no Counsellor.
For its Redeemer's name is Counsellor, " one Coun-
sellor of a thousand." " Thine Intercessor never
dies." Out of the very depths of misery will the
Divine mercy draw thee.
Dr. Pusey: Ch. v. 7 (Eng. Vers.). In the Gos-
pel and the grace of Christ there are both, gentle-
ness and might; softness, as of the dew, might, as
of a lion. For, "wisdom reacheth from one end
to another mightibj ; and sweetly doth she order all
things."! — Ver. 11. The church shall not need
the temptation of human defenses ; for God shall
fence her in on every side. Great cities too, as
the abode of luxury, and sin, of power and pride,
tad, mosJy, of cruelty, are chiefly denounced as
1 Wifld. viii. 1.
the objects of God's anger. Babylon stands aa
the emblem of the whole city of the world or of
the devil, as opposed to God. " The first city wat
built by Cain; Abel and the other saints had no
continuing city here."
Matthew Heney • Ch. iv. 2. Where we coma
to worship God, we come to be taught of Him.
Those may comfortably expect that God will teach
them who are firmly resolved by his grace to do
as they are taught. — Ver. 5. Then peace is a
blessing indeed, when it strengthens our resolu-
tion to cleave to the Lord. — Ver. 12. When men
are made use of as instruments of Providence in
accomplishing its purposes, it is very common foi
them to intend one thing, and for God to intend
quite the contrary. — Ver. 13. When God hag
conquering work for his people to do, He will fur-
nish them with strength and ability for it, will
make the horns iron and the hoofs brass ; and when
He does so, they must exert the power He gives
them and execute the commission ; even the daugh-
ter of Zion must arise and thresh.
Ch. v. 2 (Eng. Vers.). A relation to Christ will
magnify those that are little in the world. — Ver. 5.
When God has work to do He will not want fi^
ting instruments to do it with ; and when He
pleases He can do it by a few ; He needs not raise
thousands, but seven or eight principal men maj
serve the turn, if God be with them.
SECOND DIVISION.
FOURTH DISCOURSE.
Chapters VI.- VII.
Chap. vi. 1 Hear ye, I pray, what Jehovah saith :
■ Rise thou, wage a controversy before the mouataing,
And let the hills hear thy voice !
2 Hear, ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy,
And ye immovable foundations of the earth !
For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people,
And with Israel will he dispute.
3 My people, what have I done unto thee ?
And wherein have I wearied thee ?
Testify against me.
4 For * I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,
And out of the house of bondage I redeemed thee ;
And sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 My people, remember now
What Balak consulted,
The king of Moab,
And what answer was given him.
By Balaam, son of Beor ;
From Shittim to Gilgal ;
That thou mayest know the righteousness of Jehovah.
6 With what shall I come into the presence of Jehovah,
CHAPTERS VI. AND VII. 45
Bow down unto God on high ?
Shall I come into his presence with burnt offerings,
With calves of a year old ?
7 Doth Jehovah delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand streams of oil ?
Shall I give my first born for my transgression,'
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?
8 He hath told thee, 0 man, what is good ;
And what ^ doth Jehovah require of thee,
But to do justly.
And love mercy,
And walk humbly with thy God ?
9 Jehovah's voice calls to the city.
And wisdom wUl see thy name.*
Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it !
10 Are there yet in the house of the wicked
Treasures of wickedness.
And the lean Ephah, accursed ?
11 Can I be pure with the wicked balances.
And with the bag of deceitful weights ?
12 Her rich men are full of violence.
And her inhabitants speak lies.
And their tongue is deception in their mouth.
13 And I also will smite thee with deadly wounds,
Laying thee waste on account of thy sins.
14 Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied,
And thy emptiness [shall remain] in thee ;
And thou shalt remove, and shalt not rescue.
And what thou dost rescue I will give to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, and not reap ;
Thou shalt tread olives, and not anoint thee with o3,
And must, and not drink wine.
16 And they diligently keep the statutes of Omri,
And all the works of the house of Ahab ;
And ye walk in their counsels,
That I may make thee an astonishment.
And her inhabitants a hissing :
And the reproach of my people ye shall bear.
Chap. vii. 1 Woe is me ! for I am become
As the gatherings of the harvest.
As the gleanings of the vintage :
There is no cluster to eat ;
For a first-ripe fig my soul longs.
2 Perished is the godly man out of the earth ;
And upright among men there is none :
They all lie in wait for blood.
Each his brother they hunt with a net.
3 For evil both hands are active ;
The prince asketh, and the judge [ judgeth] for reward,
And the great man — he speaketh the desire of his soul.
And they wrest it.
4 The best of them is as a prickly bush.
And the most upright worse than a thorn hedge :
The day ^ of thy watchmen and of thy visitation cometh ;
Then shall be their perplexity.
5 Trust ye not in a friend.
Confide not in an associate ;
46 MICAH.
From her that lieth in thy bosom
Keep the doors of thy mouth.
6 For son despiseth father,
Daughter riseth up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ;
A man's enemies are the people of his house.
7 And I, to Jehovah will I look,
I will wait for the God of my salvation ;
My God will hear me.
8 Eejoice not, O mine enemy, over ° me ;
When I have fallen, I arise ;
When I sit in darkness,
Jehovah is a light to me.
9 The indignation of Jehovah I will bear,
For I have sinned against him,
Until he plead my cause, and maintain my right :
He will bring me forth to the light ;
I shall see his righteousness.
10 And my enemy shall see,
And shame shall cover her,
Her who saith to me :
Where is Jehovah thy God?
My eyes will look upon her.
Now she shall be trodden down
As the mire in the streets.
11 A day for building thy fence walls :
That day shall the statute be far removed.
12 That day, unto thee shall they come
Even from Assyria, and the cities of Egypt;'
And from Egypt even unto the river ;
And [to] sea from sea.
And [from] mountain to mountain.
13 And the land will be desolate
On account of its inhabitants,
Because of the fruit of their doings.
14 Feed thy people with thy rod,
The flock of thy possession.
Dwelling alone,'
In the forest, in the midst of Carmel ;
They shall feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 As in the days of thy coming from the land of Egypt,
Will I show to them marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed.
Of all their might ;
They shall place their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They shall lick dust like the serpent,
As creeping on the earth ;
They shall tremble forth out of their hiding-places,
Unto Jehovah our God they shall come with dread,
And shall fear because of thee.
18 Who is a God like thee.
That forgiveth iniquity,
And passeth over transgression
CHAPTERS VI. AND VII.
47
For the remnant of his possession ?
He holdeth not his anger forever,
For he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will again have compassion on us,
He will trample on our iniquities,
And cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.
20 Thou wilt give truth to Jacob,
Mercy to Abraham,
Which thou hast sworn to our fathers,
From the days of ancient time.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Vel. *. — ''3. Dr. lUeinert renders : Is it, possibly, ttiat I brouglit tljee np, etc. ; in elwa, dais, n. B. w. Ibtt
Is spirited but savors too much, perhaps, of modern rhetoric. — Tr.]
p \er.7.— VWB and nStSn are regarded by many as used by metonomy for "sin-offering," "expiation."
Perhaps however they are quite as well taken to be adverb, ace. (Gesen. § 118, 3) ; and at all events, the rendering of
the Eng. Vers, gives the sense : and so Zunz. — Tb.]
p Ver. 8. — Our author with Hitzig, disregarding the accentuation, makes TllZi^ also dependent on T^SH : " and
what Jehovah seeks of thee ; " and then translates CS "^3 : " nothing but." Maurer's refutation of Hitzig at this
point is harsh and petulant, but effectual. — Ta.]
[4 Ver. 9. — Kleinert, with Maurer and many others, inverts the order of these words, with the advantage of thus
securing an obvious agreement in gender between ilS"!^ and Its subj., and a thought at least equally appropriate.
But as there is some doubt about the meaning, — " look out for," circumspectare, cireumspicere — thus ascribed t» HS"!,
And as "wisdom " may very well stand for " the wise man." it seems preferable to adopt the simplest translation, follow.
Ing the very order of the Hebrew words. The Exegetical note will give several of the many renderings which have been
proposed. — Tr.]
[6 Chap. vii. 4. — Kleinert treats D1*^ as an ace. of time, translating :
In the day of thy seers,
When thy visitation cometh,
and in the next member would have n^Hn in the second pers. masc. : Thou shalt be ensnared by them. — Tr.]
[6 Ver. 8. — I do not think the ^^ " pleonastic " here, but rather as giving the ground of the hostile "joy." — Tr.]
[7 Ver. 12. — Ti^D, properly signifying, "bulwark," or "fortification," "strength," is here almost certainly used of
Egypt, probably with a play on the name of the latter. Pusey : " The name Matsor, which he gives to Egypt, modi-
fying its ordinary dual name MitzraiTn, is meant at once to signify " Egypt " [Is. six. 6 ; xxxvii. 26], and to mark the
strength of the country." — Tr.]
[8 Ver. 14. — Kleinert changes the punctuation, putting a period after c, and then reads : —
In the forest in the midst of Oarmel may they feed,
In Bashan, etc.
" Dwelling alone " is in either case parenthetic, but it seems just as well to connect what immediately follows with the
" feed," etc., in the first member, as is done above Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Leaving the concrete sketches of history, the
public reproofs, and the historical prediction, the
prophet rises to the height of the idea woven
through the whole course of history, and repre-
sents the relation between the God of Israel and
his people, the past condition the present compli-
cations and the future solution, under the figure
of a suit-at-law.
In accordance with this fundamental character,
the discourse has no special historical reference,
but takes, as we may say, a universal position.
We must, to be sure, perceive, with Caspari, that
Israel, charged by the jwophet with backsliding,
freely grants its guilt and is ready to atone for it
(vi. 6 a) ; that it is disposed to clear itself by num-
irous sacrifices (vi. 6 b), not however through
hearty relinquishment of its pride, unrighteous-
ness and oppression (vi. 8-10 ff.). But that we
should by these traits (in contrast with the preced-
ing discourses, as having fallen within the time
of Hezekiah's predecessors), be here necessarily
Drought down to the first years of Hezekiah, when
a general sense of sin and the favorable disposi-
tion for the orderly restoration of Jehovah's wor-
ship may have existed in the higher strata of the
people, while the mass still strove against the ethi-
cal portion of the law, is disproved by the con
tents of the section, ch. vii. 1 ff. (cf vi. 16). There
we find no word of any difference between the
good disposition of the great and the stupidity of
the multitude, but, rather, the description runs
completely parallel to that in ch. iii. Nor is there
otherwise any solid support for maintaining the
date of the whole to be either earlier or later than
for chaps, i.-v., and we must be content with say-
ing, that in a completely similar situation, this
concluding discourse distinguishes itself only by
its peculiar rhetorical character from the former
portion of the book. This is true in respect to
matter, inasmuch as the subject is not particular
manifestations of present sin, but the sins cf the
whole people, and not particular moments of the
future, but judgment and salvation in their spir-
itual nature; and in respect to form, inasmuch as
it is not directly paraenetic or eschatological, but
lyrical and of the nature of a psalm. It closes
18
MICAH.
the book of Micah very much as Hab. iii. and Is.
xl.-lxvi. close those books, and as Rom. xi. 33-36
the Jewish historical exposition of the Epistle to
the Komans.
In its plan also this peculiarity of the closing
address appears. It falls into three parts, and the
fundamental number which prevails is (apart from
the introitus and the traiisitus) 13. The scheme is
as follows : —
». The introitus, vi. 1, 2 (seven lines). Then
I. The first stage of the suit (vi. 3-8) ; and
1. Vers. 3-5. God's complaint (thirteen lines).
2. Vers. 6-8. Israel's anxious reply (thirteen
lines).
n. Second stage of the suit (vi. 9-vii. 8) ; and
1. vi. 9-16. God's reproof (twenty-six lines).
2. vii. 1-6. Israel's complaint (twenty-six
lines).
b. The transitus, vii. 7, 8 (seven lines) ; and fol-
lowing upon this, —
III. The closing psalm : humiliation, confidence,
and praise, vii. 9-12 (13-|-26-|-13 lines).
Introitus, chap, vi., vers. 1, 2. Hear ye now;
thus begins, like the opening discourse, i., ii., the
closing address also ; hear ye what Jehovah
saith, dicturus est, namely, to me, the prophet.
Arise, bring a suit toward the mountains ! In
the name of Jehovah, and as his advocate, should
the prophet enter into the controversy with the
people, and utter the complaint so loud that the
mountains, which, as appears from the following
clause, and the hills shall hear thy voice, and
from ver. 2, are present as witnesses of the trial
(ef Dent, xxxii. 1 ; Is. i. 2), may murmur with
the echo. The explanation, bring a suit against
the mountains, accuse the mountains, is senseless
in itself, and therefore nS must be taken as a sign
of direction, as Judg. xix. 18 ; Is. Ixvi. 14.
Ver. 2. The prophet, following the command,
calls out to the mountains : hear, ye mountains,
Jehovah's cause, and ye unchangeable — from
their unchangeableness Israel might h.ave taken an
example ; Balaam had long before called the rocks
of Canaan changeless (Num. xxiv. 21) — ye foun-
dations of the earth, that cannot be shaken, but
that should now tremble before the solemn mes-
sage, and weighty judgment of Jehovah (Is. xxiv.
18). For Jehovah hath a suit against his peo-
ple (cf Hos. iv. 1 ), and with Israel will he have
a settlement.
First Sta/je, vers. 3-8. — Vers. 3-5. Tkn Coin-
vlaint. Jehovah speaks not with the thunder of
jhe law, but with the much sharper cordiality of
wounded love. My people, thou that l)elonge.st
to mo alone, brought up by me, what have I done
to thee, and wherein have I wearied thee "?
The Hithpael, " to have a settlement," was not
without significance. He is in earnest, if Israel
has aught against Him, to hear it. Jehovah might
have wearied Israel by over rigorous retiuirements
(Is. xliii. 23), or by unfulfilled promises (Jer. ii.
31). But much more should the expression recall
how Israel has wearied the Lord (Is. xliii. 24).
Answer me ! properly, as the 2 instead of the
customary ace. shows : defend thyself against Me,
make reply to my charge (,Tob xxxi. 35).
Ver. 4. God's language continues in a tone of the
deepest irony : Is it in that I led thee up out of
the land of Egypt (Am. ii. 10), and redeemed
thee out of the house of bondage '? (cf. Ex. xx.
2) — plur. cone, for abstr., Ewald, § 179; and
that I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Mir-
iam ? With special fondness the sacred writers
bring forward, when they would impress upon the
people the goodness of the Lord, his earliest deeds,
and, above all, those connected with their deliver-
ance from Egypt, because through that Israel be-
came his peculiar possession (Ps. cxiv.), and also
in it, as the actus primus of his gracious choice of
the people, there lay enfolded, so far as regards
its direction and shape, all the subsequent develop-
ment ; all the followmg acts of grace are only con-
firmations of the first purpose of grace.
Ver. 5 glances at these tokens of love in the his-
tory of the planting of Israel until their arrival in
the Holy Land : My people, remember now,
what counsel Balak took, the king of Moab,
and what answer was given Mm by Balaam,
Beor's son ; cf Num. xxii. 24. " It was no light
thing that Israel, ready to enter into the Holy
Land, is sent forward, not cursed by him, but
rather blest by God through him, to his great and
arduous task. The curse would, through the su-
perstition of many of the Israelites, have discour-
aged them, and inspired their superstitious foes
with confidence. So much the more must the
blessing have raised the spirits of the people, as it
indicated that the Lord had so completely blessed
them in the eyes of all nations, that even enemies
who would curse were obliged to bless them."
Caspari. The little clause : from Shittim to G-U-
gal, is a new object to 'HDT • Remember what oc-
curred from Shittim to Gilgal, i. e., between th?
first station after Balaam's (Num. xxv. 1) blessing
and the first station on the soil of the Holy Land
(Josh. iv. 19). Remember this, that thou mayest
know the covenant grace (properly : the right-
eousnesses) of Jehovah. Jehovah's deeds of mercy
are called exhibitions of righteousness, inasmuch
as after the original establishment of the covenant
with Abraham, or (as the case may be) of the cov-
enant of the law on Sinai, all following grace was
only fulfillment of what had been before promised,
!. K., nf7'7^. — ^5?SD7 cum inf. as Am. ii. 7.
Ver. 6-8. Reply and Decision. As Jehovah ad-
dressed primarily the prophet, so the discourse of
the people is directed immediately to him, stand-
ing as he does between God and the people. He is
the mouth of God toward the people (Hos. i. 1 ;
Deut. V. 5 if., cf Ex. iv. 16). Israel, in so far as
it is really sucli, cannot close its ears to the voice
of truth (cf. .lohn xviii. 37), hence owns itself
guilty without parley, and asks only after the way
of expiation. Wherewith shall I meet Jeho-
vah ? mp, to meet with gifts, in order to gratify
any one, and to render to him honor and duty (Ps.
cv. 2 ; Deut. xxiii. 5). Wherewith bow myself?
naS belongs to both clauses, and " to bow
one's self," F^^H. imperf Niph., from f^SS, Olsh.,
§ 265, e., is, like the meeting Him, an expression
of respect, which is appropriate before the God
on high, who looks down on men, and in whose
sight they are as grasshoppers (Is. xl. 22). Shall
I meet Him with burnt offerings 7 That is the
first thought with men who look at what is exter-
nal; thither they naturally turn to fill the " ach-
ing void " in the soul with outward things, and as
naturally also to try to expiate the sins which
spring from the heart against God, according to
the outwardly written letter : work-righteousness,
and the idolatry of the letter. "With calves of a
year old ? Not as if these alone were proper to
be offered (Caspari, Hitzig. against Lev. xxii.
CHAPTERS VI. AND VII.
49
dxvii.), but because they were accounted as the
most important (Lev. ix. 3).
Ver. 7. Hath Jehovah pleasvire in thousands
i hecatombs) of rams f in myriads of oil-brooks ?
cf. Job XX. 17). The questions, as the conncc-
tipn shows, are not rhetorical (Luther), but express
the good resolution, the spirit of anxious and earnest
toquiry : if so, then we would fain offer them to Him.
Libations of oil were an essential element of the
meat-offeiing, and the thauk-oficring (Lev. ii. 1, 15 ;
vii. 12). The climax culminates with the latter
half of ver. 7 : Shall I give up my first-bom,
the best and last that I have, as a sin-offering for
myself? As elsewhere nSBn and Dtj;S, so here
StSD stands, the sin for the offering which is
brought as its equivalent. The fruit, offspring,
of my body, as an atonement for my soul ? Of.
Deut. vii. 13. The external disposition, as it is of
heathen origin and nature, so it proceeds, even to
the final consequence, to atone for sin by sin, even
by murder. Thus the kings of Moab sacrificed
their first-bom (2 K. iii. 27). According to Israel-
itish principles the firstlings belonged naturally to
God, so that the ofiering might not once have been
a strange gift for God, hut the law directed that
the first born of men should be ransomed (Ex. xiii.
13) ; it demands a disposition most completely
ready to oflijr all, but not the external act (Geii.
xxii.). And to this direction of the entire life,
which alone gives all its moral value and accepta-
bleness with God to each particular deed, the
prophet also points in what immediately follows.
Ver. 8. He, namely, God (Hitzig and Hessel-
berg, indefinitely: they), hath made known to
thee, O man, what is good. Ye know, why do
ye ask? Is it not an idle question, contrived that,
instead of the answer, an escape for thy conscience
should be offered thee ■? And what Jehovah
fleekethof thee (cf. Luke xiii. 7). Since nO re-
peated in the two preceding clauses, is used in the
sense of "nothing" as in the rhetorical question,
Bccl. i. 3, it may be followed by QS ''D, nisi : noth-
ing else does Jehovah seek of thee, but to do
right, smm cuique, and love mercy, the dispo-
sition from which flows the beneficent discharge of
theduties of the law ( Prov. xxi. 21 ), a contrast to ch.
iii. 2 ; and walk humbly (on the const, cf. Ewald.
§ 280, c. [Text, and Gram, on Ob. 4]) before thy
God (cf. 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Hos. vl. 6). Micah's ac-
curate acquaintance with the whole Pentateuch,
which stands out through these chapters especially,
appears here also, and here in a way doubly im-
portant for historical criticism, since it involves
Deuteronomy : the passage referred to as God's
word connects itself exactly, in matter and form,
with Dent. x. 12 ; cf. also Deut. xvi. 12 ; viii. 14).
Ver. 9-vii. 6. Second Stage. Ver. 9-16. The
Jtidgment in the Case. The voice of Jehovah,
that judges mightily (Am. i. 2), calls concern-
ing the city, i. e., Jerusalem, the representative
of the sins of the people, i. 5 C? as Ob. i. 1 ) ;
and after the true wisdom, which has in itself
the pledge of its prosperous issue and result (Job
T. 12; vi. 13), thy name looks out, the holy
manifestation of thyself in the judgment (Is. xxx.
27 : cf. for the sense of the phrase, Ps. xiv. 2. —
Benary {De Leviratu Hebr , p. 70), Keil : Wisdom
has regard to thy name. Caspari : 0, what wis-
'ttom, if one sees thy name. In the last-named
Wnter see also many other explanations of the pas-
sage. [Cf Text, and Gram, note.] —The sudden
sanation of the person is common in all the proph-
ets ; and thus the discourse turns back again hero
in what immediately follows to the people : Per-
ceive the scourge, the judgment appointed by
Jehovah, here by metonomy for the discourse
which treats of it, as in Is. x. 5, 24, for the Assyr-
ian power which executes it, and who hath ap-
pointed it ! 3?atI7 has a double construction, first
with the ace. obj., then with an object-clause.
naJ3 is gen. comm., not merely masc, cf. Num.
xvii. 22. He has appointed the rod whose law is
continually broken. The rod itself is not de-
scribed until ver. 13 flf. ; the reason for it is first
given, ver. 10 fF.
Ver. 10. Are there yet, he asks (^^^ more
Aram, for tS.^ 2 Sam. xiv. 19) in the house of
the wicked the treasures of wickedness, gained
by wickedness, as e.g., by what is immediately in-
dicated ; yea, the lean Epha, accursed t The
epha of leanness is the false measure of grain, for-
bidden in the law (Deut. xxv. 14 ff.), too small,
contrasted with iiabtT, the right measure, which,
as opposed to the crime before us, is called (Lev.
xix. 36) an epha of righteousness (Caspari). This
connection shows that in the interrogation in the
first member, the point is, not that former sins have
not been expiated by the restoration of ill-gotten
treasui-es, but that still new sins are ever heaping
up, and thus God's requirement in ver. 8 is ever
broken anew.
Ver. 11. In the same sense he proceeds, look-
ing back to Deut. xxv. 19 ff. : Can I — as much
as to say : can one now ; an exemplification in the
first person, common also in English (cf. Glassii,
Phil. Sac, p. 898 f.) — remain pure with the
balance of wickedness, and with the bag with
weights of deceit 1 The sinners dream that by
their offerings before God they shall stand pure, in
spite of their daily repeated sins ; that is the faulty
moral apprehension which the prophet would de
stroy. The sins of trade and exchange here named
may have been particularly rife with the Jewish
national character, but they stand palpably repre-
sentative of all injustice (cf. 1 Thess. iv. 6).
Ver. 12. Over these instances this verse, by
the relative applying to the city, reaches back
to ver. 9 : Her rich men are full of violence.
Such relative connections (H'''^."''??? ~'??''^) have
the character of an exclamation, or direct call, cf.
Am. vi. 3 If.; Mic. iii. 3 {quos ego!). And her
inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is de-
ception in their mouth. As this array of their
sins rests on the Psalms, so that of threatened
penalties (ver. 13 S.), rests on the Pentateuch
(Lev. xvi. 25 f. ; Deut. xxviii. 39 f.). And so
also I, as intimated in ver. 9, have made sick the
blows upon thee, i. e., I smite thee mortally ; cf.
for the expression, Nah. iii. 19 ; for the matter. Is.
i. ; Micah, i. 9 ; with devastation (inf. abs., prob
ably gerund, Gescnius, § 131, 2; the form, Gesen-
ius, § 67, Rem. 10) on account of thy sins.
Ver. 14. Thou shalt eat and not bt satisfied;
cf. for the fulfillment, Jer. Iii. 6 ; Hag. i. 6 ; and
thy emptiness shall remain in thy bowels !
Thou shalt carry away, flee with thy goods and
family, and not save ; and what thou shalt save,
will I give to the sword. Cf. Jer. 1. 37 ; xiii. 16.
Ver. 15. Thou shalt sow . . . not drink
wine. The enemy shall reap thy harvests and
plunder thy stores (Am. v. 11, cf. the referecce ir
Is. Lxii. 8 tr.).
In ver. 1 5, fin illy, sin and punishment are ones
50
MICAH.
more briefly grouped together: Tea, they observe
— instead of the customary Kal, he designedly
chooses the strongest form, Hithpael, the reflexive
of Piel (Jonah ii. 9), to express the carefulness of
the observance (Hitzig) — the statutes of Omri
and all the doings of the house of Ahab, the
Baal worship (1 K. xvi. 31 f.) and all the other
abominations (e. g., 1 K. xxii. 27), by which this
abandoned dynasty had from the beginning dis-
graced the ungodly throne (Ps. xciv. 20) of the
kingdom of Israel ; human statutes instead of
God's Word (Lev. xx. 23), such as indeed had un-
der Ahaz broken into Judah also (2 K. xvi. 3 ; 2
Chr. xxviii. 2). And so ye walk in their coun-
sels, that (ironically ; the actual results of the
corruption represented instead of the desired fruits
of their luxurious prosperity, as Hos. viii. 4) I may
make thee (]SD7, c. inf as ver. 5) a ruin (iii.
12), and her (Jenisalem's) inhabitants a. hiss-
ing ; and the disgrace of my people — ye shall
bear it; the present generation is ripe for the
curse, which the Lord had cast forth in the law for
the future of his people (Is. Ixv. 7).
Chap. vii. vers. 1-6. The Lamentation of the Peo-
ple. As appears from the subjoined transitns, ver.
7, and especially ver. 8, where the holy common-
wealth is manifestly thought of as speaking, the
speaker here is the prophet, not so much as proph-
et, but as organ of the ideal person, the true Is-
rael ; like Is. xlix. 1 ff. ; Ix. 1 ff., where the prophet
identifies himself with the true Israel, personified
throughout ch. xl.-lxvi. under the name of the
Servant of Jehovah. Israel must confess that God,
in his bitter complaint (ch. vi. 9 ff.), isjust. In the
later prophets this view is presented in a still more
concrete form, when they personify the true Israel
in the angelic character of the maleach (messen-
ger) who represents the people before God, and re-
ceives from God the words which He has to com-
municate through the prophets to the members of
the people, his members (Zech. i. 12, 14). Daniel,
having shaped this personification of the ideal Is-
rael to the image of a heavenly Son of Man, to
whom the dominion of the world is assigned (vii.
13 ff., cf ver. 27), and having given both to this
-heavenly and to the earthly Israel the name of the
Messiah (ix. 25 f. ), furnishes the basis for the New
Testament deyelopment, in which Christ appears
on the one hand as a name of the people of Israel
,(Hcb. xi. 26, cf. ver. 25), then as the Son of Man
descended from heaven, and He in whom all the
promises given for Israel are combined. — Woe is
me ! thus begins the lament (cf. Job x. 15), for I
am become as a gathering of the harvest, as a
gleaning in the vintage. Were these words the
words of the prophet, the sense would be obscure,
and hence from ancient times the conjecture has
been proposed, that the two substantives were
to be regarded as participles ; like gatherers of
the fruit, like gleaners of the vintage. But the
pointing by 0 under Aleph, utterly precludes this
view, which has also been rejected by the most ex-
act interpreters, from Ben Izaac down to Hitzig.
Caspari : It has happened with me as with one
who at the harvest time seeks early figs. But nei-
ther does n^n mean " it has occurred to me," for
the passage Is. i. 9, quoted by Caspari, proves noth-
ing like this, nor does this latter special limitation,
the seeking of early figs, lie indicated at all in the
general designation VM (Am. viii. 1) ;,but if figs
and grapes are meant at all, the thought that the
prophet finds none would be very unsuitably ex-
pressed by the harvest, where they find many figs,
and by the gleaning of the vintage, where they
still find some clusters left. A clear understanding
results here only from the position before assumed,
that the personified Israel himself speaks through
the prophet : I am become like gleanings of the
h.arvest (the plural stands for .symmetry with the
following plur. tantum, rvTyV.. as gleanings of the
vintage, i. e., I am so entirely gleaned that ther*
is no cluster any more to eat ; for an early fig,
which was particularly relished ( Jer. xxiv. 2 ; Is.
xxviii. 4), my soul pants.
Ver. 2. What Israel intends by the clusters,
and early figs, which he would so gladly find with
him, but which have been snatched away (cf. Is.
xxxiii. 4), appears from this verse ; gone ia the
pious man; (collect, for the pious, Cl^DH pos-
sessors of the chesed, the grace, who by their con-
duct show themselves worthy of the grace, and
who taken together are the true Israel (Ps. xvi.
10) — from the earth, and an upright man is
no more to be found. It lies in the nature of
prophecy that it should extend its immediate hor-
izon over the whole world. And in fact, when the
righteous have already died out of Israel, how
should it be with the heathen who have not God's
word 1 ( Lu ke xxiii. 3 1 ) . All he in wait for blood
(Ps. X. 8 IF.), each for his neighbor they hunt
with the net. In the phrase " each for his neigh-
bor," which has usually a quite general significa-
tion : alter alte.rum, there lies here a special em-
phasis ; those who lie in wait for each other are
brethren, creatures of one God, sons of one fore-
father (Mai. ii. 10), and bound by the law to love
each the other as himself (Lev. xix. 18).
Ver. 3. The first three words form a parallel to
the sentence just closed : for evil the hands are
stout, and they are not with some Rabbins, Rosen-
miiller, and Ewald, to be connected with the fol-
lowing. 3''l2n7 stands for verba finito, as v. 1 ;
Prov. xix. 8 ; 2 Chron. xi. 2, and 'y^t^T^ in the
intrans. sense, to be joyful, glad, spirited (cf. ii. 7 ;
Prov. XV. 13; Gen. iv. 7); cf. the parallel sen-
tence : their feet run to evil (Is. lix. 7). It would
be still more suitable to the primary meaning of
3^Qn as well as to the connection with what fol-
lows, to propose as the sense of the phrase : upon
evil they look favorably, are friendly to it ; but
then we should have, instead of CDS, hands,
sb or a^Q. Hitzig: only the evil do they prac-
tice well ; which is the same as : for the evil alone
have they hands, while if anything good is to be
done, they have none for it. But this sense does
not lie in his translation, which itself breaks down
upon the b3?- Cocceius(i(?x., p. 304) : Super mah
sunt manus ad honum faciendum, i. e., finguni et
plasmant malum, ut bonum videatur. Similarly Urn-
breit, Keil, Caspari. But this sense 3>t2n no-
where has. Hence the two last otfer also the al-
ternative translation, to do it well ; which coin-
cides with Hitzig's. The corruption rests on a
compromise of the ruling classes, and so on the
worst moral vileness ; " the fo\indations are de-
stroyed " (Ps. xi. 3); the prince demands some
deed of violence, D"^ (ver. 2), and the judge for
a price from the princes may be bought (or says:
For a price !) ; and the high-born : he speaks out
the desire (Prov. x. 13 ; the other sense : " ruin,"
destroys the connection) of his soul; and to-
gether they extort it ; each one gives his part, so
CHAPTEES VI. AND Vll.
61
that a ^'i3^> a dark web of intrigues, a snare
for the victim, results.
Ver. 4. Their good man, i. e., the best among
them (Ewald, 313, c), is like a thorn, the most
upright worse than a hedge {cf. 2 Sam. xxiii.
6). That will all be proved, for in the day of
thy seers, in the jom Jehovah, God's judgment
day, which all thy prophets (elsewhere rather par-
tic. Kal CStJ, Jer. vi. 17 ; Ezek. iii. 17) have so
constantly proclaimed, when thy visitation comes
(this sentence is likewise a more definite limitation,
a second slat, absol. to Jom, cf. Ps. Ivi. 4 ; Ixxxviii.
2) then wilt thou be ensnared by them. Accord-
ing to the suffix in the previous member, pTTin
is not third tem. (then will be her perplexity), but
a second masc. in the address to the people, and
the sense (cf. Is. xxii. 5) is, that Zion, in the day
of God's judgment, cannot free herself from the
machinations of those seemingly respectable men
who are really thorn hedges, but will be caught
as a victim (cf. Gen. xxii. 13 ; Nah. i. 10.)
Ver. 5. From that it follows that now what is
otherwise a token of the greatest moral decay, in a
land, mnst be practiced of design and for self de-
fense : trust not in a friend ; " he takes no notice
of the fact that those to whom he calls are them-
selves, in the same relations, without love and fidel-
ity" (Caspari). Kely not on the most trusted;
from her who lies in thy bosom, thy wife (Deut.
xiii. 7), keep the doors of thy mouth. " The
prophet mentions only the treachery of the wife
agamst her husband, because his discourse is ad-
dressed to the men as genus polios; because the
wife can much more easily prove treacherous to
the husband than vice versa, since the man stands
preeminently in relations which allow treachery ;
and because, finally, the wife is subject to the man,
and so in a higher degree pledged to fidelity than
he (?) " — Caspari.
Ver. 6. Friendship and love are no longer se-
curities for confidence, for even the relation of nat-
ural piety is lost in an unnatural perversion ; the
sou makes a fool of his father [1] (Deut. xxxii. 15 ;
Jer. xiv.21 ) ; the daughter stands up as a witness
against her mother (2 D^p, as Ps. xxvii. 12) ;
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
and the man's enemies are his servants. ''ti?3S
in'^i, "men of his house" are not his rel/itions,
who live in his house, but the company of servants
(Gen. xvii. 23-27 ; xxxix. 14). The connection
of ver. 4 with 5 and 6 shows how appropriately
this description is again employed (Matt. x. 35 if. ;
Luke xii. 53) as a sign of the last davs (cf. also
Matt. xxiv. 1 Off.).
Vers. 7, 8. Transitus. The true Israel shudders
not in this time of need. He knows well that for
him the promise cannot be broken, and that
through the confusion of the judgment God's light
must break. By the ''3S1 as also the long pre-
served space between vers. 8 and 9 shows, these two
verses are appended as a conclusion to the forego-
ing, while yet they constitute by their contents
and psalm-like tone, — a structural peculiarity,
common to the prophets — the transition to what
follows: but as for me I look out for God.
Both aspects of the spirit which speaks in the
prophets appear in this " looking out," in that he
both as prophet looks out for, strives to anticipate,
tlio fortunes of the future, the coming of God for
salvation, and also as the spirit of the true people
»f God confidently trusts in this coming help (Ps.
V. 4; Heb. ii. 1). Prophecy and faith are correla-
tives. I will wait, the Opt. indicates that the
word is an exhortation to his own soul (Ps. xlii.
12), for the God of my salvation, the God on
whom my salvation rests ; this also being a psalm-
tone (Ps. xxvii. 9). My God will hear me, and
his hearing is an active, effectual hearing.
Ver. 8. Hence results immediately the apos-
trophe to the enemy, the world-power which (iv.
10) is called Babylon, to which the chastisement
of Isi-ael is committed : She must not regard this
condition of chastisement as a perpetual thing.
Eejoice not, my enemy; the pleonastic ''7,
which strengthens the emphasis, is likewise appro-
priate to the psalm style (Ps. xxv. 2, etscepe).^ For
if I fall, I rise agaia, I fall only to rise again. —
The conditionality gains energy by the parataxis
without particles (Prov. xviii. 22 ; Ewald, 357, 6).
The second ''3, as is shown also by the change of
tenses, is temporal and not for additional confirm-
ation. AVhen I sit in darkness, a common fig-
ure for the affliction caused by God's judgments
(Is. viii. 25 ; ix. 1 ; Ix. 1 ff.) ; then is Jehotah
my light (Ps. xxvii. 1) ; and this light cam. n re-
main concealed, but must actively manifest itself.
Vers. 9, 10. With this transitus the psalmody
is begun which sounds on through the whole lyric
period which follows (vers. 9-20), This describes
(in the form of a prayer, with hope and supplica-
tion, announcing and celebrating the completion
of God's doings with his people), the coming of the
kingdom of light after the darkness, and is thus
the fulfillment of the final clause of ver. 8 ; when
I sit in darkness then is Jehovah my light. The
position is an ideal one. As ver. 1 , Israel, on ac-
count of his deficiency in righteous men, felt that
the worst abominations were maturing, and with
them the judgment, and by gradual approach
stood finally (ver. 7 f) in the crisis of the judg-
ment, so he proceeds now in spirit through judg-
ment and exile to salvation. His language turns
in a constant alternation, swaying lyrically (cf
Ps. cxvi. ), now toward himself, now toward the
offended and forgiving God, now toward the en-
emy who is to be judged (cf ver. 8).
Ver. 9. The indignation of Jehovah will I
bear, with this humility (cf vi. 8) and submission
to the will of God, the germ of salvation is already
given ; when God's will is accepted as their will
the sorrow ceases to be sorrow. For I have
sinned against him. Humiliation under sorrow
flows from the recognition of sin ; the sorrow must
be recognized as indignation, that is, as the mani-
festation of God's righteousness (Ps. li. 6). Such
recognition moves his heart, which cannot fail to
answer the call of his people ; and this confidence
gives Israel a joyful courage to endure until he,
as he surely must, shall maintain my cause. In-
stead of standing my foe, as now, in the suit (vi.
1), He will make my cause against the heathen
his own (Ps. xxxv. 1 ; xliii. 1), and secure for me
my right (Ps. ix. 5). To the Ught will he bring
me forth, out of the darkness of captivity (Ps.
Ixviii. 7) as once out of Egypt (Deut. viii. 14). I
shall see with pleasure (3) his righteousness, for
even the deliverance of the sin-laden people is
righteousness, because it is a fulfillment of the
ancient promises (cf on vi. 5).
Ver. 10. And that shall my enemy see with
pain (cf on ver. 8), and shame shall cover her.
The verbs are not indicative, therefore not direct
1 [Cf. Oram, and Text. — Ta.l
52
MICAH
announcement, but jussive: the prophecy of sup-
plicating confidence. Her who saith to me :
■Where is Jehovah thy Grod? on whose help
thou hast rested thy hope (cf. Ps. Ixxix. 10 ; cxv.
2). This is the point of view from which Israel's
cause becomes a controversy for God. My eyes
will look upon her with pleasure — on the
sharpened Nun, cf Ewald, 198 a — and she will
be trodden down as mire in the streets. The
last Qamets in DJ3~10 is shortened into Pattach,
on account of the coming together of two tone
syllables (cf Is. x. 6). From the enemy the dis-
course turns off —
Ver. 11-13. While the representative element
gives way more to the prophetic, and announces
salvation to the holy community. It is a day (so
De Dieu, Hitz., Casp.) to build thy walls. The
anticipation of the exile goes forward, and from the
certainty of the threatenings (iii. 12 ; iv. 10), the
prophet expects (cf ver. 7) tbe restoration of Jeru-
salem. To take this whole first member, not in-
dependently, but as a designation of time to the
second (" on the day when thy walls shall be built,
will," etc.) is forbidden by the Sinn in the sec-
ond member ; besides, that view would require the
reading niUSH DV. At the bottom of the fig-
ure of wall-building lies the conception of the
vineyard (Is. v. ; xxvii. 2 fl^. ; Ps. Ixxx.) ; ^^^ is
the inclosing wall of a vineyard (the wall of a
city is rtQin). In that day will the law be far
removed. The Rabbinic Exegesis, and with that
those among recent Christian interpreters who are
influenced more or less by the legal spirit of the
Rabbins, have been obliged at this passage to have
recourse to rationalistic evasions. According to
the Targum and Hengstenberg, pn should mean
the statutes imposed by the heathen oppressors ;
but this is not even remotely suggested by the con-
nection, and the passage cited from Ps. xciv. 20
testifies rather for the opposite view. Caspari
would have it mean that then the boundaries of
the land of Israel shall lie in the far distance, be
extended far beyond the original compass ; but
what should the walling around (ver. 11a) mean
if the border is abolished ? That would be direct-
ly contrary to the figure. Keil ; The limits be-
tween Israel and the nations, the law of Israel's
exclusiveness shall be abolished. But why this
limitation to oae particular law f pH is the law
in its widest and most general sense (Ps. xcix. 7 ;
cxlviii. 6 ; Ex. xv. 25), and as it is unquestionably
the doctrine of the New Testament, that in the
time of the Gospel the fence of the law is broken
down (Eph. ii. 14), so there is the less ground for
denying to the prophet this meaning in our passage,
because the whole context has left the historical
ground far behind, rising to the ideal height of a
spiritual contemplation, and because Jeremiah also,
in a like connection in the famous passage (eh. iii.
16), prophesies a like triumph over the legal posi-
tion (cf. Is. Ixv. 1 f., and, in our prophet himself,
ch. vi. 6 f ) We may designate our passage as
exactly the text of Jeremiah's great prophecy (ch.
Kxxi. 31 ff.) concerning the new covenant. The
pai-enthetical view therefore of the words pm^
pn ("in that day — far distant is the term — in
that day," etc., De Wette, Ewald, Umbreit), is to
be rejected.
Ver. 1 2. In that day, unto thee, the restored
Zion, — the "i of the apodosis after the elliptical
protasis to designate the time, as Ex. xvi. 6 f. ;
Ewald, 344 b, — will one come flrom Assyria,
and also the cities of Egypt will come; not
merely the scattered believers of Israel, who al-
ready (cf. ver. 11) will have founded the new stmc-
ture, but also the heathen peoples will be added
(Ps. Ixxxvii.), and Assyria the scourge, first of
all, but also the cities of Egypt, which here,
as Is. xix. 6 ; xxxvii. 25, received the poetical
name Mazor, instead of the usual Mizraim. She
stands forth as the second world-power, on the
other side of Israel from Assyria (cf Zech. x. 11),
and the cities are particularly regarded, as prw
cipua membra of the land of culture, even in Jeho-
vah's Messianic prediction (Is. xix. 18). Tea,
from Egypt even unto the Euphrates, and
even unto the sea from the sea, from the West-
ern, Mediterranean to the Eastern, Persian Sea
(cf Joel ii. 20), and from the mountain to the
mountain, from Sinai in the south to Lebanon in
the north, sc. will they come to thee. Q'' and
"^TIH are local accusatives, and the induction of
a great extent of country by the antithesis of the
quarters of the compass is a common turn of dis-
course (cf. Am. viii. 12). The prophet's enumera-
tion confines itself, as was natural, to what was
suggested by history and geographical position,
and indeed with a special horizon, having refer-
ence to Gen. xiii. 14 f. ; but in the specification of
the points of the compass lies potentially the uni-
versality of the plan of salvation (cf. iv. 1, 2).
The same thought is expressed with greater clear-
ness and smoothness by Isaiah (ch. xix. 23). But
with cutting sharpness the prophet here also —
Ver. 13. For the last time connects with the
promise the contrast of the judgment : but the
land (we may understand, either with Caspari,
from ver. 2, Canaan, which extends itself before
those that flock unto it, or, with Keil, the whole
earth, out of which those who seek deliverance
crowd hither) will he waste on account of its
inhabitants (cf. vi. 11), because of the fruit of
their doings. For just in Zion alone, the seat of
God's congregation, will be deliverance (Ob. 17 ;
Joel iii. 5), and this Zion is not the present, which
itself is then destroyed (iii. 12, coll. iv. 1), but a
spiritual, living Zion. So salvation and judgment
lie side by side (Is. Ixv. 24).
With "that strikingly sudden turn, the occasion
is given for(Ae last supplication (vers. 14-17), which
the prophet utters in the name of the congrega-
tion.
Ver. 14. Peed thy people, who after the te^
rors of the judgment need the shepherd's care,
which also according to the promise (ver. 3) was
to be given, with thy staff, the mark of the shep-
herd (cf Zech. xi. 4 ff.); the flock (Ps. xov. 7)
of thy possession (Ps. xxviii. 9) who dwell
alone, whom thou hast as it were separated from
among the nations, and whose distinction it is
from of old that they, separately from the nations,
belong to thee alone (cf. Num. xxiii. 9 ; Ps. iv. 9,
where "niv belongs to the verb). ''332? an old
form instead of the stat. constr. ( Ob. 3). " Accusa-
tivus habitantem notat passionis non ohjectum sea
effeclum, ut acervos desolates" (Jer. xxxvii. 26).
Ch. B. Michaelis. In the forest in the midst of
Carmel let them feed; in Bashan and GUead,
as in the days of old. The kingdom of Zion
shall extend over the whole desolated land, as was
denoted by the enumeration of the east and west,
as Ps. Ix. 9. That both regions named belong to
the Ten Tribes may be accidental, but is better re-
garded as a commentary on ver. 13, in such senst
CHAPTERS n. AND VH.
53
tluit, as the desolation of the Ten Tribes began
sooner, so will it continue longer than that of
Zion, that it lies waste while Zion has been built
np. The phrase, " in the forest in the midst of
Carmel," is not to be dragged back to the preced-
ing, where it would be a useless, obscure, and halt-
ing addition, but to be connected with the second
half of the verse, as the parallel passage (Jer. 1.
19), which evidently rests on this, still more clearly
shows. By " the days of old " are hardly meant
the days of Uzziah, as Movers supposes, but those
of David, as the normal period of the unity of the
kingdom (cf on ver. 2).
Ver. 15. As in that passage so here, the proph-
et's glance, while he quotes God's ^ answer, confirm-
atory of the prayer in ver. 14, goes still further
back ; as in the days when thou, Israel, oamest
cut of the land of Egypt (Ps. cxiv.), will I to
them, thy people, show wonders of grace.
flWvSi are the special manifestations of God's
mercy, often in opposition to the course of nature
(Ex. iii. 20), which will be repeated in the age of
salvation {the Messianic age) (ix. 5). As the sup-
plicating people in ver. 14 spoke of itself in the
third person, '^^Vt so God in the first member
here addresses it with thou, but in the second,
speaks of it in the third person ; " thou " is the
■present Israel, " he " is the Israel of the future.
Ver. 16. The old impression upon the heathen
resulting from God's wonderful deeds in behalf of
Israel (cf. Ex. xv. 14 f ; [Josh, ii, 9 ff.]) is to be
repeated. The heathen will see it, those, name-
ly, who even then remain rebellious (cf. on ver. 14),
and be ashamed so that all their power van-
tshes (Ezek. xxxii. 30). ^Q Sffre fii) eTcai, as Is.
Sxiii. 1, — wiU lay their hand on their mouth ;
extreme astonishment takes away the power of
speech (Judg. xviii. 19; Is. Iii. 15) — their ears
will be deaf " before the thunder of Jehovah's
mighty deeds (Job xxvi. 14)." Hitzig.
ver. 17. The evil in thera is overcome by the
good, the serpent which reared itself against Jeho-
vah is, like his type (Gen. iii.), by the eternal judg-
ment, cast down to the ground ; dust shall they
lick like the serpent (Ps. Ixxii. 9 ; Is. xlix. 23)
creeping on the earth — properly : as those
things which creep on the earth ; 3 veritatis, as
Is. i. 7. They shall tremble forth out of their
hiding-places ; to Jehovah our God (cf. iv. 5)
shall they approach with terror [herbeizittern]
(Hos. xi. 10 f ), and be in fear before thee (Ps.
xl. 4). With this the discourse passes over again
to the congregation, and ends —
Vers. 18-20, in a final lyric strophe (as Ps. civ.
32 ft'. ; Ixviii. 30 ff. ; Rom. xi. 33 ff.). The won-
derfttl deeds of God, exhibitions of power to the
adversaries, which bring them to trembling sub-
mission, are for Israel deeds of mercy and truth,
which open his mouth for au inspired cry, lay in
his soul the spirit of free heart devotion (nil
n5"'13, Ps. li. 14), in the production of which all
God's discipline, through law, deeds, and proph-
ecy, culminates. Who is a God like thee ! This
also is borrowed from the triumphal ode of Miriam
(Ex. XV. 11; cf Ps. Ixxxvi. 8). Whether there
b any play here on the name Micab, must be left
1 Ihta form of dialogTle between God and the people is
TOTy common in the hymnistic style of the prophets ; more
Particularly at the conclusion where the prophetic ecstasy
bu reoAhed its oilman Hosea xiv., e. g., cannot be under-
undecided. Forgiving iniquity and graciously
passing over all transgression for the remnant
of his people (cf. on ii. 11). Back of this and
what follows lies the description of the compas-
sion of God'iu Ex. xxxiv. 6 f ; in the word ~0^
perhaps an allusion to the great act of mercy (Ex.
xii. 12, 13). He does not hold his anger for-
ever, for he has his pleasure in. mercy (Ps. ciii.
9).
Ver. 19. He will again have compassion on
us (on the constr. vid. Gesen. § 142, 3 b), wiU
tread down our tmq.uities, which rise up against
us as enemies, and overpower us (Ps. Ixv. 4).
Yea, he will oast into the depth of the sea all
their sins, the prophet adds in confirmation, hero
also regarding the sins as foes, and intentionally
alluding to Ex. xv. 10.
Ver. 20. Thou wilt show truth to Jacob, wilt
maintain for the descendants what thou hast prom-
ised them in their progenitor, mercy to Abraham,
who lives on in his posterity, and waits for the
promise (John viii. 56), and was not vainly called
a father of a multitude. Thou wilt show to them
the truth and grace which thou hast sworn to
our fathers from the days of antiquity. The
unity of the plan of salvation for Israel from be-
ginning to end (for the mercy and truth of God
are the scarlet threads which run through it), is
the thought with which the prophet, placing him-
self at the culminating point of revelation, con-
cludes. This perspective has been expanded only
from the point of view of the New Testament
(Matt. XXV. 34).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
God has entered into a covenant relation with
Israel, dating (vii. 21) from the days of the patri-
archs. Hence, while His judgments roar against
the heathen, unproclaimed and without pity, to Is-
rael He first demonstrates his guilt, and that by set-
ting before Himself and the people alike the eter-
nal principles which He has given in His revelation
by word and deed, and in the face of these proves
to Israel that He has kept His truth, but that Is-
rael has broken the covenant and become guilty.
This conviction He secures before the punishment,
that the latter may not prove an annihilation, but
be made fruitful of improvement. For such fruit
results from the punishment, provided the latter
turns the sinner in upon himself, and when it is
borne with the consciousness that it is just. Only
on this condition, finally, is forgiveness possible;
yea (while it appears that the sin is too great to be
possibly expiated by punishment), necessary ac-
cording to the grace of God. To this end serves
the controversy at law.
This begins with a reference to those original
works of redemption by which God founded the
congregation, and with marvelous exhibitions of
favor called them to be his people. Thereby Is-
rael from the beginning entered into an obligation
to be specially consecrated to Him : I am the Lord
thy God. This obligation was represented in an
outward system of duties. The ceremonial cultus,
however, is only a passing pedagogic stage. It
cannot be regarded as the independent principle
and soul of the relation, because it offers to God
stood at all without bearing in mind that we have a dia-
logue before us. This is the n33?, the solemn responsivl
song (Ex. XV. 21) at the time of the salvation, aa Hosea (U
18 [16]) foretells.
64
MICAH.
nothing which does not already helong to Him,
and in consistency it would lead' to ungodly mur-
der. It must look beyond itself, and can furnish
no couch of rest for the congregation. The reg-
ulative and substantial principle in- the law is,
rather, the moral kernel, the righteousness of the
heart.
And according to this principle must Israel be
judged and condemned ; for, when God's truth,
appearing in judgment, looks around for wisdom
(Prov. i. 7) it perceives in every house the folly
(Ps. xiv. 1) of sinners, who would fain enjoy
God's blessing without purity of life. Therefore
the greed and slavery of the sinner must become
his punishment; to eat and not be satisfied, to
labor and not enjoy the fruits, the miserable lot
of involuntary servitude, is their normal end.
Wherever like sins exist there is like punishment ;
no right of legitimacy can secure the kingdom of
Judah against the fate of Samaria, if the ways
here are the same as there.
Sent forth by God and his Spirit (Is. xlviii. 16),
the true Israel wanders through the ages, and
struggles for embodiment. But the longer the
time the less does present reality correspond to
the character which he is obliged to demand of his
members. According to this they should be a liv-
ing possession, prophets and priests to God (Ex.
xix. 5, 6). Nay, he appears to himself now as a
vineyard, a fruit garden which has been gleaned ;
of those who are now called Israelites he can
scarcely recognize one as a member of his body.
Not a blooming orchard is this people, not belted
together by the bands of divine peace into one
well-pleasing whole, but involved in the bonds of
iniquity, which bind the chiefs of the people (John
vii. 48) together ; so closely involved that in the
day of judgment they cannot release themselves.
The connection is external ; inwardly, not the na-
tional bond merely, but all, even the most intim-
ate relations of the family are utterly fretted away,
and that will show itself in the worst outbreaks of
alienation and discord.
But yet the true Israel knows that his time
will come. Although he, with all his promises, is
bound to the substratum of this neglected nation-
ality, he knows still that when it has to be given
up (v. 2) to punishment, be with it will be given
up only to redemption. In the darkness of their
abandonment to the world, .Jehovah is his light.
Hence comes that right disposition to endure,
which the litigation was intended to produce : the
endurance of the anger as a cross which we take
upon ourselves without reluctance : / will bear ;
and the contident waiting for deliverance. He
submits to be given up to the hands of the world-
power, but nevertheless knows that in that day
when God shall perform his promises, out of these
heathen also all that arc called shall enter into the
new Jerusalem, which will be divested of all en-
closure and narrowness; that if all lie in ruins
the eternal kingdom of God will arise upon the
ruins. Then will the Lord be the shepherd of
the true Israel, now become actual and visible.
He will march with might at the head of his own
people. The adversaries, scattered and cast to the
ground, come treuibling unto Jehovah whom they
had despised.
That will be the great day of the foi-giveness of
sins, and of the infliction of punishment, which
only the God of the true Israel can ensure, for he
takes pleasure in compassion. And it must come
because the compassionate God is a true and faith-
ful God, and the Covenant made with the fathers
can be broken by nothing which may come be>
tween.
Schmieder (vi. 4) : Miriam, sister of Moses and
Aaron, was a prophetess (Ex. xv. 20). Just aa
the deliverance out of Egypt, as beginning of the
creation of the people of God, includes within it
all the subsequent works of protection and re-
demption, so the three personages, Moses, Aaron,
and Miriam, are the types of the whole legislation
of the entire priesthood and prophecy, therefore
all God's saving institutions for Israel (vii. 11 ff.).
The day of vengeance upon evil is the dawn of
the day of redemption and restoration for the con-
gregation of the saints. This is the pervading
doctrine of the whole Bible ; with the flood comes
the rain-bow to Noah, with the destruction of
Pharaoh the deliverance from Egypt, with Saul's
death David's glory, with the destruction of Jeru-
salem the new hope of Zion, with the fall of Baby-
lon, the return of the Jews, with the judgment
upon the heathen the return of the Jews.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Mirror of Evangelical Repentance.
1 . Everything is open and manifest before God ;
the dumb earth is his witness. Hide not thyself
(vi. 1, 2).
2. How much has He done for thee ? Hast thou
ever considered it 7 (vers. 3-5).
3. Thou hast outwardly taken part in his wor-
ship, mayest even have gone further in it than
was necessary. But how is it with thee inwardly t
(vers. 6, 7.)
4. Thou knowest his law, but thy life accuses
thee (vers. 8, 9-12).
5. Thou knowest that He is judge, and art ac-
quainted with his judgments. But thy ways show
that thou regardest them not (vers. 13-16).
6. Yea, Lord, I confess (vii. 1-6).
7. But I believe also ; therefore will I fain bear
thy judgments (vers. 7-9).
8. For I know thy promises (vers. 10-17).
9. And will celebrate thy great compassion
(vers. 18-21).
Or : The History of the congregation in God's light
(Is. ii. 15). Exordium : The light of God a light
of judgment (vi. 1, 2).
1. The selection and establishment of the con-
gregation (vers. 3-5).
2. The legislation (vers. 6-8).
3. Sin (vers. 9-16).
4. The acknowledgment of sin (vii. 1-6). Trans-
itus : The light of God a light of grace (vers. 7,
").
5. The return (ver. 9).
6. The experience of grace (vers. 10-20).
Ver. 1. The heart of man is harder than a
stone. The rocks could not but be moved by the
gratuitous beneficence of God, and his complamt.
Men remain unaffected, "If these should keep
silence the stones would cry out." — Ver. 2. Is
there greater condescension than this, that the
Lord of heaven and earth, before whom none liv-
ing is just, and who sees through and through
everything, will not judge Israel, unless He have
seen his sins and consented to it. How soon, 0
Christian, art thou ready with thy judgments! and
allowest thy brother no time for reply, and hast
no ear for him ! — Ver. 3. What God has dona
for us from our youth up is nothing but benefits.
Therefore we should, even in painful experiences,
know that the hour cometh, when we shall recog-
CHAPTERS V:. AND VII.
53
Dize them as mercies from God. What the deliv-
erance from Egypt was for Israel, that is for us
the redemption froin all sins, from death, and from
the power of the devil. Thus have we become his
holy people and possession. — Ver. 4. A great
benefit is it when God at the right time puts the
right people at the head of the congregation. To
tuch right people it pertains also that they should
meet opposition. — Ver. 5. Balaam came to curse,
but when he sought God (Num. xxiii. 3), his
curse was turned into a blessing. Whatever thou
wouldst do, forget not to seek God, that thou may-
est do all as his instrument. To the upright He
gives success. The end of all earnest meditation
on the ways of God is that one perceives them to
be righteousness. — Vers. 6-S. A sermon in time
of war. The people seek their God and thereby
become conscious of their guilt. Then seeking is
equivalent to atonement. Wherewith? (1.) Not
with outward behavior. Fast-days help not, and
the first-born who lie dead on battle-fields, atone
not for the sins of the people. Rather (2) with
the heart. Holy wars like those of David are
scarcely waged any more, but it ought to be the
case that wars should be waged holily. Those
who are at home, however, should show mildness
and modesty. — Ver. 6. That is the way of sinful
man, to excuse himself as if he knew not God's
word. Then we speak as if we knew not what He
really demands (Luke x. 29 ff.). Or we capri-
ciously fjrm notions of God as if He demanded
things which no man can perform. No heart is
so lazy that it would not find out how to reach
what IS good (Prov. xxii. 13). — Ver. 8. If thou
Beekest God, ask thyself above all. What does
God seek in me ? To do right, Karepyafeo-flai 5i-
KMOffiviiv (Acts X. 39), is a hard piece of work,
and whoever reflects upon it deeply perceives that
no man alive is just before God. The power for
that, however, comes from the loving mercy. Clem-
ency towards our neighbor is doubtless intended
(Eos. vi. 6), but the expression is designedly so
put that we are obliged to think of the undeserved
mercy of Him who first loved ns. He who im-
agines that he loved first has not attained to the
third thing, walking humbly. However much he
may outwardly show humility, it is only a wretch-
ed gloss upon a puifed up and proud heart. And
pride in the house of God is a miserable thing. —
Ver. 9. The voice of the Lord calls ever, but not
ever in the same way ; sometimes for invitation,
again to judgment. He who hears not the former
at the time must hear the other after the time.
0 that men would not always regard merely the
rod of correction, but ever also Him who hath ap-
pointed it ! They would then complain of noth-
mg but their own sin. — Ver. 10. It is a helpful
means to repentance, to inquire carefully in regard
to each of our physical and intellectual possessions,
how we came by them. Trade is a dangerous art ;
but God condemns not the art, only the fraud
which is practiced with it. The grain speculators,
even in Micah's time, received the first curse. —
Ver, U. He also has false weight who judges not
his neighbor with the same measure as himself
— Ver. 12. It soon comes to pass with a man that
he believes his own lies, in fact no longer knows
what lies he tells, so that his tongue is a demon to
itself, deceit is in his mouth. When it has reached
that point it is no wonder that God (ver. 13) car-
ries away him who is himself sin with his sin. —
Ver. 14. The covetous pines after what he desires
even in enjoying it. The feeling of perpetual
•mptiness is no longer a sign of sin merely, but
already of the judgment of God. Save what thou
canst, thou canst save nothing from God. — Ver.
15. The curse that man should in the sweat of his
face eat bread may still be aggravated. God'a
eye looks about indeed for wisdom (ver. 9), but
what He sees is men who with eyes open run into
destruction as if they would do it by force. Gen-
eratijon after generation heaps up the curse ; woe
to the generation on whom it breaks ! Then thl
sins of fathers and children lie on one head. How
canst thou excuse thy faults by maintaining that
thou hast been a tender father or mother toward
thine own, when they yet are to hear the punish-
ment of thy faults 1 Take care that thou heap
up the reward for the good works which thou hast
done ; that is the best inheritance.
Chap. viii. As the true Israel to the people of
Israel, so Christ stands to his congregation. There
an invisible head with many visible members, who
can however be such only in name, as being called
Israelites ; here likewise with Christians.
What Christ's congregation should say in an evil
time.
1. Her complaint, vers. 1-4 a. That the saints
have grown few and iniquity abundant. The
complaint bears most hard upon the princes ac-
cording to their various responsibility.
2. Their fear, ver. 4 b-6. The day of God
must certainly come, and that with fearful signs.
3. Their comfort.
(a.) They know on whom they trust, know his
name, and his readiness to hear, his wounding and
healing, and his nature, that he is light (vers. 7, 8).
Therefore they wait patiently in the darkness,
(b.) They know that right must remain right
(ver. 9). Therefore they patiently endure wrong.
(c.) They know that to their adversaries an evil
lot is appointed (ver. 10). Therefore they weary
not.
(d.) They know what is before them, namely,
that the evil and narroiv is to be torn down, in
order to build again well and wide (vers. 11-13).
Therefore they complain not that it is torn down.
(e.) They know their shepherd's voice and
works from of old (vers. 15-18). Therefore they
meditate on the days of old (Ps. Ixxvii. 6), and
hold before him his Word.
(f ) They have a complete revelation of God's
nature, that He is the only, and a sin-forgiving,
God, gracious and powerful over sin and faithful
( vers. 1 8-20) . Therefore, they celebrate and praise
Him even in the most wretched time.
A pious soul is for the Lord a refreshment.
That is not said, however, to puff up, but for the
encouragement of those who love God. Who
would not willingly prepare a delight for Him ! —
Ver. 2. When once the saints die out of a land,
there is soon manifested a whole abyss of abomin-
able things, which they alone, through their life
and prayers, have kept down. The prayers of the
pious restrain the judgment. — Ver. 3. How would
God's kingdom be promoted, if only the same ac-
tivity, invention, and persevorauce were applied to
its objects, which are spent in works of wicked-
ness. — Every judge ought to think that he has
an office from God, and that God's cause should
be cheap to no one. — It is also a bad sign wlien
in a land unbridled words prevail. Sins of the
tongue increase also the burden. The further a
man's voice is heard, the more honestly should
he guard his mouth. — Ver. 4. It is a bad thing
to draw others into one's own matters and inter-
ests. Many a one has thought he did God service
while he was making a party for the accomplish
56
MICAH.
ment of his own plans, and was only a snare for
the day of judgment. God alone makes his parties
for Himself; his programme is not theses, but the
Holy Scriptures; his leader is the Holy Spirit.
When He works not (and He works in^ truthful-
ness and peace, without any human addition, as a
spirit of willingness, without any harm or calumny
toward others), then all work is vain. All par-
tisanship leads to the state of things described in
ver. .5. How can the kingdom of God be built
up, when its original foundation tears itself in
pieces. It is written that Abraham went out from
his kindred, but not that he stood up against them
and mocked them. — Ver. 7. Martha is careful
and troubled about many things, but one thing is
needful. To wait is the strongest power, to pray
is the strongest weapon ; for they both have God
for an ally ; and when He hears it is also effectu-
ally heard. — Ver. 8. He who falls without God
never rises again. What a tearful darkness is that
in which they must sit who have no God ! And
what is all darkness for us if we have God f The
name of God is a light shining in the depth of
the heart, and therefore cannot be extinguished
from without. — Ver. 9. The evangelical call to
repentance results in the conversion of the will
with hearty sorrow. Evangelical repentance is
not doing but suffering. Works of repentance [sat-
isfactio operis) are not pain but pleasure, therefore
self deception, or, if they were not a pleasure, but
were imposed by authority, against one's will, they
would be wholly useless, since then not the will of
him who renders them performs them, but prop
erly the will of Him by whom they are imposed
But the pain resulting from a clear discernment of
the misery of sitting deservedly far from God in
our misery, is an unspeakable grief ; and he who
has not felt it knows not yet what repentance is.
It is so profound that if faith were not present
(9 b), it must inevitably become despair. — Ver.
11. Where life in the kingdom of God must first
be propped up by statutes, there is no life begun,
but whitewashed death. The kingdom of God
begins in a man with the law of liberty. The em-
bracing wall which God draws around the new
Jerusalem is He himself (Zech. ii. 8). That is a
very wide room. There all the peoples of the
earth have a place. — Ver. 13. But this birth also
takes place amid pains. — Ver. 14. The shepherd
of the new congregation is the Messiah (v. 3).
Therefore is lier room also (against ver. 11) a very
narrow, separate room ; there, namely, ivhere good
pasture is for his sheep (Fs. xxiii. 2) ; the wilder-
ness remains for the morally wild. — Ver. 15. In
the history of the kingdom of God there is a con-
stant similarity in the main lines. Naturally, for
God is unchanging, and his doings always divine,
wonderful. — Ver. 16. When He once begins to
work there is also an end of human power. De-
sire not to bring on yourselves the wonder 1 — Ver.
17. How has the serpent revived in so many per-
sons ! The seed of the woman, Abraham's seed,
has become as the sand of tbe sea, but the other
not less. The final biting of the heel and the final
crushing of the head are not yet come. — Ver. 18.
In all the world for Him whose look sees highest
»ver the world and into eternity, there is nothing
60 commendable as the forgiveness of sins. He
ivho said : Thy sins are forgiven thee, could be
no other than God, unless he were more criminal
than Adam ; for he exercised the highest prerog-
ative of God. — Ver. 19. The last short sting
of repentance ; Belongest thou also to the " rem-
nant ? " The " remnant " is lame and crippled
(iv. 7) ; it needs the physician. God takes pleas-
ure in mercy ; what a look does that give us into
the deepest heart of God ! There no man sees a
bottom, but as deeply as he can see, nothing but
delight. — Ver. 20. God has a long memory ; and
his blessing extends to the thousandth generation.
On vi. 1. Luther: People are wont, especially
if they hear of the anger of God, to believe that
it will not go so fearfully with them. Hence they
allow themselves to suppose that in the midst of
sin they may hope to find forgiveness and pardon,
and may either laugh at the prophet's threatening
or despise it as human tiction. Such mistake
would the prophet guard against when he says,
not that men should hear him, but the Lord ; the
Lord speaks, and not he.
Tarnov : From men who would not hear, the
discourse turns to the hills and mountains, that
it may be heard.
Ver. 3. Chktsostom : He calls those his peo-
ple who would not call Him God ; those who strive
to take from Him the kingdom He treats not as
haughty rebels, but invites them to Him mildly,
and says : My people, what have I done to thee ?
Have I been burdensome to thee "i Thou canst say
nothing of that kind. But even if thou couldst
thou shouldst not have fallen away from Him.
For who is the son whom his father chastiseth
not ? But not once hast thou occasion to speak of
that. Cf. Jer. ii. 5.
Ver. 4. MiCHAELis : It is an ungodly thing to
injure him from whom thou hast received no evil,
much more ungodly still to injure the most houn-
tiful benefactor.
Ver. 5. Hengstenberg : That also is regai led
as a part of Balaam's answer which served as its
practical guaranty.
Ver. 6. LoTHER : God had commanded sacri-
fices. But He would receive them as certain tes-
timony of obedience toward Him if they were not
disobedient in much greater and more important
things. But since they neglect the greater acts of
worship, and perform the lesser and more irrational
acts with so ungodly a purpose, namely, that the
sacrifices should be a payment for their sins, God
regards their offerings as an abomination, and
mocks them.
MiCHAELis : They are not able to deny their
sins, but practice hypocrisy when they offer sacri-
fices and outward things, but are unconcerned
about repentance.
Ver. 8. Luther : That is also a service which
all men in every position can render.
MiCHAELis : It is the most excellent things in
the law which Christ, in opposition to the purely
pedagogic Old Testament portions of the law, calls
Ta ySapuTcpo Tov vijxov. There is nothing more
humble or more humbling than faith.
Vers. 13. Luther : We Germans have expe-
rienced such things tlirough war.
Ch. vii. 1. Burck : This is a complaint. To
the pious teacher, namely, it is sad, that the per-
verseness of human nature is so great, that not
only are the ungodly not improved, but in soma
sort actually with design and exertion becoraa
daily worse. On this account, however, we ought
not to let the calling sleep nor be neglected. For
on the teachers lie two things, says Luther : first,
that they save their soul, as Ezekiel speaks, second-
ly, that the evil world should have a testimony
against it. " Had I not come and spoken," said
Jesus, " they had not had sin." To this may b«
added the third most important cause, that whea
CHAPTERS VI. AND VII.
57
■11 others blaspheme, God's name may be hal-
lowed.
ScHLiEK ! The prophet proclaims to his people
the painful confession of sin, that they may learn
by th*(t what is necessary. The confession of sin
is followed by the confession of faith.
Ver. 2. Luther : There is none that walketh
rightly. Because, namely, he sees that all men,
when it goes well and prosperously, live without
fear of God, and in the highest wantonness.
Again when misfortune comes, they either faint or
betake themselves to carnal helps and means. —
Ver. 3. Therefore should rulers let sins in them
be freely punished (for it is God's command), but
they should stand clear of sins.
Ver. 7. Calwek Bible : Thus speaks the
prophet, in the name of the little flock, to the un-
godly opposers.
MicHAELis : But I: that is an antithesis to the
foregoing, and means : It is even so ; all is getting
bad ; the righteous and fearful judgments of God
hang over men's heads ; but what shall I do in
such a state of things ? — despair, or murmur, or
speak impatiently ? Rather, etc. He does not
allow himself to be led away by the wickedness of
the great mass, and what is more, he does not
throw away hope ; although the deluge must come,
know that God can save even in the deluge. The
ground of his hope lies in God : the God of my
salvation. He will certainly save me, who has
from ancient times been my salvation, and who is
called God of salvation. Is. xviii. 10 ; Hab. iii.
18.
Ver. 8. Calvin : The feeling of divine grace
in adversity is quite peculiarly comparable to the
light, as when one who has fallen into a deep pit
yet perceives a distant gleam of the sun when he
raises his eyes. So should we also not be confound-
ed, however dense and gloomy the darkness may be
in our trials, but ever keep the spark of light glow-
ing for us, that is, faith should ever raise our eyes
upward that we may have a feeling of the divine
Ver. 9. LuTHEK : It may seem an amusing
thing, that Basilius, in a letter in which he laments
his mother's death, says that this has happened be-
cause of her sin. But, truly, whoever thinks that
even the most trifling misfortune has its source in
this fountain, mistakes not, but lives nobly in the
fear of God.
Calwek Bible ; Even the pious can never ex-
cept themselves from the general guilt, and must
theretbi'e also take their part of the general pun-
ishment, although they may live innocently from
the world and before the world. Cf. 1 Pet. iv. 12-
19.
MiCHAELiS : Until; that is twofold, first, the
immovable patience of the congregation, secondly,
the end of the appointed suffering.
Ver. 10. MicHAELis : They rejoice not so
much over the destruction of enemies as oter the
assurance of the favor of God, whose name hith-
erto has been so much profaned by them.
Ver. 12. Hen&steheekg : It is not enough
'hat the people of God be free from the slavery of
the world ; they become also the object of the long-
ing of the nations, even the strongest and most
hostile ; the magnet which attracts them.
Ver. 13. Luther ; In these words we should
notice the special diligence of the Holy Spirit,
which sees clearly what sort of thoughts the wicked
lynagogue will have, that they will hope for a car-
nal kingdom, and despise the preaching of the Gos-
pel on that account. Such an error, which not
only obscures the Kingdom of Heaven lut utterly
takes it away, the Holy Spirit would here antici'
pate and foi'estall.
Ver. 14. Taenov: With thy staff; not with
the iron rod of Moses, but with thine, the leading
of the Holy Spirit, with thy Word and Spirit ; for
these are the instruments of the kingdom of God.
CoccEius : With the staff the shepherd num-
bers his sheep, smites, leads them, points oui
whither they should go, from what they should
turn aside, where they should find pasture.
Ver. 18. MiCHAELis : The congregation whicK
here speaks through the prophet, is sunk in an
abyss, while it contemplates the riches of the di-
vine grace and mercy, which in the last times is to
come upon it.
Vers. 18 ff. BdkCk : The Holy Scriptures re
veal a new, rich depth of the divine fullness, and
a truly inexhaustible treasure of " indulgence."
There are no casus reservati.
Starke : Ch. vi. 1 . Teachers and preachers in
their teaching should not make a show of strange
languages, or clothe themselves in the writings of
Church fathers, or even in unprofitable fables, but
should abide by God's Word alone, and speak that.
On the mountains and hills in particular was idol-
atry practiced, so that they had evidence of men's
ungodliness. — Ver. 3. God earnestly desires the
salvation of all. — Ver. 4. We should remember
not only the benefits which God has shown to us,
but particularly those also which our forefathers
have experienced. — The teaching and the govern-
ing office should be in accord with each other. —
Ver. 5. The wish of the enemies of the Church, to
destroy it, has never succeeded. — Vers. 6, 7. Most
powerfully does our own conscience bear witness
to the necessity of a vicarious atonement, in that
it cannot otherwise be pacified. It makes a gi'eat
difference whether pious or ungodly people ask :
How shall we appease God 1 Even with such
works as God has commanded can He not be
served, if they are performed by an impenitent
man. By self-appointed acts of worship He is
only angered the more. — Ver. 8. Believe, love,
and endure. As it is a great sorrow when men
whom God has created and Christ redeemed, know
neither God nor Christ, so, on the contrary, it is a
great blessing, when we know from God's Word,
and perceive what is good, and what God demands
of us. On the ground of ignorance, since we can
know but will not, we cannot excuse ourselves. —
Ver. 9. A man sees only what is before his eyes,
but God sees the heart. Those who will not giva
ear to God's paternal admonitions must taste his
sharp rod. — Ver. 10. There are ungodly men
who knowingly have in their house goods gained
by unrighteousness. Such goods are not treas-
ures, but a coal, by which the rest also that has
been honestly gained shall be consumed. — Ver.
11. A Christian householder should endure no
false balance or false weight in his house. — Ver.
12. Rich people who love uni-ighteousness, meet
unrighteousness also as a reward. Covetous peo-
ple are generally lying people also. Those who
possess goods wickedly acquired commonly oppress
the poor also with great violence and pride ; cov-
etousness is insatiable. — Ver. 13. Here He begins
to display the rod which He had commanded in
ver. 9 to hear. God begins with lighter punish-
ments, but when these do not secure improvement,
He makes them heavier in proportion as they ara
more prolonged. — Ver. 14. Famine is one of
God's greatest plagues. As the pious, in all their
conduct, have God about, with, and for them, sg
58
MICAH
the wicked, on the other hand, have Him against
them. — Ver. 15. If we would enjoy oui' labor, wc
must fear God and pursue piety, fairness, and jus-
tice.— Ver. 16. Subjects are often much more
submissive to their rulers in their wicked require-
ments than in just and commendable regulations.
— Ch. vii. 1. When teachers see no fruit of their
labors, they should not straightway lay them down,
but faithfully do their own part and commend it to
God's blessing. — Ver. 2. Eeligion should not be
judged by the lives of men. Cain has in all times
his brother. Before God sends the general calam-
ities on a land. He is wont to remove the pious
people by death, that they may not see the evil.
Those also who go about with secret plots and
wicked practices are murderers before God, for He
seeth the heart. — Ver. 4. The ungodly believe
not what is threatened them until they have it in
hand ; then they are utterly cast down and dis-
heartened, so that they can counsel neither them-
selves nor others. — Ver. 5. Christians ought to
be prudent. — Ver. 6. When men first give them-
selves up to carnal lusts, and lose sight of all
shame and respect for God, then natural affection
also commonly dies out. — Ver. 7. See how strenu-
ously he insists that he has a God, much as if the
other crowd had no God. The wicked have a
God, doubtless, but an angry God, a God of ven-
geance and not of salvation. He that would be
secure against evil e.-cample must look to the Lord
in obedience and patience. — Ver. 8. God some-
times leaves believers also to stumble and fall,
that they may be humbled, but He helps them up
again. — Ver. 9. The righteous comjjilains hrst of
himself. — Ver. 10. God punishes not only the
blasphemies which are cast upon Him, but the cal-
umnies against his children also. — Ver. U. The
preaching of the Gosjjel is the means by which
God maintains and enlarges his Church. — Ver.
13. The earth is the Lord's, the men, however, are
its guests and inhabitants. — Ver. 14. God would
have us pray to Him for the good things which He
promises us. Believers have in Christ no want,
but full enjoyment. — Ver. 16. It annoys the
wicked greatly, when they see that the Gospel is
spread abroad in spite of them. — Ver. 17. It is
among the items of the great mystery, that the
unbelieving world has believed the Gospel. — Ver.
18. Not only is there no other God, but also there
is in heaven and on earth no such loving-kindness
to be found as with God, who forgiveth sins. God
is not so compassionate as to have no anger, but
only so that He holds it not forever. Sin is Sa-
tan's work, forgiveness God's. — Ver. 19. The
sea is the blood of Jesus Christ. God not only
forgives sins, but gives us the power also to sub-
due sin. — Ver. 20. As God Himself is truth, so
also is his Word truth, on which we may confi-
dently rest.
Pfaff : Ch. vi. 6-8. Ye cannot excuse your-
selves, ungodly men, as not having known the
will of God. As clearly and richly as this has
been made known to you, as many corrections,
from the Good Spirit as ye have received in your
souls, so often has conscience in you been awak-
ened. But ye hold the truth in unrighteousness.
— Ver. 13. Public iniquity and deceit are cer-
tainly followed by heavy judgments ; for the prop-
erty gathered by them must become a disgrace
(vii. 8). In the d.irkness of the greatest affliction,
the pious still see the light, and find their pleasure
in tlie Lord's mercy, which is hidden in the cross.
Kieger: Oh. vi. (1) The forcible beginning,
%r the awakening of hearts, vers. 1, 2. (2) The
friendly direction, for the winning of hearts, vers.
3-8. (3J The sharp threatening against the sealed
hearts, vers. 9-16. On vers. 6, 7. As men now-
a-days express their unreasonableness towards the
service of God in spirit and in truth, when they
say, One scarcely ever knows what one ought to
do; they will be contented with nothing any
more. — Ver. 8. To conduct one's self in all
things earnestly, according to the divine and not
the liuman standard, and in this to give to the
Word of God its judicial power ; to practice kind-
ness with delight, and to walk in humble faith before
and with God : in that light let each one consider
his own heart and conscience. — Ver. 9 ff. God
has never accumulated presages of future events for
the gratification of curious inquisitiveness, but to
promote improvement at the present, thereby to
render aid against unrighteousness. — Ch. vii. 1 ff.
One must never rest satisfied with discourses and
representations to men, but must support the pub-
lic address by many words before and with the
Father in secret ; and if one will cover the unfruit-
fulness of the public labor with fatigue, one must
refresh himself again by this intercourse with God.
— Ver. 2. For the righteous who doubtless yet re-
mained it was a salutary prompting that they should
not so conceal themselves (Prov. xxviii. 28), but be
active also in the better spirit. — Ver. 8 ff. There
are ahpays people who are glad to see it when the
truth is so humbled, and her confessors brought into
such straits, that it seems to be all over with relig-
ion, order, and discipline. They together make
up the enemy that is hostile to Zion. — Ver. 9.
This makes one submissive under all the reproach
upon the Church and her service, to observe that
there is indignation at the bottom of it, that God
thus withdraws Himself, and we no more attain
to the blessing of former witnesses. But hope re-
freshes the heart.
S0H.MIEDER : Ch. vi. 3. This question of the
conscience, cutting deep into the sinful heart, ad-
dresses itself still, and in a still more humiliating
way, to the people whom the Lord has purchased
with his blood. The liturgy of the Romish Church,
on Good Friday, during the adoration of the cross
(the so-called lamentations), has appropriated this
complaint of the Lord to the holy people : " I led
you forty years long through the wilderness, fed
thee with manna, and brought thee into a good
land, and thou hast therefor crucified thy Saviour.
I planted thee as my beautiful vineyard, and thou
hast become bitter for me, hast given me vinegar
to drink in my thirst, with a spear hast pierced my
side. For thy sake I scourged Egypt and her first-
born, and thou hast caused me to be scourged,"
etc. — Ver. 7. Not indeed, unless it is a sign of a
heart offering itself to God. — Ver. 8. Doing
rightly is an exhibition of faith, complete devotion
to God is the real spiritual burnt-offering. To love
mercy toward others is the true daily meat-offer-
ing. To walk humbly, to be mindful that God is
the Holy One, thou a poor sinner, that is the true
spiritual sin-offering. — Ver. 14. That is the
curse of the covetous, that he is never satisfied;
the blessing of God and contentment are wanting.
— Ch. vii. 3. Thus ever the history of Naboth's
vineyard repeats itself. The prince demands it;
since Naboth will not consent, judges are bribed,
and the queen says what she lusts after ; Naboth,
though innocent, must die as a blasphemer ; thus
they weave the net. — Ver. 4. The thorn, thf
hedge, is in the vegetable kingdom the type of
what is evil, because it injures (2 Kings xiv.
Judg. ix.) ; as the vine, the c'ive :he fig tree are the
CHAPTERS VI. AND VII,
69
type of the good, because they give fruit and shadow.
— Ver. 5 ff. Compare Matt. x. 35 f., where by the
use which our Lord makes of this prophetic office
it is clear that the times of such domestic discord
and insecurity, come tlien especially when, after
the undisturbed dominion of evil, the Spirit of
God arouses and enlivens the remnant of the
pious, so that they with word and deed bear wit-
ness against wickedness, and contend with Satan.
Then must the pious man contend and suffer for
the Lord's sake, but also watch lest he commit
sin, and thus be rightfully chastised for his sin's
sake. — Ver. 14. Since on Carmel, in Basban
and Gilead, was the best pasture, and since Israel
is here compared to a flock, these good pasture
grounds are here typically assigned to the people,
while yet only the fruitful abodes in the land of
Canaan are really meant. — Ver. 18. That is the
so-called angry God of the Old Testament. — Ver.
19. Our misdeeds are our most dangerous enemy
and accuser; but even this Satan will the God of
peace subdue to Himself and us, and has already
done it, if we trust wholly to Him who treads the
serpent under foot. Happy he whose sin is buried
(Rom. vi. 4).
QuANDT : Ch. vi. Of Israel's gratitude. (1)
Israel's unthankfulness for God's previous mercy,
vers. 1, 5. (2) ver. 6-8. How Israel should thank
God. (3) ver. 9-16. How God will punish thank-
less Israel. ^ Ver. 1. The mountains and hills
signify the prominent leaders of the people. — Ver.
10. Cf Am. viii. 5, 6. - Ver. II. Inquiry of the
conscience terrified by the searching of the Lord.
Not as if the grain-speculators actually inquired
thus. But Micah wishes that they would so in-
quire, that they might come to themselves and re-
pent.— Ver. 12. The punishment of men on
earth is never the ultimate end, but ever the
means to the end of their conversion. — Ch. vii.
Mercy glories over judgmetit. — Ver. 2. The seven
thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal
were not wanting in Micah's time either. But if
one would picture the impression made by a barren
landscape, he does not stop on the description of a
flower or two which may bloom somewhere in con-
cealment. The Redeemer also said universally :
Ye would not, and leaves Nicodemus and Joseph
of Arimathea out of the account. — Ver. 20. God's
oath, on which Micah here at the end leans as on
a rock, is that of Gen. xiii. 16 ff. How God kept
it, see in Luke i. 72-75.
[Matthew Heney : on ch. vi. 4. When we are
calling to mind God's former mercies to us, we
must not forget the mercy of good teachers and
governors when we were young. Let those be
made mention of, to the glory of God, who went
before us, saying. This is the way, walk in it ; it
[1 So good people have been wont to complain, in Church
and State, since the Homeric heroes, at least, of the degen-
eracy of each generation, as compared with the preceding
one. If such wailings were reasonable, what angelic piety
»nd social virtue must have flourished three thousand years
»go, and how dreadful to think of our posterity, three thou-
Maid years hence, looking ba£k, over countless steps of de-
was God that sent them before us, to prepare the
way of the Lord, and to pi-epare a people for Him.
— Ver. 6-8. Deep convictions of guilt and wratb
will put men upon inquiries after peace and par'
don, and then, and not till then, there begins to ba
some hope of them. Those that are thoroughly
convinced of sin, of the malignity of it, and of
their misery and danger by reason of it, would giv»
all the world, if they had it, for peace and pardon
Men will part with anything rather than their sins,
but they part with nothing, to God's acceptance,
unless they part with them. — Ver. 9. It is a point
of true wisdom to discover the name of God in the
voice of God, and to learn ^vhat He is from what
He says. Every rod has a voice, and it is the voice
of God that is to be heard in the rod of God ; and
it is well for those that understand the language
of it; which if we would do, we must have an eye
to Him that appointed it. Every rod is appointed,
of what kind it shall be, where it shall light, and
how long it shall lie. The work of ministers is to
explain the providences of God, and to quicken
and direct men to the lessons that are taught by
them. — Ver. 16. If professors of religion ruin
themselves, their ruin will be the most reproachful
of any other ; and they in a special manner will
rise at the last day to everlasting shame and con-
tempt. — Ch. vi. 1. Some think that this intimates
not only that good people were few, but that those
few who remained, who went for good people, were
good for little ; like the small withered grapes, the
refuse that were left behind, not only by the gath-
erer, but by the gleaner. When the prophet ob-
served this universal degeneracy, it made him de-
sire the first-ripe fruit ; he wished to see such wor-
thy, good men as were in the former ages, were the
ornaments of the primitive times, and as far ex-
ceeded the best of all the present age as the first and
full-ripe fruits do those of the latter growth, that
never come to maturity. When we read and hear
of the wisdom and zeal, the strictness and con-
scientiousness, the devotion and charity, of the
professors of religion in former ages, and see the
reverse of this in those of the present age, we can-
not but sit down and wish with a sigh, 0,far prim-
itive Christianity again J Where are the plainness
and integrity of those that went before us t Where
are the Israelites indeed, without guile ? Our souls
desire them, but in vain. The golden age is gone
and past recall ; we must make the best of what
is, for we are not likely to see such times as have
been.i — Ver. 9. Those that are truly penitent for
sin will see a great deal of reason to be patient
under afSiction. — Ver. 15. God's /oi-mer favors
to his Church are patterns of future favors, and
shall again be copied out as there is occasion. —
Te.]
terioration, to us aa paragons of lost perfection ! This view
of things ia, rather, a lazy or helpless recognition of the
remaining evil which it behooves each age to put away or
diminish. As Henry himself says on ver. 9, " When we
complain to God of the badness of the times, we ought to
complain against ourselves for the baduess of our owl
hearts." — IB.]
THE
BOOK OF NAHFM.
EXPOUNDED
PAUL KLEIl^EET,
PABTOl AT ST. GKETEAUB, AND PROFEaSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT TEEOLOOT IN THB
UIOTBRSITT 0? BERLIN
TRANSLATED AND ENLARGED
CHARLES ELLIOTT, D. D.,
nOraaSOB OF SauOAI. LUEBATITRB UI the PRESBTTIIBIAIt THXOLOOICAI. RKimrABT AT OHIOAGO, ILtt
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SORIBNER'S SONS,
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
SCEIBNEE, AeMSTROKQ, AND COMPANY,
Is the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashingtoB.
NAHUM.
INTRODUCTION.
I. Contents and Form.
The prophecy of Nahum announces the destruction of Nineveh, beheld in vision OiTfl,
i. 1), in strains of a lofty, impetuous epinicion. This triumphal song is addressed partly,
so far as it is consolatory and animating, to his countrymen ; but chiefly, in its menacing
character, to the powerful enemy. That Nineveh is the enemy is expressly declared in the
course of the prophecy, chap. ii. 9 (8) compared with chap. iii. 18. In chap. i. 8, where
it is first referred to, the allusion is intelligible, only as a retrospect to the statement in the
title, i. 1, which, consequently, must be considered as an integrant part of the whole.
Nineveh was to be destroyed, plundered, and entirely laid waste by a hostile army, and by
the unfettering of the elements ; and all those that were oppressed by her were to have rest
from that time forth.
Tl^e whole book is one connected prophecy. The transitions from one train of thought
to another are interwoven into one another ; they are often so joined by close antithesis, or
verbal correspondence, that the conclusion of that which precedes is inseparably connected
with the beginning of that which follows. The prophetic effusion flows on continually from
beginning to end, without distinct sections, pauses, or divisions into strophes. Yet there is
no defect in the internal arrangement. In the exordium (i. 1-6), the prophet sets out, not
ft«m a present historical event, nor even from the event seen by him in vision ; but with a
lemma borrowed from the Torah : " God is a jealous God and an avenger ; " which he works
into a grand description of God's glory as a judge (comp. i. 4). Connected with this by the
immediately annexed intermediate thought (ver. 7), that the avenging Jehovah is good to them
that trust in Him, is the announcement, by way of inference, of the destruction of Nineveh,
(i. 8-16), which finally ends in a sentence of judgment, delivered prophetically in the stricter
sease (vers. 12-14). With this is connected, passing over another intermediate thought (ii. 1),
relating to Israel, the description of the catastrophe (ii. 2-11) ; differing from the announce-
ment by the fact that while the latter is expressed throughout in the future (ntt>27'', ~'3E1?S,
l]''2?S), now the whole scene, viewed as real and present before the eyes of the prophet, is
described by preterits and participles (ilby, D"'ii?3, ^!J2p). He sees the besieging army
before the city, the armor glittering in the light of the sun (vers. 2-4) ; in the city he beholds
wUd confusion (vers. 5, 6) ; he sees the flood break in with its overflowing waters (7-9 a),
the city abandoned and laid waste (9 b-11).
To the description is directly added, as it were, an elegy over the ruins, lamenting, of
course, less in sympathy with Nineveh, than over the wickedness which caused such ruin. An
alternating surge of motives, and of further descriptions of the catastrophe and its con
sequences follows from ii. 12-iii. 19. ii. 12-14 gives mainly the fundamental thoughts of
this epilogue ; (a.) Nineveh was a robber ; (b.) She is destroyed hy God from the earfi.
Both these thoughts are thereupon farther carried out : (a.) in iii. 1-4 ; (b.) in iii. 5-7 ;
(c.) iii. 8-12 presents a new motive ; its destruction is certain, and resistance hopeless;
even the powerful No Amon fell. And as it is hopeless, so also (d.), it is helpless, 12, 13-
This thought is carried out in a two-fold form, vers. 14, 15, a, b ; let Nineveh arm herself as
she may, still she must be destroyed, 15 c-17 ; however unnumbered her troops may be, yet
they must vanish away. To this is joined the epilogue, vers. 18, 19, which comprises the fun
NAHUM.
damental thoughts of the whole : Nineveh, the oppressor, is irrecoverably destroyed; and the
oppressed do not mourn, but are comforted.
Even from the summary of the contents we might arrive at the conclusion that the diction
would be stirring and vivacious. Indeed, Nahum of all the prophets has the most impassioned
style ; and in none is found the change of numbers, of persons addressed, and of suffix-rela-
tions, with such frequency and immediateness as in him. At the same time his language has
wonderful energy and picturesque beauty. The painting does not embrace merely single
rhythms (ii. 5) and groups of words fii. ll),but whole series (iii. 2, 3 ; ii. 10, and a number
of other places) ; and in connecting his thoughts he shows, with all his vehemence, great and
varied skill. Consider the beautiful double parallelisms (comp. iii. 4) ; the rhythmical prom-
inence of a single definitive word, or of a quite small group of words, i. 10 (^738), 1* (nlbp ^3),
ii. 1 ; iii. 1 7 (Q*S) ; the fuller statement of two fundamental thoughts briefly premised (i. 7,
8 ; n-l!J, ni2t», carried out, vers. 9, 10 ; i. 12-14 : Tp^, "taan, carried out, iii. 1 ff., 5 flf., etc.)
Lowth says with propriety : " Ex omnibus minoribus prophetis nemo videtur wquare suUimitatem
ardorum el audaces spiritun Nahumi. Adde quod ejus vaticinium integrum ac justum. est poema.
Exordium magnificum est et plane augustum ; apparatus ad excidium Ninivm ejusque excidii
descriptio el ampUJicatio ardentissimis coloribus exprimitur et mirabilem habet evidenliam el
pondus." It has been here and there the custom, from a somewhat docetie view of the
Scriptures, to esteem lightly the attention bestowed upon the form adopted by the sacred
writers as something superfluous, relatively useless. We are not to reason about an opinion
that is based upon a natural defect, and whoever has in general a sense of method, will not
allow himself to be robbed of the enjoyment he finds in contemplating the forms of God's
Word. (Comp. Prov. xxv. 11.) However, he who would like to copy after a good exemplar,
can refer, not merely to the beauty of Luther's translation of the Bible, but also to the ex-
press model of the Reformer, whom certainly no one will accuse of humanizing the Scrip-
tures. Compare, for example, his remark on Hab. i. 8 : " Here we see how elegantly and
accurately the prophets can speak, how briefly and yet amply they express a thing. For
what another would have said in bare words, thus : The Babylonians will come and destroy
Jerusalem ; Habakkuk says with many words, and beautifies everything, and adorns it with
similes," etc.
2. Author and Date.
The title, of whose genuineness, as we have seen, there can be no doubt, designates Na-
hum the Elkoshite, as the author of this prophecy (D^HS is an intensive form like D^irn
TlDn, and signifies compassionate, benevolent; also consolatory). Of this prophet, apart
from the title, we have no trustworthy accounts. The traditions concerning his birth and
ministry, which O. Strauss has compiled from Pseudo-Dorotheus, Pseudo-Epiphanius, and
Isodorus Hispalensis, show, by their many contradictions, and, in part, by their fantastic
character, that their inventors had no more certain sources of information than ourselves, i. e.,
the title with the name and place of birth, and the prophecy itself; and that they were not
even in a condition to turn the latter to good account.
If we first seek to establish from the prophecy the situation (time and place) of the com-
position, it is evident : —
1. From the address to Judah, ii. 1, that Samaria was already destroyed, and that, when
he speaks of the injury to the Holy Land, only Judah appears exposed to danger. Indeed,
Samaria had been destroyed long ago : it had already passed from memory. We will con-
sequently take no notice of the statement of the Chronicon Paschale (Olymp. iii. 2-4), accord-
ing to which Nahum prophesied in the 8-10 year of Jotham, one hundred and forty-four years
before the destruction ; in the same way we will treat that of Josephus, according to which
his prophecy falls in the last year of Jotham (one hundred and fifteen years, according to the
reckoning of Josephus, before the catastrophe ; Ant., ix. 11, 3 ; comp. Niebuhr, p. 117) ; in the
same way, that of Eiisebius (in Chron.), which places it in the sixth year of Hezekiah. We
are shut up to a period, when Samaria had been for a long time destroyed, and Judah had
already been exhausted and disheartened by the keen blows of Assyria.
2. The same statement also compels us to go beyond the time of Sennacherib, in
which Vitringa, Ni^elsbach, Keil, and many others, misplace the prophecy. For the op-
pressor has already passed once, or several times, over the land, ii. 1 ; i. 12 (comp, i. 9
with this passage) ; and just now he is not there, not even approaching; but new humilia
INTRODUCTION
tiotis impend (j. 12), if Nineveh continues to be spared, on account of which Judah shrinks
from solemnizing her feasts (ii. 1). Moreover the strain of the prophecy is such as supposea
a continual happy success to Assyria, but not a catastrophe like that of Sennacherib. Had
it originated at the approach of that monarch, the remote destruction of Nineveh would have
furnished no special consolation for the existing generation of the Jews.
3. But at the same time it is manifest, in reference to the terminus ad quern, that Nahum
does not see the end of Nineveh as immediately imminent. The city is still strong and
powerful, full of people (i. 12), and its subjects are widely spread (iii. 17). The Egyptian
Necho is not yet in the plan ; for it was only about four years before the destruc':ion of
Nineveh, that he began to overrun and plunder Western Asia, and annihilated the power of
Josiah. Had he been arming, or on the way, then ii. 1 would be without complete sense.
Neither is it a detailed description of the present reality that Nahum gives ; he does not
speak of two armies, which are approaching (see below, 4), but of a disperser (ii. 2). He
does not start from the fact, but derives the necessity of it from the certainty of God's Word
contained in the Law (i. 1 ff. ; comp. Ps. xciv) ; and thus the tenor of the whole description is
such as it was opened to the eye of the prophet, according to its ideally necessary course, to
which also the divine intervention belongs (ii. 7 ff. ; comp. Judges v. 20). Hence we are di-
rected to the times before the oppression of Assyria by the Medes and Scythians ; and the
fixing of the date under Jehoiakim (Coeceius) and Zedekiah (Clemens Alex), comes to
nothing.
4. On the other hand it is evident from the intuitive lanschaulicken] manner, in which
the prophet speaks of the city, that his prophecy was written in Assyria (Tuch, Ewald).
His language is like that of one who addresses Israel from a distance, and his messages
to the people of his native country (ii. 1 fF.) have accordingly a very striking similarity to the
related passages, Is. Iii. 1, 7, 8 (compare also iii. 5, with Is. xlvii. 2, 3 ; iii. 7, with Is. Ii. 19),
where the prophet likewise, from a state of captivity, comforts Jerusalem already forsaken,
and' promises to her messengers of joy. Nowhere is there found a reproof of the sins of Is-
rael, a thing which a prophet present among the people would have scarcely omitted. The
language too, as Ewald observes, has some specific Assyrian expressions, of which at least in
the instance of Q"'~)DSt£, iii. 17, the assertion of Ewald cannot be disputed. (Concerning
D''"H3n iii. 1 7, and 3Sn, ii. 8, compare the passages.)
6. But at the same time it is evident that he cannot be one of the exiles of the ten tribes.
For in respect to them it is neither altogether certain (with the exception of those carried
away from the east of Jordan by Tiglatli-Pileser) whether they generally settled in Assyria
(comp. however, besides the statements of the book of Tobias, Wichelhaus, the Journal of
the German-Oriental Society, v. 367 ff. [Zeitschr. der deutsch-morgenl. Ges., v. 367 if.], and Keil
on 2 Kings xvii. 6) ; nor would the perfect silence of the prophet concerning Samaria be in-
telligible in this state of things. The prophet clings with his heart to Judah.
Taking into consideration all these facts, the author is indicated by the prophecy, as a
man who was carried out of Judah to Assyria, was there in the time of a powerful military
king, from whom Judah had cause to dread evil, and prophesied between the year 686 (that
of Sennacherib's death) and 656 (the beginning of the reign of Phraortes the Mede) or 634
(the beginning of the Scythian devastating invasion). And if we seek, in this period, a
luncture into which this prophecy naturally fits, it is the reign of Assarhaddon, son of Sen
nacherib, king of Assyria and Babylon, 680-667 (comp. Brandis in Pauly). That this king
undertook several predatory excursions in the direction of the Mediterranean, pushed as far
as Edom, and also extended over the land of Judsea, he himself boasts (Talbot, Ass. t. t., p. 13) ;
compare also Ezra iv. 2, from which passage likewise it is clear that the Jewish territories
did not lie beyond the sphere of his spoliation ; and the Chronicles expressly assert that an
army sent by him carried away prisoner Manasseh, king of Judah (2 Chron. xxxiii. 11). (If
the Chronicles mention Babylon as the place of deportation, it rests upon the frequent inter-
shange of the names n^tZJS and ba3. Comp. Gesen., Thes., i. 164. Evidently the writer of
the Chronicles would merely indicate that the king was carried by them to the residence of
Assarhaddon, as this was the custom among kings. 2 Kings, xxiv. 15 ; xv. 27 f. But Assar-
naddon had his palace of residence in Nineveh ; see below, 4). It is no valid reason to
*eply to this by saying, that Nahum was among those carried away on this occasion ; that
relying on the justice of God, the Avenger, he announced destruction to Nineveh, at that
"iae in a highly flourishing condition under Assarhaddon. Upon the point of more iirmly
NAHUM.
establishing this date from iii. 8 ff. by a more exact determination of the purport of the
monuments, see the passage thereon. [Strauss has fixed on a similar date, with a reason
it must be admitted, resting upon i. 13, which Nagelsbach and Keil properly designate as
untenable.]
It is doubtful, whether in this posture of the matter anything has been gained for the
obscure [patrial] Elkoshite (i. 1). That it is not a patronymic, but like "'.Pltp^b, Micah i. 1,
and other instances, specifies the place of birth, must be admitted with the majority ol
expositors. But where is Elkosh situated ? The formation of such a name for a city is not
un-Hebraic, or rather not un-Palestinian. Comp. nb^b^, Spribw, and others, Gesen., Thes.,
i. 102. Eusebius and Cyr. Alex, assume a city 'EAkco-c in Palestine as the birth-place of
Nahnm, without saying anything of its situation. Hieronymus, on the other hand, is ac-
quainted with a place Elcesi (var. Elcesaei), usque hodie viculum in Galilcea. The tradi-
tion in Pseudo-Doroth. and Pseudo-Epiph. places it beyond the Jordan. At least this place
Is of course doubtful ; and the adjective form of the name in Hieronymus is strange (Ges.).
The case with it, at best, would be as with Morasthi (see com. on Micah, p. 5), which desig-
nated not the original Moresheth, but the sepulchral sanctuary consecrated to Micah. Knobel
(JProphetismus, ii. 210) and Hitzig (edit. 1 and 3) appeal to the New Testament Capernaum;
but that this place, though named after one Nahum (Cphar-Nahum, Midrash Coheleth f. 89 c.
2 =: village of Nabum) is identical with Elkosh, cannot be proved. To bring in the name
of the sect of the Elcesaites, which is traced back to the founder Elxai (Delitzsch, Hiivernick,
Strauss), is to no purpose. It is more than probable that Elxai was not the founder, but the
Greek form of writing '^n bs (Hos. ii. 1), from which they derived their name. (Comp.
Geiger, Journal of the Germa?i- Oriental Society, xviii. 824 l_Zeitschr. der deutsch-morgenl,
Gesellsch.'] and moreover the mode of writing the name : Elci in Augustine, 'EAk^s in John
Damascenus.) Furthermore not much is gained by placing Elkosh in Galilee, since Nahum
did not belong to the kingdom of the ten tribes. Consequently it will at least be nearer the
truth to consider the Elkosh mentioned in the title, the place situated two days' journey from
Mosul ( = Nineveh), (Gesen., Hall. Lit. Jour. [Hall. Literaturzeitg .'] ]841,N. 2; Ritter's Oeogra-
pTiy, ix. 743 £F.), where Nahum's grave is shown to this day. This, then, corresponding well
with the position of things mentioned above, might be Nahum's place of exile, and the place
where he began to prophesy. If it be objected that such descriptive epithets added to
names designate, according to the usage of the Old Testament language, not the place of
residence, but the place of birth, we may refer, in reply, to Judges xvii. 7 ; xix. 1, where the
Levites, who are spoken of, are designated according to their place of residence for the time
being. The other consideration (Strauss and others), that the Assyrian Elkosh is first men-
tioned in the 16th century {Assemani hiU. or., i. 525; iii. 1, 532), weighs still more against
our supposition. We are consequently inclined to the conjecture, that the place, like other
sacred monuments of those countries, owes its origin and name to the piety of later genera-
tions. Even Jonah's, Obadiah's, and Jephthah's graves are pointed out in those countries.
But the form of the name will always retain a preference for the Elkesi of Hieron., which
carries with it this origin much more clearly ; and it should indeed be considered that all
those tombs bear the names of the men, but not the reconstructed names of localities with
which they were connected ; and that precisely in the preservation of old names of places
tradition is very tenacious. (Comp. Spiegel at the place cited, x. 362.)
[The prophecy of Nahum was delivered at a time when the Assyrians ruled over the
nations with uncontrolled power (ch. i. 12 ; ii. 12 if. ; iii. 1, 2), and had not only destroyed
the kingdom of Israel, but also deeply humbled Judah. Hence —
1. De VVette, Vitring., Rosenm., Berth., Maur., Knob., Hav., Keil, and others, place it in
the second half of the reign of Hezekiah, or soon after the overthrow of Sennacherib before
Jerusalem (2 Kings xix. 35 ff'.).
2. Hitzig, Ewald, in the time of the wars of the Medes with the Assyrians.
3. Hieron., Calov., Jiiger, and others, in the time of Sennacherib's invasion.
4. Clem. Alex., in the time of the Babylonian exile, between Ezekiel and Daniel.
5. Meyer, Jarchi, Abarb., Grot., Jahn, Grimm, Strauss, Klein., In the time of Manasseh.
6. Junius and others, in the last times of Josiah. Hertwig's Tahellen.
" The arguments in favor of an Assyrian locality for the prophet are supported by the
occurrence of what are presumed to be Assyrian words : 2-!in, u. 8 ; "il^ltsa, 'i]''.1P?'S
INTEODUCTION.
iii. 17; and the strange form naD^^bc, in ii. 14, which is supposed to indicate a foreion
influence. In addition to this, is the internal evidence supplied by the vivid description of
Nineveh, of whose splendors it is contended Nahum must have been an eye-witness ; but
Hitzig justly observes that these descriptions display merely a lively imagination, and such
knowledge of a renowned city as might be possessed by any one in Anterior Asia. The
AssjTian warriors were no strangers in Palestine, and that there was sufficient intercourse
between the two countries is rendered probable by the history of the prophet Jonah. There
is nothing in the prophecy of Nahum to indicate that it was written in the immediate neii^h-
borhood of Nineveh, and in fuU view of the scenes which are depicted, nor is the language
that of an exile in an enemy's country. No allusion is made to the captivity ; while, on the
other hand, the imagery is such as would be natural to an inhabitant of Palestine (i. 4), to
whom the rich pastures of Bashan, the vineyards of Carmel, and the blossom of Lebanon,
were emblems of all that was luxuriant and fertile. The language employed in i. 15 ; ii. 2,
is appropriate to one who wrote for his countrymen in their native land. In fact, the sole
origin of the theory that Nahum flourished in Assyria is the name of the village Alkush,
which contains his supposed tomb, and from its similarity to Elkosh was apparently selected
by mediaeval tradition as a shrine for pilgrims, with as httle probabiUty to recommend it as
exists in the case of Obadiah and Jephthah, whose burial-places are still shown in the same
neighborhood. This supposition is more reasonable than another which has been adopted in
order to account for the existence of Nahum's tomb at a place, the name of which so closely
resembles that of his native town. Alkush, it is suggested was founded by the Israelitish
exiles, and so named by them in memory of Elkosh in their own country. Tradition, as
usual, has usurped the province of history. According to Pseudo-Epiphanius {De Vitis
Proph., 0pp., ii. p. 247), Nahum was of the tribe of Simeon, ' from Elcesei beyond the Jordan
at Begabar (Brjya^ap ; Chron. Pasch. 150 B. B-qTaPaprj),' or Bethabara, where he died in
peace and was buried." Smith's Diet. Bib., art. " Nahum."
Layard thinks that the tomb shown as Nahum's, at Nineveh, is of modern origin. Nin.
and its Rem,., vol. i. p. 197. — C. E.]
3. Position in the Organism of Scripture.
Nahum is quite an original prophet. He has very little direct connection with his pre-
decessors : only Joel rings out in some passages : with ii. 11 compare Joel ii. 6 ; with ii. 1
compare Joel iv. 17; with iii. 15 flf. compare Joel i. [His coincidences with Isaiah relate
collectively, in a remarkable manner, to passages from that prophet, whose authorship by
him is disputed: with ii. 1 compare Is. Hi. 1, 7 ; xxiv. 1 ; with ii. 3 compare Is. Iii. 8 ; with
iii. 5 compare Is. Ixvii. 2 ; with iii. 7 compare Is. Ii. 19 ; with iii. 10 compare Is. xiii. 16 ;
i. 13 compared with Is. x. 27 (Strauss), is only an accidental external similarity of sound ;
so that it becomes necessary to decide as to those parallel passages found in Isaiah.
[See Alexander's Introduction to Isaiah, and Keil's Introduction to the 0. T., vol. i. p. 281.
-C. E.]
But the Psalms have exercised throughout an essential influence upon his language i com-
pare the exegetical exposition. On the other hand, he has been to his successors a mine,
with whose rich treasures their prophecy connects itself and moulds itself into larger propor
tions. Jeremiah particularly has him frequently before his eyes : compare with i. 1 3 Jer.
XXX. 8 ; with iii. 5, 13, 17, 19 compare Jer. xiii. 22 fi". ; 1. 37 ; Ii. 30 ; Ii. 27 ; x. 19 ; Ii. 12.
In the organism of Scripture Nahum occupies an important position, not so much on ac-
count of the theological as of the historical significance of his prophecy. Its theological im-
portance culminates in the representation of God, Jehovah Sabaoth (comp. ii. 14), as the
actual Judge — a representation accurately adapted to the situation of the world ; and this
description is not essentially different from that in the earliest public writings and those of
the preceding prophets.
Grod is described as the Holy One, who annihilates pride, despotism, and violence with
biu'ning zeal, and for that purpose sets the elements of heaven and earth in motion ; but
who employs his majesty to protect his own in trouble, and to cause judgment upon the
enemy to work for the deliverance of his people. When the enemy are buried under their
own gods, upon which they relied, as under a heap of rubbish, then the heralds of peace
appear upon the mountains to proclaim good tidings to Israel (i. 14; ii. 1, Stau 't). The
iiitorical significance, on the other hand, is this : that Nahum concludes the second Assyrian
NAIilUJT.
period of prophecy (comp. Com. on Obadiah, p. 14). The cycle of development of prophecy,
whose determining points are Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, here comes to a close ; and Nineveh, the
great city (comp. Com. on chapter i.) perishes before God, in order that Babylon, rising over its
ruins, as the last Semitic world-power, may bring to completion the fratricide begun by Edoir
(compare Obadiah), and make room for the Aryan nations, of a different ethnical stock,
which, at the fall of Nineveh, came first into contact with the kingdom of God, to show
themselves friendly towards Israel and to make peace with Jehovah.
[The book of Nalium will be best understood, by being read as a continuation, or supple-
ment to the book of Jonah. The prophecy of both is directed against Nineveh. But that
of Jonah was followed by the preservation of that city ; that of Nahum, which is more
detailed in its circumstances, indicating the actual doom, was followed by its capture and
destruction. They form connected parts of one moral history; the remission of God's judg-
ments being illustrated in the one, the execution of it in the other. The attentive reader
wiU perceive them to be contrasted in some of their contents, as well as in their general
object ; the repentance of the Ninevites and their wickedness, the clemency and the just
severity of the divine government, being combined together in the mixed delineation of
the two books (compare Nahum i. 2 with Jonah iv. 2, and Nahum iii. 1 with Jonah iii. 8).
But of pure Christian prophecy, either direct or typical, perhaps the book of Nahum must
be set down as affording no instance. Davison, On Prophecy, p. 202.
" In its essence, the tendency of the call of Nahum was, that he might be a witness of
the divine righteousness (i. 2, 3), in which sense he was to interpret the mighty deeds of
God in the times immediately preceding ; and then to prophecy the future of judgment, and
in connection with this to proclaim a strongly consolatory message to the sorely humbled
covenant people." Hav., p. 378.
Keil, Introd. to 0. T., vol. i. p. 409. — C. E.]
The Fulfillment.
4. Fall of Nineveh.
Comp. Herodotus, Historim, ed. C. Miiller, Paris, 1844 (lib. i. passim).
Berosus, Fragmenta, ed. Richter, Lips., 1825.
Diodorus Siculus, Bihl. Uistorica (with the Notices of Ctesias), ed. L. Dindorf, Lips., 1828,
(ii. 23-28).
Alexander Polyhistor, Nicolaus Damascenus, Abydenus, Fragmenta in: Fragmenta His^
toricorum Orxcorum, ed. C. Mijller, Paris, 1841 ff., 4to, t. iii. 206 flf., 342 ff., iv. 278 ff.
Flavins Josephus, Opera, edidit Sigb. Havercamp, Amst., 1726, folio {Antt., 1. a. c. Ap. i. 19).
Eusebius, Chronicon Armenicum, ed. Bapt. Aucher, Ven., 1818 (i. p. 54).
Georg. Syncellus, Chronographia, ed. G. Dindorf, I5onn, 1829 (p. 396).
Seder 01am, Rabba s. Chronicon Hebra;orum Majus et Minus, ed. J. Meyer, Amst., 1649,
4 (c. xxiv.).
Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, ed. ii. Oxf , 1827.
G. Hupfeld, Exercitalionum Herodotearum, spec. i. s. De Rebus Assyriorum, Marb., 1887.
F. Tuch, Be Nino Urbe Animadversiones Tres., Lips., 1845.
Botta and Flandin, Monumens de Nineveh, Paris, 1847 ff. (5 vols,).
A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, London, 1849 ; Deutsch von Meissner, Nineveh
und seine Ueberreste, Leipz., 1850 ; 2 Ausg. mit einem chronolog. Anhang v. Seyff^rth,
Lipz., 1854.
Ders., Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, London, 1853 ; Deutsch von
Zenker, Leipz., 1855.
H. Kawlinson, A Commentary on the Cuneiform Inscr. of Babylonia and Assyria, London,
1850; Outlines of Assyr. History from the Inscr. of Nin., London, 1852; A Selection from
(he Historical Inscriptions of Chaldcea, Assyria, and Babylonia, London, 1861.
J. P. Fletcher, Notes from Nineveh, London, 1850.
Blackburn, Nineveh, its Rise and Ruin, London, 1850.
W. Vaux, Nineveh and Persepolis, London, 1850; Deutsch von Zenker, Leipz., 1852.
G. F. Grotefend, Uber Anlage und Zerstorung der Gebdude zu Nimrud, Gott., 1851.
J. Fergusson, The Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored, London, 1851 ; Ninereh an4
'ii Ruins, London, 1854.
F. Jones, Topography of Nineveh, Journ. of the Roy. Asiat. Soc, t. xv. p. 297 ff.
INTEODUCTION.
E. Hincks, On the Assyrio-B&t. Pho'netic Characters. Transact, of the Irish R. Acad.,
Dublin, 1851 (xii.), 373 ff. Oomp. 1856, 165 S., and Layard's Discoveries, p. 613 ff.
J. Bonomi, The Palaces of Nineveh, London, 1852, 2d edit., 1858.
C. H. Gosse, Assyria, Her Manners and Customs, Loudon, 1852.
G. Pcite, Nineveh, A Review of its Ancient History and Modern Explorers, 1854.
J. Brandis, Rerum Assyr. Tempora Emendata, BeroL, 1853; Uber den Hist. Gewinn aui
der Entzifferung der Ass. Inschriften, Berlin, 1856 ; artikel " Assyria " in Pauly's Ency-
klapMie der cldss. Alterthumswissenschaft, 2 Aufl., Stuttg., 1866, i. 2, 1884 ff.
J. V. Sumpach, Abriss der Bahylonisch- Assyr. GesChichte, Mannh., 1854.
H. F. Talbot, Assyrian Texts translated, London, 1856.
Ch. Walz, Turibuli Assyrii Descriptio, Tub., 1856.
M. V. NiebuLr, Gesch. Assurs und Babels, Berlin, 1857.
J. B. Bosaiiquet, The Fall of Nineveh, London, 1858.
W. K. Lofttts, Travels and Researches in ChaldCea and Susiana, London, 1858.
F. Fresnel, Expedition Scientifique en Mesopotdhrde, publide p. J. Oppert, Paris, 1858.
J. Oppert, Chronologie des Assyriens et Bahyhmiens, Paris (Tableau ohne Datum) ;
■Deiitsch-Morgenl. Zeitschr. xi. 308 ; Reponse a un Article Critique de M. E. Renan, Paris,
1859 ; Etat Actuel de Dechiffrement des inscriptions Cuneiformes, Paris, 1861 ; Les Inscrip-
Hohs Assyriennes des Sargonides et les Pastes de iV^metie, Versailles, 1862; Elements de la
'Grammaire Assyrientte, Paris, 1860; Expedition Scigntifque en Mesopotamie, t. ii. 1863;
Uistoire des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie, Paris, 1866.
H. Bwald, Uber die Biblischen Beschreibungen Ninevehs, Jahrb. x. (1860), p. 50 ff. ;
'Gegchichte des Volks Israel, 3 Atefl. Bd. iii. p. 777 ff.
J. Mdnant, Les Ecritures Cuneiformes, Paris, 1860 ; Les Noms Propres Assyriens, Paris,
1860; J^tements d'Epiffraphie Assyrienne, Paris, 1864.
G. Rawlinson, Tlie Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, London, 1862,
ff. 4 Bd. (i. p. 226 ff. und ii.).
J. Oppert et J. Menant, Les Pastes de Sargon, Paris, 1863 ; Grandes Inscriptions du
Palais de Khorsabad, Paris, 1864.
M. Duncker, Geschichte des Alterthums, 3 Aufl., Berlin, 1863, Bd. 1, p. 793 ff.
J. Olshausen, Prilfung des Charakters der in den Assyr. Inschriften enthaltenen Semil,
Sprache, Berlin, 1865.
E. Kodiger, Z'eitschrift der Deutsch-Morgenl. Gesellschaft, v. 445 ff. ; viii. 673 ff. ; ix. ^31
ff. ; X. 725 ff.; K. Gosebe, ebendas, xvii. 96 ff.; xxi. Suppl. s. 156 ff.
F. Spiegel, in Herzog's Real-encyMopadie, x. 362 ff. ; xx. 219 ff.
P. Giaize, Les Inscriptions Cuneiformes et les Travaux de M. Oppert, Paris, 1867.
Over 500 year's, Nineveh, the great city of God (comp. Jonah i. 3 ; iii. 2), was, under its
powerful rulers, the terror of Western Asia. Through successive generations it had been
built into all immense city : dynasty after dynasty had transmitted its dreaded name, by
magnificent colossal edifices, to aftier ages. Upon an artificial terrace by the Tigris towered,
not far from the tower of Ninus, the great northwest palace founded by Sardanapalus,
(Assur-idanni-pal ; according to Rawlinson, Assur-izir-pal) ; in the southwest corner, in still
fresh magnificence, stood the residence, which Assarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib, had
biiilt from the ruins of the central palace formerly erected by Salmanassar I., son of Sar-
danapalus aild cohqueror of Benhadad and Jehu. Farther to the northeast, on the Khosr-
Su, which flows with a swift current from the Maklub mountains into the Tigris, and fre-
i}uently with sudden floods overflows the plains, were the great structures of Khorsabad, the
Inohuments of Saigon, who, during the conquest of Samaria, succeeded Salmanassar IV. ;
finally, near the mouth of the Khosr-Su stood the edifices of Sennacherib and Assurbani-
palus, the son of Assarhaddon, at Kouyunjik. The wide plain of the city, covered with
teasses of houses, streets, and pasture-grounds, was strongly fortified. On the west and
'south the Tigris and the Zab (Lycus) inclosed it : on the east and north moats were dug,
Wuch almost equaled the rivers in width. A surrounding wall protected the main part of
■he city ; the sluices of the canals were defended by well-guarded gates and citadels. Within
purged an immense traflic ; Nineveh's reputation as a commercial city rivaled that of Tyre
JE^- xxvii. 23), and immense riches were hoarded up in it, acquired, to be sure, not by com-
Oierce alone, but also by the system of predatory war and contributions [levied in time of
#ar] carried to the highest degree (comp. ii. 13).
But even this height of human grandeur must be brought low by the will of God. la
10 ' NAHTJM.
the midst of it and during its full bloom, the threatening of Nahum was denounced against
[war Nahums Wort der Stadt in, s Angesicht geschleudert] the city, and it did not wait
long for its fulfillment. East of Assyria, at the same time that the Aryan Romans were lay-
ino- the foundation of their city and of universal dominion, on the banks of the Tiber, in the
extreme west, the Aryan tribes, the Medes and Persians, who were about to wrest the reins
of Asiatic dominion from the hands of the enervated Semites of the east, aspired to power.
After these nations had served the Assyrians a long time, — and still in the time of
Salmanassar they were the vassals of that power (2 Kings xvii. 6) — occurred, as it appears,
the catastrophe of Sennacherib before Jerusalem, which furnished the final occasion for
Deioces (Ajis-dahaka=r Astyages, devouring serpent), the King of the Medes, one year
after that catastrophe, to shake oif the oppressive yoke. Sennacherib may nevertheless, as
the monuments (against Tob. i. 21) prove, have reigned after that disaster seventeen years,
and undertaken numerous expeditions ; and even after him Assarhaddon, who maintained
the city in a highly flourishing condition, may still have been a powerful king. The state-
ment of Josephus, according to which the decline of the Assyrian power dates firom the
annihilation of its army before Jerusalem, still maintains its accuracy ; for the " disperser "
had become free ; and though Assarhaddon continued to call himself the King of Media, it
was an empty pretension. The Assyrians were no longer successful in subjecting the Medes.
Already Deioces, the successor of Phraortes (Frawartish), began to tear away large frag-
ments from the kingdom, and he ventured even an attack upon the central province, which
was, however, repelled. In the south the Egyptians, whose country the Assyrian kings,
since the time of Sargon, were fond of designating as their province, asserted with energy
their independence under Tirhaka, and Assurbanipal, son of Assarhaddon, had only trifling
success against them. Yea, under Psammetichus they began to enter Asia victoriously.
Savage bands of entirely foreign hordes (the Scythians), passed through burning and laying
waste the hither Asiatic countries (comp. Introd. to Zeph. 4) ; and although their invasion
was at first productive of advantage to Assyria, inasmuch as Phraortes, the successor of
Cyaxares, was obHged to turn away his forces from Nineveh against them, yea to enter into
a kind of alliance with the chief Khan of the Scythians for twenty-eight years, still the
country of Assyria suffered harm from them, and its power was more and more weakened.
A still more dangerous enemy, in their own land and of their own race, arose under the
encouragement of Media. Babylon, which before Nineveh, had maintained the ascendency
in Hither Asia, made efforts from time to time to regain its ancient glory ; but it had always
again (and a, short time before by Sennacherib and Assarhaddon) been defeated.
Now the time for independence appeared to have arrived. Whilst Cyaxares, by the wars
which he prosecuted, surrounded Nineveh on the north, in a crescent, with his conquests,
Nabopolassar (in Abyd., Eus., " Busalossor " ; in Ktes., Diod. "Belesys"), whom the Assyrian
king, in the days of the Assyrian oppression, had sent to hold Babylon, had taken advan-
tage of the rebellious disposition of the people, drawn them into his plans, and made prepar-
ations to revolt. The complete overthrow of the Assyrian authority was an essential condi-
tion of the kingdom which he intended to found. For this there was need of Media.
Cyaxares was stiU involved in war with Lydia ; but an eclipse of the sun in broad daylight,
which terrified the combatants, contributed to the success of Nabopolassar's plans of media-
tion. Cyaxares made peace with the Lydians and an alliance with the Babylonians against
the Assyrians, which was sealed by the marriage of his daughter, Amunia, with Nebuchad-
nezzar (in Herod. " Labynetus "), the son of Nabopolassar. Nebuchadnezzar appears from
this time forward as the colleague of his father. [Whether, as from the notices of Ktesias in
Diodorus and from Nicolaus Dam. it seems to follow, and as Niebuhr assumes, the Babylonian
[king] entered into a feudal relation to Media, cannot from the evidently unreliable charac-
ter of these sources be determined. Dunoker doubts it. However, on this supposition, it
would be easily explained how, on the one hand, Herodotus ascribes to Cyaxares alone the
conquest, and how Berosus also mentions only Babylonian auxiliaries, whilst, on the other
hand, besides Ez. xxxii. Abydenus also, Alexander Polyhistor and the Jewish sources external
to the Bible assign the conquest to the Babylonians.]
The assault was made. In Nineveh reigned Assuridilil HI., the indolent son of Assurbani"
paluB (Oppert ; Spiegel according to H. Rawlinson 1860 : " Assur-emed-ilin ;" Brandis according
to H. Kawlinson, 1864 : " Assur-irik-ili-kin ; " Syncellus according to Berosus, Abyd., Alex.
Polyh. : " Sarakos=^Assarak.") Notwithstanding the siege was no easy task. The king had,
at the approach of the enemy, collected all his active forces into the wide plain of the city
INTKOBUCTION. H
When Ktesias relates that they continued to be collected for three years, his statement is not
incredible, in view of the great strength of the city. The silence of Herodotus is no reason
to the contrary, since in our text of Herodotus, it is proved from Aristotel., Hist, Anim., ed.
Becker, 601, that there is a hiatus just at the determinative passage. Niebuhr tliinks that,
judging from the remains of the fortifications, it was impossible for the siege-engines of the
ancients to effect a capture. Three times was severe defeat brought upon the besieging army
by the Assyrians sallying forth ; and with difficulty did Nabopolassar, whose crown was at
stake, succeed in holding the Medes to the siege. Soon the Assyrians abandoned themselves,
in their camp pitched before the gates, to negligent rejoicing on account of their victory
(comp. i. 10) ; then they were attacked in the night by the besiegers and driven back to
the walls. The king gave, in his despondency, the chief command to his brother-in-law,
Salaemenes ; but fortune had changed. Salaemenes with his troops was routed and driven
into the Tigris (comp. at iii. 3). But the city itself was still uninjured, and in vain did the
enemy encamp before the gates. Then it came to pass, in the spring of the third year, that
other powers interfered. The river became " an enemy to the city " (Ktes.) ; comp. at ii.
7 ; i. 8, 10. The inundation occurring suddenly, was more violent than it had ever been :
the mighty flood broke down in one night the walls on the river to a great extent. The
king despaired of saving his life. Already had he sent his family to the north ; now he
shut himself up with all his treasures in the royal citadel and burned himself with them. " Of
old the funeral pile was erected ; yea, for the king it was prepared deep and large : it was
prepared with fire and much wood, and the breath of God, like a stream of brimstone, kin-
dles it." (Is. XXX. 33.) An immense booty of gold and silver was carried from the city to
Ecbatana and Babylon. The princes of the Medes caused the battlements of the inner
walls around their castles to be covered with gold and silver plates made from it. The
princes of Babylon adorned the temple of Belus with it. (Comp. at ii. 10.) The plundered
city was abandoned to the flames. It is evident from the ruins that both Khorsabad and
Nimrud were sacked and then set on fire. (Bonomi.)
Thus was Nineveh overthrown. " Assyria lies buried there with all its people ; round
about are their graves, all of them are slain and fallen by the sword ; they have made their
graves deep there below." (Ez. xxxii. 22 f.) Panic fear kept the people of the vicinity a
long time far from the ruins. Xenophon found still in their mouths gloomy traditions of the
destruction of the great city, whose ruins he saw : the interposition of the Deity, whether by
an eclipse, or by a fearful thunderstorm, was fully believed by them. Anab. iii. iv. 8-12.
It seems that even the eclipse, which, to the ruin of Nineveh, had put an end to the Lydian
war, was laid hold of by the popular belief, as it was by the prophets, in this import of it.
In later times the Parthians erected castles over the ruins. Tacitus is acquainted with Ninus
as an existing fortification. (Ann., xii. 13, comp. also Ammian. Marc, xxiii. 16.) But if this
fortress ever had any importance, Lucian could not have written : 'H fxkv Nii'os dTroAwXev
r/OTj, Kai ov&\v 6;^i/o; Irt Xoiirov aur^s, ouS' av tlirr)^ ottov ttot rjv, CETrto-KOTrovi/Tes, i. 292.)
Compare Nah. iii. 17.
The emperor Heraclius gained, A. D. 627, the great victory over Rhazates on the field
of its ruins. (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xlvi.) Benjamin of Tudela found again,
A. D. 1170, on its site, many villages and castles. But about a. d. 1300 it is again asserted
that Nineveh is entirely destroyed. Thus itremained long forgotten. Bochart (Phaleg.,\i.'iO,
p. 284) states that the learned endeavor in vain to determine its situation. " Immensa urhs
ac fere insuperahilis per multa secula diruta jacet ; imperii olim amplissimi munimenta, splen-
doris regiique apparatus domicilia hodierno die diffudit aratrum, aut seduli accolce, qui vias per
medial ruinas sequuntur, conculcant. Verno tempore nunc aggeres graminibus se vestiunt omniaqut
collium ah ipsa natura perfectorum fugo tarn similia sunt, ut Niebuhrius quce munimenta trans-
gressus esset, Mossuloe demum acceperit." (Tuch, p. 55 f ) The spirit of inquiry, during
the last decades, has reanimated the dust of the past for a witness of the truth of God's
Word. " Qui viderit ruinas Nineves et positam earn omnibus in exemplum, expavescet et mirabi-
tur. Hieronymus, Ad Nah. iii. 7.
That the siege and conquest described above are predicted by Nahum cannot be doubted
The strange hypothesis of KaUnsky that Nahum foretells two conquests : the one, chap, ii., re-
nted by Ktesias-Diodorus ; the other, chap, iii., by Herodotus, scarcely requires mention.
More difficult, however, is the fixing of the time when the conquest took place. It was for
» time considered settled that it should be placed in the year 606. (Clinton, Fasti Hellenicif
12 NAHTJM.
;. 269 ; Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, 273 ; 0. Strauss, p. Ixxv. ; Dunoker, p. 803.) We
consider this date the most probable, even after the antagonistic opinion of Keil.
In favor of this first of all is the synchronism of the Biblical statements. If in the time of
Josiah a king of Assyria is still mentioned (2 Kings xxiii. 29), it follows that Nineveh could
not have been destroyed before Josiah's death in 609. If Jeremiah (ch. xxv.) enumerates,
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the kingdoms of the world which were still to be destroyed,
and does not mention Assyria among them, then its destruction cannot fall after 605.
Further, the more authentic sources of Jewish literature are in favor of this date. Tobias
becomes blind in the year 710 (Clinton), and lives still after this one hundred years (ch. xiv.
cr.) ; and yet Nineveh was not destroyed until after his death. The Seder 01am Rabba
states (ch. xxiv. comp. the parallels from other Rabbinical writings in Meyer's Observa-
tions on the Seder, p. H31), that Nebuchadnezzar in his first year [consequently (comp. Jer.
xxv. 1), immediately before the date of the passage from Jeremiah mentioned above] de-
stroyed Nineveh.
Finally, the chronology of profane writers also favors this date. " According to Herodo-
tus the conquest falls after the Lydian war of Cyaxares (i. 106). This war was terminated
after the tenth of September, 610, by a treaty of peace. The armies of the allies, therefore,
could not appear before Nineveh before the spring of 609. In the third year of the siege
the city was taken (Diodorus, ii. 27) ; the capture was facilitated by the overflowing of
the river, and must consequently have taken place in .the spring. When the capture took
place, Nabopolassar was still living, and took possession of the Assyrian territory situated on
this side of the Tigris (Alex. Polyh. in Syncellus, p. 396 ed. Dind.). But Nabopolassar died in
January 604, according to the Astronomical Canon. It can, therefore, be only a matter of
doubt whether the capture occurred in 606 or 605. Since, however, Nebuchadnezzar, in the
year 605, defeated Necho at Carchemish and pursued him as far as Syria, where he was in-
formed, first that his father was sick, and then that he was dead (Jos., Ant., x. 11, 1), the
capture of the city must have already taken place in 606." (Duncker.)
This last reason Keil has attacked. Both his arguments against it, which he has drawn
from the state of afiairs, are unimportant. That Cyaxares, soon after the termination of the
Lydian war, set out against Nineveh, has, according to our representation of circumstances
given above, nothing surprising ; but on the contrary it was quite natural. Nabopolassar
had brought about a peace, in order to bring the Mede into the field against Nineveh as soon
as possible ; for to him delay was dangerous. Nor is it at all improbable, that soon after the
fall of Nineveh, the son of Nabopolassar, eager for war, led his troops elated with victory
ao'ainst the Egyptian Necho, vanquished him and pursued him a great distance. The third
objection is of greater importance. An eclipse of the sun, which, according to the statement
of Herodotus, was the occasion of terminating the Lydian war, cannot be established on the
30th of September, 610, but only on the 8th of May, 622, or on the 28th of May, 585. The
last date cannot come into consideration ; therefore that treaty of peace may be transferred
to the year 622, and the capture of Nineveh may fall nearer to this date than to 605. How-
ever the eclipse of the sun of September 30, 610, according to Oltmanus for those countries con-
cerned, was not quite total, yet nearly so : only a fiftieth part of the disk of the sun remained
uneclipsed. (Ideler, ChronoL, i. 209 ff.) And even if the computation of certain English
astronomers should be correct, that the eclipse of the sun of that date did not touch Hither
Asia, but went further to the east (Nieb., p. 48), it would only compel us to seek the battle-
field eastward from Asia Minor. And considering the ambiguity of the expression of Herod-
otus (" the day was turned to night,") the possibility is not at all excluded, that instead of an
eclipse of the sun, the reference is to one of those sudden obscurations of the atmosphere,
which often occur in those countries. (Dio Cass., Ixvi. 22 ff. ; Plin., Ep., vi. 20. Also in
Matt, xxvii. 45, the statement does not refer to an eclipse of the sun ; for the Passover fell
at the time of the full moon.) At all events the argument, which would put in the place of
an accord c f so many consistencies, a sum of as many difijculties and contradictions, is neither
evident en >ugh nor at all adequate to overthrow the synchronism of Biblical and profane
writers given above. The date computed by Seyffarth for 626 (in the appendix to the Ger-
man translation of Layard's Nineveh and its Remains, p. 476), entirely fails.
[Texts from Nahum quoted by Rawlinson, and iUustrated by profane history and recent
iiscoveries : —
INTRODUCTION. 13
Chap. i. 8, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 391
Chap. ii. 5, 6, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 391
Chap. ii. 6, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 328
Chap. ii. 7, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 462
Chap. iii. 3, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 25
Chap. iii. 8, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 160
Chap. iii. 8, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. iii. p. 33
Chap. iii. 13, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 328
Chap. iii. 13, Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 391
Chap. iii. 18, 19 Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 392
Chap. iii. 18, 19 Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 409.
iidu'^Ai lustrative matter on the arts, costume, military system, private life, and re-
ligion of the Assyrians, is found in Layard's Nineveh and its Remains, to which the reader
's referred. C. E.]
5. Literature.
Separate Commentakies. — Th. Bibliander, Propheta Nahum Juxta Veritatem Hebrai-
cam, Tig., 1534, 12mo.
Lud. Crocii, Comm. in Nah. Proph., Brem., 1620, 12mo.
I. H. Ursinus, Hypomnemata in Obadjam et Nahum, Franof, 1652.
Abarbanel, Comm. in Nah. Rahh. et Lat., ed. Sprecher, Helmst., 1 703.
I. G. Kalinski, Vaticinia {Habacuci et) Nahumi, itemque nonnulla Jesaj'ce, etc., illustrata,
Vratisl., 1748, 4to.
Lessing, Observatt. in Vatt. {Jonce el) Nahumi, Chemn., 1780.
C. F. Sfaudlin, (Hosea) Nahum {et Hah.), neu iibersetzt und erldutert [newly translated
and explained], Stuttg., 1786.
E. J. Greve, Vatt. Nah. et Hab., ed. metrica, Amst., 1793, 4to.
Eb. Kreenen, Nah. Vaticinium Philologice et Critice Expositum, Hardervici, 1808, 4to.
C. W. Justi, Nah. neu ubersetz und erldutert [Nah. newly translated and explained], Lpz^
1820.
H. Middeldorpff, Nahum, aus demHebr. ilbersetzt, mit Vorwort und Anm. v. Gurlitt [Nahum
translated from the Hebrew, with preface and annotations by Gurlitt], Hamb., 1808.
A. G. Hoelemann, Nahumi Oraculum, etc., illustravil, Lips., 1842.
0. Strauss, Nahumi de Nino Vaticinium, Berol., 1853.
Separate Treatises. — Ch. M. Fraehn, Curarum Exegetico-criticarum in Nah. Proph-
etam Specimen, Rostock, 1806.
0. Strauss, Nineveh und das Wort Gottes [Nineveh and the Word of God], Berl., 1855.
Vance Smith, The Prophecies relating to Nineveh and the Assyrians, London, 1857.
Mich. Brelteneieher, Nineveh und Nahum, Miinchen, 1861.
L. Reinke, Kritik der dltern Versionen des Proph. Nah. [Critique of the Older Versions of
the Prophet Nahum], Miinster, 1867.
Devotional. — J. Quistorp, Kriegspredigten oder Erkldrung des Propheten Nahum [War
Sermons, or Elucidation of the Prophet Nahum], Rost., 1628, 4to.
D. Heinrici, Nahumus Pacijicus, h. e. de Pace (2, 1), Lips., 1650.
The Literature on Nineveh, see above, Introd. pp. 8, 9.
[Matt. Haffenrefferi, Comm. in Nahum et Habacuc, Stutgardise, 1663, 4to.
Vat. Nahumi Observatt. Phil, illustratum ; Diss. praBS. M. C. M. Agrell, resp. N. S. Col-
dander, Upsalae, 1788, 4to.
Translations with expositions by S. F. Giinth. Wahl, in his Mag. 1 790 ; H. A. Grimm,
1790; Moses Neumann, Breslau, 1808. — C. E.]
NAHUM.
CHAPTER I.
Sublime Description of the Attributes and Operations of Jehovah, with a View to
inspire his People with Confidence in his Protection (vers. 2-8). The Assyr-
ians addressed and described (vers. 9-11). Their Destruction together with the
Deliverance of the Jews connected with that Event (vers. 12-15).
1 The Burden ■* of Nmeveh.
The book of the Vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 A God jealous and avenging is Jehovah ;
Avenging is Jehovah and a Lord ^ of burning wrath
Avenging is Jehovah to his adversaries ;
And He keeps anger against his enemies.
3 Jehovah is slow to anger and of great strength,
And acquitting He wiU not acquit [the guilty].
Jehovah — liis way is in the whirlwind and in the tempest |
And clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry ;
And all the rivers he di'ieth up :
Bashan and Carmel languish ;
And the flower of Lebanon droopeth.
5 Mountains tremble because of Him,
And the hills melt away ;
The earth heaves ° before Him,
And the globe and all the inhabitants upon it.
6 Before his anger who shall stand ?
And who shall endure in the heat of his wrath?
His fury is poured out like fire ;
And the rocks are shattered by Him.
7 Good is Jehovah, a fortress in the day of trouble^
And He knoweth those, who trust in Him.
8 And with an overflowing flood
He will make an end of her place,
And pursue his enemies with darkness.*
9 What devise ye against Jehovah ?
He is about to make an end :
Distress shall not arise twice.
16
NAHUM.
10 For though they are interwoven like ^ thorns,
And soaked with their wine,
They shall be devoured like stubble fully dry.
11 From thee canae forth
One meditating evil against Jehovah,
Counseling wickedness.
12 Thus saith Jehovah:
Though they are complete and so very numerous,
Yet even so are they mown down,
And he has passed away.
Though I have afflicted thee,
I will afflict thee no more.
13 And now I will break his yoke from off thee,
And break thy fetters.
1 4 And Jehovah has given commandment concerning thee :
No more of thy name shall be sown ;
From the house of thy gods I will cut off the graven and the molten image ,
I will make thy grave, because thou art despised.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — Stt?n i LXX., Aiju^iia; Vulgate, Onus, is cteriTed from ^^'^> '" "^' "Pi '"" ''^ "P' '» ™"'i •"* ^P^
fies something uttered. As it is often found in the inscriptions of threatening oracles or denunciations, Jerome, Luther
the English version, and others, have rendered it burden, meaning a threatening oracle. Hengstenberg contends (CArtff*
tolagy of the O. T , vol. iii. pp. 380-384, on Zech. ix. 1 ; and vol. iv, p. 60, on Zech. xii. 1. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark,
1868), that it always signifies burden, and occurs only in the superscription of prophecies announcing adversity. Qeseniufl
thinks that it is used also for the annunciation of good. Lexicon, sub Mt2?Z2'
[2 Ver. 2. — nDn V^D, iord, -master, oc possessor, of burning wrath.
[8 Ver. 5. — ^•^,7'^'7 ^^■Hli th'^ ^'^^^'^ heaves; LXX., Kal dveaTa.\rj it yrj; Vulgate, et eontremuit terra; Luther,
Das Erdreich btbet ; A. V., " the earth is burned.-'
[4 Ver. 8. — Kleinert translates the last clause of this verse : und seine Feinde verfolgt Er mit Finstemiss. So doea
[iUther. Keil defends this translation on the ground that the translation of the LXX., Vulgate, and A. V. is irreconcil-
ablfi with the mafckepk, and does not answer so well the parallelism of the clauses.
[6 Ver. 10. — ^5?, to the degree that, i. e., like. See Gesenius, s. v. — C. E.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1. The book has a double title, like Ob. 1.
First, a title of the contents : Tlie aentenoe of Nin-
eveh. About the signification of the word Massa
there is a dispute- On the one hand it cannot be
denied that it is used, with preference, i!is a ti"tle
for threatening prophecies : Compare the series of
Massaim, Is. xiii. ff'., to which the Massa here con-
forms in a manifold relation. Consequently, we
may suppose that the fundamental idea of a htrden,
laid by God upon the object of his threatening, is
the prominent one. This is the meaning that
Jonathan, Aquila, Luther, and others, give in their
translations, and which recently, Hengstenberg,
Strauss, Kurz, and Keil maintain with great force.
Indeed the idea of burden is very plainly derived
from the root Ntff3, [to lift up. — C. E.], to bear, and
suits the word also in its literal signification (2
Kings V. 17, and above). But on the other hand
it can just as little be denied, that in prophecies
such as Zech. ix. 12, the real contents can be rep-
resented as a threatening burden only by means of
iritical subtilty : namely, only in this way, that
we, as HieronymuB has alre.idy done {Ad Hah. i. 1 :
"Massa nunquam prmfertur in titulo, nisi quum grave
ac ponderis lahorisque plenum est quodvidetur"), refer
to the serious and sorrowful topics, which, beside
others, occur in this as in every prophecy, whereby
evidently the special idea of threatening prophecy
is set aside. This is still clearer in the maxims,
Prov. XXX. and xxxi. which, in their titles, are also
styled Massaim. Hence, if it is evident from Ex.
XX. 7 ; Is. xlii. 2, that the radical word St2^3 can
signify also, by the ellipsis of vIp (.properly S£i?3
vIp, to raise the voice), to utter forth," to call,"
then one will have sure ground to hold with Hup-
feld (on Ps. xv. 3) and Delitzsch (on Is. xiii. 1),
that declaration, or sentence, is the common, and ia
all places naturally [ohne Zwang\ the proper sig-
nification of the word ; the more, as this signifi-
cation, both for the verb and noun, undoubtedly
lies on the face of 2 Kings ix. 27 [25]. Moreover,
in passages like 1 Chron. xv. 27, with the signifi
cation of burden and without supplying ^'Ip, one
could arrive at no meaning ; and finally as in Jer.
xxiii. 33 ff., the ambiguity, which was attached to
the word, by giving it the meaning of burden, is
stigmatized as impious, and consequently rejected-
I Concerning Nineveh, see the IntroducUon
CHAPTER I.
17
The title is connected with the prophecy as an in-
tegrant part, as the reference of the suffix in ver. 7
ihows, and is accordingly to be ascribed to the
prophet himself. Of course also the following sec-
ond title : Boot of the Vision of Wahum the
Elkoshite ; as also the expression : Book, Writing,
refers to a redaction of this prophecy already given
to the public before the compilation of the Canon.
^itn is, as in Is. i. 1, the nomen aci; ofntn, the
term employed to express prophetical vision (comp.
on Hab. i. 1 ) : that which Nahum, the Elkoshite
(comp. the Introd.) saw.
[The lirst part of the title " gives the substance
and object " of the book ; " the second the form
imd author."
"The noun ^'®^, in the superscriptions of the
prophecies, has been from ancient times inter-
preted in two different ways. According to the
one interpretation it means burden. According to
the other it means declaration, prophecy."
For a discussion of these different meanings, see
Hengstenberg's Christology on Zech. ix. 1 (vol. iii.
pp. 380-384. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1858).
Where he strenuously advocates the meaning of
hirden. See also Keil on Nahum i. 1 .
On Nineveh refer to (besides the Introduction),
the Com. on Jonah i. 2. — C. E.]
Vers. 2-6. The Exordium. The prophet begins
his announcement in the manner of a psalm, and
that of the psalms, of degrees, with a concatenated
structure of members formed by repetition of
words (compare Delitzsch, Psalter, 1867, p. 692),
forming the way, as it were, from the general
BtatementK concerning Gpd's holy wrath and right-
eous jealousy to the special, approaching manifes-
tiition [of God's righteous judgment and wrath. —
c;. E.]
Ver. 2. A Grod jealous and taking vengeance
Is Jehovah. The general statements Nahum takes
from the book of the Covenant, and that from its
core, the Decalogue, Ex. xx. 5. [Compare also
Ex. xxxiv, U ; Deut. iv. 24 ; v. 9. — C. E.] For
the secondary form Si3p, instead of S3i2, compare
Josh. xxiv. 19. The jealousy of God arises from
his love to his people. He is jealous of his peo-
ple, lest they should serve any other god, lest
they should acknowledge any man as their lord
(Ex. xxxiv. 14; Deut. iv. 24); and he is jealous
for his people, lest any should approach them
vrith malicious intention, or for their injury (Deut.
xxxii. 43). He avenges both ; and hence his
coming is not merely (in the first case) an object
of fear, but also (in the second case) an object of
longing hope on the part of his people. So Ps.
xciv. 1, and here.
The vengeance of God is more strictly defined
as furious ; An avenger is Jehovah and a mas-
ter of fury (^furious, possidens iram, Calv.,
Gen. xxxvii. 19) ; further, as aimed at his adver-
Baries : An avenger is Jehovah vrith respect to
his adversaries ; finally, as inevitably realized ;
that can be deferred, but not arrested : and one,
who keeps wrath to his enemies (Ley. xix. 18.)
The three statements are complementary to one
another (He can be provoked, He kindles into an-
ger, and keeps it, Hitzig), and the threefold repe-
tition of the word avenger, contributes to the
emphatic prominence of the central thought, as in
Is. vi. 3. The reference of it by Tarnov and
Mich, to the Trinity is forced.
It would seem natural, according to the analogy of
pp3, and in allusion to 2 d, to translate also 3 a
in strict conformity with the original meaning ol
the word : He is long in wrath, i. e.. He is angry
for a long while. This, however, would be against
the constant usage of the language, according to
which the combination SN [^Q^'SS TJ^S] desig.
nates the slowness with which his anger discharges
itself. He is slow to anger, long suffering, as He
had proved himself in the present instance by a
hundred years' endurance of the wickedness of the
Assyrians. The connection with ver. 2 is anti-
thetic ; the whole verse is a reproduction of the
Mosaic declarations concerning the nature of God
(Ex. xxxiv. 6 f.). But we must not think that
this delay arises from weakness; for He is of
gre^it power. And just as little should we think
that it is a remission of punishment, for He does
not clear the guilty (Ex. xx. 7; xxxiv. 7). He
is a just judge ; and his sentence is fact. Calmly
looking on He permits the vast, restrained power
of his wrath to be accomplished, until the measure
is filled up and runs over. There follows (3 b-6)
a description of this actuality of God's judging,
in the general features of the Theophany, i. e.,
of an appearance of Jehovah in judgment con
.nected with powerful, signs in nature. These de-
scriptions, borrowed from Ex. xix. occur in Judge*
v., and run through the whole book of Psalms -
Ps. xviii., 1., Ixviii., xcvii. Ver. 3 b, first of all
describes his coming, as in Micah i., under the
image of a thunder-storm approaching with tero
pest speed, whose whirling clouds sweep over tha
earth (comp. Ps. Ixxxiii. 16). Jehovah, in tha
storm and in the whirlwind is his way. He
moves along quickly and with power (Is. iv. 4);
And clouds are the dust of his feet ; Ho contm-
ues in his approach a concealed God (Ps. Ixxvii.
20 (19)).
Erom this image [of a storm] ver. 4 changes to
that of a scorching heat (comp. Joel i. 18 ff . ; Ps.
Ixxxiii. 15), in allusion to the glow of wrath, ver.
2 : He threatens the sea and makes it dry. The
memory of the historical fact (Ex. xiv. 15) ig
woven into the description of the judgment ; hence
the imp. attractum ; although the miraculous de-
liverance on that occasion acquires another mean-
ing in the coming to judgment (■'l'^^3'l=21']l,
comp. Ges., sec. 69, obs. 6).
And He drieth up all the rivers, and with them
the fountains of the land; Bashan and Carmel
wither and the blossom of Lebanon withers.
These three extreme points, in East, West, and
North, are used here, as they are frequently, for the
whole land. That Canaan is designated, although
the judgment was to fall upon Assyria, proves, that
we have to take it as a ty]jical, that is to say, as an
abstract description of the judgment, not surely as
prophetic details. The same conclusion follows
from the interchange of the images, for the differ-
ent features [ground-lines] of the separate theoph-
anies described by the Psalms and propliets grad-
ually meet. To the two first he joins the third, viz ,
that of an earthquake accompanied with violent
rains.
Ver. 5. The mountains quake (Am. viii. 8) and
the hills melt away (comp. on Mic. i. 4) ; and
the earth heaves, with violent commotions, at his
presence, the manifestation of his glory (1133,
UW, TfSbo), which is revealed for the destruction
of the wicked (Ps. xxxv. 5 ; Is. xxx. 27 ff.) ; and
the circle of the earth (the nhabited land, Job
18
NAHUM.
xxxvii.l2; 0. Strauss) with all that dwell thereon.
KE^^ is intransitive, as in Hos. xiii. 1 ; Hab. i. 3
(Abarb., Cocc, Hitz.). The signification, to shrielf,
(0. Strauss) is possible, and would not eren here be
unmeaning, but it does not suit the figure. It is
natural that all things should tremble, for the
judgment is irresistible, before which everything
must fall.
Ver. 6 : Before his fury who can stand ? impf.
potent., comp. Ps. xv. 1. And who can endure
the fierceness of his anger? (Jer. x. 10.) His
fury pours itself out like fire and the rooks are
shattered (the syllable ^^ is repeated onomato-
poetically) before Him. With storm and dark
clouds, with sultriness and reeling of the earth, the
thunder-storm bursts forth ; the last catastrophe is
the fiery eruption ; and it is at hand.
[Vers. 2-6. " The description of the divine jus-
tice, and its judicial manifestation on the earth,
with which Mahum introduces his prophecy con-
cerning Nineveh, has this double object: first of
all, to indicate the connection between the destruc-
tion of the capital of the Assyrian empire, which
is about to be predicted, and the divine purpose of
salvation; and secondly, to cut off at the very
outset all doubt as to the realization of this judg-
ment." Keil and Delitzsch. — C. E.]
Vers. 7-14. The Announcement. The transition
to the impending confirmation of the avenging zeal
of God. It is introduced by >v reference to the
goodness of God to those who trust in Him ; on
the one hand that his wrath may enter into more
striking contrast with it ; and on the other hand,
that the ethical ground of this wrath in the nature
of God may not be mistaken. This double turn
governs the whole announcement, so that it con-
stantly fluctuates between threatening and conso-
lation, between Nineveh and Judah.
Good is Jehovah, not unfavorably disposed, but
full of tender inclination of heart (Ps. Ixxxvi. 5 ;
cxliii. 10), a refuge in the time of trouble ; 3'ij^
is not to be construed with TI^H?; good for a ref-
uge ; which would be a Germanism ; but both are
coordinate predicates. But He is not good to all
(Ps. Ixxiii. 1 ) ; He knows them thattruat in Him.
571"' stands emphatically for the knowledge, with
which God fosters and provides for his elect, and
which is experienced by them (Hos. xiii. 5).
Therefore it is no contradiction, when ver. 8 adds :
But with an overflowing flood He will make an
end of her place : not with an unjust destruction,
but with the divine justice overwhelming the wicked
(Is. X. 22 f.). Calvin: cum inundatione transiens,
1 [CalYin : " By inundation^ then, he, in passing, wiU
make a consummation in her place ; that is, God will sud-
denly overwhelm the Assyrians as though a deluge should
rise to cover the whole earth. lie intimates, that God
would not punish the Assyrians by degrees, as men some-
times do, who proceed step by step to avenge themselves,
but suddenly. God, he says, will of a sudden thunder
against the Assyrians, as when a deluge comes over a laud.
Hence this pas.sing of God is opposed to long or slow prog-
ress i as though he said. ' As soon as God's wrath shall
break forth or come upon the Assyrians, it will be all over,
for a consummation will immediately follow ; by inunda-
tion, lie, passing through, will make a consummation in
her place.' IJy place he means the ground ; as though he
aad said, that God would not only destroy the face of the
land, but would also destroy the very ground, and utterly
Jenioliah it. A feminine pronoun is here added, because he
speaks of the kingdom or nation, as it is usual in Hebrew.
But it ought especially to be noticed, that the Prophet
because the word ^t2tll7 may be designated at
feminine by the sufl5x attached to HDIpO. But
this suffix refers to Nineveh (Hitz., Strauss), to
which, withdrawing his mind from the considera-
tion of the divine wrath and zealous love, the
prophet now turns with energetic change of ad-
dress. The completeness of the destruction is
expressed by nbS, finishing stroke, utter ruin
(the construction is here that of the double ace.},
but still more by the fact, that not merely the city
itself, but even its place is mentioned as the object
of the same destruction. Concerning the special
reason, which the prophet had for employing, to
describe this destruction, the image of a flood, evi-
dently borrowed from Amos ix. 5, compare the In-
troduction, 4, p. 11 and the Com. on. ii. 7.
And he will pursue his enemies with [into]
darkness. [Henderson and Newcome render it :
" And darkness shall pursue his enemies." So alsc
the LXX and the Vulgate. Luther and Kleinert.-
Und Seine Feinde verfolgt Er mit Finsterniss. — C.
E.] Light is the emblem of good and salvation
(comp. Num. vi. 25) ; darkness, of wrath and de-
struction (Ps. Ixxxviii. 19; comp. also the Introd,
4, p. 11). And resistance is useless.
Ver. 9, What devise ye against Jehovah?
Eosenm., Strauss, Keil : '■^ " What think ye against
Jehovah f " This, however, is feeble. " ^M fre-
quently, moreover, takes the place of v37, and in
relation to Jehovah the scheme of the enemies is of
a character hostile to Him." Hitzig. Compare
also Hos. vii. 15. The prophet imagines, as ad-
dressed, all who doubt the announcement; not only
the external Jews (Strauss, Keil), whose doubt,
moreover, was, in the estimation of the prophet, a
thought against Jehovah (Is. vii. 10 ff.) ; but also
the enemies, who still imagined that they would,
by means of preparation for defense, be able to
escape from the hand of God (ii. 2). It is in
vain : He makes an utter ruin. The part, ex-
presses the absolute fixedness of the decree.
For the afSiction shall not arise twice, namely,
the affliction mentioned ver. 7, the affliction, which
his people should suffer from Assyria, in which
they took refuge in Him. It is too confidently as-
serted that an argument is found in the verse foi
placing the composition [of this book] immediately
after the catastrophe of Sennacherib. His inva-
sion was not the first trouble that Judah experi-
enced from Assyria, but already the second or third.
(2 Chron. xxviii. 20 f. mentions a siege by Tig-
lath-Pileser ; and even if one would not ascribe to
it the origin of the imposition of tribute upon Hez-
threatens the Assyrians, that God would entirely subvert
them, that He would not only demolish the surfoce, as
when fire or waters destroy houses, but that the Lord
would reduce to nothing the land itself, even the very
ground." — C. E.]
2 [KeiPs view requires : What think ye of Jehovah ? He
saya : " The question in 9 a is not addressed to the enemy,
viz., the Assyrians, as very many commentators suppose;
' What do ye meditate against Jehovah ! ' For although
Chhsabh ^ei is used in Uo3. vii. 16 for a hostile device io
regard to Jehovah, the supposition that 'c/ is used here for
'a/, according to a later usage of the language, is precluded
by the fact that bV 3tI7n is actually used in this «ens«
in ver. 11."
The LXX. have eirl rhv itupiov j tho Vulgate has C«nO»
Botninum. Luther; Was gedenket ihi vider den J^eim ? -
0. B.]
CHAPTER 1.
19
ekiah, we must still admit that there was an op-
pression by Sargon, the conqueror of Samaria,
which is highly probable, taking into considera-
tion his enterprises against Egypt.)
The prophecy has principally to do with the
affliction experienced from the hand of Assyria,
Conformable to the same view is the translation of
Marck, Strauss, and others : the enemy, to wit,
Nineveh, will not arise twice. However this is, on
account of the m^ in ver. 7, not very probable.
Ver. 10. But with a single stroke the trouble
ends; in thorns they are entangled ["^^ as in
Is. xxxvii. 3, in the place from which one cannot
extricate himself, in which one is fettered], so that
they find no escape, at the time of the manifesta-
tion of the divine wrath (comp. Mic. vii. 4), but
they are burned with the thorns (Eccl. vii. 6) ; and
while they are drowned in their carousing.
DMDD is not, as the commentators think, a sub-
stantive, but the infinitive of the same verb S3D
(Is. Ivi. 12), whose passive participle follows; and
3 is temporal, as in Is. xviii. 4 f ] i. e., they are
swallowed by the flood (ver. 8), they are consumed
by the fire (Is ..24), hke stubble fliUy dry. S^D
is an adverb modifying W^'' (comp. Ew., 279 a;
Mic. ii. 7). Diodorus Siculus, ii. 26, following
Ctesias (comp. the Introd. 4, p. 11), describes
the drunkenness, in which the last king of Nineveh
was surprised by destruction. [Ewald, and also
Hitzig with a few changes, introduce an antithesis
into the three members. Even should they be like
wicker-work of twisted thorns, and as moist as their
wine itself, yet shall they be consumed by the fire
like dry stubble. Similarly also, Keil. The an-
tithesis between b and c would be striking, and at
the same time, as Hitzig remarks, witty ; but be-
tween a and c none exists ; and the irony, which
exists in our wording, is more earnest, perhaps also
more becoming the prophet.] The change and the
apparent inconsistency of the accumulated images
are accounted for, on the one hand, by the inwoven
hint at the reality (comp. on ii. 17) ; on the other
band, by the vivacity of the prophet's language
(Introd. i.), which manifests itself directly again
(ver. 1 1 ) in the shifting of the person addressed.
Prom thee, Nineveh, has he gone out [not out
of thee, viz., Jerusalem, has He gone out hence,
retreated (Holemann, Strauss) : the formula N-"'
(Si has a fixed meaning (Mic. v. 2 ; Gen. xvli. 6
and above) ], who meditated evil against Jeho-
vah, who advised worthlessness. It is difficult
to think of a definite person (according to the old
interpreters, Eabshakeh), but, like ver. 9, we must
understand it of the constant hostility of the kings
of Nineveh against the kingdom of God, which is
typically expressed in the name Nimrod, Mic. v. 5.
_ So then finally the discourse, ver. 12 ff., culminates
in the Divine Sentence of annihilation : Thus
speaks Jehovah ; however complete and nu-
merous they are : however numerous they are,
they shall be cut off: subito et tanquani fatce
memoria abscinduntur. Kreenen. And he passes
away, who went out with mischief (Is. xxix. 5).
But the sentence has two sides : a terrible one for
Nineveh, a consoling one for God's people, ver. 7 :
and though I have afiBioted thee, I will aflHict
•■■hee no more. For the sense, compare 9c; for
the construction, Micah vii. 8.
Ver. 13. But now (to the prophet's mind) in
the nearest present (Micah iv. 9), — all prophetic
visions have the 4i/ rAxet in themselves (Rev. i. 1 )
— I will break his yoke from off thee and wiU
burst thy bonds : the day has come, which I have
long ago announced to thee (Is. x. 24, 27).
But the discourse, ver. 14, turns again to Nin
eveh: concerning thee, Jehovah has given a
command : no more shall there be seed of thy
name ; literally, it shall no more be sown of thy
name. As from n"'3, house, comes the Niph.
denom. ^^32^, a house, i. e., offspring, is raised
for me [literally, I shall be built — C. E.] ; so
from Vlf, seed, comes the Niphal ^"^'.J^, seed
springs up [literally, shall be sown — C. E.]. The
race is to be destroyed forever.
From the house of thy God I will destroy
the graven image ; in the fate of the national god
is represented the fate of the nation (Is. xxxvi. 18).
Yes, thy molten image will I make thy
grave. Thy temple shall fall over thee, so that
thou shall perish, where thou seekest refuge : an-
tithesis to ver. 7 (comp. Is. xxxvii. 38). Such is
the connection pointed out by the accents, and
Grot., Drus., Rosenm., Botticher, and others fol-
low them. [On the other hand, Hitzig, Strauss, and
Keil connect nSDB with what precedes, and trans-
late 'T'"l3p CttJS "I will prepare thy grave."]
For thou art found light. Compare Dan. v. 27.
[Keil : " To confirm the threat expressed in
vers. 8-11, Nahum explains the divine purposs
more fully. Jehovah hath spoken : the complete-
ness and strength of her army will be of no help
to Nineveh; vers. 12-14.
"It is not the King of Assyria who is here ad-
dressed, but the Assyrian power personified as a
single man, as we may see irom what follows, ac-
cording to which the idols are to be rooted out
along with the seed from the house of God, i. e.,
out of the idol temples (cf. Is. xxxvii. 38, xliv. 13).
Pesel and massekhdh are combined, as in Dent,
xxvii. 15, to denote every kind of idolatrous image.
For the idolatry of Assyria, see Layard's Nineveh
and its Remains, ii. p. 439 seq. ^T!'5)'!' D*ti'^? can-
not mean, " I make the temple of thy god into a
grave," although this meanmg has already been
expressed in the Chaldee and Syriac ; and the
Masoretic accentuation, which connects the words
with what precedes, is also founded upon this
view. If an object had to be supplied to D''C£?S
from the context, it must be pesel umassekhdh;
but there would be no sense in " I make thine idol
into a grave." There is no other course left, there-
fore, than to take ^'T'?!? as the nearest and only
object of n^'ffi'H, " I lay, i. e., prepare thy grave."
jli?!? ''p, because, when weighed according to
thy moral worth (Job xxxi. 6), thou hast been
been found light (cf. Dan. v. 27). Hence the
widespread opinion, that the murder of Sennach-
erib (Is. xxxvii. 38; 2 Kings xix. 37) is pre-
dicted here, must be rejected as erroneous and
irreconcilable with the words, and not even so far
correct as that Nahum makes any allusion to that
event. He simply announces the utter destruction
of the Assyrian power, together with its idolatry,
upon which that rested. Jehovah has prepared a
grave for the people and their idols, because they
have been found light when weighed in the balances
of righteousness."
20
NAHUM.
Henderson's translation is: "From the house
of thy gods I will cut off the graven and the
molten image ; I will make it thy grave, because
thou art worthless." He applies the threat to the
Assyrian monarch, who was slain by his sons, Avhile
he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his
god, 2 Kings xix. 37. " The Medes being great
enemies to idolatry, those of them who composed
the army of Cyaxares would take singular pleas-
ure in destroying the idols which they found in
the chief temple at Nineveh."
Newcome understands the language, " there
shall not be sown of thy name any more," to refer
to colonies: "That no more of thy colonies be
transplanted to other countries." — C. E.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHIOAL. 1
The matter in question in prophecy is not the
foretelling of single facts, but the exposition of the
laws and dispensations of the Divine government
of the world, which result from the holy nature of
God, and fi'om the fiict that He governs the world
with a view to his Kingdom. Therefore the proph-
et Nahum also, who more than others might be
suspected of having, like the heathen diviners,
but one catastrophe of the future in view, begins
his prediction, by causing the light of God to
shine, in which He would have his prophecy viewed
and understood. It treats of the destruction of
an enemy of God, and of such a one, as is found
too light on the just and infallible balances of
God. He articulates the judgment of Nineveh into
the joint connection of the one Divine judgment
of the world, which began with the destruction of
the Egyptians in the Red Sea (along with his rev-
elation to his people), and which shall end in
the final judgment of all those who are disobe-
dient (Micah v. 14).
God's essence is light, warming and blessing
those who love Him and trust in Him (comp. Ps.
cxxxix. 11 with ver. 7); but consuming to his
adversaries. Both meet in the zeal of God,
which includes in it potentially all the warmth
of love and all the heat of wrath (Cant. viii. 6) ;
even the ardor of his wrath springs from love
(Ex. xxxiv. 14; xx. 5). But if God reserves his
w]-ath for the wicked, He does not do so out of
any feeling of grudge, as a revengeful man might
picture God in his imagination, but because of
His righteousness, which by forgetting would de-
stroy itself The unjust verdict of man originates
in forgetfulness (Ps. ciii. 2). God reserves wrath,
not because He is angry, but because He is slow
to anger, and allows much to be accumulated,
before He resolves upon judgment. He knows
that his judgment is terrible. The reserving of
his wrath has the same root as the knowledge of
his own. He is pure Spirit, hence pure under-
standing, pure wisdom, and also pure memory.
ForgiTing and forgetting belong to the self-for-
bearance of God (Is. xliii. 25). If a man, or a
nation, should succeed in suddenly placing the
whole Kingdom of Christ in peril of destruction,
then we could better comprehend the emphasis,
with which the jirophets speak of the avenging
zeal of God. Whoever oppresses Israel is guilty
^f this very thing in the estimation of the prophet.
The world-power is the Old Testament form of
Antichrist, just as Israel is the Old Testament
form of Christ ( Heb. xi. 26). Hence John, in the
1 [Reicks^edanken. See note, Com. on Jonah, p. 20. —
Apocalypse, describing great Babylon, makes fre-
quent use of this prophet. The world-power, in-
deed, in its effects, is an instrument and scourge
of Jehovah, and thus it belongs to the phenomena
of judgment, which commenced in the Holy Land;
but its disposition is hostile to God, and this comes
to light in its execution of his judgments (Zeeh.
i. 15). He decrees chastisement; against Israel;
it devises mischief against Jehovah (comp. Is.
xxxvii. 10) : He intends a rod: it makes out of
that a yoke; and therefore it becomes subject to
judgment.
Jehovah himself is a refuge : his judgments are
accomplished by means — thunderstorm, waves,
and darkness. So appeared He also to Elijah, not
in storm, tempest, and earthquake, which passed
before him, but in the still voice.
The whole creation falls under the judgment
of God in painful commotion. For it was made
for man and united by God to him in indisso-
luble unity. Hence the land is involved in the
penal sufferings of its inhabitants ; and the crea:
ture longs to be delivered from the bondage of
this transitory existence into the glory of the
children of God, which is promised to it also (Gen.
iii. ; Rom. viii. ; Is. xi. 65). As the earth stained
with the sin of the Adamites '■' must go through
the destructive purifying bath of the Flood, so the
site of Nineveh must go through the purifying
waves of God's new judgment.
As the judgment of Nineveh is only a reflection;
in time of the one eternal judgment, so also is its,
result, the deliverance of the Church from the.-
yoke of Nineveh, only one in the series of God's,
deliverances, which are fundamentally but one de-
liverance. For they all proceed from the heart of
the one kind God, who knows those who trust in
Him ; and all are of no effect, if not embraced
with faith in God. Each preceding judgmetit,
presignifying the final judgment, contains iM.
characteristics : each of the foregoing deliverances
will receive its perfect light only from the final
redemption.
It cannot be denied that to the prophetical visionj
the great city is in itself, in a certain sense, an ob-
ject of the Divine displeasure. The destruction:
of each of the great cities, which have come into
contact with the history of the Kingdom of God,
has been the subject of prophecy : e, q., Nineveh
Babylon, Jerusalem, Rome. As the founding of
cities had its origin in the anguish of conscience ex
pericnced by Cain, who, with the consciousness of
the guilt of murder, sought society in order to find
protection in it, so one after another of the greati
cities is swept away, because they become in them-
.sclves cities of murder (Is. i. 21). Living together
unfetters the consciousness of power for insolence,
and the overthrow of the tower of Babel is a typo
of each succeeding Babel. [The concatenation of
the inward and outward crisis prevailing therein,
which the prophets represent from the point of
view of the everlasting laws of God, Schiller has,
with penetration, more fully carried out in his
" Walk," by imitating the prophets, but obscured
it by Hellenistic turns. From this we can under-
stand how it was necessary for Micah to depict the
future Jei-usalem (iv. 1) as being built upon the
ruins of the present (iii. 12).
The relation of the heathen to the Kingdom of'
God falls, in the Old Testament, under a twofold
point of view. On the one hand the heathen are
included from the beginning in the purpose of the
2 [Thi3 expression does not necessarily imply that thB
-whole human race was not descended from Adam. — C. K.)
CHAPTER I.
21
kingdom. It is true that in the Torah, according
to the nature of the case, the relation in .wliich
God's plans extend also over the heathen, is
thrown more in the back firound. Mere the
election of Israel stands in the foreground, and
the acts of God toward the heathen are manifesta-
tions of his glory in favor of Israel. The admis-
sion of the heathen into Israel has, in the mean
time, only the painful form of circumcision, by
which they could enter as servants into the fellow-
ship of the chosen people. However, Deut. xxxii.
8 presents already a wider field of view ; and
further on the bearing of that statement becomes
always more distinct. Jehovah brought the Phil-
istines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir
(Am. ix. 7). He weakens the Egyptians by in-
surrection (Is. xix), even where no mention is
made of collision with Israel. He gives to Neb-
uchadnezzar the countries of the earth (Jer. xxv.).
The kings, who destroy Babylon, are his instru-
ments (Ez. xxxi. 9; Is. xiii. 3 ff.); so also is
Cyrus, though he knows it not (Is. xli. 46). And
thus the heathen world enters by degrees, in a
form adequate to the original (Gen. xii. 3, comp. ix.
27), into the circle of the expectation of Salva-
tion : the universality of salvation, the participa-
tion of all the heathen in it is a vital moment
thereof (Is. xlv. 22 ; Ps. Ixxxvii.). But on the other
hand the heathen also come into consideration as
the conscious enemies of the Kingdom of God.
The world-powers are scourges in His hand to
chastise his people (Is. x. ; Hab. i.) But their
minds are elated with pride and arrogance (Hab.
i. 7, 11), and hence they carry to excess the power
of punishment committed to them temporarily
(Zech. i. 15), presume to attribute their success to
themselves in defiance of the God of Israel (Is.
xxxvii. 10), and continue in their hostility against
Him (Nah. i. U). It follows then, that there is a
difference between the heathen, who hear, and
those who hear not (comp. Com. on Micah v. 14).
The former will be added to the people of God ;
the latter are subjected to various overwhelming
judgments, which will hereafter find their comple-
tion in the final judgment.
ScHMiEDER : It is according to the style of
prophecy to view each judgment upon the enemies
of God and of his people as a type of the last
judgment. As long as the people of God sin
against the Lord, they will certainly always and
always again be subjected to new scourges of hos-
tile nations. But to the converted, who are the
genuine seed of Israel, each deliverance from any
hostile power is an image and pledge of the last
complete redemption, and the prophets, filled with
the Spirit of God, so speak that the vista is always
open to this.
HOMILETICAL.
Vera. 2-6. The glory of the Lord in his judgments.
1. He honors his word, vers. 2 a-c, 3 c.
2. He proves His eternal omniscience, 2 d.
3. He puts to shame those who consider His
brbearance weakness, 3 a.
4. He proves his glorious and irresistible (6 a b)
power as Creator over the whole world, nature.
Hud men, 3 b-6.
Vers. 7-14. The consolation of the pious in the
freat judgments of God.
1. Their refuge in God, ver. 7 a.
2. None of them can be lost, 7 c. ; comp. Bz. 9.
3. His floods destroy only his enemies, and his
iarkness is dark to tb«m only, ver. 8.
4. His terrors will make a free course for his
Kingdom, for
(a.) They bring the hostility against Him to an
end, ver. 9, and Am. ix. 5.
(b.) They terminate the severe purifying chas-
tisements of his friends, vers. 10-12; Ps. Ixxv. 4.
(c.) Their end is redemption, ver. 13.
5. And even to the last judgment, every thing
which comes from Him, is in accordanie with
justice, ver. 14.
Vers. 2-8. Advent-sermon : Make haste to be
saved. For (1) look at the misery in which thou
standest; a guilty and impotent being before the
Holy and Almighty One (ver. 2-6); (2) look at
the salvation which is offered thee (ver. 7) ; (3)
look at the wretchedness of those, who refuse to
be saved (ver. 8).
On ver. 2. Vengeance is mine, I will repay,
saith Jehovah ; He says it, that we may be still,
and that our heart may learn to give way to the
wrath of God. If we had Nahum's faith, we
would be Nahums too, i. e., consolatory. We
would then also learn to intercede ; for he, with
whom God is long-suffering, deserves compassion.
This is also the case among men. He who is
speedily ready for action has usually little power.
God's forgiveness does not proceed from weakness
of mind like that of Eli. The latter does not
punish because he cannot; but God forgives, al-
though He cannot, according to his nature, allow
sin to go unpunished. Hence follows the necessity
of the expiatory death of Christ. We do not see
the ways of God, even though they are very near
to us (Ps. Ixxvii. 20(19)). That should not in-
duce us to go astray; but inspire us with confi-
dence. Where God approaches, there a cloud of
dust arises : a cloud is the dust of his feet. God
treads under foot nothing, which is not already in
itself rubbish, ver. 4, Ex. xiv. 15; Is. iii., — Ver.
6. Before Him mountains and rocks are dashed to
pieces : before Him even the hardest heart cannot
stand. [Vers. 3 b-6 gives a beautiful and striking
allegory of the approaching hour of death. Dark-
ness comes before the eyes ; the heart disturbed
and agitated by earthly cares, becomes all at once
withered as it were with reference to these things :
every delight of the eye loses its charm : ambitious
pride vanishes and the flesh trembles ; and in the
conscience begins the burning feeling of divine
wrath. Then the heart learns to flee to God (ver.
7).J — Ver. 7. Because God is good. He knows
them who trust in Him ; He knows the heart, and
He will be acknowledged with the heart. — Ver. S.
To him to whom the eternal light becomes dark-
ness there is no more morning. — Ver. 9. Human
wisdom is powerful, if it cooperates with God ,
impotent, if it opposes Him. Eating and drink-
ing are the lot of the despisers of God : and the
Lord leaves them to their lot. Food and drink
for the body do not give the life, which secures
against destruction. — Ver. 11. Nineveh and Beth-
lehem. — Ver. 12. Were the enemy ever so dis-
solute and impious, yet it is not without the per-
mission of God, when he succeeds in humbling
thee. — Ver. 14. We cheerfully puzzle our brains
how to remedy the evil consequences of an injury,
which will probably operate for a long time here-
after. We should rather think that it is in the
power of God, and also in his will, if it should
appear necessary to his wisdom, to extirpate such
an injury with all its consequences by a single
blow. Wickedness is chaff: it falls not to the
ground to become lasting seed ; bat because it is
too light, it must fly away as far as it can go
'1%
NAfcrtrM.
Nineveh was a great city before God (Jonah iii. 3),
and yet now it is too light. In God's scales num-
ber and size \augenmass, measuring by the eyej
weigh nothing.
Luther : On ver. 1 . The burden which hitherto
has lain upon and oppressed you, will come to He
upon the Ninevites. Such is our weakness that
we always wish that God would speedily avenge
Himself; and if He does not, then we think that
we are undone. But he says, when ye shall be
regarded as thoroughly subdued, and when there
is no more hope on your side, when it is impossible
to withstand the enemy with human power, then
He is there, withstands them, and subdues them
most gloriously \aMf's aUerherTHchste\. — Ver. 10.
The prophet calls them thorns, which grow into
one another, {. d., they combine their might and
power into a mass, make leagues and friendships,
and are very insolent and proud. But still they
are thorns which must perish, let them combine
together as they will. — Ver. 12 He who is in you
is greater than he who is in the world.
Starke : On ver. 1. God draws forth his
eminent men even from obscure and unknown
places. — Ver. 2. We can indeed discover the wis-
dom and power of God from the book of Nature ;
yet the Holy Scriptures teach them to us most
correctly. God does not allow the heathen, when
they mock his holy name, to go unpunished. —
Ver. 3. The reason of the long-suffering of God
is that He waits for repentance. — Ver. 4. As the
fruitfulness of a country comes from God, so also
its unfruitfulness. — Ver. 6. If the wrath of an
earthly king is a messenger of death (Prov. xvi.
14), how much more the wrath of the Almighty
(Job ix. 13). — Ver. 7. Whoever will avail him-
self of the Divine help must trust in God. — Ver.
8. God causes his punishments to come like a
flood, that is, suddenly and before they are ex-
pected.— Ver. 9. Those who fall again mto their
former sins, after they have repeatedly been
brought by God to repentance, are generally lost.
— Ver. 10. Godless people are like thorns, which
thrive and grow without culture, but at last are
burned with fire. — Ver. 11. God causes the mis-
chief, which men prepare for others, to fall upon
their own heads. The enemies of God place their
confidence upon fleshly things : but thereby de-
stroy themselves.
Pi'MPF : On ver 2. Notwithstanding the Lord
is slow to wrath and kind, yet, if one turns his
grace to licentiousness, his wrath comes at last
upon hardened sinners like a storm, and his
vengeance like a tempest. — Ver. 4 S. Behold how
terrible are God's wrath and majesty. And thou
sinner, sinnest recklessly and fcarest not this
wrath of thy Creator, and wilt not know that
He can destroy snil and body in hell. — Ver. 9 ff.
It is in vain to take counsel against the Lord.
His Avisdom, justice, and omnipotence will finally
prevail and utterly destroy the godless.
RiEGEE : The principal design of the last six
trophets is to comfort the people of God under
he actual invasion and pressure of their chastise-
ments, and to show them how the zeal of God
toward them is truly great, but that his wrath
toward his enemies is still greater; and how God,
after ^ having accomplished his design by their
chastisement, will recompense their enemies, but
remember his covenant for their highest good. —
Ver. 2 ff. Every thing in God is terrible to the
wicked : every thing to them, who take refuge in
Him, is consolatory. Jealousy is caused by
violated love, and is exercised either toward those
whom one would bring back by it to the duty of
love, or against those who outrage the beloved
[object]. The patience and power heretofora
shown, in his forbearance for a long time with
the objects of his wrath, give to his judgments,
when at last God's time comes to visit, a special
sting in the conscience of men which, however,
in case of a final humiliation, may prove quite
salutary. — Ver. 8 ff. If we compare the blas-
phemous words, which Sennacherib uttered by
his servants, against the God of Israel, with the
definitive sentence pronounced here against hig
seed, we can see how impotent even the mightiest
upon earth is against the Lord in heaven ; and
like interwoven thorns, plans projected with the
greatest skill, well supported on all sides, and
strengthened by the association of wicked men,
can be suddenly overthrown by the wrath of God
before they become ripe, if the heart of man is
still set to evil. Blessed are all that trust in
Him!
Caspar! : On ver. 1 . In all times there was in
Israel a great number of persons, whose very
names (Nahum, from nachetn, to console) were for
themselves and their countrymen a constant living
sermon on the glorious being and the great deeds
of Jehovah their God ; and also on the subject, as
to how the heart should stand with Him, and on
what one should ask and expect from Him.
Mich. : Hostium deletio ecclesice consolatio.
ScHMiEDER : Nahum, in the Spirit, sawtheLord
as He appears as an avenger upon Nineveh. Filled
with this vision he now announces the Lord's pur-
pose to destroy this wicked city. But at the same
time he teaches how the Holy God unites his right-
eous wrath with long-suffering and patience; how
his judgment upon the oppressors is at the same
time protection and deliverance to his people.
Hence this prophecy is a master-key for under-
standing the divine judgments.
ScHMiEDER : Ver. 2. The enemies of the Lord
are those who hate the living God, his name, his
word, and his covenant, and therefore inflict every
evil upon his people.
Calvin : Ver. 3. The godless should not con-
sole themselves with the fact that God is patient ;
for He is also powerful ; hence those who abuse
his patience will not escape from Him.
BuRCK : God shows his long-suffering not only
toward his children, whose manifold weaknesses
He so bears with as to restore them again and
again ; but also toward his enemies, whom He does
not punish at once, but bears with them very par
tientiy for a long time.
HiERONYMus : Ver. 4. It will not be hard foi
Him, who has the prerogative to put even the ele
ments in commotion, to destroy Nineveh. — Ver
7. He does not surprise all mariners with a storm.
ScHMiEDER : Ver. 8. That is really darkness,
which breaks in on the day of the Lord (Am. v. 18).
— Ver. 9. As the deluge shall not occur again,
so the desolation of Israel by the Assyrians shall
not take place the second time (Is. liv. 9). God
comforts and tranquillizes those hearts which have
become fearful by the divine judgments which they
experienced.
Mich. : Ver. 12. As the multitude of hairs can
offer no resistance to the shears, so also God will
remove the multitude of his enemies by an easy cut.
HiERONYM0s: Ver. 14. God gives a command
concerning thee, in order that whatever may come
upon thee, may come not accidentally and from
another judge ; but in order that thou raayest
suffer it according to the Divine announcement.
[Calvin : Ver. 7. The prophet expresses ....
here .... that God is hard and severe toward r»-
CHAPTER II. 28
fractory men, and that He is merciful and kind to
the teaehahle and obedient, — not that God changes
hie nature, or that, like Proteus, He puts on various
foiins ; but because He treats men according to
their disposition.
Henrt : Ver. 7. This glorious description of
the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud
and of fire, has a bright side toward Israel, and
a dark side toward the Egyptians. — C. E.]
CHAPTER II.
THE DESCRIPTION.
Conquett, Plundering, and Destruction of Nineveh. Chap. i. 15-ii. 14 (Heb. £ib^
chap, ii.)
1 Behold ! upon the mountains
The feet of him, who brings ' glad tidings ;
That proclaims peace :
Celebrate thy feasts, O Judah !
Perform thy vows ;
For the worthless ^ one shall no more pass through thee ;
He is utterly cut off.
2 The disperser has come up against thee [thy face] ;
Keep the fortress, look out upon the way ;
Make strong the loins :
Strengthen thee with power mightily.
3 For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob
As the excellency of Israel ;
For plunderers have plundered them
And their branches have they destroyed.
4 The shield of his heroes is made red :
The men of his host are clothed in scarlet :
"With the flashing of steel the chariots [glitter]
In the day of his preparation ;
And the cypresses are brandished.
6 The chariots rave in the streets :
They run to and fro in the broad ways :
Their appearance is like the torches ;
Like the lightning they rush.
6 He remembers his nobles ;
They stumble in their march :
They hasten to her wall,
And the defence * is prepared.
7 The gates of the rivers are opened ;
And the palace is dissolved.
8 It is determined : *
She is made bare and carried away ;
And her maids moan like doves,
Smiting upon their breasts.
9 And Nineveh is like a pool of water from the time * she has existed i
And they are fleeing !
Stand ! stand !
And no one looks back.
24
NAHUM.
10 Take plunrler of silver, take plunder of gold ;
There is no end to the store : "
[There is] abundance of all desirable vessels.
11 Emptying, and emptiedness, and wasteness :
And the heart melts ;
And [there is] tottering of knees :
[There is] intense pain in all loins ;
And all faces withdraw their brightness.'
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — "^tJ^^Jp 13 collective, every one that brings tbe glad tidings of the overthrow of the enemy.
[.^ V27^ /3, abstract for concrete. Compare chap. i. 11, 7y021 t^S?"!^, wicked counselor,
\& Ver. 6. — TTDDn TDrri, '^a ist das siurmdack errichtet (Kleinert), tbe vinea is erected. The vinea was a portable
shed, or mantelet of boards, covered with wicker-work or hides, and served to protect from the weapons of the enemy
the soldiers while undermining the walls.
[4 Ver. S. — n-t^n has puzzled interpreters, and has received various interpretations. Some suppose that it is in-
tended to designate' the Queen of Nineveh, here called Huzzab ; but this opinion cannot be maintained. Gesenins,
instead of deriving it from the hop/ial of ^^D, to set, to put, to place, has recourse to the root HIll^, which he borrows
from tbe Arabic \^J*^0, tojlow, trickle, of water, ^^A.O' to pour ; and, then connecting the word to the end of the
preceding verse, reads thus : 3**r^ SIDI V^TTH, '^ palace is dissolved and made to Jlow down. Keil makes it the
kophal of "y^l, which, in the kipkil, signifies to establish, to determine (Deut. xxxii. 8 ; Ps. Isxiv. 17 ; and Chald., Dan.
li. 45 ; vi. 13), and translates it, it is established, i. e., determined, sc. by God. Kleinert renders it : Undfest ist's. The
LXX. read Kal i} ijirooTaais ancKaXv'h'^i},
[5 Ver. 9. — H^n '^P'^Q, an example of a noun in the construct before the full form of the pronotm. See Green's
Heb. Gram., sec. 220, i. a, p. 249. Since tke days of Iter, i. e. since the time that she has existed. (See Keil and Hen-
derson.) Kleinert renders it : Ninevek aber, luie ein Wa-iserteich sind ihre Wasser. The LXX. read ; Kal Nti-euij ^v ko.
Xu>A/?ij0po iiSaros, Tet'xtj i/fiara aTjTijy. Tbe Vulgate has ; " JLt Ninive quasi piscina aquarutn agwE ejus." It is evidently
tbe plural cf CV, day, with the abbreviated preposition 12 prefixed. Calvin ; Atqui Nineveh quasi piscina aquarum d
JiiUius fhoc est, a lon'^o tempore) fuit.
ru Ver. lu. — Kleinert renders nl^^^P, wohnungen, dwellings. Comp. Job xxiii. 3 and Bzek. xUii. 11.
T '
[7 Ver. 11. — "l^'^SD ^^!Zlp, withdraw their ruddiness, or brightness, of countenance, i. e., becomes pale with terror.
— C. E.]
EXEGETICAL.
As the announcement i. 7 fF. closes the delinea-
tion of the catastrophe, by immediately introdu
cing the Divine sentence i. 12 fF., so the description
itself [ii. 1-11] begins with a consolatory address,
ja ray of light for the people of God, in the midst
of the approaching night of judgment against
3Iineveh. Behold on the mountains which separ-
:fjte Nineveh from Jerusalem, and to which the de-
■'oetcd look of the despairing should raise itself (Ps.
exxL 1), the feet — ^and not simply these ; but they
are mentioned as that, which is specially valued in a
Diessenger : he hastens, because he brings good tid-
ings— of the messenger of joy. "lii^nQ is not a
definite individual, but every one collectively, who
thing, designates the author [the concrete — C. E.]
as in 2 Sam. xxiii. 6. n v3, he taken collectively,
i. e. his whole people (i. 12) ; the orthography
(i^ foi" ^rt— ) as in Hab. i. 9. The concluding
sentence shows the same abbreviation as that in
i. 14, a form of energetic expression frequent in
prophecy. In a genuine prophetic manner, the
result, the joy of Judah, is mentioned first ; after
which, in the address directed against Nineveh,
ver. 2 ff., follows the real prophecy, the description
of the catastrophe, assigning the reason [of the
judgment. — C. E.]
Comp. Is. ii. 10 fF. This is intimately and plainly
connected with the course of the work of destruc-
tion. The dasher in pieces comes up against
_!»!-,,,, 1 *'^®® (Nineveh was situated on the upper course of
Dl^tW I the Tigris), whom God employed for dispersing
brings the tidings. "Who announces peace, u i .-u/ | the Tigris), whom God employed for dispersing
• is the accusative, denoting the thing proclaimed, as ' the world-power rallied against Him (comp. Jer.
in Hal*, i. 2. The messenger of joy (comp. Is. Hi. li. 20), as He had done on a former occasion (Gen.
7} begins his address with the salutation of peace,
TJ.-'tn/ip, and continues: Keep thy leasts, 0
Judah, for no more will the battle-cry of the dis-
turber sound in thee (Is. xvi. 9) ; pay thy vows,
which fthou didst promise in anguish, when thou
desiredst to be delivered from the oppressor (Gen.
xxviii. 20 ff.). For the worthless shall no more
pass florough thee ; for he is wholly destroyed.
^^^ '■— <L 1 1 ), according to the ctvmon of the
xi. 8). The prophet fixes (H /V and the sing.
y-Qa) his eye especially upon the King of Baby-
lon (comp. above Introd. 4). He comes up against
thee, — literally against thy face, — before whom
the earth was once dumb with fear (Is. v. 2.5).
Nineveh arms itself against him, forsooth in vain :
Guard the fortress! infinitive absolute for the
imperative (Ges., sec. 131, 4 b); the imperative
form has, as it often does in the prophetical style
CHAPTER II.
2f.
the meaning of sarcastic description (comp. iii. 15
b). Look to the way, on which the enemies
approach, in order to barricade it against them.
Strengthen the loins 1 comp. Is. y. 27. iExert
thy strength greatly.
fKeil and Delitzsch : 'H^?" /37 cannot be ad-
dressed to Judah, as in i. 15 (Chald., Kashi, etc.).
It cannot indeed be objected that in chap. i. 15,
the destruction of Asshur has already been an-
nounced, since the prophet might nevertheless
have returned to the time when Asshur had made
war upon Judah, in order to depict its ruin with
greater precision. But such an assumption does
not agree with the second clause of the verse as
compared with ver. 2, and still less with the de-
scription of the approaching enemy which follows
in ver. 3, since this is unquestionably, according
to ver. 5, the power advancing against Nineveh,
and destroying that city. We must therefore as-
sume that we have here a sudden change in the
person addressed, as in chap. i. 11 and 12, 13 and
14. Henderson thinks that the words are addressed
to Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. —
C. E.]
Ver. 3. For He who is with this enemy, is none
less than Jehovah. He restores (comp. Is. iv. 2)
the glory of Jacob, at present humbled, yet on the
way to grace, so that it becomes again as the glory
of Israel, the favored [people], once in a glorious
condition, called forever to grace (comp. Gen.
xxxii. 28). The 5 does not indicate comparison ;
but designates the standard [or rule], according to
which the restoration is to result. Also elsewhere,
though not regularly, the prophets observe this
mode of speech conformed to the Torah, of desig-
nating by the name Jacob, given at his birth, the
people standing in need of grace ; and by the
name Israel, bestowed by God, the people that
have become partakers of grace. (Compare the
expressions, "worm Jacob" and "Holy One of
Israel," in Is. xl. fl'.). Cyril : Ti /iii/ 'laKai0 liwh
TUV TraTfpaii/ €t46t] t<^ *laK(i>0, rh 5e 'lapa^?; vnh
Tov Qeov, ^fujjoTepuv Se ovofidrwv fiereXex^y <i H
'loK(i3 \ais- The distinction of the Southern
kingdom and of the Northern kingdom by these
two names, is scarcely to be thought of; and it
would in nowise assist in obtaining a meaning for
the passage. That 3^t£7 has the causative signifi-
cation to restore, which following Hengstenberg
{Contributions, ii. 104, on Deut. xxx. 3), Keil and
Strauss deny also in this passage, is not to be
doubted in the constant mode of expression 3^2?
tVOVJ (and no where ri-13t£7 bt;?), in which to take
tVQW as ace. loc, is a mere artifice. [Comp. on
Mic. iv. 10. Of the parallels cited by Keil, Ex.
iv. 20 and Gen. 1. 14 have H local; and Num.
X. 36 is poetic] In this passage the signification,
" to turn himself back to," is not possible, not
merely on account of the HS, but also on account
of the following 1S3D ; moreover, Jacob at pres-
ent has no glory, to which God could return, and
the expression, " God will turn again to the glory
«f Jacob," would be too insipid in the moutli of
Nahnm for that which he evidently intended to
lay.
[KeilandDelitzsch: 327 (perf. proph.) has not
the force of the hiphil, reducere, restituere, either
here or in Pa. Ixxxv. 5 and Is. Iii. 8, and other
passages, where the modern lexicons give it, but
means to turn round, or return to a person, and is
construed with the accusative, as in Num. x. 36 ;
Ex. iv. 20, and Gen. 1. 14, although in actual fact
the return of Jehovah to the eminence of Jacob
involves its restoration. 3p5?^ PS^, that of
which Jacob is proud, t. e. the eminence and great-
ness or glory accruing to Israel by virtue of its
election to be the nation of God, which the enemy
into whose power it had been given up on account
of its rebellion against God had taken away (see
at Amos vi. 8). Jacub does not stand for Judah,
nor Israel for the ten tribes, for Nahum never
refers to the ten tribes, in distinction from Judah ;
and Ob. 18. where Jacob is distinguished from the
house of Joseph, is of a totally diSerent character
Both names stand here for the whole of Israel. —
C. E.]
The expression 1^2 is used by the oldest proph-
ets in a bad sense (pri(k,liaughtiness of Israel, Am.
vi. 8 ; Hos. v. 5 ; vii. 10) ; but in Is. iv. 2 in a good
one. The glory is restored, for plunderers (Is.
xxiv. 1), ehastisers who abused their power, have
plundered them — the Israelites ; and their vines
(comp. Ps. Ixxx. 9 fl'.J they have outrageously de-
stroyed. Hence it is that the approaching distress,
(ver. 4,) comes in His power : the shield of His [It
is the opinion of Keil and Kleinert that the suffix
in ^n^33 refers to Jehovah (ver. 3), and not to
\'''?^) ver. 2. Henderson refers it to the latter, viz.,
Cyaxares. — C. E.] heroes, the executors of the
punitive sentence, commissioned by Him (comp. Is.
xiii. 3 ; Ob. 2), is red, the vahant men are clothed
in brtUiant scarlet ; the chariots blaze with their
iron equipments in the day of his preparation.
In the closing words the subject is the disposition
of the troops in battle array before the fight ;
hence the shields could not be made red with blood
(Abarb., Grot.). But their redness, together with
that of their uniform and of the metal ornaments
of their chariots, is the color, first, of the joyous
splendor of the host of divine warriors (comp. 2
Kings vi. 17) ; then it is the color of [those who
execute — C. E.] the judgment (Zech. i. 8; Hev.
vi. 4). That this red light from the shields could
proceed from their copper covering (Hitz. accord-
ing to Jos., Ant., xiii. 12, 5), is possible, without
being necessary to the interpretation. Gosse (ylss.,
p. 279) says (comp. 1 Kings x. 16 f.) : From the
eagerness with which these shields (on a wall
sculpture in Khorsabad) were snatched away, we
may suppose that they were made of gold ; and this
suits just as well and perhaps still better the asso-
ciation of ideas of the prophet, who had no intention
of giving us a dissertation upon arms, but a descrip-
tion of the flashing and glittering army. The
bright red (C^bnO, part, denom. von 3?7ij"^,
purple worm), on the men of power, the select
heroes of the army, is most correctly understood
with Strauss and others, of their dress. Bed was
not the favorite color of the Medes only (Xeno-
phon states that the Persians obtained from them
TToptpvpovs X'Twras ; comp. Pollux i. 13 ; 'Xapd.yris,
MrjZuiv TL <p6py)[xa, ir6pcpupo^ fi^aShevKos x*'r<^*'), but
on account of ver. 2, we must not, with Strauss,
think only of them ; it was also the favorite color of
the Babylonians (Ezek. xxiii. 14; comp. Layard's
Nineveh and its Remains, p. 347) : the favorite color
of the Assyrians was blue (Ezek. xxiii. 6 ; xxvii.
23 f.J. rm7D is a hapax legomenon in Hebrew
26
NAHUM.
in Arabic and Syriac the corresponding words
signify steal. Therefore rn73 are certainly not
scythes on scythe-chariots (Hitz.), for these do
not occur on the Assyrian monuments, since they
were first introduced by Cyrus ; but the glittering
steel equipment of the chariots generally : '* Nam
Assyrionun currus, quales in vionumentis conspici-
mus hon'ent falgentibas rebus, seu e ferro sea e chal-
ybe Jactis, securibus, arcubus, sagittis cli/peisgm et
quibusvis instrumentis ; equi rubris cirris ornati, te-
mones dmique falgentibus solibus lunisque apparent
distincti." Strauss. Kaschi conjectures the same
thing. Comp. also Jos. xvii. 16; Judges i. 19.
God is to be considered the subject of "13''3n >
so above the sufSx in in^'m33 refers to Him.
And the cypresses, the spears made of cypresses,
are brandished, literally, made to reel ; here also
the brandishing of the lances for throwing does
not seem to be meant ; but the glittering of the
forest of approaching lances over the scarlet sheen
of the army.
In contrast with this there is indeed, ver. 5 f., a
very diiferent scene in Nineveh. Without, God
arranges his hosts : within is the disorder of wild
terror : without, a steady approach against the city,
within, a frantic rushing hither and thither : with-
out, a joyful splendor : Avithin,^ a deadly paleness,
like torch-light. Through the streets the chari-
ots rave [are driven furiously. — C. E.], they run
to and fro in the market-places, of which in Nin-
eveh there were many, for an entire inclosed part of
the great circuit \ein ganzer gescfUossener stadtlcorper
desgrossen Complexes] bore this name [the name ren-
dered market-places above — C. E.J. Relioboth
[i. e., streets, or wide places — C. E.J(Gen.x. 11).
Like torches, so pallid, not red like purple, is their
appearance, that of the Assyrians : like lightning,
80 pale and unsteady, they sboot hither and thither.
" The intensive form V^''~'i indicates the mani-
foldness of the direction, the zigzag of the light-
ning.'^ Hitzig. The torches and lightning give a
gloomy and not a joyful liglit ; hence (Is. xiii. 8)
anxious faces, "which have withdrawn their rud-
diness (comp. Joel ii. 6 ; Nah. ii. 11, with Is. xxix.
22; Joel iv. 15), are compared to them.
Hitz., Holemann, Strauss, Keil refer, however,
ver. 5, to the approaching army of conquerors :
which would make it a continuation of ver. 4.
But it is evident at a glance, that it stands in con-
trast with ver. i. For in a city of the immense
circumference and extensive circumvallation of
Nineveh (comp. Jonah iii.), when streets and places
are spoken of, the pastures and commons before
the city cannot well be meant, but only those
wltliin. Moreover, in referring it to the Assyr-
ians, which Theodoret has already done (among the
moderns Ewald, Umhreit), the transition to what
follows, which the interpreters mentioned before
cannot adjust, becomes plain of itself.
Ver. 6. He, the King of Assyria, under whose
eyes this frantic tumult tills the city, thinks of his
brave men. Q"'T''^M are not the rich and noble
(Marck, Strauss), but the heroes, as in Judges v.
13 (parallel D''n23), for these are the persons
who alone come into account in the exigencies of
war. But they also lose their footing, in the panic
terror caused by God (comp. v. 11 ; Ob. 9 ; Is.
xix. 14) ; they stumble in their paths, in their
different routes of march, which they, in their
hurry, took through tlie wide Mty, in order to
maintain the hard-pressed point, They hasten to
her, Nineveh's, walls, and arrive just in time to see
the last work of the besiegers : there the testadc
[see note on ver. 6 — C. E.] has already been
erected. It is erected, for the Babylonians did not
construct it as the Romans did (Liv. xxxiv. 9) by
standing close to each other and holding their
shields over their heads; but (besides the movable
battering-rams, which went on wheels) towers,
which were occupied by warriors, were built on a
place and in a position before the walls : the whole
formed a temporai'y building, whose top is repre-
sented in the sculptures as on a level with the
walls, and even sometimes with the turrets, of the
besieged citv. Layard, p. 377. Comp. Dent. xx.
19 f.
Ver. 7-9 b introduces a new turn : the elements
interfere. The gates of the rivers are opened.
These words have vexed interpreters. One under-
stands by the gates of the rivers those which were
situated down by the water, which the enemy
broke open by storm : Luther, Tuch (who thinks
that the east gate is meant, where the Khosr en-
ters and flows rapidly through the city into the
Tigris), Ewald, Strauss, Keil. But Rosenm. justly
replies : how foolish would it be in the enemy to
make an attack just at the most difficult point,
where nature assists the fonifications. The differ-
ent explanations indicated by Rosenm., De Wette
(rivers : rushing masses of the enemy) ; Hieroa.
(rivers: swarming population, comp. LXX. iri/Aoi
Tuy TroAeoi]/}, Hitzig (rivers: the streets of Nin-
eveh); Umbreit (rivers, an image of calamity
risen to its highest pitch) are make-shifts, which
introduce obscure bombast into the pregnant ex-
pression. And if it is now certain that nnD3 is
not used in the Hebrew before the captivity for an
opening effected by breaching the walls, but always
for a voluntary opening, loosening one's self, open-
ing itself ; if it is never used at all for the breaking
open of gates by enemies, but rather for the open-
ing of that which has been kept locked up, of th»
fountain (Zech. xiii. 1), of the sluices of heavei
(Gen. vii. 11 ; Is. xxiv. 18; comp. Ezek. i. 1) ; if
finally, notwithstanding the consideration of Hitzij
drawn from the locality, there is no reason tf
doubt the statements of the ancients, that in thft
third year the river became an enemy to the citj,
that by violent rains an unprecedented inundation
took place and broke down the walls of Nineveh to
a great extent (comp. Introd. 4 ; Diod. Sic, ii. 27 ;
and the tradition of the surrounding inhabitants
mentioned by Xenophou, Anab., iii. iv. 8-12),
why should the prophet make no announcement
of it, since from the time of Deborah it was rather
the manner of the Prophet to mention promi-
nently such interference on the part of God'
Judges V. 20, 21. He has at least evei. already
plainly enough referred to something siini'<ir, i. S^
10. (Comp. Duneker, 1. c. i. p. 806 i ). The ob-
jection of Strauss and Keil, that "gates of th»
rivers " cannot stand for gates opened hy tiieriverf.
has no pertinency, since the thing ip'.kcn of is thf
gates from which the formerly rcstr aired, checken
floods burst forth, the sluices uf tne inundation!
and not this or that city-gate. The excellent
natural fortification of the ciiy effected by tlu
rivers flowing around, which had, in no small d«'
gree, contributed to form just here the magnilicem
centre of the Mesopotamian despotism (Spiegel, !■
363), turns now to the destruction of Nineveh,
since the rivers break its gates and overflow. Oin
opinion is the more recommended, because firsi
from it, i. 8, rdveives a much clearer light ; secondly
cnAPTEE n
27
tl)e mention of the water very naturally follows
that of the battering-rams, ver. 6 : thirdly, ver. 10 a
affords only, from this view, a plain meaning, and
finally also the immediately following context fits
in with it admirably : the King's palace, 73^)1,
1 Kings xxi. 1, is dissolved. The derivatives of
210 are used commonly for the melting of what
is solid by destructive floods (comp. i. 5 and Com.
on Mic. i. 4 f.). Thus the floods flowing around
undermine the king's palace, so that it falls to-
gether of itself The kings of Nineveh understood
how to build (comp. Introd. 4, p. 101). They
first erected a colossal, pyramidal, quadrate sub-
Btructure, surrounded by walls with towers, gates,
and outside stairs. On a plateau rose a second
peribolus. Thus the structure towered through
several stories and ramparts to the residence proper
of the dynasty, to the two significant gates guarded
by the mystic colossal animals. From the court
of justice it mounted upwards, in the form of a
terrace, to the private pavilions of the princes,
which stood in isolated masses in shady garden-
plots. And over all this arose as the crowning
work, the high pyramid, with the terraces planted
vfith trees, and outside stairs winding up to it.
Above was found the sepulchre of the ancestral
prince, who was forced upon the subjugated people
as a god. Helfferich, Aphorismen liber den Kunst-
stil, in the Mcn-genhlatt,\ for 1852, p. 900 ff. [For
a description of an Assyrian palace, see Layard's
Nineveh, and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 207. — C. E.]
The palace, indeed, of the last king (whom Na-
hum has not named), the so-called southeast palace,
was less magnificent (Spiegel, x, 372 ; 1 c). With
propriety could the difficult word 3^n which fol-
lows, in ver. 8, be connected with the words, the
king's palace dissolves, if, with Gesenius, we were
to translate it, " und zerfliesst," and it flows down.
But the word 332 [of which 32n is the Hophal
form — C. E.] would occur only in this single
passage : it, therefore, seems precarious to give up
the old division of verses on account of an uncertain
translation. The correction of Hitzig, 3!2ni,
" and the hzard is heaved up," is too far-fetched ; and
the shift of Ewald interpreting Hussab [Hebrew
32n, the word in question — C. E.], as designat-
ing the Assyrian queen (which is found moreover in
Nic. v. Lyra, Luther, Burck, and others), is sup-
ported by neither the original text, nor by fact.
The king had caused the queen to be removed
from the distressed city (Introd. 4). Just as little
probable is it, that Hussab (the stronghold: the
audacious) was intended to be a symbolical name
for Nineveh itself (Schegg, Breiteneicher). We
must, therefore, retain, with Strauss, the old solu-
tion of De Dieu and Seb. Schmid, which considers
n l3-^n — C. E.] as an independent neuter sen-
tence (Dcmp. Q3")p, Ps. xlix. 12), and 3Un, as
the Hophal of 31J3, staiuere (Gen. xxviii. 11 ; Ps.
Ixxiv. 17) ; and it is established, fixed ; it is plain.
End there the matter rests, namely, in the decree,
which now to 10 b completes the description of the
nundation . [Henderson connects 3'?n with the
preceding verse, and translates vD^nH'], etc., "And
Hie place" (palace?) "is dissolved, though firmly
^tojijishod." This rendering takes 3^3 instead
1 [A periodical published in Stuttgart.]
of 33!i as the root, but, with Gesenius, removes
the word to the end of the preceding verse. Ge
senius does not speak very positively : he says, uu
der the Hophal of 323: " Sed vix dubito, quin
^ \ ?' "'' P^^i^edens comma referendum et a rad
232, repetendum sit, ubi vide." Thesaurus, p. 903,
Keil follows De Dieu. The English Version reads.
" Huzzab," making it a proper name. — C. E.],
She is made bare, the not yet vanquished maid
abandoned to the shame of capture (comp. iii. 5 ;
Is. xlvii. 3), removed away, H?!?/!, like the Latin
tollere. The verb does not have the meaning of
departare, of leading into captivity : in all the six
passages specified by Strauss in favor of that mean-
ing, the Niphal is used, and that with the significa-
tion of getting one's self away. And her maids,
the associated dependent states and cities (Theod.
Cyril., Hieron. ; comp. Is. xxiii. 6 f.) : not her in-
habitants (Hitz., Strauss, Keil), for thesein the inun-
dating deluge have something else to do, they flee,
or are already drowned : because the prophet sees
the waves rolling over her, she is herself considered
as removed — moan like the cry of doves (comp.
Is. xxxviii. 14; lix. 11; Ez. vii. 16). "The
meaning of 3113 is rendered certain by the paral-
lelism, by the versions, and by the dialects.'
Hitzig, Hieronymus : " Tantus ten-ror erit, ut ne in sin-
gultus quidem et vlulatum erumpat dolor, sed intra se
tacite gemant et obscuro murmure devoreni lacrimas,
in morem mussitantium columbarum, .... smiting
on their breasts, a mournful gesture (Luke xviii.
23; xxiii. 27). It is noted in the Kri that the "i
is wanting in in33^ (comp. a similar case in
Ewald, sec. 258 a).
Ver. 9. But Wiueveh, like a pool of water are
her waters. The rivers, on which it is situated,
formerly flowing so rapidly into their beds, form
by their inundation a large expanse of water; com-
pare ver. 7. In accordance with the LXX., we read
the consonants MTI ia"'a ; Vulgate : STl "'t3"'a.
The Masoretic reading "'^"'^j " since her days,"
does not give any correct sense, though we com-
pare, with Hitzig, Is. xviii. 2. [Henderson and
Keil follow the Masoretic reading. The latter say"
W^n ia in Is. xviii. 2 is different. — C. E.]
Ver. 9 b-11. After that the fury of the devas
tatiug element has made an end, all resistance is
given up, and the abandoned city stands open to
plunder. [The inundation could, on account of
the elevated situation of the city (30-1 5(y above
the bed of the Tigris), and the rapid descent of that
river, be only very transient. And they, not the
maids (Strauss), that would require mD3 Pf^n,
but the Assyrian warriors, whom the king, ver. 6,
had summoned, flee (comp. Ex. xiv. 27), because
they could not contend with the united power of
God and men. Stand, stand ! he calls after them,
which the prophet sarcastically reechoes (comp.
ver. 2) — but no one turns back. So then noth
ing stands any longer in the way of pillage : plun-
der silver, plunder gold !
Ver. 10. Of mpare, on the immense quantity of
the booty, the Introd. Jos., Ant., x. 11, 1. -ind
endless are the dwellings to be plundered (Job
xxiii. 3). [The mearing of furniture (Strauss),
of garments (Hitzig, iomp. LXX. /cijir/ios) girei
28
NAKUM.
to n^-l^n is not very probable : at the most, ac-
cording to the etymology, the magnificent pedes-
tals of the images of the gods could be thought
of; but the tense of our translation guaranteed by
the passage in Job is sufficient.] An immense
Qiuantity (Ps. xlix. 13) of all kinds of ornamen-
tal vessels. And thus comes the illustrious city,
ver. 12, to an end in misery: desolation, devas-
tation, and destruction. JTor this pictorial accu-
mulation of similar sounds compare Is. xxiv. 1 ;
Gen. i. 2 ; Zeph. i. 15 : Is. xxix. 1 if. " The place
is laid waste by fire," etc. And tlie heart (sing,
coll.) melts (lor the form, comp. Olsh., p. 592) in
complete humiliation and sorrow (Is. xiii. 7) ;
and tottering knees and pain in aU loins, a
tragical contrast with ver. 2. And aU counte-
nances lose their color [literally, the counte-
nances of all of them withdraw ruddiness. — C. E.]
(comp. Com. on ver. 5 ; Joel ii. 6.)
DOOTKINAL AND ETHICAL.l
The violent shaking, relatively the destruction
of the heathen, is a requisite for the restoration of
peace and prosperity in Israel, and consequently a
condition of accomplishing their salvation. Com
pare Zech. i. ; Hagg. ii. The destruction of the
hciithen is not an independent end, but a means to
the end [the salvation of God's people — C. E.] ;
for God is a God of life and of glory. But Israel,
upon whom He bestows in love such great bless-
ings, has now no excuse, if he withholds from Him
the honor due. The destruction of Nineveh is an-
other item in the account-book which is held before
those who withhold from God his feasts and their
vows. Comp. Mic. vi.
The overthrow of the enemy of God is not the
work of men, but His work. A disperscr comes
up ; men would be satisfied with the capture
(comp. Obadiah). His heroes are God's heroes ;
the terror which is in the city is a bewilderment
of mind caused by God : stumbling in the level
streets, trembling of the knees of heroes : irreme-
diable and ceaseless flight of those accustomed to
victory ; and as a last sign that God approaches.
He causes the powers of nature, which are subject
to Him alone, to take part in the scene : He con-
quers : to the human conquerors he leaves the
[task of] plundering ; for as Nineveh had amassed
gain, so must it be scattered. The fundamental
thought of the patriarchal promise, the election of
Israel, and the fundamental thought of the Law,
the talio, meet very closely with each other on this
point of the prophetic announcement.
HOMILETIOAL,
The passage, if one does not do violence to it,
is to be treated only as a picture of the judgment,
thus in a manner purely expository, or rather peri-
phrastic, with interspersed observations. Thehom-
iletical part of the treatment can be limited only
to the placing, on the one hand, of the whole un-
der the three points of view given in the begin-
ning (vers. 2-4), and to the rendering prominent,
on the other, of the typical reference to the end.
The judgment takes place, (1) because it is aeces-
eary to the peace of the kingdom of God (ver. 1,
3 a) ; (2) because an evil accumulation of [the
means of] human pride, [JSShen] (riches, power,
1 Reicksgedanken. See note Com. on Jonab, p. 20- —
rf. IS.
worthlessness), must be destroyed (rer. 2) ; (3
because it is richly deserved. So will it also be at
the last judgment.
On ver. 1. Even in the most gloomy night
there is a ray of light for the pious. ( On ver. 2
compare Kaulbach's mural painting of the Chris-
tians leaving Jerusalem.) Darkness is not dark
to him who is near to God. Will it not be peace,
when the great restoration comes, which no rude
hand of the world, smothering and chilling, can
snatch away! (Ps. cxxvi.). — Ver. 2 f. The say-
ing, "hitherto shalt thou come, and no further,"
is applicable also to him accustomed to power and
victory. For awhile God goes with him and
strengthens his steps ; then He turns to the side
of the down-trodden. — Ver. 4 i. So will the con-
flict of the kingdom of God against the powers of
darkness always be ; a joyful contest for order,
which proceeds from God. But if those who would
be his heroes, should tear one another, what will
be the result? If they would keep still before
Him, planless confusion would soon break forth in
the ranks of the enemy, which would show that
they are fighting against God. Then must the
strong stumble in their paths. Julian and Liba-
nius were strong. And the testudo is projected
over their walls : Origen has outflanked the hea-
then philosophers. Neither equipment, nor the
appearance of assembled power (ver. 2), nor ca-
pacity of hasty movement and vehement and varied
activity (ver. 5), achieves victory in the battles of
the kingdom of God: where God stands, there
victory comes. — Ver. 7 if. Where human power
is not suificient to accomplish his saving work of
destruction against his scourges, there He knows
how to interfere himself (1812). That on which
a powerful man most firmly relies, may become the
severest instrument of punishment to him. — Ver.
10 f The greater the accumulated treasures, the
more fearful the devastation. Whose will that be,
which thou hast prepared, when thy knees tremble
in the last agony t
Stakke : Ver. 1. Those who receive the Gospel
with true faith possess in their hearts and con-
sciences, as it were, a continual feast of joy. The
Lord comforts and quickens : He leads into hell
and out again. The Jewish people have still hope
of being delivered from their miserable condition.
— Ver. 4 f. To those who, in times of peace, givb
themselves up to pleasure, and who, like irrational
persons, rage and cij in the streets, the same evil
will be requited. — Ver. 6. If kings rely more upon
their heroes and armies than upon God, they must
become discouraged and flee before their enemies
— Vei-. 8. God can find us, wherever we are, when
He intends to punish us. — Ver. 9. God is no*,
obliged to bestow his favors upon us continually :
He can withdraw them on account of our ingrat-
itude. — Ver. 10. War is terrible ; Lord, grant us
peace ! — Ver. 1 1. Natural men, in adversity, allow
all their courage to sink, and despair, when their
goods, on which their hearts are set, are taken
from them. It is certainly a great loss, when one
loses money and goods, but not so great as when
the heart falls into despair.
Ursinds: On ver. 1. Partly a congratulation,
that the congregation [die Gemeinde] shall no more
be destroyed ; partly an exhortation to give God
the thanks that are his due (2 Chron. xxxii. 23).
CocoEitis ; God has given many swords to
serve the Church, which have cut oiF the perse-
cutors.
RiEGER : The chief design in the judgment ol
Nineveh was that faith in the God of Israel should
CHAPTER III.
29
thereby be powerfully quickened, and the hearts
[of God's people — C. E.] strengthened lu waiting
for the promise (Is. xxxvii. 31). It is probable
that very good news was brought into the land of
Judah concerning the fall of the Assyrian king-
dom; and the prophet hereby shows how they
should take advantage of the state of rest acquired
for them by it, by means of good regulations in
the Church and' commonwealth, yea that they
should entertain the hope, that the Lord would
restore the glory or e.xcellency of Jacob, and also
bring the whole nation to its formerly flourishing
state.
ScHMiBDEE : Tlie peace newly granted by the
grace of God was to be celebrated by a new con-
secration of the people (2 Chron. xxx. 1 ff.). The
knave, i. e. Belial, who has evil in his mind against
the Lord and his people (comp. ch. i. 1 1 ) . This
has special reference to the King of Nineveh and
Assyria ; and the promise in this reference must
have been very precious to his contemporaries op-
pressed by Assyria. But to us the fundamental
truth is far more important, that to the people of
God a perfect deliverance is near at hand, and h?=
already appeared in Christ, by which the Belial,
from whom every wicked spirit {Beliahgeist) prO'
ceeds, is forever cast out.
Lutheu : On ver. 2. With this language he
utters defiance, and speaks as if that were already
present, which was still future.
Pfaff : Ver. H. So even the greatest king-
doms come finally to nothing, when the Lord in-
flicts upon them his penal judgments ; and all
their power is unable to quench -and stop the fire
of his wrath.
CHAPTER in.
The Prophet resumes the Description of the Siege of Nineveh (vers. 1-3) ; traces it
to her Idolatry as its cause (ver. 4) ; repeats the Divine Denunciations intro-
duced chap. ii. 13 (vers. 5-7) ; points her to the once celebrated, but now desolate
Thebes (vers. 8-10), declaring that such should likewise be her Fate; calls upon
her ironically to make every Preparation for her Defense, assuring her that it
would be of no avail (vers. 14-15) ; and concludes by contrasting her former
prosperous with her latter remediless State. — C. E.]
12 Where is the den of the lions ?
And the feeding-place of the young lions ?
Where the lion and the lioness walked,
The lion's whelp, and no one frightened [them].
13 The lion tore for the supply of his whelps,
And strangled for his lionesses :
He filled his dens with prey.
And his dwelling-places with rapine.
14 Behold ! I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts,
And I cause her chariots to burn in smoke ;
And thy young lions the sword shall devour ;
And I cut off thy prey from the earth ;
And the voice cf thy messengers shall be heard no mora
Chap, hi, 1 Woe, city of blood !
She is all full of deceit and violence •
The prey departs not.
2 The cracking of the whip ;
And the noise of the rattling of the wheels ;
And the horses prancing ;
And the chariots bounding.
3 Horseman mounting ;
And the gleaming of the sword ;
And the lightning of the spear ;
And the multitude of slain ;
30 NAHUM.
And the mass of corpses ;
And there is no end of dead bodies :
They stumble over their carcasses.
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the harlot,
The very ^ graceful one, the mistress of enchantments,
Who sells nations with her whoredoms,
And families with her witchcrafts.
5 Behold ! I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts j
And uncover thy sku'ts over thy face ;
And show the nations thy nakedness,
And kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I cast abominable things upon thee,
And disgrace thee,
And make thee a gazing-stock.
7 And it comes to pass, that every one that sees thee shall flee from thee,
And shall say, Nineveh is destroyed :
Who will pity her ?
Whence sliall I seek comforters for thee ?
8 Art thou better than No^-Amon,
That dwelt by the rivers ?
Waters were round about her ;
Her bulwark was the sea :
Her wall was ^ of the sea.
9 Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt ;
And there was no end :
Phut and Libyans were among thy help.
10 She also has gone into exile :
Into captivity [has she gone].
Her young children also were dashed in pieces,
At the corners * of ail the streets ;
And for her nobles they cast the lot,
And all her great men were bound with chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken :
Thou shalt be hidden :
Thou also shalt seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All thy fortresses are fig-trees with early figs :
If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold ! thy people are women in the midst of thee ;
To thy enemies the gates of thy land are thrown wide open i
Fire consumes thy bolts.
14 Draw for thyself water for the siege :
Make thy fortifications strong :
Enter the clay and tread the mortar ;
Make the brick-kiln strong.
15 There will the fire devour thee :
The sword will cut thee off:
It shall consume thee like the licking-locnsi :
CHAPTER m.
31
Be thou numerous as the hcking locust :
Be thou numerous as the swarming locust.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of heaven:
The licking-locusts spread ^ [themselves out] and fly away.
17 Thy princes are as the swarming-locust ;
And thy satraps like the locust of locusts,
Which encamp in the hedges " in a cold day :
The sun arises, and they liee :
And the place where they are is not known.
18 King of Assyria ! thy shepherds slumber :
Thy nobles have lain down :
Thy people are dispersed upon the mountains,
And no one gathers [them].
19 There is no healing of thy bruise :
Thy wound is grievous :
All that hear report of thee clap the hand over thee ;
For over whom has not thy wickedness passed continually ?
GRAJIMATICAL AND TEXTUAL.
[1 Ver. 4. — D^DW3 HT^S ]n HD'^IO, beautiful with grace, mistress of witchcrafts, i, v., deToted to them.
p Ver. 8.— ]iS2H NSQ ^ZltOTlin, Art thou better than No Amon? This was the Egyptian Thebes or Diospolia
die ancient and eplendld metropolis of Upper Egypt, called by Homer eKaTOjii7n;Ao9, H-, ix. 383. No. according to Qe-
aenius, signifies a measuring line, then part, portion measured : No Amon, therefore, signifies the portion of Amon, i e
the possession of the god Amon, as the chief seat of his worship. Amon was the supreme god of the Egyptians, and
worshipped at Thebes with great pomp. He is usually depicted, on Egyptian monuments, with a human body and the
head of a ram ; and the name is there written Amn, more fully Amn-Re, i. e., Amon-Sun. See Qes., Heb. Lex., s. f-,
fS — ninQ*)n n^Q, ^^^r waU was of the sea, i. c, consisting of the sea, formed by the sea.
"■ IT T I t.T ■'
[4 Ver. 10, etc. — tl?W'^3, at the head, literally, head of the streets. Gesenius renders It head of the streets, corner.
*jam. ii. 19.
[5 Ver. 16. — titJ?5, to invade for the purpose of plundering. Keil renders it : " Thelicker enters to plunder, and fliea
away." The LXX. : Ppovxos wp^ijo-ec koX 6^e7reTa(r0Tj. The Vulgate : bnlcfius expansus est et avolavit. Luther : aber
nun warden sie sich ausbreiten wie Kdftr und davonfiegen. Kleinert : die Heuschrecken bracken ein undjlogen davon.
[6 Ver. 17. — i^imSS, in tlie walls, or hedges. It is used to designate the wall of a city ; also that of a vineyard.
It signifies also an inclosure, a. fold for flocks. See Ges., H^^^* ~" ^- ^-^
BXBSETICAL.
Without apparent pause \Einscliniti\, a fuller ex-
position, which rises over the ruins, like a shout
of triumph, and at the same time of wondering,
almost of sympathizing astonishment, is connected
with the description of the catastrophe. Hence-
forth the reality of the catastrophe does not appear
BO much on the foreground as its internal and ex-
ternal cause.
The strophe, ii. 12-14, is added, externally
viewed, as a concluding strophe to chap, ii., just in
the same way that i. 12-14 is joined to chap. i.
However, it belongs to what follows, not merely by
its rhetorical character and connection (comp. on
iii. 1), but it is also united to it by certain external
clasps: compare the refrain, ii. 14 a and iii. 5 a;
and the contrast, ii. 12 d and iii. 18 e ; ii. 14 f and
iii. 19 c. It contains the ground idea of the fol-
lowing ; Nineveh, the robber, has vanished before
God and by his agency ; and it is characterized at
the close, ver. 14, as a divine judgment. "Where
is ... . the Uon's brood ? Lions appear so fre-
quently on the Assyrian monuments, that we see
low the people were fond of comparing themselves
and their great ones to this powerful animal, and
how they considered it, in a certain manner, their
iscutcheon and ensign. Tliis gives to the sarcasm
of the divine power a beautiful point of connec-
tion. And no one alarmed them. They were
safe from disturbance by means of their strength.
Ver. 13. The Hon tore in pieces as much as
his young ones wanted (on ''I? comp. Ob. 5), he
strangled for his lionesses (comp. Judges v. 28
ff.), and he filled his dens with prey, and his
lurking-holes with spoil. The Assurakbal cyl-
inder, which Talbot has deciphered {Assyrian Texts
Translated, p. 20 ff.), gives an idea of the manner in
which the kings of Nineveh amassed [their treas-
ures] : On the 22d of the month I set out from
Calah. I passed over the river Tigris. From the
right bank of the Tigris I received a rich tribute.
I stopped in the city Tahiti. On the 6th day of
the month I left the city Tahiti. I marched along
the river Karmesch. I stopped in the city Maga-
risi .... I stopped in the city Schadikanni. The
tribute of this city was gold, silver, brass, oxen,
sheep I stopped in the city Katni. I re-
ceived tribute from the Sunaeern And so
forth, two pages long. Compare the similar ac-
counts of the black Obelisk of Salmanassar II
and of Sennacherib in Spiegel xx. 222, 224.
Now all that passes away, for, ver. 14, hehold,
I come against thee (comp. iii. 5 ; Jer. Ii. 25),
says Jehovah of hosts, who is able to raise up
NAHUM.
igainst Assyria very different hosts from the Medes
and Babylonians (comp. Doct. and Eth., below) ;
and I burn in smoke, so tliat it passes into smoke
(Tarn.) her, Nineveh's, chariots. The prophet
again and again turns himself, in spirit, from Nin-
eveh to Jiidah (ii. 1), so that the suffixes are con-
Ktantly changing.
And I destroy thy plunder from the earth,
60 that the insolent voice of thy messengers will
no more be heard (comp. 2 Kings xix. 10 ff.).
Hieron. ; " Nequaquam terras ultra vastabis, nee
tributa exiqes, nee audientur per promncias enilssarii
tui. " For the form npDN^D (varr. HSS — and
7135 j comp. 01s., sec. 94, 2.
[Keil : The prophet, beholding the destruction
in spirit as having already taken place, looks round
for the site on which the mighty city once stood,
and sees it no more. This is the meaning of the
question in ver. 11. He describes it as the dwell-
ing-place of lions. The point of comparison is the
predatory lust of its rulers and their warriors, who
crushed the nations like lions, plundering their
treasures, and bringing them together in Nineveh.
To fill up the picture, the epithets applied to the
lions are grouped togetlier according to the differ-
ence of sex and age. i^!'."!^^, is the full-grown male
lion ; t^''37, the lioness ; "'^33, the young lion,
though old enough to go in search of prey ; -^^^^
n|''nS, catulus leonis, the lion's whelp, which cannot
yet seek prey for itself . . .
The last clause expresses the complete destruc-
tion of the imperial might of Assyria. The mes-
sengers of Nineveh are partly heralds, as the car-
riers of the king's command ; partly halberdiers,
or delegates who fulfilled the ruler's commands
(cf 1 Kings xix. 2 ; 2 Kings xix. 23). The suffix
in n_!ppS7^ is in a lengthened form, on account
of the tone at the end of the section, analogous
to nsnS in Ex. xxix. 35, and is not to be re-
garded as an Araraaeism or a dialectical variation
(Ewald, sec. 258, a) . The tsere of the last syl-
lable is occasioned by the previous tsere. Jerome
has summed up the meaning very well as follows :
" Thou wilt never lay countries waste any more,
nor exact tribute, nor will thy messengers be heard
throughout thy provinces." (On the last clause,
see Ezek. xix. 9.) — C. E.]
A more extended statement of the Cause of the
Destruction follows (iii. 1-7), whilst both the ground-
ideas expressed in ii. 12 If., are further carried out :
(a) the ra])ine of Nineveh (iii. 1-4),' (6) the "be-
hold I come against thee " (iii. 5-7).
O city of blood ! >in is originally a pure
vocative interjection, yet the threatening signifi-
cation (vae!) is so e/idently required by the con-
nection in passages like the present (Is. x. 1), and
Hab. ii. 15 ff., that it cannot very well (with Hup-
"eld) be denied.
She is altogether deceit; filled with orime.
To the blood-guiltiness (D''D':r; comp. nia "■
12 f) of Nineveh is added as a further cause of
her fall, her universally acknowledged craftiness,
which Ahaz once experienced. Abarb. : "Quia vanis
pollicitationibus auxilii ct protectionis gentes decipiebat "
(comp. Hab. ii. 15). p-|2 denotes the violent break
!ng of an existing barrier (Gen. xxvii. 40).
She ceases not from plunder ; H"^^! nomen ao-
tionis pro inf., as iu ii. 14. [Keil and Delitzsch
2?^Q^ S7, the prey does not depart, never fails.
Mush, in the hiphil here, used intransitively, " tc
depart," as in Ex. xiii. 22 ; Ps. Iv. 12, and not in
a transitive sense, " to cause to depart," to let go ;
for if 'ir (the city) were the subject, we should
have tarnish. The rule, however, that verbs, ad-
jectives, and pronouns agree in gender and numbei
with the noun to whicli they relate, is subject to
exceptions. See Nordheimer's Heb. Gram., vol.
ii. sec. 755, 2; and Green's, sec. 275, l,a,b, c.
Henderson renders t'''''?^ " -'i "the prey is not
removed," and refers it to the fact that the Assyr-
ians had not restored the ten tribes. Others
translate it, with Kleinert, non desinit rapere. See
Gt'senius' Thesaurus, s. v. — C. E.j Therefore
judgment must certainly come upon her, and the
prophet graphically presents it again, first to the
ear, then distinctly to the eye ; then he breaks out,
in ver. 2, with the exclamation, —
Hark ! Vilp, as frequen tly in an absolute sen-
tence expressing, at the same time, interjection,
verb, and object (Is. xiii. 4). tvlpis here a
noun in the construct state : it cannot very well be
two or three things at once. — C. E.] The crack
of the whip, and noise of the rattling of wheels,
and the horse galloping, and chariots bound-
ing.
Ver. 3. Horsemen rearing, properly causing
to rear, the riders making the horses rear on high
with the bridle, and flaming of the sword, and
flashing of the lance, and a multitude ol
wounded, and a wall of corpses. Many of the
nouns are assonant by means of the vowel o. -~
There is no end of dead. Ctesias, in Diodor.,
says : The waves of the river flowed red a long dis-
tance, so great was the number of the slain. And
they stumble over their dead. And why all
this ?
Ver. 4. On aooouut of the multitude CjO, as
in Ob. 10) of the whoredoms (comp. on Mic. i.
7 ) of the whore ; on account of the eharminfi
sweetness (H^l^ is a subs.) of the sorceress.
Idolatry and witchcraft are marks of the specific-
ally heathen character, the ultimate cause of all
God's judgments upon the heathen and heathen-
dom (comp. i. 15 ; Mic. i. 7 ; v. 11). The restric-
tion of her fornications to her commercial inter-
course has a plausible support in Is. xxiii. 5, but
it has in the connection no real force, and must
also be more distinctly marked. The idolatry of
the heathen is called adultery, not in the special
sense in which it is applied to Israel, but in the
established prophetical usage (Rev. xvii. 1). Com
pare Luther in the Horn, suggestions. HvVS
comp. Gen. xxxWi. 19.
She sold the nations .... with her witch-
crafts. She was successful in everything, there-
fore she always became more secure and oijstinate
in her confidence in her gods. The structure of
the passage is an intercalary and connected par
allelism : abba ; vers. 1 and 4 and vers. 2 and 3
belong together. Just as we had already above, i.
11-14 (11 and 14; 12 and 13) ; ii. 6-9; comp. also
below the articulation of the sentence 15 1, ff.
But this must certainly have an cai? Ver. b
CHAPTER III.
3-3
Kametz, is doubtless complemental (comp. the re-
verse, Mic. iii. 6) ; if one does not wilh the versions
prefer to insert Mappik in the final H Cush was
her (Thebes') strength (from O'^'S). The reading
in question, the simple feminine substantive ossmah
(Cush is strength) is feeble and clumsy;) and
Egypt and so forth, if I would enumerate fur-
ther, without end. Phut and Lubin were for thy
help. Nahum, in keeping with his vivacious style,
now addresses the absent person, of whom he
speaks. The closing predicate imt57D VH (the
3 predicative, as in Job xxiii. 13 ; Proverbs iii. 26)
refers to all that have been named. Cush and
Mizraim ; Ethiopia, Upper and Lower Egypt ;
IPhut and Lubim ; Libya and Nubia (comp. Hitzig
on Is. Ixvi. 19). Both these appear also elsewhere
as confederates of and of the same origin with the
powers of the Upper Nile (Jer. xlvi. 9; Ez. xxx.
5). And notwithstanding all this she could not
preserve herself.
Ver. 10 : She also was given up to exile (Ezr.
vi. 21), she went into captivity (Deut. xviii. 1) ■
also her childreu were dashed to pieces in al
street comers, as was customary in conquests
(2 Kings viii, 12), and hence the final doom of the
savage conquerors on the Euphrates and Tigris
was announced from the tcdio point of view (Is.
xiii. Ifi; Ps. cxxxvii. 9) ; And over her noblea
(Is. xxiii. 8) they cast lots (comp. Ob. 11) ; and
her great men were bound in chains. That the
event of which the prophet speaks is not a future
one (Hier., Theod., Cocc, Strauss), is proved in
the first place externally by the tenses employed :
the absolutely perfect action of verses 8-10 stands
in manifestly designed antithesis to the concluding
future, ver. 11; and in the second place it is proved
by sound logic, inasmuch as the prophet would
scarcely, for the purpose of confirming a future
event by an argumentum ad hominem, borrow from
the future another example still much more remote
and much more improbable \auch mehr ausser der
Berechnung stehendes]. We must, therefore, seek for
the capture (not destruction, for of that the text
says nothing) of No Ammon, to which allusion
has been made, in a time which lay back of this
prophecy ; and if it cannot be/ound in that time,
then we would certainly be compelled, with Hitzig,
to cut the knot, and consider this verse a gloss
from post-exile times, and — an expedient which
has fallen into disuse — refer it to the ca])ture of
No by Nebuchadnezzar, which, even historically,
is by no means fully and clearly established. But
consider (1) that Is. xx. would not have been ad-
mitted into the collection of the writings of Isaiah
(Deut. xviii. 22), had not the fulfillment, /. c, the
conquest of Egypt by Sargon, been known as a
historical event in the time designated by Isaiah ;
(2) that Sargon, who, in the year of the conquest
of Samaria, succeeded, on the Assyrian throne,
Salmanassar IV., who died about that time, men-
tions expressly, according to his inscription in the
palace founded by him at Khorsabad, the bound-
aries of Egypt as the scene of his deeds (Spiegel,
XX. 224 ;) (3) that Eawlinson (Monarchies, ii. 416,
f.) and Oppert (Sargonides, p. 22,26 f) have ex-
tracted, from a quite mutilated passage of an in-
scription found there, an account, in conformity
with the statement above, of the overthrow of Se-
bek {= So, 2 Kings xvii.) king of Egypt. (Comp.
also Journ. Asiat., xii. 462 S., concerning the battl*
Behold, I come against thee L^M, when the
motion or direction is hostile, may be rendered
agiinst — C. E.], salth Jehovah of hosts, and
uncover thy skirts, throw them so high that they
reach over thy face, and cause the nations to
see .... thy shame. Nineveh is represented as
a virgin not on account of any virtue, but as one
not yet subdued (comp. above ii. 8) ; and her sub-
jection under the figure of that which is most dis-
graceful to a woman. Comp. Is. xlvii. 3, and the
similar connection [of ideas], Hab. ii. 10.
Ver. 6. And I cast abominable things upon
thee : idols, according to the usual mode of ex-
Sression; also, I bury thee under thy idols (i. 14)
lich. (Others : I pelt thee with filth. But the pas-
sage, 2 Kings xix. 27, cited by Hitzig in support
of this, does not prove it.) And I make thee
despised, yea, make thee a gazing-stock.
Ver. 7. And every one who sees thee flees
from thee and says : Wineveh is laid waste !
rmtr, Pual with Kametz, like D'^^P i. 4, Ges.
sec 52, Rem. 4. Who will comfort her ? (Jer.
XV. 5). "1^3^ is voluntative. She has injured
all (comp. ver. 19). When all forsooth speak in
this way, whence shall I then, says the prophet,
seek a comforter for thee ? Is. Ii. 19.
Vers. 8-11. Tfi£ Certainty of the Destruction.
[Keil and Delitzsch : " Nineveh will not be able to
protect herself from destruction even by her great
power. The prophet wrests this vain hope away
from her by pointing in verse 8 ff. to the fall of
the mighty Thebes in Egypt." — C. E.]. Even
the powerful Thebes was not able to withstand
destruction. Art thou to me {dativus ethicus,
compare on Jonah iii. 3) any better, standing
nearer, more important, more worth ( for the form
^3l?\T instead of "'ntpTH, compare Olsh. sec. 242
a, Eemark), than No Amon, i. e., Thebes, the
renowned capital of Upper Egypt. Compare Jer.
xlvi. 25, and Ezek. xxx. 14 ff. In the last passage
it is merely called No ; but here it is more exactly
defined by the addition of Amon, which refers
to the great temple of Amon there. Compare
Herod, i. 182; ii. 42 (LXX. Ez. 1. c. Aihs jrcfAis;
comp. Diod. i. 45 : 'Ttto ^ev PdyuTnicav KaXoufx^vriv
Atis Tr6\iv t))V /jLeydKrji/ itirh Sh tup 'EWTiVwi/
0^;8as). [It is necessary to compare the Hebrew
text of Jer. xlvi. 25. and Ezek. xxx. 14 ff. in or-
der to verify Kleinert's statement that in the latter
passage Thebes is merely called No ; for in the
English version the former passage reads only No,
Amon being rendered by "multitude." — C. E].
Which [was destroyed — C. E.] notwithstand-
ing, like thee she was situated by the water,
namely, on the river Wile, on both banks of it
(Strabo, xvii. p. 816), and also like tbee, yea, moi-e
than thou, was protected by the water on every
side of her, by canals (hence the plural D'^IH''),
so that one could justly say of her : her rampart
was the sea — a rampart consisting of the sea, a
rampart which is the sea ; as it is similarly further
said : her wall was of sea. (nbTI □'' "lEJM must
mean, whose rampart the sea was). C^ sometimes
aven denotes the Nile (Is. xix. 5).
Ver. 9. And how many allies she had ! Cush,
the strong, properly, that which is strong (3 fem.
priet from QtJ^) in an elliptical relative clause
Qe». sec. 123, 3). The metheg, with the first
Si
NAUUM.
of Rabek, i. e. Heliopolis) [compare Smith's Dic-
tionan/ of the Bible, article " So " — C. E.] ; that
finally (4) the successors of Sargon ascribe to
themselves the standing title " Kin^' of Gush and
Mizraim" (Oppert, Chronological 'lable; Kodiger,
viii. 673). In view of these facts we must accord
to this passage [that portion of the text under
consideration — C. E.] the significance of a joint
testimony, which, with the others, furnishes a mu-
tual Isotidarische] warrant of their truth, and ac-
cept, as a historical fact, a capture^ of Thebes by
Sargon, or by his commander-in-chief Tartan (Is.
XX. 3). This Delitzsch (Is., p. 238) and Keil do.
Hitzig's objection to this that the prophet could
not very well remind the Assyrians of one of their
own conquests, without in any way expressly in-
dicating that it was even their act, since otherwise
every one must think of the act of another people,
has no force. Bather the reverse is the case ; if
that capture did not proceed from Assyria herself,
it (1) asks too much from Nineveh to draw coticlu-
sions from an event which was far separated from
her, and which occurred in the other end of the
inhabited world; and how (2) should Hitzig's sub-
sequent glossarist come to remind the still existing
Nineveh of the destruction of a city, which must
have followed after that of Nineveh at least twenty-
five years. The first of these two reasons is op-
posed to the reference by Ewald to a very apocry-
phal and isolated statement of Ammianus Mar-
cellinus concerning a capture of Thebes by the
Carthaginians. But Nahnm himself intimates
plainly enough why he expressly mentioned Thebes
among the Assyrian conquests : by its situation on
the river, defenses, and allies, it had a striking re-
semblance to Nineveh.
[I have been decided in referring it to a conquest
by Sargon, because this can be confirmed by argu-
ments from the Bible, and it is sufficient for the
understanding [of the passage]. There is, how-
ever, to me another still more probable [ground
for the] reference which I have made, in the agree-
ment of the results of investigations among the
monuments. Assarhaddon is called, on a lion dug
out by the Turks at Nebi Yunus, not merely king,
but conqueror of Gush and Mizraim (Rod., viii.
673. Corap. also Abyd. in Euseb. in the Chron.
Arm.). On his Cylinder (in Talbot, ^ss. C. t., p.
13), Egyptian deities are delineated and military
expeditions against the countries on the Mediter-
ranean ; he appears even to have conquered Ara-
bia (Spiegel, XX. 225). During his sickness the
Egyptico-Ethiopian king Tirhaka (692-66-t ; Lep-
aius, Koningsb. d. alt. Eg., i. 96), succeeded in re-
conquering Memphis, Thebes, and other cities, so
that his [the Assyrian conqueror's] son Assur-
bani-pal must have carried the war anew into those
countries. If the decipherings pertaining to the
point on hand have been settled with certainty, we
must refer the passage [ver. 10] either to a con-
quest by Assarhaddon himself, or still rather to
that by 'I'irhaka, which, it is easy to see, must have
grieved the Assyrians, which as an admonitory
example must have given them a double sting,
and which, if we place the time of Nahum's proph-
ecy under Assarhaddon (Introd. 2), was still quite
fresh in their memory. It would also furnish an-
other effective argument for this date. But in any
5ase, there is not the least necessity of thinking of
the capture by Nebuchadnezzar as the only one
possible.]
[Thebes was long the capital of Upper Egypt
tnd the seat of the Diospolitan dynasties, that
ruled over all Egypt at the era of its highest splen-
dor. Upon the monuments this city bears three
distinct names — that of the Nome, a sacred name,,
and the name by which it is commonly known in
profane history. Of the twenty Nomes or districts
into which Upper Egypt was divided, the fourth
in order, proceeding northward from Nubia, was
designated in the hieroglyphics as Za'm — the
Phathyrite of the Greeks — and Thebes appears
as the " Za'm-city," the principal city or metrop-
olis of the Za'm Nome. In later times the name
Za'm was applied in common speech to a partic
ular localitv on the western side of Thebes.
In Hebrew the name of Thebes is No-Amon
(from H3, probably dwelling, and ]1J3i^ ; but the
Egyptian name is P-Amen, i. e., house of the god
Amun, who had a celebrated temple there (Herod,
i. 182 ; ii.42; see Btugsch, Oeogr. Jnschr.,i. p. 177).
The Greeks called it Aihs Tr6\ts, generally with the
predicate ^ ij.eji\ri (Diod. Sic, i. 45) the Great, or
07)/8i), from the profane name of the city, which
was Apet. This name, with the feminine article
prefixed, became Tapet, or Tape, or Tepe, O^jSrj,
generally used in the plural 0^/3ai. It was de-
scribed by Homer (II., ix. 383) as eKarS/iLTrvAos ;
and the Pharaohs of the eighteenth to the twen-
tieth dynasties, from Amosis to the last Rameses,
resided in it, and constructed those works of archi-
tecture which were admired by Greeks and Romans,
and the remains of which still fill the visitor with
astonishment. It was situated on both banks of
the Nile, which was 1500 feet in breadth at that
point, and was built upon a broad plain formed by
the falling back of the Libyan and Arabian moun-
tain wall, over which there are now scattered nine
larger or smaller Eellah \'illages, including upon
the eastern bank Karnak and Luxor, and upon the
western Gurnah and Medinet Abu, with their plan-
tations of date-palms, sugar-canes, corn, etc.
Though we have no express historical account
of the capture of Thebes by the Assyrians, yet a
struggle between Assyria and Egypt for supremacy
in Hither Asia may be inferred from brief notices
in the Old Testament (2 Kings xvii. 4). See
Smith's Dictionari/ of the Bible, article " Thebes " ;
Keil and Delitzsch on ver. 10. — C. E.]
Like No-Amon, Nineveh also shall have no pro-
tection in its rivers.
Ver. 11. Thou also shalt be drunken (comp.
Hab. ii. 16), receive the cup of God's fury in judg-
ment ; Thou shalt perish in darkness, literally,
shalt be hidden : "Abscondi Hebrceis scepe est in ni-
hilum redigi." Calvin. Thou also shalt seek for
help against the enemy, for protection against the
advancing enemy, as No engaged the nations to
help her ; 7S2 is used as in Is. xxv. 4. Keil. (One
could also translate ]!3 by from, from among : thou
shalt desire help from the enemy, and think of the
fact that the King of Assyria himself sent Nabo-
polassar to maintain Babylon against the Scyth-
ians. This, however, is more remote.
[" According to Abydenus, who probably drew
his information from Berosus, Nabopolassar was
appointed to the government of Babylon by the last
Assyrian king, at the moment when the Medes
were about to make their final attack ; whereupon,
betraying the trust reposed in him, he went over to
the enemy, arranged a marriage between his sou
Nebuchadnezzar and the daughter of the Median
leader, and joined in the last siege of the city-
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. — C. E.]
CHAPTER III.
35
["Thou wilt seek refuge from the enemy,'' i. e.,
in this connection, seek it in vain, or without
finding it ; not, " Thou wilt surely demand salva-
tion from the enemy by surrender" (Strauss), for
ni'isa does not belong to "'C?!??^, but to Ti^a
(cf. Is. XXV. 4." Keil and Del'itzsch. — C. E.]
Immediately subjoined to this [ver. 11] is the
remedilessness of the destntction, vers. 12,13. All
thy fortresses are flg-trees with early figs ; if
one shake them, they faE into the mouth of the
eater, comp. Is. xxviii. 4 ; as if they were already
waiting for him. On the '^ Hitzig remarks : If
the motion made downward to the object is at the
same time an entering one, then the latter is tacitly
supplied, and merely 757 is written.
[" The tertium compar. is the facility with which
the castles will be taken and destroyed by the enemy
assaulting them (cf. Is. xxviii. 4)." Keil and De-
litzsch. — C. E.]
Ver. 13. Behold thy people, once invincibly
stern (Is. v. 27 ff.), are women in the midst of
thee; comp. ii. 11), by reason of anguish and terror.
Possibly the prophet thinks, at the same time, of
the effeminate manners, which finally crept into
Nineveh (Layard, p. .360). [" The point of com-
parison here is not the cowardliness of the war-
riors, but the weakness and inability to offer any
successful resistance into which the nation of the
Assyrians, which was at other times so warlike,
would be reduced through the force of the divine
judgment inflicted upon Nineveh (compare Is. xix.
16 ; Jer. 1. 37 ; h. 30.'^) Keil and Delitzsch.— G. E.]
The gates of thy land open spontaneously and
without effort to thine enemies (ver. 12 ; comp. on
ii. 7) ; fire consumes thy bars. The gates and bars
of the land are probably the fortresses guarding the
frontiers.
[Different views are possible concerning the ref-
erence of T'3"'S7. It can be connected with what
precedes, and can be translated either : " thy peo
pie are women (through cowardice) in respect to
the enemy " (J. D. Mich., Ruck, Holeni.) ; or :
" as touching thy people, the women, the lionesses
(ii. 13), fall to the lot of the enemy (comp. Judges
V. 30). The latter translation, which I find in no
interpreter, has some probability. The Masorites
leave the matter undecided. Yet on rythmical
grounds I have preferred the usual construction
with what follows.]
[Keil : 'iT^?!'^'/' belongs to what follows, and is
placed first, and pointed with Zakeph-Katon for the
sake of emphasis. — C. E.]
This remedilessness is further described by two
peculiar apodoses, which are construed adversa-
tively (though — yet), and whose protases are ex-
pressed in the imperative. On the use of the im-
perative in the protasis of conditional clauses, com-
pare Ges., sec. 130, 2 b, 128, 2 c, and Rupert v.
Deutz in Burck, p. 363.
First Antithesis, vers. 14, 15 a, connecting with
ver. 13. [Keil: Vers. 14-19. In conclusion, tlie
propliet takes away fi-om the city so heavily laden
with guilt the last prop to its hope, — namely, re-
liance upon its fortifications, and the numerical
nrength of its population. — C. E,]
Draw for thyself water of the (for the) siege
[water necessary for a long-continued siege — C.
E,] ; make strong thy bulwarks — prepare the
briok-kiln, in order to burn bricks for the bul-
warks : there, in the very midst of these prepara-
tions, shall the fire devour thee, the sword shall
destroy thee as locusts [locusts is the nomina-
tive: as locusts destroy — C. E.] so resistless will
be thy ruin.
The Second Antithesis, vers. 15 b-17, is connected
with this last word by similarity of sound and as-
sociation of ideas. Multiply thyself, if thou wilt ;
literally, make thyself a weight, a multitude, a
swarm (^comp. i. 12), snarm abundantly. In the
root "l^S, as in ii. 10, iii. 3, the .'signification of a
multitude, and that of a burdensome multitude, is
prominent (comp. Eccles. xii. 5). Multiply abun-
dantly like the licking locusts, multiply thyself
Uke the swarming locusts. HS^IW is a synonym
of pv'' (comp. Joel i.), There follows, before the
apodosis (ver. 17 c) is introduced, a parenthesis,
with which it afterwards enters into construction .
a parenthesis, in which the ironical summons just
uttered is filled out, and its historical warrant ex-
hibited.
Ver. 16. Thou hast indeed mtdtiplied thy
merchants more than the stars of heaven.
Taking into view the entire connection, it is not
easy to understand this of merchants in the proper
sense, as in Is. xxiii. 3 f , Ez. xxvii. 3 f., but, accord-
ing to ver. 4, of the despotic manner of trafficking
in men as in merchandise, which is practiced by
conquering hordes.
[Keil and Delitzsch : That Nineveh was a very
rich commercial city may be inferred from its posi-
tion, namely, just at the point where, according to
oriental nations, the east and west meet together,
and where the Tigris becomes navigable, so that it
was very easy to sail from thence into the Persian
Gulf; just as afterwards Mosul, which was situated
opposite, became great and powerful through its
widely-extended trade. — C. E.]
Besides ver. 17, the words which immediately
follow show this : " The licking locusts enter to
plunder (tStOS used of hosts. Job i. 17 ; Judges
ix. 33 f), and fly away: i. e., thy armies were
like swarms of locusts, which alighted on a coun
try, laid it waste, and left it desolate, — a compari
son without the particle of comparison, which is
frequently the case (comp. on Hab. i. 11).
[Keil and Delitzsch: "The meaning of this
verse has been differently interpreted, according to
explanation given to the verb pashat. Many fol
lowing the ajpfij^ce and the expansus est of the LXX
and Jerome, giva it the meaning, to spread out the
wing; whilst Credncr (on Joel, p. 295), Maurer,
Ewald, and Hitzig, take it in the sense of undress-
ing one's self, and understand it as relating to the
shedding of fhe horny wing-sheaths of the young
locusts. But neither the one nor the other of these
explanations can be grammatically sustained. Pd-
shai never means anything else than to plunder,
or to invade with plundering ; not even in such
passages as Hos. ™. 1 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 9 and 13,
which Gesenius and Dietrich quote in support of
the meaning, " to spread ; " and the meaning forced
upon it by Credner, of the shedding of the wing-
sheaths of locusts, is perfectly visionary, and has
merely been invented by him for the pni pose of es-
tablishing his false interpretation of the different
names given to the locusts in Joel i. 4. In the pas-
sage before us we cannot understand by the tjelek,
which "plunders and flies awny" [pashat vmj\fi-
bph), the innumerable multitude of the merchants
of Nineveh, because they were not able to fly away
in crowds out of the besieged city. Moreover, lh«
36
NAHUM.
flying away of the merchants would be quite con-
trary to the meaning of the whole description,
which does not promise deliverance from danger
oy flight, but threatens destruction. The yelek is
rather the innumerable army of the enemy, which
pltraders everything, and hurries away with its
booty."
Tiie statement of Keil that pashat " never means
anything else than to plunder," is not sutBciently
guarded. Compare Lev. vi. 4 ; xvi. 23 ; Cant. v.
3; 1 Sam. xix. 24; Ez. xxvi. 16; xliv. 19, and
Neh. iv. 17. A man does not plunder his clothes,
when he takes them off. — C. E.)
Ver. 17. Thy crowned heads, the vassal
princes, with whose aid he undertook war, are
like locusts, thy satraps (an Assyrian word ;
comp. Jer. li. 27. Ges., 'JTies., and Strauss ad I. —
01s., sec. 198 c, considers also "il^ri?^ such; the
dageschforte euphonicum in the 3, though certainly
unusual, is justified by the analogy of t27"T[7ZD (Ex.
XV. 17), like swarms of locusts (the repetition in-
dicates the numberless multitude, Ew. sec. 313 ;
^m3 is singular, 01s., sec. 216 d) which encamp
in the walla in the time of cold, which deprives
them of the power of flying, Hieron. : the sun
arises, the encampment comes to an end, they fly
away ; and one knows not the place where they
are. The catastrophe, although as au adversative
apodosis it properly corresponds to 15 c, is never-
theless described in immediate connection with the
parenthetical filling up of the picture : the complete
vanishing of the forces of the Assyrians, which could
not take wing in the cold, in the calamity assail-
ing their country, but which assembled in Nineveh,
is compared to the vanishing of a swarm of locusts,
which alight in the cool of the niglit, in order to
continue their flight in the morning. They have
vanished out of sight. Compare 2ech. i. 5; Ps.
ciii. 16. Where are they 1
The Conchidirif] Strophe, ver. 18 f., answers in ele-
giac strain ; Thy shepherds, those who were ap-
pointed chief officers of the army (Mic. v. 4ff. )
King of Assyria, have fallen asleep, the sleep
of death (Ps. xiii. 4 (3) ; Ixxvi. 6(5); thy power-
ful ones are lying still (comp. ii. 6). Thy people
(on the construction compare Ges. sec. 146, 1) are
scattered (comp. ver. 17) upon the mountains,
and no one gathers them. A beautiful contrast
to ii. 12.
Ver. 19. There is no healing of thy fracture,
thy ruin (comp. Prov. xvi. 18), thy stroke is
deadly (Jer. xxx. 12). And no one grieves for it
(comp. ver. 7) ; all who hear tidings of thee
(comp. Is. xxiii. 5; Hab. iii. 2) clap their hands,
(comp. Zejjh. ii. 13 If ) for over whom has not
thy wickedness passed continually? Comp.
Jonah i. 2. The wickedness of which the Holy
Scriptures, and now also the monuments testify :
the audacious boast of cruelty and of the pitiless
crushing of the nations cxhiliited in the inscrip-
tions: in the seul|iturcs, the rows of the impaled,
the prisoners through whose lips rings were fast-
ened, whose eyes were put out, who were flayed
alive. Consequently it would be a joy to all
nations tc hear the voice of the messengers of the
tyrant no more (ii. 14), but to hear that of the
nessengers of his destruction.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.l
The prophecy of Nahum culminates in the words
directly ascribed to God : BehxM I come against
thee. Both the contending powers, the plunder-
ing world-power and the just avenger, approach in
mutual hostility. One must perish on the spot;
and the place where Nineveh stood, has become
void.
God is called in this contest Jehovah Sabaoth,
the Lord of Hosts. This is not merely poetic dic-
tion. The name, which is not used in the Torah,
is the usual one in the spiritual conflicts of Israel
against heathenism, which were fought by the
prophets. No doubt this points to the fact that
Sabaoth is not to be interpreted in an external way
as has been usual, so as to understand by it, with
reference to Ex. vii. 4; xii. 41, the warriors of
Israel, whom God led forth to battle.
The name enters more deeply into the nature of
God. If that were the meaning, how does it come,
that the name occurs, neither in the Pentateuch,
which is acquainted with that signification of hosts,
nor in the foreign battles in the time of the Judges
immediately following that of the Pentateuch 1
The " hosts " are, according to the prevailing mode
of speech, the host of heaven ; the stars together
with the celestial spirits gliding over them, by whom
they are supposed to be in part inhabited. (Rodi-
ger in Ges., Thes., 1140 a). [In Tomus Tertius
of Ges. Thes., published in Leipzig, 1853, the ref-
erence is found in 1146 a. — C. E.].
To [the worship of] this heavenly host, the
most perfect form of the Hither Asiatic, namely,
of the Mesopotaraian heathenism, was devoted
(Deut. iv. 19 ; xvii. 3). This highest form of the
worship of Nature spread powerfully, and pene-
trated also into Israel, when it came in contact
with the world-powers (2 Kings xvii. 16; xvii. 3).
But even they [the hosts of heaven] are imder the
control of Jehovah (Jer. xxxi. 35), for He created
them (Gen. ii. 1) ; the heavenly powers must at
his command assist in fighting his holy battles
(Judges V. 20). It belonged to the function of the
prophets to press this truth upon the conscience
of the rebellious people (.ler. viii. 2) directly under
the superior earthly power of the star-worshippers,
which continued to loom up with increasing dark-
ness. With this statement corresponds the pro-
phetical name Jehovah Elohe Sabaoth, who is the
only living One, and who is also Lord over the
hosts of heaven. In harmony with this is the tiict
that the name seems to be preferred, where the
subject treated of is the overthrow of the heathen
powers. So in this passage.
God is a God of life, and grants to the nations
their life. Therefore He kills him, who has made
killing his business. He destroys the destroyer.
The time is coming when He will destroy Anti-God;
death himself, through whom the cut-throats of the
earth have their power (Is. xxv. 8). God is a
long-suffering God. He had also waited in Nin-
eveh (i. 3, compare the book of Jonah) ; but it
did not cease from its robbery. This is what wa
might expect, for the root is poisoned : blood-
guiltiness springs from idolatry. In the land,
where the worship of God is observed, there ia
always a remnant, whose intercession delays judg
ment (Am. vii.) ; and who cannot perish with tlifl
wicked (Ez. xiv. 14). But Nineveh, the world-
power, is " all deceit " ; it must, therefore, entirely
1 [Reichsgedanken, see note, Com on Jonah, p. 30 — 0
CHAPTER ni.
31
perish. Not on account of idolatry in itself would
God have destroyed it, othei-wiso He would not
liave sent Jonah : his justice waited for the out-
break of murder. But after this has infected the
whole city, after all its works have assumed the
known heathen character, to put itself in the place
of God, and to trample under foot the universal
revelation of God, that deceit and murder are sins ;
after it had thus identified itself with the impious
principle, its destruction must come.
For God's judgment is revelation. In the fall
the entire ignominy concealed by external glory,
the rottenness of the powerful tree, the utterly
forlorn condition, in which it for along time already
internally stood, whilst it was externally pressed,
come to light. Then indeed the more unexpected
the blow, the more certain : the nearer it advances,
tile more fearful and incurable.
Beck : The name Sahaoth represents God
(Deut. X. 17; 1 Cor. viii. 5 ; I Tim. vi. 15), who
goes as a man of war, against his and his people's
enemies (Ex. xv. 3), as the ruler with all fullness
of power even within the highest sphere of life.
This is the ruling thought, in the first place, in the
prayer of Hannah, whose subsequent song of
praise proves how her heart supported itself on the
might and strength of God against the insolent
power of the enemy ; very frequently in the mouth
of David, the soldier of God ; also in Solomon's,
the prince of peace ; in the warlike period of the
kings, when the defenseless, enervated kingdom
looked around for powerful allies, etc.
Compare also Oehler in Herzog's Real-Ena/c.,
xviil. 400 if.
HOMILETICAL.
Chap. ii. 12-iii. 7. Hostility against God cannot
be maintained. Eor —
1. It hinders God's work. It is quan-elsome
and lawless, but the world was made for peace, for
order, and for life. (ii. 12, 13 a, 14.)
2. It accumulates guilt, but God is a judge.
(13 b, iii. 1 a.)
3. It does not rest until it has poisoned the
whole man (and the entire community) and made
him ripe for death, (iii. 1 b.)
4. It experiences no change for the better, (iii.
Ic.)
5. Its effort is to make itself equal to God, and
God suffers no equal, (iii. 4, 5.)
6. It estranges all from itself, and finds, there-
fore, neither consolation nor intercession, (iii. 7.)
iii. 18-19. There is no deliverance from the judg-
ment of God. For —
1. Even the mightiest of the earth are as locusts
before Him. (iii. 8-11 ; comp. Is. xl. 22.)
2. The more obstinately they resist, the more
irresistible is the judgment. (12 ff.)
3. The larger and more numerous they are, the
more utterly will thoy be destroyed. (15 c ff.)
4. The time, after all, is coming, when God
shall be all in all. (18 f.)
On ii. 12. God knows how to make an end of
the greatest distress, in such a way as to astonish
us. — Ver. 13. As it comes so it goes. Unright-
eous possessions cannot prosper. — Ver. 14. Even
fire and sword do not do their work mthout God.
Where the voice of the evangelists (ii. 1) gains
power, the voice of the messengers of sin becomes
lumb.
iii. 1 . Where there is still only a spark of faith,
h furnishes us with hope against despair. — Ver.
* ff. Where a carcass is, there the eagles gather
themselves together. — Ver. 5. The greatest power
does not long conceal secret sharre. The more
powerful an infamous man is for a long time, the
profounder afterwards is his contempt. — Ver. fi.
God will make a gazing-stock^ to be gazed at by
all, of him who delights in vam pleasure. — Ver.
7. It is a deplorable state of misery, when a
heartless and haughty man falls into misfortune.
He has not even a soul which laments it. Make
to yourselves friends of the unrighteous Mam-
mon. — Ver. 8 if. Men may not learn prudence
by experience. Ninety-nine godless persons perish
in their security, and the hundredth still thinks
that his case is a special one, and relies on the
same props, which, under others, have been irre-
mediably broken. — Ver. 11. "The prudent man
thinks that his prudence will help him through
everywhere. But when God's hand comes upon
him, even the most prudent is bewildered, so that
he acts like a drunken man. The more prudent
derides him, and soon after fares the same way.
To him, who has not learned to use everything,
that he has, in the earnest service of God, nothing
is of any advantage ; in the hour of decision it for-
sakes him. When Christianity came, the bul-
warks of heathen wisdom became subservient to
it, and it employed them against the heathen.
This is a hint for the Church in all times. It is
always important to assault directly the strong-
holds of the ungodly : they cannot stand. He who
ventures nothing wins nothing. — Ver. 14. God
does not need to wait for the unguarded moment
of his enemy. He can crush him in the midst of
his preparation. We have no occasion for anx-
iety, if Rome appears to be externally powerful. —
Ver. 15 ff. Should all men come en masse to
thwart the work of God, they would still be like
locusts before the Lord of Sabaoth. — Ver. 18 f.
All flesh perishes, but the Word of God endures
forever. Alexander and Epicurus sleep, but Na-
hum and Paul are living. When Jesus was in
agony and his disciples slept and fled, then He
bore the punishment, which was laid upon the
world. But by his wounds we are made whole ; the
wounds of the world are incurable. A wicked
man hurts no one so much as himself.
LnTHEE : On iii. 1 f. God is very long-suffering
and exercises great patience with our sins, whilst
they are concealed. But if we are so utterly in-
fatuated that such sins become notorious, and we
continue in them without reserve, just as if we
were acting well by such a course, then He cannot
look upon them, but He punishes them. — Ver. 4.
I hold that the prophet uses here, in accordance
with the usage of Scripture elsewhere, whoredom
for idolatry, godless conduct, and contempt. As
if he would say : Thy godless conduct is so great,
and thou hast gone so far in it, that thou hast also
associated many nations with thee. For this pur-
pose also the King of Assyria had many godless
teachers, whom he kept and supported, that they
might increase such an ungodly way of life. He
uses the word vendidit [sold] as Paul does in Rom.
vii. 14. Nineveh enticed the nations to herself and
was the cause of other heathen falling into such
wicked practices and perishing. — Ver. 1 8 f. The
God, who delivered Judah, is even the same, who
has said : not a hair shall fall from our head with-
out his will.
Starke : ii. 12 f. The powerful should prove
themselves like lions in good, but not in evil. It
is a vain care, when parents are anxious only to
be able to leave behind them preat estates for their
NAHUM.
thildren. — Ver. 14. As one treats the children of
other people, in the same way must he generally
expect his own to be treated. — Chap. iii. ver. 1.
Where one does not cease from sinning, there God
also cannot cease from punishing. Unpunished
blood-guilt accelerates the destruction of a coun-
try. — Ver. 5. Because the godless very soon and
easily forget the divine threatenings, they must be
often repeated. The children of the world know
how to conceal artfully their knavish tricks for a
long time, but God uncovers them to their very
great disgrace. — Ver. 7. A true friend is known
in trouble. Great rivers, good fields, safe harbors,
gold and possessions do not insure the prosperity
of a city. Legitimate alliances are allowable and
useful (Gen. xiv. 13, xxi. 27 ; 1 Kings v. 12), but
unrighteous .alliances are destructive. — Ver. 10.
When God punishes crimes He does not regard the
person. Servitude and captivity are often more
bitter than death. The sins of parents are often
visited upon their children. — Ver. 11. If a ca-
lamity is preached, one should not take refuge in
fortresses, but in God, and exercise true repent-
ance. The pious receive from the hand of God
the cup of salvation and of joy (Ps. xxiii. 5), the
ungodly the cup of wrath. — Ver. 12. When the
best fortiKcations are taken with little trouble, then
we ought much more, in that case, to acknowledge
the finger of God. — Ver. 13. That which is
built by the hand of man, the hand of man can
also destroy. To be of good courage in trouble is
also a gift of God, and no man can give it to him-
self.
Pfaff : On iii. 4. To sin ourselves certainly
works damnation ; but to lead others into it in-
creases incomparably more the punishment. —
Ver. 7. The godless find consolation nowhere;
for God, whom they have forsaken, is the only
source of all true and abiding consolation. — Ver.
12. When God's judgments come, they come with
power, and they cannot be prevented by any hu-
man foresight
RtEGER : On ii. 12 ff. God laughs at the wicked,
whilst they are still powerful. Nineveh was still
in its bloom, when He asked : Whore is now the
dwelling-place of the lions ? Now be wise, there-
fore, ye kings, and be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. — Chap. iii. ver. 1 ff. Before, the eye was
never satisfied with objects, which, in a luxurious
city, were arranged so as to prove allurements to all
kinds of pleasure. But after a little while what an
entirely ditferent spectacle does it e.xhibit, when
2verything that fills the ear with terror, and the
heart with the feeling of the wrath of God, displays
' tself. — Ver. 5 ff. It is here, as i " king, city, and
kingdom stood themselves before the judgment-sea
of the Lord of hosts and were obliged to listen tc
the decree of wrath proceeding from it, with all
the appertaining records. What artifices does one
often need in civil government, in a community,
in a family, to conceal the real condition, to cover
internal losses, in order to maintain external show '•
What will it i)e, when the Lord shall uncover all
this low dealing and exhibit everything in its na-
kedness "! When the hand of God comes upon
one, then men begin to judge and to speak m a
quite different way. On the part of men there
may indeed be much unauthorized joy at the mis-
fortunes of another, but God, in the mean time
however, uses it for his punishment. — Ver. 13 S.
How much ado is made when commerce and trade
thrive, and when rich people, with great wealth,
go to live in a city or country. But when the
guiding principle of the fear of God is wanting,
many strange sins are introduced along with them,
and when those rich men should advise and help,
they flee away. Also under the pretext of the
common good they look out for themselves, and
they are careful always to flee away with that
which they aimed to procure. — Ver. 18 ff. How
m.any severe means has the Lord been obliged tc
employ to prevail upon men to rely no longer upon
earth. Who then would stiffen his neck against
Him, who has in such a signal manner broken
others before us !
HiEKONYMUs : On il. 14. 0 Nineveh, everything
wiiich is predicted thou wilt suflfer from no other
than me.
ScHLiER : iii. 4. By whoredom unfaithfulness
toward Jehovah, from the nature of the case, is not
intended ; but the treacherous friendship of the
great metropolis, by which, like a prostitute, she
allured others to her and ensnared them by her
witchcrafts, for the purpose of binding them with
land and people to herself, and of deriving advan-
tage from them. It is the treacherous friendship
of the great metropolis, which makes herself the
centre of the nations, on which all the world is
dependent.
ScHMiEDER : This characteristic recurs (Rev.
xviii. 3) in the description of the spiritual Babylon,
which, by the fullness of the lust of the eye and
the lust of the flesh and of all earthly possessions,
produces the most excessive voluptuousness, and
by every worldly charm and allurement turns
away the hearts of men from God.
HiERONTMns: Thou hast entangled all nationf
in thy net, I must then certainly come to desliOT
thee.
THE
BOOK OF HABAKEUK.
EXPOUNDED
PAUL KLEIITERT,
M8T0B AT ST. GEKTRA0D, AND PROFESSOR OP OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY IN THl
XraiVERSITY OF BERUH
TRANSLATED AND ENLARGED
CHARLES ELLIOTT, D. D.,
fKWKSaOB OP BEBLICAL UTEBATUEB IN THE PRESBYTEEIAlf THEOLOOlCAIi BEMINABT AT CHIOACIO, ILI.
NEW TOEK:
CHAELES SCEIBNEE'S SONS,
Catered according to Act of Cof^ress, in the year 1874) b^
PORIBNEE, ArMSTEONO, AND CoMPANT,
■ tlie Onice oi th» U'brarian of Congress, at Waslungtos.
HABAKKUK.
INTRODUCTION.
I. Contents and Form.
The first part of this book, chaps, i. and ii., contains a dialogue between God and th«
prophet, which, not only by its form, but also by the pure elevation of its style, is closely
connected with Micah vi. and vii. It takes from the empirical present only its starting-
point, in order to exhibit immediately the great course of coming events, according to its
nature, as an embodiment of the fundamental ideas of the kingdom of God. The dialogue
treats, in two gradations, of God's plan with Israel and with the heathen secular power,
which is here pointed out with clear precision as the Chaldfean, i. 6. Israel's sin must be
punished by a severe and powerful judgment, and the scourge is already raised, which will
fall upon the generation living at present (i. 1-11). But it is a revelation of the righteous-
ness of Jehovah, which is to be executed, and which will strike the destroyer as well as
every sinful being upon earth. At the last the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of Jehovah and keep silence before Him. With this the prophet consoles be-
lievers (i. 12-ii. 20). As in Micah, so here also the dialogue falls into a hymn artistically
constructed after the manner of the Psalms (chap, iii.), which, according to the model of
the old sacred national songs, and in the form (which from these has become customary) of
a wonderfully glorious theophany, celebrates the judgment of God upon the heathen, and,
in connection with it, the salvation of Israel.
By the liturgical additions at the beginning and the end this hymn was appointed for pub-
lic performance in the temple ; as may be seen also from the recurrence of the Selah, which
is characteristic of Uturgical hymns.
As concerns the form of the prophetical language of this book, " it is classical through-
out, full of rare and select words and turns, which are to some extent exclusively his own,
whilst his view and mode of presentation bear the seal of independent force and finished
beauty. Notwithstanding the violent rush (which is yet more regular than in Nahum) and
lofty soaring of the thoughts, his prophecy forms a finely organized and artistically rounded
whole." (Delitzsch.) But the lyric ring of the language throughout, in which he unites the
power of Isaiah and the tender feeling of Jeremiah, is peculiar to himself.
[Keil, Introduction to the Old Testament, vol. i. p. 414 : " The prophecy of Habakkuk is
slothed in a dramatic form, man questioning and complaining, God answering with threat-
ening. It announces as nearest of all, the impending fearful judgment by the instrumen-
tality of the Chaldseans on the theocracy because of its prevailing moral corruption (chap, i.) ;
and next to this, in a fivefold woe, the downfall of this arrogant, violent, God-forgetting, and
idolatrous offender (chap, ii.) ; and it concludes with the answer of the believing Church to
this twofold divine revelation, — that is to say, with a prophetico-lyric echo of the impres-
sions and feelings produced in the prophet's mind — (1) by these two divine relations when
pondered in the light of the Lord's great doings in times past [ch. iii.] (2)."
" (1) Comp. the admirable development of the contents of this prophecy, and of its organic
articulation as it forms an indivisible whole, in Delitzsch, Comm. There is now no more
need of refuting the contrary opinions (proceeding from utter want of understanding) of
Kalinsky, p. 145 ff".; of Friedrich in Eichhorn, Allg. BiUioth., x. p. 420 ff.; of Horst, Visioneu
HABAKKUK.
Hah., pp. 31-32 ; of RosenmiiUer, of Maurer, and others, that the book contains various dis
courses of various dates. The same toay be said of the assertiou of Hamaker, p. 16 ff., that
the first discourse is only a fragment.
" (2) Hence it leans in manifold ways on the older songs and psalms, and reproduces
their thoughts (Deut. xxxiii. 2 ; Judg. v. 4, 5 ; Ps. Ixviii. 8, 9), but especially on Ps. Ixxvii,
16-21 ; comp. Delitzsch, Hah., p. 118 flf." — C. E.]
II. Date.
The unity of the book, which the exegesis v?ill hereafter have to confirm, is shown by the
very statement of the contents. If we then inquire concerning the circumstances, under
which the prophecy arose, we must reject, at the outset, the arbitrary attempts at division
into parts by KosenmuUer, and Maurer, according to whom a chronological intercalation,
namely, the invasion of the Chaldaaans, should be made between chaps, i. and ii. Tha
dialogue is continued beyond the beginning of chap. ii. Also for the gradual chronological
progress, which Hltzig finds indicated in the book (that the enemy is approaching, chap. i. ;
that he is present, chap, iii.), there is neither a firm support, nor a psychological possibility
of conceiving it. The [command to] " Keep silence before Jehovah " (ii. 20), is evidently
an introduction to the hymn, in wlfich the prophecy culminates. While the woes ii. 6 fi".,
wtich do not exhibit the judgment itself, but its necessity, are still sounding over the earth,
the world is summoned to listen to Him, whose coming the hymn announces.
One may accordingly, without danger of error, assume a single point of time for the com-
position. But when is this to be sought ? Finding that Habakkuk puts emphasis on that
which is unexpected and wonderful in the announcement, which he (i. 5) certainly utters
with great stress, many interpreters have been induced to maintain, that he must have proph-
esied at a time, when there was not even the most distant suspicion that any calamity was
to be apprehended from the Chaldseans. Now in 2 Kings xxi. 10 ff. (comp. 2 Chron. xxxiii.
10), it is expressly stated, that under Manasseh (698-643), the successor of Hezekiah, the
prophets announced the approach of a terrible calamity, at which the ears of the people
should tingle. Among these prophets accordingly Habakkuk may be numbered ; and this
may be the situation [of things] in which he wrote. This opinion of Wahl, Jahn, Haver-
nick, and others, Keil also declares the most probable. But should the incredible circum-
stance of the prophecy lie in the fact that it speaks of the Chaldaeans, then to refer its date
to the time of Manasseh would not be suSiciently in keeping with this view. Already under
Hezekiah, his predecessors (Micah iv. 10, and Isaiah xxxix. 23, 13) had foreseen the power
of the Chaldseans. The incredibility lies rather in the presently impending approach of
the Chaldaeans : and the narrative (Jer. xxxvi. 9-32), proves that this, until immediately
before their first invasion of Palestine, in the time of Jehoiakim, was considered something
incredible and not to be announced. And in the calamity predicted by the prophets in thei
time of Manasseh, the chronicler perceives already the expedition of Assarhaddon (2 Chron.
xxxiii. 11; compare ver. 10). (Compare, moreover, Introd. to Nahum, p. 4 f., and Movers,
Chronik., p. 327 ff.) Moreover the energy of the prophetic words (i. 5) is a peculiarity of pro-
phetic diction, and affords no ground for supporting the historical date ; but rather the adjoined
clause, " in your days," which is to be read in the same verse, and which has here a special
emphasis (comp. Ez. xii. 25) in the mouth of the prophet, proves, as Delitzsch acknowledges,
that this prophecy must be placed considerably nearer the catastrophe of which it treats,
than the reign of Manasseh, which was separated from the invasion of the Chaldaeans by
more than a generation. It is besides hardly conceivable, how just in the time of Manasseh,
in which the worship of Jehovah was forced to give way to idolatry (2 Chron. xxxiii. 4 f.; 2
Kings xxi. 4 f,), Habakkuk should have composed the psalm, chap, iii., for the public ser-
vice : it [the psalm] rather presupposes that the ecclesiastical reforms of Josiah (641-610)
had already taken root in the popular life. Add to this, finally, that the Chaldaeans are not
merely mentioned, but their wild appearance and their vast success are described with an
exactness and fullness, from which it is evident that the powerful nation was, in the time of
the prophet, already on the way and had acquired for itself a terrible name. This last ar-
gument contravenes the opinion of Vitringa, Delitzsch, and others, who would like to place
this prophecy at least in the age of Josiah. Further, the description of the public life, with
which Habakkuk (i. 2-4) introduces the announcement of the judgment, is opposed to this
second date. For should the prophecy fall in the time of Josiah, it would fall either befor&
INTRODUCTION.
or after his reforms The former is impossible, since it presupposes, as observed above, the
reform of worship. But if it is placed after the reform, then the description of the ruined
condition of Israel, could not, as Delitzsch thinks, be so understood that the reforms intro-
duced a time < f winnowing and consequently a strong contrast between the godless and the
righteous ; for Habakkuk says nothing of such a contrast, but he speaks of a perversion of
Justice, which, in the nature of the case, does not come from below, but from above : his ad-
dress (i. 2 fF. ; as also in chap. ii. 9 fF. again) is directed against those in high authority,
I'inally the words, "in your days," if spoken in the time of Josiah, would be in direct con-
tradiction to the prophecy of the prophetess Huldah (2 Kings xxii. 18 ff.), according tc
which the calamity was not to fall upon Judah in the lifetime of Josiah. Nothing remains,
therefore, but to place this prophecy in the reign of Jehoiaklm (610-599). So De Wette,
Ewald, Umbreit, Hitzig, Baumlein, Bleck.
Indeed all the circumstantial evidence is also in favor of this time. Babylon had sud-
denly risen as from nothing Idem Nichts, the nothing, Kenoma — C. E.], in the time of
Jehoiakim, by the overthrow of Nineveh (comp. Introd. to Nahum iv.), to the summit of
power. It was a spectacle in which Nahum also perceived a stupendous act of God. Tak-
ing advantage of the complications in Mesopotamia, Necho King of Egypt had already
previously set out, seized the kingdoms on the Mediterranean, and had deprived King Josiah
who manfully opposed him in the battle of Megiddo (vi. 10), of throne and life ; had also
carried away Jehoahaz, his legitimate successor to the throne, into Egypt, and put in his
place Jehoiakim, a weak and impious man, as King over Judah (2 Kings xxiii. 37-xxiv,
4). His expeditions advanced continually onward, whilst the Babylonian and Median
armies were held fast before Nineveh ; and already had he pushed forward to the Euphrates,
when Nineveh fell. Immediately Nebuchadnezzar marched against him with his Babylon-
ians exulting in victory, annihilated, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, B. c. 605, the Egyp-
tian power at Carchemish (Circesium) on the Euphrates (Jer. xlvi. 2; Jos., Ant., x. 6, 1)
and pursued the fugitives even to the borders of Egypt. That during this career of victory
Jehoiakim also, the creature of Necho, did not escape without trouble, is not merely prob-
able and to be inferred from the direction of the march, but by the numerous allusions ic
Jeremiah, as well as by 2 Kings xxiv. 1, and Dan. i. 2, certain. (That Daniel mentions the
third year of Jehoiakim instead of the fourth, has its ground probably in a different system
of calculation; comp. Niebuhr, Gesch. Ass. u. Babels S., 327 \^Hist. Ass. and Babylon, p,
327]).
It is now certain that Habakkuk prophesied before this invasion of the Babylonians, for
as yet Jerusalem is in a state of secure and godless infatuation (i. 2 ff.). Just as certain is
it that his prophecy does not refer to that alone : it embraces the whole Chaldsean oppres-
HQB, which found its consummation in the year 588. But if we inquire more specially for
the definite time of his prophecy within the years 610-605, then it, as also the scene de-
scribed Jer. xxxvi. 9 if., must be placed in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and immediately
before the battle of Carchemish. Only from this situation, in which the distress is certainly
already approaching (comp. the fast, Jer. xxxvi. 9, which was at all events appointed upon
Necho's' arrangement), a situation in which the decisive blow had not yet fallen, there be-
ing still good confidence in Jerusalem, can both the following circumstances be understood ■
namely, that Habakkuk proclaims his message as something incredible — (it was indeed in-
credible that the power of the Egyptians regarded, since the battle of Megiddo, as invinci-
ble, should be overthrown by this people of yesterday) — and that Jehoiakim causes the
sdmilar message of Jeremiah to be destroyed as treason — (had the battle of Carchemish
been fought, then the message of Jeremiah was not only no treason, but such as one might
expect) ; and also, that Habakkuk had sufficient reason to describe the Chaldajans in the
manner in which he has done, i. 6 ff. Compare on i. 11. That in the time between Josiah's
death and the fall of Necho such a state of things, as described in Hab. i. 2 ff. must have
existed in Jerusalem, is considering the character of Jehoiakim, the Vassal-prince, who was
reigning illegally [wider das Recht, contrary to right], more than probable. And as the old
liiconic rabbinical document {Seder Olam rabba, c. 24) records the great deeds of Nebuchad
nezzar ; " in the first year he overthrew Nineveh, in the second, Jehoiakim ; " it thus affords
* beautiful parallel to the consecutive prophecies of Nahum and Habakkuk.
Against the date just given, Delitzsch urges the coincidences between Habakkuk and th«
1 [There is no intimation in Jer. xxjtTi. 9 that Neclio had anything to 4o with the tast. See Lange'8 Cam. mJa
txsTi. 9—0. IS.l
6 HABAKKUK.
prophecies of Zephaniah and Jeremiah written in the time of Josiah. In relation to Zeph-
aniah, only the passage, ii. 20, comp. Zeph. i. 7, " keep silence before the Lord," comes into
consideration. However the proof based upon conformity of sound is always two-edged,
therefore relatively without edge. If it must be conceded that Zephaniah has very many
passages from older prophets, it does not at all follow from this, that he must be pressed
down to such a measure of dependence, that he has nothing original, and that wheresoever
he coincides with another prophet he is always the borrower. Or will Delitzsch on account
of Zeph. i. 18 (comp. Ezek. vii. 19), make Ezekiel also prophecy before Zephaniah? And
if Delitzsch urges the more detailed form of the sentence [des Spruchs, sentence, judgment],
in Habakkuk as a proof of originality, then there is no ground to deviate, in Habakkuk, from
the common principle of criticism, that the briefer passage has for itself the prejudice in
favor of the higher antiquity. On the one hand, it is not in the fact that he would gen-
erally be absolutely original, which Delitzsch himself in regard to the passages ii. 1-13 ; iii,
18 (which might be easily multiplied) (comp. Micah iii. 10 ; Is. xi. 9 ; Micah vii. 7), must
grant ; and on the other hand, he is indeed also in regard to other prophets a borrower,
who enriches what he borrows ; comp., e. g., ii. 15 fi". with Nah. iii. 11 ; ii. 1-4 with Is. xxviii.
16. If finally Delitzsch thinks that lie can draw a proof for the higher antiquity of Habak-
kuk from the fact that in Zephaniah a decline of the prophetic originality is manifested, still
this subjective observation even according to the opinion of Delitzsch does not proceed upon
a chronological ground — for he can, at the most, fix a difference of six years between their
prophecies — but upon an individual [ground]. Just as the coincidences with Zephaniah,
so also those with Jeremiah are capable of a double turn. There is no reason whatever
why the leopards (Hab. i. 8), should be more original than the eagles (Jer. iv. 13), and why
the wolves of the desert (Jer. v. 6), should be later than the evening wolves (Hab. i. 8), which
besides referring to Ps. lix. are perhaps borrowed from Zeph. iii. 3.
But the argument, which, in tlie opinion of Delitzsch, is most conclusive, namely, that if
Habakkuk had predicted the Chaldaean catastrophe so long before it happened, a, proof of the
inspiration of his prophecy is derived from this prophetic power, is not, on several grounds,
determinative. First, because it is an argument ex utilUate. Next, because it does not at
all need this : we have an argument belonging here in Is. xxxix., which even invalidates the
one offered by Delitzsch, since Habakkuk would take up again and continue Isaiah. Finally,
from the fact that prophets predicted future events long beforehand (to deny which in these
days is nothing new), a proof of inspiration is derived only for him who is entirely skeptical
in regard to the divination of the heathen and its verification, which is not seldom elevated
above all opposition. The proof of inspiration lies not merely in the gift of foretelling indi-
didual temporal events, but much deeper. (Comp. Dusterdieck, De Rei Propheticce, in V. T.
natura ethica, Gott., 1852). If Habakkuk had written only the single declaration ii. 4, it
would have afforded a stronger proof of his inspiration to him who believes, than if he had
foretold, in the time of Abraham, the fall of Babylon. But to him who is not open to con-
viction, even the proof from foretelling events, at such a distance, is of no value, as Delitzsch
himself might see from the contemptible treatment which his honest labor had to endure from
Hitzig. Comp. infra, p. 15.
[According to the contents of the prophecy, Habakkuk prophesied before the invasion of
Palestine by the Chaldjeans.
1. Vitringa, Delitzsch, Ktiper, and others refer his prophecy to the time of Josiah, between
650 and 627 before Christ: —
(a) According to chap. i. 5, about 20-30 years before the Chaldsean invasion (Delitzsch) ;
(b) According to chap. ii. 20, compared with Zeph. i. 7, shortly before Zephaniah (Kiiper,
Caspari) ;
(c) According to chap. i. 8 compared with Jer. iv. 13 and v. 6, before the appearance of
Jeremiah, consequently before the 13th year of Josiah (Keil, Introd.).
2. According to some Rabbins, Witsius, Buddeus, Carpzov, Wahl, Kofod, Jahn, Haver-
nick, Keil (Comm.), Habakkuk prophesied in the time of Manasseh.
3. According to Stickel, Jiiger, Knobel, Maurer, Ewald, De Wette, Kleinert, during the
advance of Nebuchadnezzar, in the time of Jehoiakim.
4. According to Eichhorn, Bertheau, Justi, Wolf, and others, in the time of the devasta-
don of the land of Judah by the Chaldaeans, so that the prophecy of Habakkuk would he
Dniy a valicinium ex eventu. Hertwig's Tabe'Jlen. C. E.]
XNTUODUCTION. 7
[Lenormant and Ckevallier date the prophecy of Habakkuk in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
when Necho, liing of Egypt, was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish. Vol. i p 186
_ C. E.]
ni. Author.
If Habakkuk, as we have shown, prophesied under Jehoiakim, then of course he could
have been still living, when Daniel was oast into the lions' den. Notwithstanding the apoc-
ryphal narrative of [Bel and the] Dragon, which (ver. 33 if.) causes him to be carried by an
angel to Babylon, to the martyr, has, judging from its whole character, little probability, yet
it is so far interesting, as it shows how even the old Jewish tradition removes the ministry
of the prophet to the very closest proximity to the Chaldsean catastrophe. Moreover, De-
litzsch also thinks that the superscription of this apocryphon in the LXX. (Cod. Chisianus) :
'Ek TTpoc^T/Tftas 'AyUy8aKoi)/x viov 'Irjcrov £K ttJs cf>v\rji Aem, can be turned to good account for
the purpose of determining the circumstances of the prophet's life. He combines it with the
rubric at the end of the psalm (chap. iii. 19) in which the prophet directs that the hymn,
when sung, be accompanied by his stringed instrument. Prom that circumstance Delitzsch
(and after him Keil) concludes that Habakkuk must have been officially authorized to par-
ticipate in the temple-music, and must accordingly have been a Levite. But this does not
follow from the notice iii. 19 ; we read that King Hezekiah also, who was no Levite, declared
that he would sing in the temple with his stringed instrument (Is. xxxviii. 20) ; consequently
this practice in public worship was not confined to the Levites. Thus the assumption is
based simply upon that direction [that the hymn should be accompanied in its performance
by his stringed instrument], and is the more questionable, as it may possibly owe its origin
to some ancient, who led the way to the conclusion of Delitzsch : another tradition refers
Habakkuk to the tribe of Simeon. (Compare this and similar synagogal- Christian tradi-
tions in the careful critical collection of DeUtzsch, De Hahacuci Proph. vita et ^tate).
Whether the grave of Habakkuk, which continued to be pointed out in the days of Eusebius
and Hieronymus (^Onom., ed. Parsow et Parthey, 128 £f.) between Keila and Gabatha, was
the true one, cannot be affirmed with certainty.
For more certain data concerning the circumstances of his life, we are consequently di-
rected entirely to his book ; and this furnishes us with no information, apart from the char-
acteristic condition of the time, except his name and the notice that he was a prophet (i. 1 ;
iii. 1). The name Habakkuk is formed, according to an elsewhere occurring derivation, by
the reduplication of the third radical and an inserted shurck (■^i^Sti7 y^'2'SZ, etc., Olsh., sec.
187 b from the root i^^n, to embrace. (Compare Luther, below.) The Masoretic punctua-
tion exhibits the phenomenon common to all languages, that proper names frequently de-
viate, in the manner of writing them, from the rule of the customary orthography. Accord-
ing to the analogy of the related forms it should be pointed p^p3n. Besides daghesh forte
euphonicum has not always been read in the p, but, e. (/., by the LXX in the 2 ; hence the
rendering 'Afi./3aKovfi, in which it [2] is represented by /.i, a sound more euphonious to the
Greek. The final /i of this form is repeated from the close of the antepenult, because it was
dissonant to the Greek ear to begin and end a syllable with the same consonant. In the
same way, 2^2T bv? has been rendered BeeX^e/iovX. (Hitzig).
IV. Place in the Organism of Scripture.
As Nahum is important in the succession of prophecy in that he concludes the Ass3'rian
series; so is Habakkuk in that he (with Jeremiah) begins the Babylonian (comp. Obadiah.p
11). The description of the Chaldjean runs parallel with that of the Assyrian (Is. v.) On the
other hand, chap. 3 fits into the series of the Old Testament theophanies, which, resting upon
the first coming of Jehovah to give the law, describe his second coming to vindicate it, and
it forms a conclusion to this method [of describing his coming]. From the time of the exile
onward the coming of God to judgment is represented no more in the form of the theophany
but in that of the apocalypse.
But alongside of the external importance of the book there is an internal one. The
ground Unes of the kingdom' of God, as they come to light in the divine economy of the
world, are in few prophets so strongly t arked as in Habakkuk. The character, in which
HABAKKUK.
the. world-power enters into the circle of God's administration of his kingdom and be-
comes an object of tlie judgment, is fully delineated in the three sentences, that are com
plementary to each other, namely, from him emanate bis right and his majesty (i. 7) ;
his soul is puffed up, it is not right in him (ii. 4) ; he is guilty, whose power is his god (i,
11). The sovereign insolence of self-glory, which in pure arrogance puts itself in the
place of God as judge upon earth, is the cause of the judgment : thereby all the temporal
manifestations of that which is opposed to God, from Gen. xi. until the time of the end are
judged. Again, the characteristics of the fate of the kingdom are given in the sentences :
the just shall live by his steadfast faith (ii. 4) ; I must wait calmly for the day of afflic-
tion (iii. 16) ; I will rejoice in God my salvation (iii. 18). The way of him, who stands
fast upon the Word of God, — a way marked by humility and fidelity — must lead to salva-
tion. It is the mutual relation of the stability of the divine word (ii. 3) and of the sta-
bility of him who perseveres in it, whereby the solidarity ^ between God and the subjects
of his kingdom, which is indicated by the name bS'tS' tt^Hp Q-- 1^), and whereby the im-
potence and self-destructive character of all attacks directed against this mutual covenant,
are characterized. But from the spiritual nature of these definitions \_Bestimmungen, de-
fined objects] arises a spiritual limitation of the idea of Israel. It is no longer the Israel
according to the flesh, to whom the promise avails in its full extent : they [Israel accordinc
to the flesh] are the object of the Divine judgment, as well as the Babylonians (i. 2 fF. ;
ii. 9 fF.) ; but it is the Israel according to the spirit, the just by faith, who are separated bj
the judgment out of the mass of external Israel (i. 12). With clear penetration Paul, when
it was his object to place in the light this difference in its New Testament fulfillment,
set his foot directly upon the Old Testament foundation of tliis prophet. One does
wrong to the epoch-forming significance of this prophet, if he restricts his book merely tc
the import of a book of consolation. With similar precision is the character also of the
judgment of purification delineated : Thou, rock, hast appointed him, the enemy, for instruct-
ive chastisement (i. 12). And out of the old conception of the holiness of God, according
to which it (holiness) is his relation to the elect people (i. 12), the new conception, which
is ethical in its elements, struggles forth. Thou canst not look calmly upon evil (i. 13).
Next to Isaiah xl. ff. Habakkuk is the most powerful evangelist among the prophets.
Concerning the coincidences with earlier prophets compare ii. above. They are more
numerous than in Nahum, however proportionally few. On the other hand, a rich acquaint-
ance with the Psalms is a characteristic of this prophet, as it is of Micah and Nahum, a
characteristic corresponding to the lyric character of the book. On this point compare the
Exegetical Exposition, chap. iii.
His place in the Canon is justified not only by the close relationship of the contents to
those of Nahum, but also by the inscription : just as the massaim are placed together in the
book of Isaiah, so also are they in the book of the Minor Prophets. Luther^ • Habakkuk
has a right name for his oflSce. For Habakkuk means an embracer, or one who takes an-
other in his arms and presses him to his heart. This he does in his prophecy : he embrace!
his people and takes them in his arms, i. e., he comforts them and holds them up, as one em-
braces a weeping child or person, to quiet him with the assurance, that, if God will, he will
be better.
5. Literature.
Separate Commentaries. Wolfg. Fabr. Capito, Enarratlones in Proph. Hal., Argent,
1526. J. D. Gryna3us, Hijpomnemoneumala in Hah., Bas., 1582, 8vo. Ant. Agelli, Comm. in
P. H., Ant., 1597. S. V. Til, Phosphorus Prophelicus S. Alosis et Habacuci Vaticinia, etc.,
Lugd. Bat., 1700, 4to. Abarbanel, Comm. rabb.Hehr. et Lat., ed. St. Sprecher, Helmst., 1709.
J. G. Kalinsky, Habacuci et Nahumi Vaticinia illustr., Vratisl., 1748, 4to. A. Chrysander,
Genaue Uehersetzunr) und buchstablicher Verstand des P. Hah. [An Exact Translation and i^itr
eral Sense of the P. Hab.], Rint., 1752, 4to. C. F. Staudlin, Hosea, Nahum und Habakuk
ausgelegl [Hos., Nah., and Hab. explained], Stuttg., 1786. F. G. Wahl, Der Prophet Hab-
akuk iiberselzt und erklart [The Prophet Habakkuk translated and interpreted], Ham., 1790.
Birger Kofod, Chahacuci Vatic, Havn., 1792. G. C. Horst, Die Visionen Habakuks [The
1 [Solidarity : the mutual obligation of all to eacti aud of each to all. — C. E.]
2 Luther's Comnifiilart/ on Habakhilc (Erfurt, 1626) affords the peculiar historical interest, in that it is (lireoted
ilirouRhout in a [.oluiiiic manner, against the nobility and the bishops, who barbarously made the most of their victory
)ver the insurrectionary peasants. In the extracts given below this reference is of course left out.
mXEODUCTION. 9
Visions of Habakkuk], Gotha, 1798. K. W. Justi, Der Prophet Habakuk iibersetzt und erh
ISrt [The Prophet Habakkuk translated and interpreted], Lpz., 1821. A. A. Wolff, Dei
Prophet Habakuk [The Prophet Habakkuk], Darmst., 1822. G. L. Baumlein, Comm. de
Eabacuci Vaticinio, Maulbr., 1840, 4to. F. Delitzsch, Der Prophet Habakuk ausgelegt [The
Prophet Habakkuk interpreted], Lpz., 1843. Jo. Gumpach, Der Prophet Habakuk nach
dem genau revidirten Text erkldrt [The Prophet Habakkuk interpreted according to the ac-
curately revised text], Miinch., 1860. A. Schroder, on chap, iii., Diss, in Cant. Hdbacuci,
Grera., 1787. Ch. P. Sohnurrer, Diss. phil. ad Carmen Hab. Hi., Tub., 1786, 4to. J. G.
Herder, Gehet Hdbakuks des Propheten, im Geist der hebr. Poesie [Prayer of the Prophet
Habakkuk, in the spirit of Hebrew Poetry], WW., 1827, ii. 176 ff. K. G. Anton, Cap. iii.
Hah. Versio, etc., Gorlic, 1810, 4to. Stickel, Prolusio ad Cap. 3 Hab., Neustadt, 1827. L.
Hirzel, Ueber die hist. Deutungvon Hab. iii. 3-15 ; in Winer u. Engelhardt, Neues krit. Journal
[Concerning the Historical Interpretation of Hab. iii. 3-15; in Winer and Engelhardt, New
Critical Journal], 1827, vii., 4to. Sommer, Biil. Abhandlungen [Biblical Dissertations], i.
Iff.
Separate Treatises. J. G. Abicht, De Vaticinio Habac, Gedan, 1722. F. C. A.
Hanlein, Symb. Critt. ad interprelat. Hab., Erl., 1795. A. C. Ranitz, Introd. in Hab. Vat.,
Lps., 1808. Valentin, Comm. in Hab. capp. prima Spec., Hal., 1834. F. Delitzsch, De Hab.
Proph. Vita atque ^tate, Lps., 1842, ed. 2 ; Ueber Abfassungszeit und Plan der Prophetic Haba-
hiks in Kud. u. Guer. Zeitschrift [Concerning the Date and Plan of the Prophecy of Habak-
kuk, in Rud. and Guer. Journal], 1842, i. Dav. Chytrseus, Lectiones in Proph. Hab., in his
works, torn. ii. [Helv. Garthii, Comm. in Proph. Hab., Vitebergse, 1605. G. A. Ruperti,
Explicatio, cap. i. et ii. Chab., in the Commentatt. TheoL, ed. Velthusen, Kuinoel, and Ruperti,
iii. p. 405 ff. Moerner, Hymnus Hab. vers, ac nolis phil. et crit. illustr., Upsalje, 1791, 4to.
B. Ludwig, Translations and Expositions [of Hab.], Frankfort, 1779. See Keil's Introd. tc
MeO. r. — C. K]
HABAKKUK.
CHAPTER L
r7%e Prophet commences by setting forth the Cause of the Ohaldcean Invasion, which
forms the Burden of his Prophecy. This Cause was the great Wickedness of
the Jewish Nation at the Time he flourished (vers. 2—4). Jehovah is intro-
duced as summoning Attention to that Invasion (ver. 5). The Prophet describet
the Appearance, Character, and Operations of the Invaders (vers. 6-11). —
C.E.]
1 The burden, whicli Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 How long, Jehovah, do I cry ?
And thou hearest not ?
I cry to thee, Violence,
And thou helpest not.
3 Why dost thou let me see wickedness ?
And [why] dost thou look upon distress ?
Oppression and violence are before me ;
Ajid there is strife, and contention exalts itsel£
4 Therefore the law is slack ; *
Justice no more ^ goes forth ;
For the wicked compass about the righteous ;
Therefore justice goes forth perverted.
5 Look among the nations and see !
And be ye amazed,' be amazed ;
For I am about to work * a work in your days '.
Te wUl not believe it, though it were told.
6 For behold ! ' I am about to raise up the Chaldasans,
That bitter and impetuous nation.
Which marches over the breadths of the earth,
To take possession of dwelling-places, that do not belong to ib
7 It is terrible and dreadful :
Its right and its eminence proceed fifom itself.
8 And swifter than leopards are its horses,
And speedier than the evening wolves :
Its horsemen spring ° proudly along,
And its horsemen come from afar :
They fly like an eagle hastening to devour.
12
HABAKKUK.
9 It comes wholly for violence :
The host ' of their faces is forward ;
And it collects captives like the sand.
10 And it scoffs at kings ;
And princes are a laughter to it :
It laughs at every stronghold,
And heaps up earth and takes it.
1 1 Then its spirit revives,^
And it passes on and contracts guilt :
This its strength is its god.
GRAMMATICAL AND TEXTUAL.
n Ver. 4. n*lin !l^Cn. The primary idea of 3^5^! is that of stiflnesa, rigidity, t. e. frigid and cold, cold and
rtiff being kindred terms. Compare the Greek jniy-wto, to be stiff. Trop. to be torpid^ slug^h, slack : friget lax.
12 Ver 4. ^^tTD n^3 V S^^"M71 may be rendered : judgment goeth not forth according to truth. Ges. Bot
L ■ T : ■ - V T ■■■• :
pj^3"^ BignlfleA also, to perpettaty, forever; and connecting it with tsv it gives the meaning of not forever., or neaer,
Bee'kSl. LXX. : KaioO 6i4a7eTaie«Te\o! «(ji>a; Vulgate; et rum pervenit usque ad fmem judiavm ; Luther; wnd
hann keine reclite Sache gewlnnen ; Kleinert ; und nicktfailt nach WaJv/ieit der Rechisspruch.
[8 Ver. 6. — JinTISn ^nT^nTTl. I>ouble form, used for intensity. Compare Isaiah xxix. 9. The combination ol
the kal with ths hiphil of the same Verb serves to strengthen it, so as to express the highest degree of amazement.
[4 Ver. 6. — bub denotes that which is immediately at hand. Green's Heb. Gram., sec. 266, 2. Nordheimer, sec
1034, 3 a.
[5 Ver. 6. — D^pQ **D13n''*^3, ecce suscitaturus sum. '^33n before the participle refers to the future.
[6 Ver. 8. — ^tI?D-l from ti^^D, signifying to be proud, to show off proudly ; hence of a horseman leaping proudly
and fiercely. The subject of this verb, VtSIO, may be translated horses. See Ges., o. t.
[7 Ver. 9. ntt'^Tp DrT^DG nS!lui, I have followed Gesenius in the translation of these words. LXX. ; oK.
tfamjfwSras Trptxrwirois ainOiv efecai'Ttas ; Vulgate : fades eorum ventus urcns ; Luther : reUsen sie hindurch wie ein Ost-
wind ; Kleinert ; die Gier ihrer Angesichter strcbt nach vorwarts.
[8 Ver. 11. — n^~l I^bn TS, then his spirit revives. Ges. LXX. ; rbre (leTaPoAei tiS wyeviui ; Vulgate ; Time mi*
tabitur xpiritus ; Luther ; Alsdann werden sic einen neuen Muth nehmen ; Keil ; Then it passes along a wind J Kleinert '
Dann wendet es sick, ein si'trmwind; Henderson ; it gainsth fresh spirit. — C. E.]
BXEGETICAL.
In the heading (comp. the Introd.) this proph-
ecy is designated as a KtSD, sentence : compare
on Nah. i. 1. If it should tliere, as in Is. xiii. ff.,
«n account of the subjoined genitive of relation,
fftill seem doubtful, whether the prophecy should
not be taken as a burden prepared against Nin-
■.ei?eh, Babylon, etc., so here, where this genitive is
wanting and the discourse has certainly in it that
which pertains to a burden, but still much more
of that which is consolatory, the neuter significa-
tion of the word is just as plain as in Jeremiah,
Zechariah, and in the appendix to the Proverbs.
The verb ^l^i which, according to its original
signification, " to see," would seem incapable of
being joined with Massd, can be used with it, he-
cause " to see," the most common expression for
the prophetic intuition and conception, is generally
employed to denote prophetic activity [die prophet-
ische Thatigkeit, the exercise of the prophetic gift.
-C. E.]
The "vision" of Isaiah (ch.ap. i. ver. 1) em-
braces threatenings, complaints, consolatory ad-
dresses, and symbolical actions. There is just as
little ground to deny that the heading ])roceeds
from the prophet himself, as there is in regard to
the subscription (chap. iii. ver. 19), in which the
prophet speaks of himself in the first person. Ac-
cordingly it is a general, and that of chap. iii. a
special heading.
[Keil : " Ver. 1 contains the heading, not only
to chap. i. and ii., but to the whole book, of whicn
chap. iii. forms an integral part. On the special
heading in chap. iii. ver. 1, see the commentary on
the verse. The prophet calls his writing a massd,
or burden (see at Nahum i. 1), because it an-
nounces heavy judgments upon the covenant na-
tion and the imperial power." — C. E.]
First Dialogue. Vers. 2-U. In this conversa-
tion, as in the concluding passages of Micah, the
function of the prophet is exhibited on two sides.
He speaks, first, in the name of the true Israel, as
an advocate of righteousness (comp. on Micah
vii. 1 ) ; then in the name of God. Hence the dis-
course takes the form of a dialogue, and is divided
into two parts.
I. The Complaint. The prophet in the name
of righteousness accuses the people of sin (vers.
2-4).
II. TIk Answer. Grod points to the scourge, by
which this sin is to be punished (vers. 5-1 ).
Vers. 2-4. The Complaint. Parallel with Mi-
cah vii., the prophet begins with the description of
the wretched condition of the country, which ur-
gently calls for judgment. That he is not yet
speaking of the violent deeds of the Chaldffians
(Rosenmiiller, Ewald, Maurer), but of the con-
CIlArTER I. I-II.
13
iition of Judah itself, is evident fi-oiu tlie analogy
of tlie language to the descriptions of other proph-
ets, as well as from the fact that the calamity to bo
Inflicted by the Chaldajans (vcr. 5 ff.) is described
as a future one, at present past all belief (comp.
ver. 13). How long, properly until when, Jeho-
vuli, — thou covenant Ciod, who hearest those that
call I upon Thee] and art angry with the wicked, —
do I cry, and thou hearest not ; — cry to thee,
violence, — and thou helpest not ? Chamas is
not ace. modi, but objecti : u, customary form of
expression (comp. Jer. xx. 8, and Job xix. 7). We
have the same construction in our [the German]
language. The tone is that of complaint, common
also in the Psalms, with a gentle sound of reproach
(Ps. xxii. 2 ff. ; Ixxxviii. 15 ff.), such as only the
ideal congregation, which sees in actual sin an
injury done to its vocation [ihrer Besltmmung , that
for which a thing is designed — C. E.] can raise,
but not the individual fellow-sinner and accom-
plice in guilt.
Ver. 3. Why (thus the prophet assigns a rea-
son for his calling aud crying) dost thou let me
'see iniquity, and lookest thou upon perverse-
nesa inactively ? Sc, since at least thou, as the
Holy One, will not look . upon it in Israel, and
since, according to thy Word (Num. xxiii. 21).
thy congregation are to remain free from it 1
7DS and 'jm convey interchangeable ideas (comp.
Hupf. on Ps. vii. 15) ; and the neuter bl2i?, which
in itself may signify also distress (Baumlein, Keil),
receives here by means of the parallel pj^ the
meaning of mischief M.IW, R. ]1H, signifies (1)
nothingness, vanity; (2) nothingness of words, i. e.,
falselwod, deceit ; (3) nothinyness as to worth, iin-
vmrthiness, wickedness, iniquity. ^p3? from vQl?,
to labor, signifies, (1) labor, toil; (2) fruit of labor;
(3) trouble, vexation, sorrow. Gesenius, Lex. — C.
E.]
Oppression and violence are before my eyes ;
and strife arises, and contention exalts itself.
Where the powers are unequal there is oppi-ession :
where they are equal, the strife of hearts and
tongues results in fighting with hands. To this
description of the leading characteristics of a social
disorder the question, " Why does He permit it to
happen? " is to be supplied in thought from a [first
clause of the verse. — C. E.]. HtB"; is intransitive,
as in Nahum i. 5 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 10.
Ver. 4. Therefore, because thou dost not look
into and restrain it, the law, " which was intended
to be the soul and heart of the common political
life" (Delitzsch), is slack. This is shown partic-
ularly (comp. Micah iii. 1 ff.) in the chief pillar of
the pubhc life, the administration of justice : Yea
a righteous sentence never comes forth. So it
should be translated, if we understand n2!3 ac-
cording to the customary usage of the language :
ns3 S7, I. e., not to perpetuity, not forever, i. e.,
never (Is. xiii. 20, Delitzsch, Keil). But, as the ad-
junct ^Pi>a, in the following part of the verse
(hows t3-:tJ7Q means also here, as it does frequent-
ly, not materially a righteous judgment, but for-
mally a legal sentence in general (Hos. x. 4).
J'y must consequently be uttered with em-
phasis; and the clause, " the sentence goes forth "
n237 S7, should form an antithesis to the
:lause, ''the sentence goes forth perverted to injus-|
tice." To TV11, therefore, the signification of
truth, justice, is required to be given (comp. ncwb
Is. xlii. 3 ; Jer. v. 3). And this signification is
possible. Xi'or the usual meaning perpetuity, sCa
bility, is not primitive, but has its inner ground in
the i'act that internal solidity is necessary to con-
tinuance ; and this is undoubtedly evident from
Prov. xxi. 28, though one may grant to Delitzsch,
that the signification, forever (better to perpetuity),
is not to be given up even in this passage. The
connection of the meanings, and the transition from
the concrete to the abstract are the same as in pl!f .
Compare also 1 Sam. xv. 29, where God, as He
who cannot lie, is called bWltD'' n"3, and Lam.
iii. 18. Schulteus has verified this meaning from
the Arabic, Animadvv., p. 515. Therefore [read] .
7'/)e sentence [or judgment] does not go forth accord-
ing to truth, so that it may have stability. Simi-
larly, Hitzig, Baumlein.
For the wioked man (to be understood collec-
tively) surrounds [in a hostile sense — C. E.] the
righteous man : to a whole circle of wicked men
there is but one righteous, so that right bows un-
der superior power (comp. Micah vii. 3) : there-
fore judgment goes forth perverted. [Keil :
Mishpat is not merely a righteous verdict, how-
ever ; in which case the meaning would be : There
is no more any righteous verdict given, but a
righteous state of things, objective right in the
civil and political life. — C. E.]
Vers. 5-11. Jehovah's Answer [to the preceding
complaint — C. E]. The scourge is already pre-
pared; and that a terrible one. Look around
among the nations aud see. 5 '"'^"J does not
mean here, to look with delight, as it does in other
places : the 3, moreover, does not enter simply
into construction with the object, but it is local.
Already has the storm burst forth among the na-
tions, which also will overtake the secure sinners
of Israel. And be astonished ! astonished !
The emphasis of the benumbing astonishment is
expressed by the verb repeated in two conjugations
(comp. Zeph. ii. 1 ; Ewald, sec. 313 c). The reason
for both the summons to look round and for the
stupefying consternation following it U indicated
by the following "'S • for a work works, is car-
ried into effect (comp. ^St; ivepysiTat, 2 Thess. ii.
7), in your days : ye would not believe it, if it
were told to you, it so far exceeds everything
that can be imagined and expected. In order to
transfer the emphasis entirely to the dreadful word,
the speaker keeps back the author, and makes 7l?3
apparently neuter : the impellent force is in the
work itself (Ez. i. 20). [Keil : The participle ^P'S
denotes that which is immediately at hand, and is
used absolutely, without a pronoun. According
to ver. 6, ^?H is the pronoun we have to supply
For it is not practicable to supply Hin, or to
take the participle in the sense of the third person
since God, when speaking to the people, cannot
speak of himself in the third person, and even in
that case Hin^ could not be omitted. Hitzig's
idea is still more untenable, namely, that po'al is
the subject, and that po'cHs used in an intransi-
tive sense ; the work produces its effect. We must
assume, as Delitzsch does, that there is a prolep-
tical ellipsis, i. e., one in which the word immedi
ately following is omitted (as in Is. xlviii. 11 ;
14
HABAKKUK.
Zech. ix. 17). The admissibility of this assump-
tion is justified by the fact that there are other
cases in which the participle is used and the pro-
noun omitted ; and that not merely the pronoun
of Ihe third person (e. g.. Is. ii. 11 ; Jer. xxxviii.
23), but that of the second person also (1 Sam. ii.
24 ; vi. 3 ; and Ps. vii. 10). — C. E.]
Vci 6 first mentions the doer : For behold,
I, the Lord, bring up [am about to raise up —
C. E.J the Chaldseans. [See Lenormant and
Chcvallier, vol. i. p. 472 ; also Rawlinson's An-
ient Monarchies, vol. i. p. 58, and vol. ii. pp. 497,
505. — C. E.]. The expression DS^Q'^D, and still
more the immediately following description of the
enemies themselves, point to tlie fact that thoy had
already appeared in history. But that they are to
appear in the history of Israel and come to execute
'udgmcntupon Judah for his sins, is, as the ex-
pressi»)n (^2Dil with the part.) shows, still in the
future. And indeed the rapidity with which Bab-
vlon, which had just become independent, rose
from being a city subject to Assyria to be the
ruler of Asia, has something incredible. The na-
tion, at whose head Nebuchadnezzar accomplished
this sudden conquest, and whose great monarchy
took the place of the Assyrian, is called in the
Old Testament Casdim ; and this designation
stands, in the 0. T., in the same reciprocal rela-
tion to Babylon, that Israel does to Jerusalem.
The name Casdim, which, with the change of
tlic second radical, has been preserved to this day
in the name Kurds, and which appears in the
Classics in the appellations Chalybes (Ii., ii. 856 ;
comp. Strabo, xii. 545), Chaldi (Steph. Byz., s. v.
Xa\5ia) or Chaldieans (PtolemiEus, Strabo, Plin-
ius, comp. Winer s. v. " Chaldaer," Ewald, Hist.
Isr., i. 333), Carduchi, or Gardyaii, belongs, ac-
cording to the 0. T. and the Classics to a tribe
spread over the whole country between the Tigris
and Pontus. Already in Jer. v. 15 the same peo-
ple are designated as a very ancient one ; and as
early as Gen. xi. 28 the country of Mesopotamia
is called after them Ur [Ur of the Chaldees], so
that it is more than doubtful whether Cliesed
(Gen. xxii. 22), the nephew of Abraham, is to
be considered their ancestor. If the conjecture of
Ewald, Knobel, Dietrich, is correct tliat a reference
to the name ^ti7D already exists in Arphaxad
[iPJDSIS] Gen. x 22), then this circumstance
would doubtless refer the name to a time beyond
tlnit of Abraham. Ojipert (Deutsch.-morgenl.
2^itschr., German-f^ricntal Journal, xi. 137) has
jiroved, that the word Cas-dim is Tataric, and
signifies, as well as Mesopotamia, two rivers ; and
{the correctness of the translation being presup-
posed) it is legitimately inferred from tliis tVict
that the name probably designates the aboriginal
Tataric population between the Euphrates and
Tigris. (It harmonizes well with this etymology,
according to which Casdim is ))lural only in sound
but not in original signification, that tlio name
uppears in the 0. T. only as plur. tantum ; that
Casdim as an actual plural form would be abnor-
mally formed ; that the regular plural form D\"''7tp3
occurs only once in later Hebrew (Ez. xxiii. 14,
Cthibh), and the reconstructed singular form
nti73 only in the Aramaic of Daniel. [The opin-
•'on] that the aboriginal population of that district
was, in fact, not of a Semitic, hut of a Tataric
stock, appears, at present, to be subjected no lon-
ger to any opposition. (Comp. Brandis, art. "As-
syria " in Pauly's Eealmcyklopadie. ) [On the early
history of the Chaldseans and their Turanian
origin, see Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. pp. 247,
248, 245, 533. — C. E.] Certainly opposed to this
view is the assumption of the great majority of
exegetes that the primitive abode of the Casdim
was the Armenian mountain land, where, accord-
ing to Xenophon, a brave and freedom-loving peo-
ple of the Chaldsean stock dwelt, and where the
Kurds still live, and that the Assyrians first settled
them in the plain of Babylon, according to Hitzig
in the year 625. This assumption, however, has,
on closer examination, no broader foundation than
a false, at the least a questionable interpretation of
the obscure passage. Is. xxiii. 13 :^ it is for that
reason to be set aside. The present passage is the
locus classicus for the characteristics of this war-
like people, just as Is. v. 26 ff. is for the character-
istics of the Assyrians. They are called the peo-
ple, the bitter, i. u., ferocious (comp. Amarus,
Cic. Att., 14, 21, and C733 112, Judges xviii. 25)
and the impetuous, properly hurrying on (Is.,
xxxii. 4), rushing on precipitately — the conform-
ity of sound of the two adjectives has something
terribly graphic — which marches along [Keil ;
^is not used here to denote the direction, or the
goal, but the space, as in Gen. xiii. 17 (Hitzig,
Delitzsch) — C. E.] the breadths of the earth,
which passes through the land in its whole extent
(Judges viii. 8 ; Rev. xx. 9) : to take possession
of dwelling places that are not its own (comp,
ii. 6).
Ver. 7. Carries out the idea of the "bitter;"'
and ver. 8, that of the " impetuous," in ver. 6. It
is terrible and fearful ; from it — not from God
( Ps. xvii. 1 ) — proceed its right and eminence :
in sovereign vain-glory it revived the old character
of Babylon (Gen. xi.-4 ; comp. Is. xiv. 13), put its
own statutes in the place of the jura divina, and
consequently entered despotically into the place
of the world-power, which is at strife with God.
nStlJ, an eminence, which rests upon inflated
pride (SU?D, Hos. xiii. 1), in contrast with the
T123, which is bestowed by God. [Rawlinson's
Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. pp. 10, 11. — C. E.]
Ver. 8. And fleeter than leopards, whose
swiftness in catching the prey is proverbial, are
its horses (Jeremiah employs in the same com-
parison the figure of the eagle, iv. 13) ; yea they
are swifter than evening wolves (Zeph. iii. 3 ;
comp. Ps. lix. 7, 15). The battle is to them, what
the seizing of the prey is to a ravenous beast, — a
savage delight, to which they hasten with im-
patience (Job xxxix. 20 f.). And its horsemen
rush along (there is here also a graphic conform-
ity of sound in the words) ; yea its horsemen
come from afar, they fly like the eagle, which
hastens to devour. [Rawlinson's Ancient Mon-
archies, vo] . Hi. pp. 10, 11. — C. E.] They come
to fulfill the curse (Deut. xxviii. 49), to the worda
of which the prophet alludes.
This thought is further carried out in ver. 9.
All its multitude — the sufEx n, contracted from
iriT, is archaic, as in Gen. xlix. 11 — comes foi
deeds of violence, foi the object is to inflict judg
ment for violence (ver. 2). The eagerness (in
this sense the air. Key. nSSJD, occurs in the Rab-
bins, Kimchi on Ps. xxvii. 8) of their faces urgoa
forward, iia'^li^, also in Bz. xi. 1 ; xlv, 7, fct
CHAPTER I. 1-11.
15
nS"Tp. (Gen. xxv. 6). And it gathers prison-
ers together like dust (comp. Gen. xli. 49 ; Ho.s.
u. 9).
Ver. 10. Forms a fit sequel to the description of
the autocratic power in ver. 7 : and it scoffs at
kings, and princes are a derision to it, for, 10 b,
11 a, it has the power to overcome every i-esi.st-
ance : it laughs at every stronghold, and heaps
up dust and takes it.
Ver. 1 1 . Then it turns a tempest [Gcs. : then
his spirit revives — C. E.] and passes on. To
mark the little anxiety, which the haughty enemy
bestows upon the capture, the approaches are
called "1337, heaped up dust, instead of the usual
nJPvD (2 Sara. x. 15, and above). The fem.
Buff. in msb'', receives from the mas. ^22l2,
fortress, the idea of a city L"1"'3?, whicli is fem. —
C. E.] Pibn nowhere means revirescit, not even
in Ps. xc. 5, hat it signifies a speedy gliding away,
tarning away (Job ix. 11 ; Ps. cli. 27), and unites,
without violence, with "1337 in expressing one
idea. [See note 8 on ver. 11 — C. E.] n-ll 'S
placed between as an appositional comparison
(comp. Is. xxi. 8 : and he cried, a lion, i. e., witli
a lion's voice) ; there lies, indeed, in this apposi-
tion the threefold relative comparison of the re-
volving whirlwind, of rushing speed, and of demol-
ishing power. A more descriptive expression of
the astonishment at the invincible power of the
Babylonian, who, immediately after the overthrow
of Nineveh, marched against Neclio, cannot be
imagined. With a lofty elevation the prophet,
11 b, sets at naught this surging flood, and an-
nounces against the irresistible autocratic inso-
lence of the enemy the unalterable decree of the
Divine government [Governor] of the world,
which, as in Micah and Nahum, concludes the
description [of this haughty enemy — C. E.] with
crushing effect : But he is guilty, and conse-
quently incurs the Divine penalty, whose power
is his God. That the accentuation incorrectly
connects the verb DttJH with the first half of the
verse, which, according to the sense, should be in-
cluded in one verse with 10 b, is plain ; for the
immediate coordination of the verbs 11337'' and
DE7H, though retained by the exegetes, is certainly
excluded by the dissimilar conjunctions (D> ])•
^"'^1-- ^^^ "'"' <^onversii}e of the future ; and
"?'^1 has vao conversive of the preterite — C. E.]
[Other translations : LXX. : Kol SieAeia-erai ku\
^siAaff€Tat auTTj ^ iV^us Ttp Beif fj.ov. Vulg. : " HJt
pertransibit et corruet ; hmc est fortitudo ejus dei
tut." Drusius : " Et transgredietur et delinquet,
hano vim suam Deo suo (tribuens)." J. H. Mich-
Mlis ; "Etreum se faciei (dicens): hanc potentiam
suam deberi Deo sua;" or: " Et turn luel [impius
Judcetis), mjus ms sua fuit pro Deo suo." Hitzig,
Maurer : " And he loads himself with guilt ; he,
whose power becomes his god." Gesenius, Ewald,
Delitzsch, Keil : " He passes on farther and of-
fends; this his power becomes (is) his god."
Baumlein: "Since his power becomes his god]."
7 standi! in the predicate of the object {Prddicat
ier Abzielung, the predicate denoting the purpose,
object, or urn — C. E.j as in Nah. i. 7 ; Ex. vi. 7 ;
^' rel. as in Is. xlii. 24 and other places. As ap-
pertaining to the thought, which, with special re-
gard to ver. 7, briefly comprises the moral charac-
ter of the conqueror with its immanent [inherent]
destiny and malces both the basis of the following
dialogue, comp. chap. ii. 6-10 ; Job xii. 6 ; Is. x.
1.3.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
The inspiration of the prophets is rooted in the
sacred soil of the heart, and presupposes the con-
test of faith and prayer with God, in which the
struggling and praying soul experiences God's
answer and blessing : a contest of faith and prayer
like that of the patriarch, which stands at the be-
ginning of the entire history of the holy people,
who had the Spirit of God (Gen. xxxii. 24 fi^ ;
comp. Hos. xii. tj f. ; Is. Ixiii. 11). By this root of
sanctification prophecy, among the people of Is-
rael, is distinguished from all heathen divination,
and not by the gift of the vision of future things.
" Prophecy, as it speaks of future things, is almost
one of the least important gifts, and comes some-
times even from the Devil." Luther on Ilom. xii.
7 (comp. Ex. 7). It has in the 0. T. its peculiar
significance, which is to be understood from the
light of the history of the kingdom ; but separated
from the heart of God it would be nothing. Comp.
1 Pet. i. 11 ; 2 Pet. i. 21.
The lieathen powers shoot up into ascendency,
when in the kingdom of God, the truth is impeded
by pride, injustice, and a spirit of contention. On
these they live like fungi, and God permits them
to spring up, in order to begin the judgment upon
his house. The more certainly that individuals,
following their own view of what is good and right,
pursue the war of the flesh instead of the Gos-
pel of peace, the more certainly is the scourge al-
ready in preparation. What the prophet says of
one event is put down in writing, because it is ut-
tered for all time (Acts xiii. 41). The prudent
man sees the evil and hides himself; but the silly
man passes on and is punished. But even the
most prudent man does not foresee it by his own
prudence. God's decisive acts, as well those which
He does as those which He permits, are altogether
NipUaoth, wonderful deeds, and have ever on one
aide something incredible in them. That they
will come, he who has learned to examine the
signs of the times in the light of God's Word, an-
ticipates : how they are to be, God reseiwes to his
own power. Enough, that we know that it is His
power. To him, who knows this, there is no
strange work in the world.^
1 Compare the letter of the French theosophist, St. Mar-
tin, concerning the Revolution, in Varnhagen, Memoirs, iv
534 ff. : "I remind you of what I have written in the begin-
ning of this letter, that the political commotions, in tho
storms of which we live, appear to me to be in the eye ot
God only the ways by which He is preparing ns, as we
think, for greater happiness. For the astonishing course
of development of our grand revolution and the brilliant
phenomena which mark it at every step, must show to
every one, not devoid of understanding, or honesty, in itp
march of fire, the accomplishment of an express . decree oi
Providence. We can even say that the work, on its part is
already done, though not yet entirely on ours. Its hand,
like that of a skillful surgeon, has removed the extraneous
matter, and we feel all the inevitable effects of a painful
operation and the pressure of the bandage of the wounds
but we must bear these pains with patience and courage
since there is none of them Thich does aot ccnduce to om
16
HABAKKUK.
For however high the scourge may be raised,
the destroyer [Zerbrccher, dasher in pieces] is also
appointed' to it, as soon as he intends that it shall
be more than a scourge, that chastisement shall be
converted into destruction, the work of God into
his own work. All [assumption of] independence
is apostasy from God, consequently separation
from the source of life. The [assumption of] in-
dependence on the part of Adam ended in curse
and misery. The same thing on the part of an-
cient Babel ended in destruction, dispersion, and
confusion. And so it falls out with the new de-
stroyer, the destiny of his own guilt overwhelms
him, because his power is his god. And in liis
time he who has crushed will himself be crushed.
Kings and princes and strong cities are an object
of derision to him : he is the same before God.
Only he who continues in a state of grace, receives
from God in perpetuity what was not his ; thus
Israel received Canaan. If he renounce the grace,
he must also surrender the gift. If this applies to
Israel (Micah ii. 10) how much more to the obsti-
nate alien.
HOMILBTICAL.
Uow utterly incomprehensible are the judgments of
God!
1 . Incomprehensible in their delay, to the view
3f those who have no patience, and think that God
Dught to act as speedily as their anger prompts
them (vers. 2-3).
2. Incomprehensible in their threatening to
those upon whom they will fall, and who never-
theless continue to sin in security (ver. 4).
3. Incomprehensible to every human mind in
their realization. For —
(a.) They are greater than any human thought
would anticipate (ver. 5).
(6.) They take place in ways and by means of
which no man would dream (ver. 6).
(c. ) They are often brought about by men and
events that, at lirst sight, have nothing in common
with God.
4. Incomprehensible in their grandeur and uni-
versality to those by whom they are accomplished
(ver. U).
On ver. 2. God always hears, although we do
not have an immediate sense of it. Therefore con-
tinue in prayer. It is also not always good to
pray to Him to hasten his help. The future help,
which He has prepared, is perhaps, for the mo-
ment, heavier to bear than the present burden, un-
der which thou sighest. — Ver. 3. He must cer-
tainly have his reasons, when He permits his saints
to see misery and impious conduct. It touches his
heart more than it docs theirs. He suffers things
(o come to a crisis and the wicked thoughts of
hearts to be revealed before He approaches [to
judgment]. ^ Ver. .5. However long we have
searched after the way of God, when He is sud-
denly revealed in his might and power, then the
light is so dazzling that it is painful to us, and we
are displeased that God has performed such power-
ful deeds in our days, and that we have not rather
recovery." See page 453 : " When I consider the French
Revolution from its origin onward, and at the moment when
It brolte out, I find noticing better to compare it to than to a
picture on a reduced scale, of the last judgment, where the
trumpets sound abroad the fearful notes, which a higher
voice gives to them, where all the powers of heaven and
earth are shaken ; and where in one and the same moment
ttle rlgh(«oua and the wicked receive their reward."
come to our rest in peace. — Vei. 5. God haa
great power to destroy. Neither title-deed noi
hereditary right protects against his power. He
takes from whom He will and gives to whom He
■vvill. But He has still greater power and pleasure
in building. The destruction is for a moment, the
building for eternity. And in his destroying build-
ing is always included. With the stubble ploughed
under, the field is manured for a new harvest ; and
the plough does not reap, but the ploughman. —
Ver. 7. Ye who despise the right, when you can
have it, neeil not wonder when you are treated as
if there were no right, and when you shall be dealt
with according to your own principle : stat pro
ratione voluntas. — Ver. 10. When the judgments
of God come, how quickly does everything on
which men formerly placed their contidenee and
hope, fall to ruin! Then the earth, which was
just now joyful, quakes. — Ver. 11. When God
pennits you to succeed in everything that comes to
hand, it is no reason for pride, but for humiliation.
All success cleaves to him who is proud, not as a
merit, but as guilt, and God will require [the pun-
ishment of] the guilt
Luther : On ver. 2. As if he would say, I
preach much, and it is of no avail ; my word is
despised ; no one becomes better ; they only be-
come continually worse. Therefore I know not
where to bring my complaint except to Thee ; but
Thou seemest as if Thou hearest me not, and dost
not see them. But the prophet does not expostu-
late with God, as his words would sound and inti-
mate to the ear ; but he speaks thus in order that
he may alarm the people and bring them to re-
pentance, and show them how deservedly the wrath
and burden will come upon them, because they
turn not at preaching, threatening, and exhorta-
tion; nor even at prayer, directed against them. —
Ver. 3. This is written for our consolation and
admonition that we should not wonder nor think
it strange if few improve by our teaching. For
generally preachers, especially if they have just
newly come from the forge [seminary], indulge ex-
travagant expectations \meinen sie, das solle, sobald
Hdnde und Fllsse haben, undflugs alles geschehen und
qedndert werden, they think that everything should
instantly have hands and feet, and that it should
be immediately done and changed] . But that is a
great mistake. Habakkuk rebukes the Jews, not
on account of idolatry and other sins, but only on
account of sins which were committed against
their neighbors ; there must, therefore, have been
still at that time pious people, who maintained di-
vine worship in its purity ; but they were possessed
with avarice and addicted to the practice of injus-
tice and usury. So then no service, he it what it
may, is pleasing to God, in which one does wrong
to his neighbor. — Ver. 4. There are much worse
villains than public thieves and rogues. For the
latter act openly against the law, so that their
wrong doing is palpable to and felt by every one ;
but the former pretend to be pious, and would have
wrong considered right. There are therefore two
kinds of villains : first, those who do wrong ; sec-
ondly, those who set off and defend the same wrong
under the name of right. — Ver. 5. All this is said
also for us, who have the name and semblance of
Christians, who boast of our baptism, or of our
spiritual profession and office, as giving us the ad-
vantage over heathen and Jews, and yet we are,
like them, without faith and the spirit : so that we
also must certainly perish at last by those whom
we now despise and consider worse than ourselves
I just as it happened to the Jews by the Chaldreans
CHAPTERS I. 12-11. 20.
17
— Ver. 6. It will be to yo,u also of no avail that
Jerusalem is the city and dwelling; of God, to which
you now trust : it is in vain, the iBabylonian people
will take possession of it altogether, though it is
not their own. — Ver. 11. No human heart can
■efrain from pride and boasting, when it has suc-
cess and good fortune. The Scriptures do not
alone teach this ; but also the heathen testify and
acknowledge it from experience, as Virgil says :
nescia mens hominum servare modum rebus sublata
secundis. It is a common saying : a maix can bear
all things except prosperity.
Stakke : Ver. 2. Human weakness is the rea-
son why wo cannot reconcile ourselves to the won-
derful government of God, and why we think that
all evil might be easily remedied. But in this we
forget that it is not according to wisdom to treat
men, whom He has endowed with freedom of the
will, with absolute omnipotence and as if they
were machines. — Ver. 3. The ungodly exert
themselves to the utmost in sinning. — Ver. 4.
Even lawsuits are not unknown to God : He keeps
also his record of them. — Ver. 5. God himself
brings the enemy into the land, and punishes
thereby all injustice. — Ver. 6. Those who sin in
haste and are unwilling to be restrained are sud-
denly pimished by God, and do not escape. — Ver.
8. God punishes the avarice of his people, who
accumulate riches by injustice, in turn by the av-
arice of the soldiers, who plunder the unjustly ac-
quired wealth and appropriate it to themselves.
God can employ even the beasts, which at other
times are compelled to render great service to
men, for their punishment. — Ver. 1 0. Those who
despise and laugh at pious teachers and their ad-
monitions, justly deserve in their turn to be de-
spised and laughed at.
Pfaff : Ver. 2 ff. Servants of God and preach-
ers of the Gospel have reason to sigh over the pros-
tration of faith in every quarter. Who can re-
proach them for thus sighing % But woe to you
ungodly, who extort such sighs from them 'i —
Ver. 5. Whence come wa!, bloodshed, and devas-
tation f They come hence : justice is depressed
and the law of God is violated.
RiEGEE : On 2 ff . 0 God, into what times hast
thou brought us ? What must we see and experi-
ence ^ Where is the answer of all the prayer that
has already for a long time been offered up for Di-
vine help'? These are also footsteps of faith in
which we are often forced to tread.
ScHSiiEDER : Ver. 4. The law becomes frigid,
which, however, in its nature is fire and flame, and
which, ill the judgment, consumes sin. But where
the judge is good for nothing, the law is frigid and
lifeless.
BuROK : Ver. 5. Ye believe it not, if ye merely
hear it, if ye are not furnished with conviction by
sight. Much, if it is merely heard, does not work
in the mind of man faith so much as doubt. It is
a miracle worthy of God that men by the hearing
of the Gospel attain to faith.
Schliek: Habakkuk understands very well
what kind of a corrective such a people, insolent
and eager for conquest, are ; and, when all means
are in vain, only such a fearful judgment by
means of a foreign people can rouse once more a
fallen nation. The Lord needs only to point him
to the Chaldseans ; thus he knows that this nation
is the means in the hand of the Lord of setting
bounds to the state of general distress.
Talm. : Ver. 7. Four men deified themselves
and thereby brought evil upon themselves : Pha-
raoh, Hiram, Nebuchadnezzar, and Joash : the
punishment of Nebuchadnezzar was divestiture of
humanity.
BnROK : Ver. 9. Those who commit deeds of
violence on one another (vers. 2, 3) deserve to ex-
perience them from others
AnonSTiNB : Ver. 11 What art thou, 0 man,
w ho puffest thyself up % Be contented to be filled.
He who is filled is rich ; he who puffs himself up
is empty.
CHAPTEES I. 12-11. 20.
\The Prophet expostulates with God on Account of the Judgment, which threatens the
Annihilation of the Jewish People (chap. i. vers. 12-17). The waiting Posture
of the Prophet (chap. ii. ver. 1). The Gommand to commit to Writing the Rev-
elation which was about to he made to Him (ver. 2). Assurance that theProphecy,
though not fulfilled immediately, will certainly be accomplished (ver. 3). Tfie
proud and unbelieving will abuse it ; but the believing will be blessed by it. The
Prophet then depicts the Sins of the Ghaldteans, and shows that both general Jus-
tice and the special Agencies of God's Providence will surely overtake them with
fearful Retribution. — C. E.]
12 Art thou not from eternity,
Jehovah, my God, my Holy One ?
We shall not die.
Jehovah ! for judgment thou hast appointed it ;
And O Rock ! Thou hast founded it for chastisement
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil ;
Thou canst not look upon injustice.
Why lookest thou upon the treachero is ?
18 ILABAKKUK.
Why art thou silent when the wicked destroys
Him that is more righteous than he ?
14 And thou maltest men like fishes of the sea,
Like reptiles that have no ruler.
15 All ' of them it lifts up with the hook ;
It gathers them into its net,
And collects them into its fish-net ;
Therefore it rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore it sacrifices to its net,
And burns incense to its fish-net ;
Because by them its portion is rich,
And its food fat.
17 Shall he, therefore, empty his net,
And spare not to slay the nations continually ?
Chaptee II. 1 I will stand upon my watch^-post,
And station myself upon the fortress ;
And I will wait'' to see what He will say to [in] ma.
And what I shall answer to my complaint.*
2 And Jehovah answered me and said :
Write the vision ^ and grave ^ it on tablets,
That he may run, who reads it.
3 For still the vision is for the appointed time;^
And it hastens to the end [fiilfillment],
And does not deceive ;
Though it delay, wait for it ;
For it will surely come, and will not fail.
4 Behold the proud :
His soul is not right within him ;
But the just by his faith shall live.
5 And moreover, wine is treacherous :
A haughty man, he rests not :
He who opens wide his soul like Sheol,
And is like death, and is not satisfied,
And gathers all nations to himself,
And collects all peoples to himself:
6 Will not all tliese take up a song * against him ?
And a song of derision,' a riddle ^^ upon him ;
And they will say :
Woe to him who increases what is not his own 1
How long ?
And who loads himself with pledges.^'
7 Will not thy biters '^ rise up suddenly,
And those awake that shall shake thee violently ?
And thou wilt become a prey to them.
8 Because thou hast plundered many nations,
All the remainder of the peoples shall plunder thee ;
Because of the blood of men and the violence done to the earthy
To the city and all that dwell in it.
CHAPTERS I. 12-n. 20. 19
9 Woe to him, that procureth wicked gain for his house !
To set his nest on high,
To preserve himself from the hand of calamity.
] 0 Thou hast devised shame for thy house ;
Cutting off many peoples, and sinning against thyself.
11 For the stone cries out from the Vi^all,
And the spar out of the wood-work answers it.
12 Woe to him, who builds a city with blood,
And founds a town in wickedness.
13 Behold, is it not from Jehovah of hosts,
That the peoples toil for the fire,
And the nations weary themselves for vanity ?
14 For the earth shall be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe to him that gives his neighbor to drink,
Pouring out thy wrath,'^ and also making drunk,
In order to look upon their nakedness.
16 Thou art sated with shame instead of glory ;
Drink thou also, and show thyself uncircumcised :
The cup of Jehovah's right hand shall come round to thee,
And ignominy '' shall be upon thy glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee.
And the destruction of wild beasts which terrifies '' them .
t3ecause of the blood of men, and the violence done to the earth,
To the city and all that dwell in it.
18 What profits the graven image, that its maker has carved it ?
The molten image and the teacher of falsehood.
That the maker of his image trusts in him to make dumb " idols ?
19 Woe to him that says to the wood, awake !
To the dumb stone, arise !
It teach ! Behold it is overlaid with gold and sUver ;
And there is no breath in its inside.
20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ter. 16. — TV^"! points back to the coUertiTe D^S, ver. 14. Here it is the object : in ver. 9, it is the llomtn»
^Te. For tile Ibrm, see Green's Heb. Gram.^ sec. 220. 1 b. The correct orthography la *! v3.
[2 Ver. 1. — n"l£5trQ, observance^ guards watch, from 1ttt£?, to watch, observe, preserve, etc Here it is nsed as a
wncrete, the place, or post of observation.
[8 Ver. 1. — nD^ signifies to look out, to look out /or anything, to await.
[4 Ver. 1 — "^nn^*!^, wijV W^of, contradiction, reproof, correction, complaint, refers to the complaint, which ht
makes against God in chap. i. 13-17, that He permits the Chaldseana to multiply their conquests. The sufSx is not to
be taken passively, but actively, — not the complaint against me, but the complaint that I make against God. LXX. :
iTtX tw i}tsy^t)v nov ; Vulgate : et quid respondeam ad arguentetn me ; Luther : und was ich antworten soil dem, da
micA sckilt; Kleinert : wasfilr Besdieid ich bringen soil aufmeine Gegenrede,
20
HABAKKUK.
[5 Yer. 2. — IITn, vision, the prophetic matter about to be communicated to the prophet,
[6 Ver. 2. — "nSn-l, and grave The LXX. read koI tra^oit j the Vulgate has : et exptana erum. Luther : una male a
The idea of legibility, and not that of durability, is doubtless intended. The verb "1S2 may, therefore, be nnaerstood
M relative to HilD and qualifying it. Write the vision, and tliat clearly,
[7 Ter. 3. — T^'l^^ to the set time, the time fised by God for its realization.
[8 Ver. 6. — /Ci''^ parable, apothegm, proverb, poem, song, verse ; a satirical poem, IB. xiv. 4.
[9 Ver 6. — n^'^^P from ^-W, a song of derision.
[10 Ver. 6. — ini"T"^n from ^^H, intricate speech, a riddle, enigma. The LXX. render them ; rrpofiK-rjiML eis St^yatrtv ;
the Vulgate reads, loquelam fEtiigmatxim; Luther: eine Sage und Sprilckwort ; Kleinert : eine Stachelrede, Rdthselspiele.
Dehtzsch thinks that H-i'' VO signifies a brilliant oration, oratio sptendida; and hence 1^*^/0 is used iv denote an
interpreter, not from the obscurity of the speaking but from his making the speech clear or intelligible. But there
Beem to be no instances in which ^^ V has the meaning of lucere.
[11 Ver. 6. — to'^r^DV, from CO^^j *o give a pledge, by the repetition of the last radical, signifies the mass of pledge?
{pignornm captoritm copia). The word tS^tDH^ may form two words, so far as the sound is concerned, namely . 2V
t^*tD cloud (i. e. mass) of dirt. Jerome and the Syriac take the word in this sense. The Vulgate reads : et aggravay
contra -se densum latum ; Luther : ttnd ladet nur viel Schlamm aufsich,
[12 Ver. 7. — Tj^0ti?3 from Tft^^, to bite, to lend on usury. The idea seems to be, that those would arise, whc
would demand back from the ChaldEeans, with interest, the capital of which they had unjustly taken possession. There
is an antithesis to 11*^^053?, at the close of the preceding verse.
[18 Ver. 15. — TjriSSn is the construct of rTOH heat, wrath, and not of nS3n, bottle. Luther- employs the
Becond person : Wehe dir, der du detnem Nick^teii eirutchenkest und misclifst deinen Grijnm darunter, etc. So also Klei-
nert : Welie dir, der da zu trinken giebt seinein Ndchsfen, indem du deinen Zornschlauch ausgiessest.
[14 Ver. 16. — ]i7p^p a iir. Key., according to Keil, formed from the Filpal, VpVp from VVpJ but, according
to Henderson, a reduplicated form of ]i^p, shame. In some MSS. it is read as two words, M^p, vomit, and P7p,
shame, and this etymology has been approved by both Jewish aud Christian interpreters. The Vulgate reads : et vom-
itifS ignomiitifT. super gloriam tiram ; Luther : und musst schdndlich speien far deine Herrliclikeit ; Keil : the vomiting <^
shame ; Kleinert : Schandgespei iiber deine Herlidiheit
[15 Ver. 17. — ^rr^n") niDiTTS "^W) LXX. : Kal T. 0. TTTo^o-et o-e ; Vulgate: et vastitas animalium deterrebit
eos; Luther : und die verst'drten Thierewerden dick schrecken; Kleinert : und die Verst'drung der Thiere, die er vcrscheucht.
Keil considers Tn^n^ a relative clause, and translates the clause: "anrf the devastation among the animals, which
&ightened them. According to this view, the appended Nuu is not paragogic, but the verbal suflix of the third femi-
nine plural, agreeing with niCn3, For the use of the suilix fem. 3 pi. see Green's Heb. Gram., sec. 104, g. ; and for
the peculiar form of the verb, see. 141, 3. Furst's Heb. Lexicon; die Verwilstung durch Behemot.
[16 Ver. IB. — a"'?3Vs □''b'^bSi ' compare elSuKa Tai<t><opa, 1 Cor. xil. 2. — C. E.]
EXEQETICAL.
The first glance shows that this [second] dia-
logue also is divided into distinct members.
These are : —
(1) The Question of the prophet in the name of
Israel Is then the destroyer predicted (vers. 5-
U),to have continual security? i. 12-ii. !.
( 2 ) . The Answer of God by the prophet ( ii. 2-20 ) .■
Every one "who is guilty and docs not trust in the
living God must be destroyed, consequently also
the destroyer.
I. Chap. i. ver. 12-ii. 1. The Question. As if the
prophet had fallen into terror by the distressing an-
swer and the terrifying description, which the Spirit
of God drew by him of the destroyer, and had in
the mean time failed to hear of the glorious prospect,
which was already opening up in ver. U,he turns,
praying and expostulating, to God : Art thou not
from eternity, Jehovali, my God, my Holy
One ? in order to receive himself the consoling
confidence from the experimental faith, which puts
this address in his mouth : we shall not die.
"Jehovah, my God" is the vocative, and "ray
Holy One " is the predicate. The suffixes of the
first person refer not to the prophet as an individ-
ual, but to the people whom he represents ; for ac-
cording to the usage of Scripture language Jeho-
vah is not the Kadosch [Holy One] of the prophet,
but the Kadosch of Israel ; hence in the verb the
change to the plural. Jehovah is implored as the
Holy One, ;'. e., as He, who in a special manner,
by special avowal of property [in them] and spec-
ial revelation (Ex. xix. 4), adopted Israel from
among all nations ; and hence as He requires spec-
ial purity from Israel, so also He will exercise
special mercy toward him (Hos. xi, 9) ; and [He is
implored] as He, who has life in Himself, so that
whoever abides in Him, cannot be abandoned to
death. (Hence nTO^3 S ,), Compare the Jahrb.
f. deutsche Theohqie [Journal of GermaTi Theol-
ogy], xii. (1867), 1, p. 42 f. As such, God had
shown himself from times of old (comp. Is. Ixiii.
16), and He is one Jehovah, one continuing al-
ways the same (Ex. iii. 14 ; Dent, xxxii. 40) j
hence .also now He will not show himself other-
wise. But at the same time there lies also in the
designation Kaddsch the ethical reason that the
Holy One of Israel cannot leave unpunished |Nah.
ii. 3) him, who has done injury to his eanctaarj
Ps. cxiv. 2) ; and then the concluding thought i«
CHAPTERS I. 12-n. 20
21
mtroduced by virtue of ver. 11, which is afterward
farther carried out in ver. 13. Rather, if Jehovali
permits the destroyer at all to exercise violence
upon Israel, the ground of it is a plan of Divine
Wisdom and jf a holy government of the world ;
Tohovah, for judgment hast thou appointed it,
and thou Bock hast founded it for chastise-
ment. The noun -i^^ signifies figuratively the
same thing as Jehovah in reality ; the unchange-
able God, who among all the perver.se ways of men
remains always the same (Deut. xxxii. 37 ; Ps.
xviii. 32, and above). The chastisement does not
tend to the destruction, but to the salvation of
those who are chastised (Ps. cxviii. 18). The voc-
atives Jehovah and Rock are continued by the
vocative address ver. 13: Thou art too pure in
thine eyes to be able to look upon evil (for the
constr. comp. Judges vii. 2 ; Deut. .xiv. 24) and
thou canst not look, inactively, upon mischief
(comp. on ver. 3) ; thou, who on account of un-
godliness among us, bringest up the destroyer,
why wilt thou look upon the plunderer ?
Thou wilt also not leave the sin unpunished, with
which thou punishest sin. Boged is in prophecy
a. standing term for designating the violent Baby-
lonian conqueror (Is. xxi. 2 ; xxiv. 16). Tlie why
is rhetorical : Thou canst certainly not do it.
Why art thou silent — epexegetical to the apa-
thetic looking on in c, for the purpose of designating
it as an inactive, tranquil letting-alone (comp. Ps.
1. 21 ) ; — when the wicked — who does not even
know thee, but has always been at a distance from
thee (comp. Micah ii. 4) — devours him, who is
more righteous than he? Although there is
much wickedness in Israel, yet, because the Holy
One (ver. 12) dwells in the midst of them, they
are still much more righteous (comp. the N. T.
idea of the Slxaioi and 017101 ) , than he, who pur-
poses to extirpate the worship of Jehovah along
with his people; comp. Is. xxxvi. 15 fF. Grotius :
"Judcei magnis criminibns involuti erant, sed tawen in
ea re multum a Chaldms superabantur."
The 1^^^ is to be supplied in ver. 14 also from
ver. 13 ; and why makest thou, wilt thou make
menUke fishes of the sea. [So Henderson; but
Keil does not supply nS7 C. E.] These are
not considered as elsewhere with reference to their
great number, but to their defenselessness against
the fisher's net, to which the Chaldaian is compared.
Hence the parallel clause : like the reptile — here
the creeping things of the sea (a.s in Ps. civ. 2.5) —
which has no ruler, no one who appears to cai'e for,
protect and defend them, who goes before collecting
means for defense. Where there is no ruler there
are helplessness and destruction (Micah iv. 9).
Instead of "17, indicating possession, 13 stands in
the short relative clause, because 7DI3 is con-
strued with this preposition ; literally, no one rules
iyer them.
.Ver. 15. All of them (comp. ver. 9) [suf. n
referring to the collective CIS, ver. 14 — C. E.]
he, the fisher, lifts up with his hook, from the
deep in which they thought themselves safe. [Be-
•!anse the short vowel seghol is lengthened in the
first syllable of n^PPI into tsere, the correspond-
'ng hhateph-seghol must pass over into hhateph-
pattach, v/hich occurs after all vowels except seg-
tiol and kamets. Ges., sec. , 63. Rem. 4.J. And
he draws (~1"12) them into his net, and ooUeets
them in his flsh-net. Therefore — to his net
(ver. 16). That is to say, he sacrifices to his mar-
tial power, by which he brings the nations under
his sway, and which is forsooth his god (ver. 11).
The Sarmatians were accustomed to offer annu-
ally a sacrifice to a sabre set up as an insignia of
Mars (Her., iv. 59, 62; Clem. Al., Protrept. 64).
Whether a similar custom existed among the
Babylonians is not known ; this passage is clear
without the supposition of such a custom. For
by them, net and fish-net, his portion is rich,
his possessions and gain (Eccl. ii. 10), and his
food is fat. It is the manner of men to render
divine honor to that, by which they procure the
means of living luxuriously ; and idolatry is a per-
version of the necessity of gratitude, which searches
after the giver (Hos. ii. 10).
Ver. 17. But, therefore, shall he empty his
net, i. e., for the purpose of casting it out again
for a new draught and aiipays strangle nations
without sparing? That, Thou, the only One,
certainly canst not suffer, comp. ver. 13. In the
last member the figurative language changes to
literal ; the infinitive with 7 is not dependent
upon 7lin, but it stands instead of the finite
verb. . Compare on Micah v. 1, 7l!3n'' i4b, " un-
sparingly," a frequent periphrase of the adverb bv
means of an adverbial clause (Is. xxx. 14 ; Job vi.
10).
Like Micah vii. 7 and Asaph, Ps. Ixxiii. 28, the
prophet (ii. 1) flees from the picture of destruc-
tion, which involuntarily unrolls itself again be-
fore his eye, to the solitary height of observation
where he hopes to learn the ways and direction of
God. I will stand upon my watch-tower and
station myself upon the fortress. The lan-
guage is not literal, like that of Dent. xxii. 3 ; but
figurative (comp. Is. xxi. 8) ; since the prophet
does not pretend, like the heathen Seer, to discovei
the Word of God from any celestial sign observed
in solitude ; but he receives it in the heart (Deut
xxx. 14; Num. xii. 6). [Keil: "Standing upon
the watch, and stationing himself upon the forti
flcation, are not to be understood as somethin?
external, as Hitzig supposes, implying that the
prophet went up to a lofty and steep place, or to.
an actual tower, that he might be far from the
noise and bustle of men, and there turn his eyes
toward heaven, and direct his collected mind to-
wards God, to look out for a revelation. Foi
nothing is known of any such custom as this
since the cases mentioned in Ex. xxxiii. 21 and 1
Kings xix. 11, as extraordinary preparations foi
God to reveal Himself, are of a totally different
kind from this ; and the fact that Balaam the
soothsayer went up to the top of a bare height to
look out for a revelation from God (Num. xxiii.
3), furnishes no proof that the true prophets of
.Jehovah did the same, but is rather a heathenish
feature, which shows that it was because Balaam
did not rejoice in the possession of a firm pro-
phetic word, that he looked out for revelations
from God in significant phenomena of nature (see
at Num. xxiii. 3, 4). The words of our verse are
to be taken figuratively, or internally, like the ap-
pointment of the watchman in Is. xxi. 6. Tht
figure is taken from the custom of ascending high
places for the purpose of looking into the distance
(2 Kings ix. 17 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 24), and simply ex-
presses the spiritual preparation of the prophet's
soul for hearing the Word of God, i. e., the collect
22
HABAKKUK.
ing of his miml by quietly entering into himself,
and meditating upon the word and testimonies of
God." — C. E.] Hence he eontinues : and I wUl
await, literally look out for, what He will speak
in me, " accurate oliservare, qncn nunc in spiritu ?nen-
lis continuant," Jiarck. Compare Hos. i. 2. Oehler
in Herzog, R. E., xvii. 637. And what answer I
shall bring to my complaint. 3"'£BrT as in 2
Sam. xxiv. 13. In direct words the prophet oc-
cupies the position of a mediator founded on
Micah vii. 1 : he complains and answers himself;
by virtue of his subjectivity, which connects him
to the people, he represents them ; and by virtue
of the Spirit which comes upon him, and to which
his Ego listens eagerly as something objective, he
represents God. He calls his address, which has
just been concluded, nnSW, a rejoinder, prop-
erly a speech for the purpose of conviction, or
vindication, in a law suit (Job xiii. 6) ; with refer-
ence to the fact, that, against the threatening,
which was in the first answer of God, it took the
character of an objection, a deprecatio, an appeal,
to the mercy, holiness, and justice of God.
The answer follows immediately in the Reply of
Jehovah, vcr. 2-20. It is introduced by a paren-
thesis, giving directions and information to the
prophet, like the reply of Micah to the false pre-
dictions of the false prophets (iii. 1) : and Jeho-
vah answered me and said. After an Introitns,
which has the purpose of indicating the import-
ance and immutability of the decrees announced,
and after a Divine acknowledgment that the de-
stroyer is worthy of punishment, the reply runs
into a five-fold woe, which announces judgment
upon all ungodly, rapacious, idolatrous conduct,
consequently a general judgment of the world,
which involves also the destruction of the con-
queror.
Vers. 2 b, 3. Introitus. "Write dowTi the vision
(comp. on i. 1 ; Ob. 1). ^TFt is not merely that
which is seen, but also that which is inwardly per-
ceived : HTn relates to the eye of the soul. And
make it plain (nS3 as in Dent, xxvii. 8) on
tables, that he may make haste, who reads it,
i. e., write it so plainly that every one passing by
may be able to read it quickly and easily ; Sip
to read, with 3 as in Jer. xxxvi. 13. From the
fact that the tables are designated by the article as
known, Calvin has already, in the Introduction to
his commentary on Isaiah, drawn the conclusion
that tables were put u|i in the temple (Luther,
Ewald ; in the market-place), on which the prophets
noted down a summary of their prophecies, in order
to make them khown to the whole people. In this
way he thinks the possibility of preserving so
many prophecies from being falsified may be un-
derstood : the tablets, on which they were written,
were taken down and piled up Indeed this latter
supposition has nothing incredible; this method
of preservation, as the most recent excavations
prove, was well known in the ancient East. In an
excavation at Kouyunjik (Introd. to Nahum, p. 9)
the workmen came upon a chamber full of taljlets
of terra cotta, with inscriptions in perfect preserva-
tion, piled in heaps from the floor to the ceiling.
(Compare Zeitschrift der Deutsch-norgenldndischen
Gesellscha/t [the Journal of the German Oriental
Society] v. p 446 ; x. pp. 728, 731 ; and on the
M)ntents of the tablets Brandis, art. " Assyria," in
Pauly's Encyclopedia, i. p. 1890). The tablet, of
course, of which Isaiah speaks, viii. 1, is not a pub
lie one, but one disposable for the private use of
the prophets (comp. v. 16), and on that account it
might appear doubtful whether such tablets were
constantly fixed up ; but at all events it follows in
this passage that it was incumbent upon the
prophet to fix them up. The article then points
to the fact that the prophet had already laid them
up for writing down the vision ; since indeed he was
not surprised by it, but he had looked out for ,il
(vcr. 1). The reason that several tablets are men-
tioned here, and not one, as in Isaiah, is found in
the rich and various contents of the five-fold woe.
But at all events the design of the command, at
the connection with what follows shows, is two-
fold : first, that the word may be made known to
all (comp. Is. viii. 1 ) ; secondly, that it shall not
be obliterated and changed, but fulfilled in strict
accordance with the wording. ( Comp. Job. xix.
24 ; Is. XXX. 8.)
The latter reason appears with special force in
ver. 3 : for the vision is yet for the appointed
time, still waits for a time of fulfillment, lying
perhaps in a far distant future, but nevertheless
a fixed (this is indicated by the article) time
(comp. Dan. x. 14) ; what this set time is, that
which follows declares : and it strives to [reach]
the end: the final time, withheld fi'ora human
knowledge (Acts i. 7), which God has appointed
for the fulfillment of his promises and threateningg
(comp. on Micah iv. 1 ; Dan. viii. 19, 17). The
verb nS'', it puff's, pants to the end, is chosen with
special emphasis : " true prophecy is animated, as
it were, by an impulse to fulfill itself." Hitzig.
[The third imp. (Hiph.) nS^ is formed with
tsere, like "l^^i Ez. xviii. 14]. And it does not
lie, like those predictions of the false prophets,
which fixed the time of prosperity as near at hand
(Micah ii. 11 ). Therefore, if it tarry, wait for it
(comp. viii. 17) ; for it will come (comp. SIS
of the fulfillment of prophecy, 1 Sam. ix. 6), and
not fail ("ins as in Judges v. 28 : 2 Sam. xx. .5).
The use of this passage, Heb. x. 37, where it seems
to be combined with Is. xxvi. 20, is grounded on
the translation of the LXX., who point the pre-
ceding inf abs. S2 as the part. S3, and under-
stand by the ^px^/J-evos, who will certainly come,
the Messiah, the judge of the world. There is
no objection to this Messianic reference, so far as
the meaning is concerned, since all prophecy has
its goal in Christ ; but, if we accept that punctua-
tion, the reference cannot lie in the words, since
in case the definite individual, Messiah, is referred
to, we must at least read S2n.
Ver. 4-6 a. The starting-point of the following
announcement of the judgment is exhibited as an
ethical one with special reference to the conqueror.
Behold puffed up, his soiU is not upright ia
him, consequently he must perish, which furnishes
the antithesis to "live" in the second half of the
verse. In harmony with i. 7-11, the insolent defi-
ance, exhibited in his pride, putting itself in the
place of God, is pointed out as the pith of the sin
of the foreigner.
[n^Sy, 3 fem. Pual, denominative from the
subst. ^?^, mound, tumor, from which also a
Hiphil, Num. xiv. 44, is formed.] The uprightness,
4 b, forms a contrast to it which consequently «
CHAPTERS I. 12-11. 20.
gn
not here, as at other times, opposed to it like sim-
plicity to cunning sophistry (Ecc. vii. 29), but like
humble rectitude to lying ostentation.
All pride against God rests on self-deception ;
and the judgment has no other object with refer-
ence to this self-deception than to lay it open,
whereby it is proved to be nothing, consequently
its possessor falls to destruction. But the just
will live, not by his pride, not at all by anything
that is his own, but by the constancij of his faith
resting upon God and his word. The use, wliich
the Apostle Paul makes of these words (Rom. i.
17; comp. Gal. iii. 11), is authorized, since there
as here the antithesis, by which the idea broad in
itself is distinctly sketched, is the haughty boast
of his own power entangled in sin. [On the con-
trary the application of the first half of the verse
Heb. X. 38, is obscured by the use of the incorrect
translation of the LXX., as it is not characterized
as an argumentative citation by the free transposi-
tion of both halves of the verse, but as a free re-
production. Compare Bengel on the passage.]
Isaiah vii. 9 is also parallel to this passage in sense.
The idea of faith, which, in this passage and gen-
erally in the 0. T. lies at the foundation of the
words nSIOM resp. ^''QSn, is not yet the spe-
cific N. T. idea of the appropriation of the pardon-
ing grace of God, which brings salvation, but the
broader one, which we find in Heb. ii. : laying firm
hold upon (1"'OSn), and standing firmly upon
(n31HH) the word and promise of God, the firm
reliance of the soul upon the invisible, which can-
not be depressed and misled by the antagonism of
that which is seen: constantia,Jiducia. [For the
word tnr6aTa<rts, Heb. xi. 1 (Oetinger : substruc-
ture), is certainly not chosen without reference to
the stem IDM. Compare the verb HSn, ver.
3. Hitzig is certainly right in claiming for the
substantive TtVID'A the signification of faithful
disposition = npl^ i in passages like Prov. xii.
17 and Ez. xviii. 22, comp. 1 Sam. xxvi. 23, it
cannot be doubled. But this meaning, however, is
to be explained from the etymon, and is not in it-
self the only authorized one ; and one needs not go
back to the Hiphil ]'^QSn (as H. seems to think),
in order to discover as the primary meaning, of
the word ^DK, that of standing firm. As p^^
is the adherence of God to his word and covenant
and the adherence of man to the word and coven-
ant of God, so n3 iJ3H (compare the prevailing
usage of the Psalms, especially Ps. Ixxxix. 25,
comp. 29) is the standing fast on the part of God
to his word (ver. 1, 12), and the standing fast on
the part of man to the word of God : any other
constancy than that of a mind established on the
word of God the N. T. does not know, at least
not as a virtue. Comp. below Luther on the pas-
sage.
The general point of view, ver. 4, from which it
is plain, what he says of the Babylonians, is par-
ticularized and enlarged in ver. 5, whilst the crimes
of the Babylonian are placed under the light of
experience, as it is expressed in a proverb. And
moreover (the combination ''3 OS stands here in
its natural signification, indicated by both words
Aemselves, not in the modified meaning, as in 1
" ! viii. 27 ; Gen. iii. 1 ), wine is treaoherous.
The Babylonians were notorious for their inc-liiia-
tion to drink : compare Curtius, ver. 1 : " Bahylonk
maxime in vinum et quoR ebrietatem sequuniur ejfusi
sunt ; " and in general concerning their luxury,
the characteristic fragment of Nicolaus Damas-
cenus (Fragin. Hist. Grcec, ed. C. Miiller, vol. ii.
Paris, 1848. Fragm. 8-10, p. 3.57 ff.). [Rawlin-
son's Ancifnt Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 504, 507. — •
C. E.j. The brief formula has the stamp of
the proverb, and "T23 is not used in the sense of
violent plundering, as in i. 13, but in that of per-
fidious treachery, as in Lam. i. 2 ; Job vi. 15 (here
also intrans.). In drunkenness men aiTogate to
themselves high things, and afterward have not
strength for them, Comp. also Prov. xxiii. 31 f.
The other proverb reads : A boastful man, great-
mouth, continues not. "ITI^, only here and
Prov. xxi. 24, signifies, in the latter passage by
virtue of the parallelism (^T) and according to
the versions, tumidus, arroc/ans. The predicate is
attracted by 1, in order to give emphasis to the
subject, as in Gen. xxii. 24 ; Ew., sec. 344 b.
(Hupfeld on Ps. i., 1 takes "l^H^ "133 as predicate
to VI; this, however, is too artificial.
That which follows forms together with ver. 6 a
subjoined relative sentence, whilst the relative in-
troduced before [its antecedent] is defined by the
V^V in the following verse ; and the contents of
this subjoined sentence is the direct application of
vers. 4, 5 a to the Chaldaean : He, who widens
his desire like the insatiable (Prov. xxvii. 20)
jaws of heU. 'i'.?.?, as in Ps. xvii. 9 ; compare
for the figure Is. v. 14. Yea, he, who like death
is not satisfied (construction as in the first mem-
ber), but gathers together all peoples to himseli
(comp. i. 15) and collects together all nations
to himself; will not all these (comp. Nah. iii.
19) take up a proverb concerning him, yea a
satirical speech, a riddle upon him ? On SJCS
compare Commentary on Nah. i. 1. vtt7D, usu-
ally a figurative discourse, then a brief epigram, a
proverb (Prov. i. 1) ; here as in Is. xiv. 4, accord-
ing to the connection, a scoffing, mocking song, in
view of the certainty of the fate prepared for him
The same sense is given by the context to the
word nK^'bo, to which it [the sense] seems more
nearly related by the root V"' -'i to mock, and the
derivatives V!? and P^/* Yet this is in fact no
more than semblance, as the passage, Prov. i. 6,
proves, from which Habakkuk borrows the phrase-
ology of this verse, and in which nothing of de-
rision is to be found. We must rather go back to
the Hiphil of the stem, which signifies inlerpre-
tari: y'yt2 is an interpreter. (Delitzsch denies
this signification of V"* ''0 [Hiph. pret.], however
without proof ; his explanation, brilliant oration,
is entirely imaginary.) Therefore '^^"'7P is not
an explanatory saying, i. e., it is not an illustra-
tive, luminous one (Keil), the contrary of which
the passage Prov. i. 6, and likewise the character
of the proverb following, prove, but it is a saying
which needs interpretation (as our riddle does not
?Hess, but is intended to be guessed), an apothegm
so the LXX. on Prov. i. 6 : (ncoreiyhs \4yos ; it
24
HABAKKUPC
this passage they construe n5J^7Q with what fol-
lows) , accordingly it is synonymous with the fol-
lowing word mTTI, atviyiMiTa, enigma — an ex-
tremely popular form of poetry in the East, and
which is also among us a favorite form of popular
political ridicule. Certainly to the mind of the
prophet it is something different, a, prophetic
speech.
(Keil : " Mdshal is a sententious poem, as in
Mic. ii. 4 and Is. xiv. 4, not a derisive song, for
this subordinate meaning could only be derived
from the context, as in Is. xiv. 4 for example;
and there is nothing to suggest it here. So, again
MHitsdh neither signifies a satirical song, nor an
obscure enigmatical discourse, but, as Delitzsch
has shown, from the first of the two primary
meanings combined in the verb \^*1 V, lucere and
lascivire, a brilliant oration, oratio splendida, from
which V^ .^ is used to denote interpreter, so
called, not from the obscurity of the speaking, but
from his making the speech clear or intelligible.
"i ^ nlT^n is in apposition to '^^''/^ and
^tj^^, adding the more precise definition, that the
sayings contain enigmas relating to him (the Chal-
daean)."
Lvcer& does ncft seem to be one of the primary
meanings of ^-1 V. Fiirst gives umhersjyringenj —
hiipfen (aus Muthwillen), dab. muthwillig, ausgel-
assen, unruhigen Geistes sein; iibertr. verhohnen, —
spotten, achten unbestdndig sein. Gesenius : balbu-
tire, (1) barbare logui ; (2) illudere, irridere alicni.
Thesaurus. See " Special Introduction to the
Proverbs of Solomon," sect. 11, note 2, in this
Commentary. — C. E.]
Vers. 6 b-20. The Fivefold Woe. Two views
are possible concerning the contents of this dis-
course. One may view it either wholly as the
song of the nations indicated ver. 6 a, conse-
quently as entirely and specially directed against
Babylon ; or that only the first woe constitutes
this song, but in the others the prophet retains the
form once begun, in order to connect with them
genei-al thoughts of the judgment. If in favor of
tliis latter view no further argument can be urged
than the one, that in the time of Hiibakkuk, Neb-
uchadnezzar had not yet committed all the sins,
whicli are here laid to his charge, a consideration
on which Hitzig certainly lays stress, one might
perhaps be authorized in calling it, with Maurer
and Keil, the most infelicitous of all. But not
only the general contents of the following threat-
enings, which as much concern the sins of Judah,
as those of the Chaldaians, are in favor of it ; but
also the circumstance that it appears worthy of
God, after the impressive introduction, vers. 2, 3,
and the profound conclusion ver. 4 to command
the prediction not of a mere amplified derisory
song of the nations, but of a universal threaten-
'ng against sin, in which of course and before all
the sin of the Chaldfcans is also to be included,
further, in favor of this view is the fact that pre-
cisely the first woe, vers. 6-8, has both the form of
the brief, aphoristic, enigmatical song and a direct
reference to Babylon, while in the second and third
both are entirely wanting ; and further that the
immediate transition frcfm such a poetical form in
the beginning to a more extended prophetical ad-
dress frequently occurs in other places in the
prophets (Mic. ii. 4 ff. ; Is. xxiii. 16 ff. ; xiv. 4 ff.).
Also the plural of mn7 ver. 2, points rather
to a plurality of objects of the prophecy than to
a single one ; and so also the concluding formula
ver. 20 (all the world), point.s to the universality
of the predicted judgment. Finally, we had in
chap. i. the same double reference of the prophecy ;
both to the intolerableness of the present sinftil
state of things (ver. 2 flf.), and to that of the future
state of calamity ; both are characterized by en-
tirely parallel formulae, comp. namely, vers. 3 and
13 : the five woes correspond to both complaints.
Vers. 6-8. First Woe. It is immediately con-
nected by the "It?^"'! to the ISt^ in ver. 6 a, and
thereby expressly pointed out as the song raised
by the oppressed over the fall of the conqueror.
" ^T is used here, as in 2 Kings ix. 17 ; Is. Iviii. 9 j
Ps. Iviii. 12, in distinction from the aorist IQ^*^'
as an annexed jussive form in a future sense and
impersonal (comp. Micah ii. 4) ; they shall say:
■Woe (comp. on Nah. iii. 1) to him who accu-
mulates what is not his own. "l^'S^ as in i.
6. By this accord of sounds the solution of the
enigma, which lies in this designation of the Baby-
lonian, is undoubtedly and fully suggested. How-
ever, there is in the accord itself, as Delitzsch re-
marks, a new enigma, to wit, the ambiguity : he
accumulates not for himself (Eccl. ii. 25). In the
folfowing expression : For how long, the excla-
mation, how long already ! as Hitzig thinks, is not
intended ; but the exclamation, how long still !
The entire contents of the vei'se show that he does
not suppose the catastrophe as having already
taken place, but he predicts it in the midst of the
oppression. Generally the formula "TIQ TS iS'
employed only in the sense of complaint concern
ing a present evil. And who loads himself with
a burden of pledges gained by usury (comp. i.
11). 13^12317 is also ambiguous : derived from the
root 10337, it can signify either a mass of pledges
(comp. T'"13D, shower of rain, T'"^i;3, thick dark-
ness] : to wit, the laboriously acquired property of
the nations, which he collects together, just as the
unmerciful usurer heaps up pledges contrary to the
law of Moses (Dcilt. xxiv. 10) ; and which he must
for that reason deliver up ; or it may be consid-
ered as a composite of 3.V (thickness, comp. Hupf,
on Ps. xviii. 12) and tD''tO, tfiick mud. Compare
Nab. iii. 6.
Ver. 7. 'WiU not those who bite thee rise up
suddenly (a play upon words between T[tl'3, hiteof
a snake, and^?^3) interest : who recover usury from
thee) ; and those who shake thee violently [al-
lusion to the violent seizure of a debtor by his cred-
itor—C. E.] wake up (from yp^)f And thou
wilt become a booty to them, niDtl'O, p'nr.
rhet. Comp. on Micah v. 1.
Ver. 8. For thou hast plundered a multitude
of nations (comp. Micah iv. 2), so all the rem-
nant ( v. 2 ) of the nations will plunder thee : the
remnant of the subdued, i. e. the not subdued, those
lately come into existence, as e. g. the Persians (Is.
xiv.). [Keil, after a labored exposition, concludes ■
" From all this we may see that there is no neces-
sity to explain ' all the remnant of the nations,' as
relating to the remainder of the nations that had
not been subjugated, but that we may understand
it as signifying the remnant of the nations plun-
dered and subjugated by the Chaldseans (as is doM
CHAPTERS I. 12-11. 20.
25
Sy the LXX., Theodoret, Delitzsch, and others),
which is the only explanation in harmony with the
nsige of the language. For in Josh, xxiii. 12, ye-
ther haggot/im denotes the Canaanitish nations left
ttftef the war of extermination ; and in Zech. xiv.
2, yether hd'dm. signifies the remnant of the nation
left after the previous conquest of the city, and the
carrying away of half its inhahitants." — C. E.]
For the blood of men CjO as in Ob. 10) and
violence in the earth, the city, and all that
dwell in it. The same enumeration of everything
destructible, as i. 11 fF. 14 ; hence not to be restrict-
ed to Jerusalem and Israel, though specially in-
tended, but to be understood generally, like Jer.
xlvi. 8 [Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii.,
p.506. — C. E.)
Vers. 9-1 1 . Second Woe. If the Chaldffian (vers.
G-'S), according to the connection, was the only
possible object, this threatening of judgment cer-
tainly readies farther : AVoe to him, who accu-
mulates wicked gain for his house, who sets
his nest on high (the inf. with 7 continues the con-
struction of the imperfect, as is frequently the case),
[the infin. with ^ is used to explain more precisely
the idea expressed by the finite verb. Nordheimer's
Heb. Gram., sec 1026,2. — C. E.] to save him-
self frorh the hand of evil. The judgment of
God, proceeding from his holiness, has its source in
anecessity universally moral, and, on this account,
falls upon all sinners ; and the description of those
characterized here does not fit so well, according to
the language of prophecy, the Chaldasans, who in-
habited a low country, — the parallel (Is. xiv. 12 ff.)
produced by Delitzsch, conveys the idea of heaven-
defying pride, whilst here the prophet speaks of
concealing treasui'es, '— as it does the Edomites,
who stored up their plunder in the clefts of the
rocks (Ob. 3. ; Jer. xlix. 7 f ). And it applies just
as well to the rich in Jerusalem (comp. Is. xxii.
16 ff.), and especially to King Jehoiakim, whose
conduct is described in language (Jer. xxii. 13 ff)
uttered nearly, at the same time with that of our
prophet, and in exactly similar modes of expression.
[Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 504. —
C.E.]
Ver. 10 also applies to the same person : Thou
hast consulted' shame, instead of riches, for thy
house, the house of David, which was called to a
position of honor before God. And what is the
shame? The ends of many nations, i. e., the
collective multitude of peoples (comp. 1 Kings,
xii. 31) which shall come u|) like a storm to take
vengeance upon the sins of Israel, just as the rem-
nant of the nations are at a future time, to take
vengeance upon the sins of the Babylonian. And
thou involvest thy soul in guilt (Prov. xx. 2).
["The ends of many nations," by which Klei-
nert renders D"'3'!; CaVTlilJf?, gives no intelli-
gible meaning. DlV" is not the plural of "^^lJ) but
the infinitive of H^p, to cut off, destroy. The proper
rendering, therefore, is cutting off many nations. —
C. E.]
Ver. 11. For the stone cries out of the wall;
irnilt in sin, to accuse thee (Gen. iv. 10), and the
Bpai: out of the wood- work answers it, — agrees
with it in its charge against thee : when the judg-
ment draws near they are the accusing witnesses,
immediately joined to this is —
The Third Woe, vers. 12-13. Woe to Tiim who
4uildathe fortress in blood, and founds the city
in wickedness. Since the prophet has not de-
nounced punishment upon JSTebuchadnezzar for
building, but for destroying cities (i. U f ), we
must here also, especially on comparing Micah iii.
10 and Jer. xxii. 13, understand the reference to
be to the buildings of Jehoiakim. Behold, does
it not come to pass (2 Chron, xxv. 26) from Je-
hovah of hosts, that the tribes weary them-
selves,— either come up on compulsory service
for the king, or driven to Jerusalem by the calam-
ity of war to work upon the fortifications (2 Chron.
xxxii. 4 f ; compare also Micah i. 2) — for the
tire, and the nations exhaust themselves for
vanity ? All human wisdom and toil have no suc-
cess, where Jehovah does not assist in building
(Ps. cxxvii. 1) ; this applies to Israel (Is. Ivii. 10;
xlix. 4 ; comp. xl. 28, 30; Ixv. 23), as it does to
Babylon (Jer. Ii. 58). And this vanity must be
made manifest : the works of men must crumble
into the dust from which they arose (comp. Micah
V. 10; vii. 13).
For (ver. 14) the earth shall be full, but ol
the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the
waters cover the bed of the sea. So God him-
self has promised by Isaiah (xi. 9; comp. ii. 3).
This glory is the resplendent majesty of the llulci'
of the world cominu: to judgment against .ill un-
godliness, and for the accomplishment of salvation
(Num. xiv. 21; Ps. xcvii. ; Zech. ii. 12). This
knowledge comprehends, at the same time, the ac-
knowledgment of Jehovah and the confession ol
sin. sbo is not construed as usual with the ace,
of the subst., but with 7 and the infinitive. To
analyze the last clause into a noun with a following
relative clause is unnecessary : 3 can also be used
(which Ewald and Keil deny) as a particle of
comparison before whole sentences (Hupfeld,
Psalms, ii. p. 327 A. 99). D^ does not mean here
the sea itself, but the bed, or bottom of the sea, as
in 1 Kings vii. 26. With the general thought which
ver. 13 f. adds to the special turns [of thought]
there is a return to the punishment of heathen
wrong-doers. Upon them falls exclusively —
The Fourth Woe, vers. 15-18, which also directly
introduces again some enigmatical sounds of the
first. Woe to thee [so Kleinert and Luther : the
LXX., Vulgate, A. V., Keil, and Henderson, use
the third person, woe to him — C. E.] that givest
thy neighbor to drink — whilst thou pourest
out (nSD, as in Job xiv. 19 ; synonymous with
TfQE?, Jer. x. 25,) thy wrath [or thy leathern
bottle, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Hitzig (Gen. xxi. 14) ;
perhaps as the whole address directs us back to
ver. 6 ft'., there is again here also an intentional
ambiguity] and also makest him (thy neighbor)
drunk (inf. abs. pro v. fin., Ges., sec. 131, 4 a.)
in order to see their shame ; to make it wholly
subservient to his voluptuous desire (Nah. iii. 5).
[In place of the third person in the first member,
the address changes, in the second member, to the
second person; in the fourth member the singu-
lar is changed into the plural. Both the middle
clauses are adverbial to the np27Q of the first
member]. The figure is taken from common life,
and is clear of itself; it is the more appropriate
as the Chaldaean is described (ver. 5) as a drunk-
ard. The leathern bottle, from which the Chal ■
daBiin pours out his compacts (comp. Is. xxxix.) ■
is, as It turns out in the end, a bottle of wrath
and the disposition in which it is passed is that of
wild desire and barbarous lust of power. There
fore the same comes upon him.
26
IIABAKKUK.
Ver. 16. So thou shalt be satisfied, as thou
desirest, but with shame instead of glory. Drink
thou also (comp. Nah. iii. 1 1 ) and uncover thy-
self [Heb. : show thyself unciicumcised — C. E.] :
from Jehovah's right hand the cup, also a cup
of wrath (comp. Ob. 16) will come in its turn
to thee, and shameful vomit upon thy glory.
fRawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. .504. —
C. E.] li^|"J''P., according to the Pilpel derivation
from ^^~ instead of li7p7|7, signifies the most
extreme contempt ; but it can, at the same time,
be considered as a composite word from p7p S''p,
vomit of shame, or shameful vomit (comp. Is.
xxviii. 8) referring to the figurative description of
the drinking revel.
Ver. 15. For the outrage at Lebanon, whose
cedar forests the conquerors wickedly spoiled, in
order to adorn with them their magnificent edifices
in Babylon (Is. xiv. 7 ff. ; comp. Ausland, 1866,
p. 944), shall cover thee, shall weigh upon thee
like a crushing roof, and the dispersion of the
animals, which it, the outrage, frightened away I
The wild beasts of Lebanon, which fled before the
destroyer. (lO^T'''.' instead of ]ii^n^ compensation
for the sharpening bj' lengthening the vowel, Ges.,
20, 3 c. Rem., and pausal change of the ~ into" ,
Ges., sec. 29, 4, c. Rem.). [See Green's Heb. Gram.,
sec. 112, 5 c; 141, 3. — V. E.] And as Lebanon
with its cedars (Jer. xxii. 6, 23), appears to be a
representative of the Holy Land and its glory, so
here also a general meaning is given to the outrage
upon inanimate nature by the repetition of the re-
frain from the first woe, ver. 8 : On account of
the blood of men, the outrage upon the land,
the city and all its inhabitants. However, the
obvious reference to Israel and Jerusalem, in this
passage, is made, by the connection, more dis-
tinctly prominent than in ver. 8, above.
Ver. 18, according to the thought, is preliminary
to the following woe ; just as we saw above that
ver. U was preliminary to the third woe, and ver.
13 to the fourth. What profiteth the graven
image, that its maker carves it ? HD is used
sensu negativo, as in Eccles. i. 3 ; and since it re:
quires a negative answer, the secondary clause in-
troduced into the rhetorical question by ''2 is also
answered thereby in the negative : quid, cur ? It
profits nothing (Jer. ii. 11), consequently it is folly
to carve it. Parallel to this is the tbUowing clause :
what profiteth the molten image and the teacher
of lies, i. e., either the false prophet, who enjoins
raem to trust in idols, and encourages the manu-
facture of them (Is. ix. 14 [15"?]), or rather, ac-
cording to the mV in the following verse, the
idol itself, which points out false ways in oppo-
sition to God, the true teacher (Job xxxvi. 22 ; Rs.
XV. 12; Delitzsch, Hitzig), That the carver of
his image trusts in him to make dumb idols ?
(Ps. cxxxy. 16 f. ; 1 Cor. xii. 2.) The negative an-
swer to this rhetorical question is given by —
The Fifth Woe, which is immediately subjoined,
vers. 19, 20 : Woe to him, who says to the
block, wake up ! as the pious man can pray to the
true God (Ps. xxxv. 12 [23] ) ; arise I to the dumb
stone. Can it teach ? To teach is used here, as
in the former verse and generally, to signify that
active guidance and advice, which belong to the
Deity in contradistinction to men, and which form
the basis of practical piety. Concerning the form
jf the indignant question, comp.<ire [Com.] on Mic,
ii. 6. Behold It is enchased with gold and sil-
ver (Ace.) and there is nothing of soul, neithei
breath, nor feeling, nor understanding, in it.
(Com. Ps. cxxxv. 17). However fine it is, it does
not even have life (comp. Jer. x. 14) : how can it
teach ! Compare the amplification of the same
thought, Is. xliv. 9 ff.
The whole threatening address concludes with
the prophetical formula : Jehovah is in the tem-
' pie of his holiness, i. e. according to Ps. xi. 4,
I compare xx. 7 [6], heaven, from which, as thesitu-
I ation now stands and as the woes about to pass
j over the earth are anticipated, we are to expect his
[judgment, i. e. the confirmation that He will give
to show that He is the Holy One (comp. Ps. xviii.
I 7 ff . ; Is. V. 16). Therefore, — compare the en-
tirely similar connection of thought Zeph. i. 7 ;
Zech. ii, 13 [Heb. Bib. ver. 17]: — Let all the
world be silent before Him.
[Keil: Vers. 18-20. Fifth and last strophe.
This concluding strophe does not commence, like
the preceding ones, with hoi, but with the thought
which prepares the way for the woe, and is attached
to what goes before to strengthen the threat, all
hope of help being cut off from the Chaldsean.
Like all the rest of the heathen, the Chaldasan also
trusted in the power of his gods. This confidence
the prophet overthrows in ver. 18 : " What use is
if?" equivalent to "The idol is of no use" (cf.
Jer. ii. 11 ; Is. xliv. 9, 10). The force of this ques-
tion still continues in massekhah : " Of what use is
the molten image ? " Pesel is an image carved out
of wood or stone ; massekah an image cast in metal.
— C. E.]
DOOTKINAL AND ETHICAL.
The sphere of thought of this chapter rests upon
the two intersecting ground-lines, sin and death,
faith and life. (Compare on the idea of faith the
Exegetical Exposition of ii. 4.)
Sin and death belong together ; sin is the ethical,
death the physical expression of separation from
God. Therefore the people of God cannot die,
because He is their Holy One; because by virtue
of their belonging to the Holy One they drink
from the fountain of life. Therefore to Israel God's
judgments are a means of purification, while they
are destruction to others. And if God, who is a
Rock, has such a hatred against sin, that he does
not suffer it in his people [heiligen Eigenthum, sa-
cred property] chosen of old (comp. Com. on Micah,
p. 00), and brings upon it the scourge of his judg-
ment, how much less will He suffer it in him who
is a stranger to his heart, and whom He employs
only as an instrument of his judgment. From
the consideration that God judges Israel follows
the certainty that He will judge the heathen also,
consequently the certainty that Israel will be
saved.
The sin of the world-power is two-fold ; first, it
deals with the property of God as if it were its
own ; secondly, it does not honor God for the sue
cess granted to it, but its own power. This must
cease.
The countenance of faith is directed forward
into the future. Thence it derives its answer for
consolation and hope. (Of course it would not
have this direction if it had not the promise of God
behind it (Gen, xlix. 18) ; God is, however, always
the author ; He is of old the Holy One of his peo-
ple.). When Israel forgat the promise, they began
to look back to the flesh pots of Egypt. The
whole religion of the 0. T. is a religion of the
future. Heathendom exercised its inlellectual eD
GHAPTEKS I. 12-11. 20.
jrgy upon the origins of things for the purpose of
foriiiinji; and developing their theogonies : the Holy
Spirit directs the mind of Israel to prophecy ; no
ancient people has so little about the primitive time
as we find in the 0. T. ; even modern heathendom
knows [professes to know] much more about it.
The exact time is not specified in prophecy, at
least in regai'd to the intermediate steps (i. 5) ;
but the certainty is specified, and the exact time
is fixed in the purpose of God. God can no more
lie than He can look upon iniquity. The cer-
tainty of prophecy, and consequently of our con-
fidence, rests upon the holiness of God. How dif-
ferent is the resignation of the 0. T. from fatalism.
The former comes from life, the latter from death.
Resignation places the holiness of God in the cen-
tre : fatalism destroys it.
God's way is the right way. He hates all crooked
lines, — the side-lines of sophistry, the curve-lines
of boasting, the downward sunk lines of dark con-
cealment. Sin is deviation from the straight way.
The straight way is the way of life.
The piety of the Old Testament begins with
faith (Gen. xv. 4 l6]). The stage of the law en-
ters, which gives the uppermost place to faith in
action, the obedience of faith, and which, with the
apparent extension of the principle of faith, involves
in fact a narrowing of it. In prophecy the orig-
inal principle, in its universality, enters again grad-
ually into its right position. The book of Job may
be mentioned as a proof of this. The obedience of
the law has for its correlative the doctrine of retri-
bution. On this Job is put to shame. Against it
he has no sufficient answer. But because his heart,
in every trial, maintained its faith in God, he is
nevertheless justified. The book of Job is the ex-
position of Hab. ii. 4. Faith is the direct way to
the heart of God. He who interposes himself (his
own works, his own merits, his own law, his own
thoughts) perverts the way. Apostasy from faith
is the beginning of sin. lu the heart of God is
imperishable life, because there is imperishable holi-
ness. Therefore the faith of Israel is the correla-
tive of the Holy One of Israel ; and faith is the
way to life, as sin is the way to death.
The characteristic mark of the kingdom of God
is free-will. The world-power raffs men together ;
they are invited into the kingdom of God ; they
rise and say : Come, let us go. The cage intrare is
contrary to the Scripture. (The prohibe of the en-
emies of missions is just as truly so. Is. xlix. 6.)
He who thus gathers [men] together, brings upon
himself scorn at last. All nations, which Rome
has converted by force, have fallen away from her,
and they sing over her a song of derision.
Property is sanctified by God ; but over-grasp-
ing gain is cursed by Him. His omniscience is
present in his judgment. Hidden crime is laid
open and punished, as if blood, spar, and stones
had speech to inform against what is concealed be-
hind them, the guilt that is built up in them. We
see in the manner in which no concealed wicked-
ness remains unpunished, but is banished out of
sight, the hand of God and the manifestation of
his glory on every side, without seeing himself
The pillar of smoke and of fire over the burned
city of sin is the veil of his glory. The design of
the creation, according to the 0. T., is the glory
of God. For this the earth was made, just as the
basin of the sea was made for the water.
The sinner does not find the right way : he is
like a drunken man. To the upright man the ways
of sinners are areeling [an intoxication]. He who
'ends astray makes drunk ; but he enters of him-
self upon the most crooked way, and hence comea
to destruction. The intoxication of sin culminates
in the insanity of idolatry. The idol is lifeless.
Its worshipper seeks by idolatry, as the righteous
man does by fai th, the way of life ; but he comes
to the silence of death. The tranquillity of life is
quite another thing. (Is. xxx. 15.)
Oetinger : Rectitude of heart is the substance
and ground of truth. He who has a right heart,
sees rightly and hears rightly ; he who has a per-
verse heart heaps up falsehood, without knowing
it. Nature produces all the elements at once: the
upright soul attracts to it what is true and honest.
Intensiveness precedes extensiveness : the moral
precedes the physical ; the physical, the metaphys-
ical.
R. Joseph Albo (in Starke and Delitzseh) : in
the book of Chronicles il is said : bcliev e in the proph-
ets, and ye shall be prosperous (2 Chron. xx. 20).
This proves that faith is the cause of prosperity,
as well as the cause of eternal life, according to the
saying of Habakkuk : the just shall live by his
faith; by which he cannot mean the bodily life,
since in respect to this the righteous man has no
advantage over the wicked, but rather the eternal
life, the life of the soul, which the righteous enjoy,
and for the attainment of which they trust in God;
as it is said : The righteous has still confidence in
death [A. V". : The righteous hath hope in his
death]. (Prov. xiv. 32.)
W. HopriiANN : Abraham had a view [nus-
schau, outlook] through the promise, in which, at
last, every streak of shadow vanished, and in the
distant horizon all was light and glory. He looked
beyond this world to the blessed rest of the people
of God ; and he could not do otherwise than this,
since he acknowledged God as the restorer of the
life of men, of his own life, and of the life of all his
descendants and tribes, — a life perverted to sin,
fallen, and burdened with the curse. It is very
likely that the thoughts of the father of the faith-
ful were dark and obscure in regard to this, for
it required yet great advancement before clear
language could be employed concerning this holy
change ; but the heart's experience, which he en-
joyed of it, was full and steadfast. Restoration
of the lost, removal of sin, deliverance from spirit-
ual death — that is the key-note of Abraham's
faith. And it was deliverance only by the mani-
festation of God. It was this manifestation to
which all the revelations of God at that time re-
lated. God's nearness. His dwelling with the chil-
dren of men ; this was the goal ; hope could fasten
upon no other. What else, therefore, was his faith
than — although not consciously clear and grasped
by the understanding — a laying hold upon the
future Saviour with outstretched arms f
Delitzsch : Troublous times are at hand.
What then is more consoling than the fact, that
life, deliverance from destruction, is awarded to that
faith, which truly rests on God, keeps fast hold of
the word of promise, and in the midst of tribula-
tion confidently waits for its fulfillment ? Not the
veracity, the trustworthiness, the honesty of the
righteous man, considered in themselves as virtues,
are, in such calamities, in danger of being shaken
and of failing, but, as is shown in the prophet
himself, his faith. Therefore, the great promise,
expressed in the one word, Life, is connected with
it.
ScHMiEDEK : All Bible prophecy looks forward
to a distant time determined by (Jod, but which
we do not know. It points to the end, when the
Lord by judgment and redemption shall establish
28
HABAKKUK.
his perfect kingdom. This prophecy will not lie,
but will certainly be fulfilled, though its fulfillment
is always longer and longer deferred.
HOMILBTIOAL.
Chap. i. yer. 12. Of tne great joy, which we have
reason to ground upon the fad, that God is the Holy
One of his people.
1. It is a joy of gratitude that He has always
been with his own. Vcr. 12 a, b.
2. A joy of continual confidence, that we can-
not perish. Ver. 12 c.
3. A joy in chastisement, that it is only for the
confirmation of his holiness, and for our purifica-
tion. Ver. 12 d, e.
Chap. i. vers. 13-17 : There is a limit set to the
power of the wicked upon earth. For —
1. God is holy. Ver. 13 a, b.
2. But the work of the wicked is unholy. For —
(a) It is a work of hatred against the righteous.
Ver. 13 c, d.
(b) It is an abuse of the powers bestowed by
God. Ver. 14.
(c) It does nothing for God, but everything for
itself. Ver. 15.
(d) It does not give God honor, but it makes
itself an idol. Ver. 1 6.
3. Therefore it must have an end. Ver. 17.
Chap. ii. vers. 1-4. The way of patience (compare
H. MuUer, Errjuickstunden, Nr. 97).
1. I must suffer, for God's judgments and puri-
fications are necessary. Ver. 1 in connection with
chap. L
2 I can suffer ; for God's Word sustains me.
Vers. 2, 3.
3. I will suffer, for I believe. Ver. 4.
Or: Persevere, for the redemption draws nigh.
I Advent-sermon ) .
1. The manner of perseverance: confidence.
Ver. 1.
2. The ground of perseverance : the promise.
Vers. 2, 3.
3. The power [Krafi, active power, or cause]
of perseverance ; faith. Ver. 4.
Chap. i. 12-ii. 4. Israel's life of promise.
1. A believing retrospect into the past.
2. A believing look into the future.
Chap. ii. vers. 5-20. Of shameful and hurtfal
avarice.
1. Avarice is contrary to the order prescribed
by God ; therefore God must bring it back to or-
der by chastisement. Vers. 1, 6 b, 7.
2. It is contrary to love, therefore, it produces
a harvest of hatred. Ver. 6 a.
3. It confounds the ideas of right, therefore
wrong must befall it. Ver. 8 a.
4. It makes the mind timid ; but where fear is
there is no stability. Ver. 9.
5. It accumulates [riches] with sin, therefore
for nothing. Vers. 12, 11, 13, 17.
6. It seeks false honor, therefore it acquires
shame. Vers. 15, 16.
7. It sets its heart upon gold and silver and life-
less things, therefore it must perish with its lifeless
gods. Vers. 18, 19.
8. On the whole, it provokes the judgment of
God. Vers. 8 b, 14, 20.
On chap. i. 12. Jehovah, the God of Shem, the
God of Abraham, of Israel and of Jacob, is not a
God of the dead, but of the living. He is a rock ;
he who stands upon Him stands firm ; he who falls
ap«n Him is crushed. Everything that God does
takes place for the instruction of him, who conse<
cj-ates himself to Him. The best way through the
afflictive dispensations ot God, is not to ask : How
shall I adjust them to my mind t But how shall
I make them productive of my improvement "i —
Ver. 13. There is an inability, which is no want
of freedom, but which is the highest freedom ; and
there is an ability, which is not freedom, but tl)e
deepest bondage. Matt. iv. 9. There is not ope
absolutely righteous man, but there are relatively
more righteous men ; the judgment of God has re-
spect to this fact. — Ver. 14 f Man was made lord
over the boasts. God indeed permits men to be
treated sometimes like beasts, but he who does it
commits sin by it ; and his insolence will be changed
to lamentation. — Ver. 16. The sinner perverts, and
vitiates the holiest thing in man, the necessity of
worship. Everything is a snare to him, who for-
sakes God. — Ver. 17. Everything continues its
time. Eccles. 3.
Chap. ii. 1 . Although we have the Holy Spirit
as a permanent possession of the Church, and are
no longer referred, like the prophets, to separate acts
of enlightenment, nevertheless the answers of the
Holy Spirit do not come to us without prayer, and
patience and quiet waiting. — Ver. 2. Everything
that is necessary to know in order to salvation, is
so plainly written in the Scriptures, that even one
who only looks at it hastily, in passing, cannot
say that he may not have understood it. — Ver. 3.
It is a great consolation to know that there is One
who cannot lie. Ps. cxvi. 11. God's time is the
very best time. We should not measure God's
ways by our thoughts, nor the periods of eternity
by our hours; but we should measure our ways by
God's Word. — Ver. 4. Take heed that thou think
not of thyself more than it is proper for thee to
think. In humility there is power. Matt. xv. 28.
Where there is no faith there is no righteousness.
The prophet considers faith to be a self-evident pos-
session of the righteous man. Life is the richest
idea in the Scriptures. It is a great consolation to
be able to say to the enemy, rage on ; thou canst
not do more to me than God has bidden thee, nor
more than what is useful to me ; and thy time is
already measured. — Ver. 5. The intemperate are
generally also vain-glorious. Both lead to destruc-
tion. Only a clear and sober eye finds the right
way. There are many things which intoxicate.
One can be into.xicated with honor, and another
with hatred against honor. One can be intoxicated
with science, and another with hatred against
science. All partisan disposition is an intoxicating
wine. Desire is insatiable : therein lies its destruc-
tion : it devours that, which produces its death. —
Ver. 6. It is a miserable feeling for fallen great-
ness to be derided by those hitherto despised. He
Avho gathers what is not his own does not gatner
it for himself. This also cannot continue long.
Dignities are burdens [ Wurden sind Burden, Prov.
= the more worship, the more cost — C. E.J dig
nities fraudulently obtained are burdens. — ver. 7.
It is by [divine] ordination, when he, whom God
intends to judge, nurses in his own bosom the
serpent, which is to sting him. So itwa» with
Nineveh. Thereby too \i. e., by the same appoint-
ment : darin refers to Verhttngniss ; see Acts ii. 23^
C. E.] Christ took upon himself the heaviest judg-
ment of sin. — Ver. 8. The whole world becomes
silent only before God. For all others there is a
remnant of those, who have not been subdued, by
whom they come to ruin. For tho-e, who are not
able to stay their hearts by faith in God, the doc-
trine of retribution taught in the law remains it
CHAPTERS I. 12-11. 20.
29
full power. They have no desire to choose the grace,
therefore wrath abides upon them. God takes care
of each individual, and will require each and every
abused and ruined soul from the destroyer. — Ver. 9.
Flee a? high as you may, God is always still higher.
What profit is there in all the prudence and in
all the gain of the world, if the soul is a loser by
them? — Ver. 11. God has his witnesses every-
where. " If these are silent, the stones will cry
out." The blood of Abel cries from the earth,
and the thorns and thistles in the field speak of
Gen. iii. — Ver. 12. There is a building which de-
stroys ; and a destroying which builds. — Ver. 13.
The blessing, or the curse, upon any work, comes
after all, finally, only from above. Nothing can
hinder the purposes of God concerning the world. —
Ver. 15 f. The career of a great conqueror has
something intoxicating. Before Napoleon not only
degraded men became idolaters. There is a witch-
craft in it. (Comp. i. 12 with the Introduction to
the book of Job. ) This comes finally to light, when
God judges it, and bitter sobering follows the in-
toxication : men then have a horror of the human
greatness before which they bowed. — Ver. 18.
There is also in idolatir a kind of intoxication.
The sober questions : What profiteth the image?
How can it govern ? guide ? teach ? do not occur
to the minds of the worshippers of idols. A god
that cannot speak is nothing. Without the Word
of God there is no religion. Him, who is not silent
before Jehovah from submission and faith, God's
judgments must make silent.
Luther: Chap. i. ver. 12. The prophet calls
God the Holy One of Israel, because they were holy
through theiilGod and by nothing else. And traly
from all eternity God is a Holy One. For it gives
great courage, when we know and firmly believe that
we have a God ; that He is our God, our Holy One,
and that He is on our side. — Ver. 13. With these
words Habakkuk shows what thoughts occur to
wrestling faith, which holds that God is just ; but
He delays so long, and looks on the mcked, that
one might almost think that He may not be just,
but may have pleasure in evil men. It is a source
of excessive grief that the unrighteous should be
successful so long and acquire such great prosper-
ity, though with calamity. But their success is per-
mitted, in order that our faith, having been well
tried, may become strong and abundant in God.
And yet this is not grievous beyond measure, when
a prophet stands by himself in such a conflict of
faith ; but when he stands in his official capacity and
is to console and preserve an entire nation with him,
then it is trouble, misery, and distress. Then the
people kick, and there are scarcely two or three in
the whole mass, who believe and struggle with him.
— Chap. ii. ver. 1 . Such words as the following will
become the common cry : Pray, where are now the
prophets, who promised us salvation f What fine
fools they have made of us. Believe, whoever will,
that it will come to pass. Thus does reason behave,
when God fulfills his Word in another way than it
has imagined. It is also the case then that one
will not believe God at any time. Does He threat-
en ? Then the present prosperity hinders us [from
believing]. Does He promise grace? Then the
present calamity hinders us. Then the prophets
p'st of all endeavor to labor with the unbeliev-
ing, faint-hearted people. Therefore I stand, says
the prophet, as one upon a tower, and contend
'trongly and firmly for the weak in faith against
ke unbelieving. — Ver. 4. Some take up the Jew-
9h objection, pretend to be wise, and pass judg-
ment upon Paul, as if he had dragged in Habak-
kuk unfairly and forcibly by the hair, since Hab-
akkuk speaks of his table, and not of the Gospel.
Though this table also speaks of the Gospel, ye<
it speaks of it as future, while Paul speaks of the
present Gospel. It is, however, the same Gospel,
which was then future and which has come, just
as Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever
(Heb. xiii. 8), although He is announced in a dif-
ferent way before and after his coming. But that
is a matter of no importance ; it is nevertheless the
same faith and spirit. The truth, which one has
in his heart, is called Emunah [firmness, stability,
faithfulness, fidelity], and by that he clings to the
truth and fidelity of another. Now I let it pass,
whoever may be disposed to quarrel about it, that
he who has the feeling in his heart which cleaves
to another as iaithful and true, and depends upon
him, may call it truth, or what he will ; but Paul
and we do not know any other name for such a
disposition than faith. — Ver. 11. Not only his ed-
ifice, but also the wide world, becomes too narrow
for him who has a timid, desponding heart, and
when a pillar or a beam cracks in his house he is
terrified. Therefore princes and nobles, if they
would build durably, should see to it that they lay
a right good foundation, that is, they shoulci first
pray to God for heart and courage, which in the
time of trouble may be able to preserve the buildmg.
But if no care is bestowed to acquire this courage
[den Muth, by which Luther means faith, or the
courage inspired by it — C. E.], but only wood and
stone are reared up, it [the building] must finally,
when the time comes, perish, as is here recorded.
Staeke : Chap i. ver. 12. One can certainly pray
to God for a mitigation, but not for an entire avert-
ing of all punishment. — Vers. 17. Plus ultra, always
onward, is the maxim of heroes ; how much more
should it be the maxim of Christians, in regard t»
their constant growth and increase in spiritual life.
— Chap. ii. ver. 1. Although all Christians, by
virtue of the covenant of baptism, have been ap-
pointed watchmen by God (Ps. xviii. 32 ff. ; cxxxix.
21), yet teachers particularly are called watchmen.
— Ver. 2. The prophets had not only a commis-
sion to preach, but also to write. They act very
wickedly who prevent plain people from reading
the Holy Scriptures. God's Word must be plainly
presented, so that even the most simple may learn
to understand it. — Ver. 3. Waiting comprises in
it (1) faith ; (2) hope ; (3) patience, or waiting to
the end for the time which the Lord has ap-
pointed, but which He intends us to wait for. —
Ver. 5. Pride, avarice, bloodthirstiness, and de-
bauchery God does not leave unpunished in any
one. — Ver. 8. We see here that not everything
which is done in accordance with international
law is right before God also, and allowed by Him.
— Ver. 9. Prosperity inspires courage ; courage
pride ; and pride never does one any good. — Ver.
10. Bad counsel affects him most who gives it.
When tyrants are to execute the command and
sentence of God, they generally observe no mod-
eration in doing it. — Ver. 15. One should never
invite any one as a guest, against whom he cher-
ishes a malignant heart. — Ver. 16. Those who
rejoice in distressing others, will in their turn be
brought to distress by God and made objects of
derision.
Peaff ; Chap. i. ver. 12. In times of public dan-
ger the safest and the best [means] is to have recourse
to prayer. By it one can best vanquish the enemy
and arrest his career. — Chap. ii. ver. 1 . The min-
isters of the Gospel are spiritual watchmen, partly
in relation to the souls of men, over which they
ciO
HABAKKUK.
ave to watch, and partly in relation to tlie Lord, to
whose Word they are to give heed and which they
are to preach. — Ver. 3. Ye despisers of the Word
of God, do not imagine that the Word of the Lord
against you will not be fulfilled. — Ver. 7 ff. To
God belongs the right of retaliation. With.what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again. — Ver. 20. If the divine judgments fall
also upon us, we must adore with the deepest
humility of heart, and lay our finger upon our
mouth.
RiEGER : Chap. ii. ver. 1. Even those who are in
true communion with God are not alwaj's in the
same state of mind. They are at one time, although
in a godly frame [of mind], occupied with external
things ; at another time they are entirely abstracted
from earthly things, and placed in a condition
which approaches to waiting before the throne of
God. This is sometimes etfected by the grace of
God through the medium of an unexpected im-
linlse; but there are also sometimes on the part of
the believer a preparation and composing of the
mind for it. This state of mind is indicated in the
New Testament by the expression, I was in the
Sjjirit ; and the prophet calls it his tower. — - Ver.
3 f. What, according to our reckoning, seems to
be delayed, will be admitted not to have been de-
layed ; but to have taken place at the appointed
day and at its proper time. The promises cannot
be forced [into fulfillment] by a headstrong dispo-
sition ; but on the contrary one falls sooner from
such busy activity back again to a state of indiffer-
ence, and thereby neglects the promise. — Ver. 5 ff.
Upon what must a man, who has in his heart no
peace arising from faith, lean for the purpose of
finding peace therein 1 And how is it with him
who misses the path that leads to God ? There is
nothing else adequate to fill the abyss of liis soul,
even though he were able to swallow the whole
world. What filth upon his soul has he in his con-
quests, in his forced acquisitions and possessions !
— Ver. 20. The i)rophet had obtained this whole
disclosure by quiet and persevering waiting upon
the Lord, and now for the sake of its realization,
also, he directs the whole world to be still before the
Lord, who from his holy temple will certainly
hasten the fulfillment of these his words, but who
also will be honored by the respect and by the
measure of the regard of his own people to his
judgments. When the heart is free from its thou-
sand cares, projects, passions, partial inclinations,
then, and not till then, can it receive many a ray
of divine knowledge. Faith is no sleep, but a vigi-
lant knowledge ; it is moreover no hasty and pre-
cipitate attempt to help one's self, but a waiting
upon the Lord.
ScuMiEDER : Chap. i. ver. 13. It would be in
conformity to the simple arrangement of God that
the pious should punish the impious, the more
"ighteous the unrighteous, not the reverse. But
.he ways of God in the present government of the
world arc so complicated and intricate, that the
reverse often actually takes place ; and this is to
the pious, who are not yet properly enlightened, a
great trial. — Ver. 14. Then it seems as if things
were directed by chance and at will. He who knows
God does not trust to false appearances ; but the
ap])earance nevertheless pains him, and he would
wish that even the appearance did not exist. — Chap.
ii. ver. 2 f. The end, the very last time and the
establishment of the perfected kingdom of God, is
of all future things the most certain and the most
unportant, and every iiilei'mediate prophecy of
uogment and redemption has a real value only in
the fact that it delineates this last end and assures
us of it. — Ver. 4. Here the character of Abra-
ham, the father of the faithful, is depicted in con-
trast with that of the insolent princes of the world
This character is righteousness, the source of right-
eousness is faith, the fruit is life in the full Biblical
sense of the word. Faith has no merit on the part
of man, because man cannot produce, but only re-
ceive it , for faith, as the consciousness of God, is
the work of the Creator in man. It is also faith
alone, which receives Christ and all the grace of
God in him ; but the same faith is also the essen-
tial principle of all good works. We must beware
of considering the faith, which lays hold of grace
and justifies the sinner, as a peculiar, separate kind
of faith : faith cannot be so divided in reality ; but
it is an indivisible unity : so the Bible understands
it. The dividing and isolation of faith into sep-
arate kinds, belongs only to the dogmatic systems
of human science. — Ver. 5. Comp. Dan. v. —
Ver. 6. There are times, when nations, that are
so often devoid of understanding, become prophets,
and the voice of God becomes the voice of the peo-
ple. — Ver. 18. The teacher, who makes an idol,
tries to animate stone and wood. But the anima-
tion by means of human idea and art ever remains
only a false animation, which, if it is considered
real, is deceptive, and only nourishes superstition.
W. Hoffman : On chap. i. ver. 12 (comp. Schmie-
der on chap. ii. ver. 1 ) : Among us of the evangel-
ical church faith is not even yet the possession of
every one. There is certainly need, in the Church,
of the venerable form of father Abraham to cast
us down ; of the man who never lost sight of what
had been revealed in grace and truth, who contin-
ually comforted himself with the fact, that the eter-
nal God, who made heaven and earth, and who
held with the first man a fellowship of peace, still
lived, because he had continued to reveal himself
during two thousand years previous.
BuRCK : It is something to know the final pur-
poses of the words of God , and to be able properly
to apply this knowledge in public and private af-
fairs.
HiEROM. : Ver. 13. He says this in the anguish
of his heart, as if he did not know that gold is
purified in the fire, and that the three men came
out of the fiery furnace purer than they were when
they were thrown in ; as if he did not know that
God, in the riches of his wisdom, sees otherwise
than we do.
BuRCK : Ver. 14. That God watches over the
smallest animals, he neither denies nor declares ;
but he says only that God has a particular care for
men, especially for his own people.
Hengstenb. makes an effective application of
ver. 13 ff. to gambling hells ( Vorw. z. Ev. K. Z.
[Preface to the £vam/elical CliuTch Gazette] 1867)
Capito : Chap. ii. ver. 1 : While the righteous
man wrestles with God by faith, he conquers at last
by his indefatigable perseverance. The prophet is
perplexed to the highest degree, while he considers
the success of the Chaldeean and the misery of his
own people, but he stands not the les.s constantly
upon his guard, i. e., upon the Word of God, which
promises reward and punishment, and he leans upon
God, as upon a rock, in order that his feet may not
slip upon the slippery soil of temptation. Whom
does God answer ? One who is almost broken un-
der daily struggles with bitter anguish of soul, to
whom nothing remains, after every protection is
lost, but to stand fast upon his watch, i. e., upon tha
Word of God. Trial teaches such perseverance.
Only the answer of God, if it .s heard with the ear
CHAPTEE in.
31
of the heart, leads to an unwavering hope, for it
comes when man despairs of everything else.
Ver. 3. Philo : Every word of God is an oath.
BuKCK : 0 those deplorable ones, who, under
whatever pretext, or self-delusion, shun trial. 0
the happiness of those who obtain the end of
faith, and who are to be gathered to Him to be with
Him. He will come, yea, certainly He will come.
Yea, come, Lord Jesus ! Amen !
Ver. 4. CocOEius : The soul stands right upon
that which is promised, i. e., Jesus Christ, if it loves
Him. If it does not love Him, it is ]iervcrse.
BuKOK : On every point, article, accuut, on every
turn and even collocation of words, which may
seem to be entirely accidental, the Word of God
has laid its especial emphasis. We acknowledge
with humility that itiis A word from God.
Talmud ; In lliis one sentence. The just shall
live by his emunah [faith], the six hundred and
thirteen precepts, which God once delivered from
Sinai, are collected into a compendium.
Ver. 5. ScnuEn ; The Babylonians were a
voluptuous people, notorious for their drunken-
ness; but this voluptuous propensity is usually
with the prophet an image of the insatiable desire,
by which in their pride they destroyed one nation
after another. And yet it is just so with wine
which is sweet to the taste and seems delicious,
and nevertheless it robs the most powerful of his
senses, makes him helpless and an object of uni-
versal derision. So shall it happen also to tho
Chaldseans with their insatiable greed: it will only
plunge them [by their own agency] into destruc-
tion and make them objects of general contempt.
H. MiJiLEE : Many treasures, many nets.
Whom does not the miser injure f He defrauds
his neighbor of his property : he is like a thorn-
bush ; lie grabs and holds on to whatever comes
too near lo him ; he seeks everywhere his advan-
tage to the disadvantage of others ; he deprives him-
self of God's favor and blessing, suflfers shipwreck
of his conscience and good name, loses the favor
and love of men. Lightly won, lightly gone.
Stumpf : Ver. 11. So in Euripides, Phaedra,
the wife of Theseus, breaks out vehemently against
adulteresses, that they should fear the very dark-
ness and the houses lest they might even raise their
voice and bring the abominable deeds which they
had witnessed to light. ^
SoHLiEK : The scourge of the Lord will perform
its service, then it will be thrown away.
1 [See tho Hippoli/tus of Euripides, line 415 f. — C. E.]
THE THEOPHANY.
Chapter III.
1 Title and Introduction (vers. 1, 2). The Prophet represents Jehovah as appearing
in glorious Majesty on Sinai (vers. 3, 4). He describes the Ravages of the Plague
in the Desert (ver. 5). The Consternation of the Nations (vers. 6-10). Refer-
ence to the Miracle at Gibeon (ver. 11). Results of the Interposition of God on
Behalf of his People (vers. 12-15). Subject of the Introduction resumed (ver.
16). The Prophet asserts his Confidence in God in the midst of anticipated
Calamity. Parallels to this Ode : Deut. xxxiii. 2-5 ; Judges v. 4, 5 ; Pa. Ixviii. 7,
8 ; Ixxvii. 13-20 ^ cxiv. ; Is. Ixiii. 11-14.— C. E.]
1 A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet : with triumphal music.^
2 0 Jehovah ! I have heard the report of thee, I am afraid ;
O Jehovah ! revive thy work in the midst of the years ;
In the midst of the years make it known :
In wrath remember mercy.
3 God " comes from Teman,'
And the Holy One from mount Paran.* Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is fiill of his glory.
4 And the brightness is like the sun ;
Rays ^ stream from his hand ;
And there is the hiding ' of his power,
5 Before him goes the plague ;
And burning pestilence follows his feet.
6 He stands and measures ' the earth :
He looks, and makes nations tremble . _
The everlasting mountains are broken in pieces
82 HABAKKUK
The eternal hills sink down :
His ways * are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan ' in trouble :
The tent-curtains of the land of Midian tremble
8 Was it against the rivers it burned, 0 Jehovah ?
Was thine anger against the rivers ?
Was thy fury against the sea ?
That thou didst ride upon thy horses,
In thy chariots of victory.
9 Thy bow is made entirely bare :
Rods '" [of chastisement] are sworn by the word. Selah.
Thou cleavest the earth into rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, they writhe ;
A flood of water passes over :
The abyss utters its voice ;
It lifts up its hands on high.
11 Sun, moon, stood back in their habitation,^
At the light of thine arrows, which flew,
At the shining of the lightning of thy spear.
12 In anger thou marchest through the earth ;
In wrath thou treadest down the nations.
13 Thou goest forth for the salvation of thy people ;
For the salvation of thine anointed :
Thou dashest in pieces the head from the house of the wicked,
Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.
14 Thou piercest with his own spears the chief of his captains.
That rush on like a tempest to scatter me j
Their rejoicing is to devour, as it were, the poor in secret.
15 Thou treadest upon the sea with thy horses,
Upon the foaming of many waters.
16 I heard, and my bowels trembled ;
At the sound my lips quivered ;
Rottenness entered my bones ;
I tremble in my lower " parts,
That I am to wait '^ quietly for the day of distress,
When he that approaches the nation shall press upon iti
17 For" the fig tree will not blossom;
And there is no produce on the vines ;
The fruit of the olive tree fails,
And the fields bear no food :
The flock is cut oflF from the fold ;
And there are no cattle in the stalls:
18 But I will exult in Jehovah,
And rejoice in the God of my salvation.
19 Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength,
CHAPTER EI.
33
And makes my feet like the hinds,
And causes me to walk upon my high places.
To the precentor,^^ with my stringed instruments.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
[1 Ver. 1. — n l3*'<l^' ^'^1 '^^P°^ skigyonotk, Keil derives it from H^tt?, to err, then to reel to and Jro, a reeling
long, i. «-, a Bong delivered in the greatest excitement, ditkyrambus ; afler dithyrambs^ or after the manner of a martia*
and triumphal ode, Kleinert ; narJt Dithyrambenweise.
Gesenius derives it from nDt£7, perhaps i. q. W3ti?, HStt?, to be great, the letters W and W being interchanged-
[2 Ver. 3. — Pii ^S, not used by any of the minor prophets except Habakkuk, in this verse and in chap. i. 11. It
is most frequently used in the book of Job.
[8 Ter. 3. — ID'^/H, ««, or on the right hand, hence the south, the quarter on the right hand, when the face is toward
the east.
Teman was a country probably named after the grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 11) ; perhaps a southern portion of the
land of Edom, or, in a wider sense, that of the sons of the East, Beni-Kcdem. Eusebius and Jerome mention Teman as
a town in their day distant fifteen miles (according to Eusebius) from Petra, and a Roman post. Smith's Bict. Bib.
[4 Ver. 3. — 7'^S3"'^nj Deut. xxxiii, 2. See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, art. " Paran," and Robinson's Bib.
Res. in Pal.^ etc., vol. i., pp. 186 and 662.
[6 Ver. 4. — D''5*1P» "^ ^^^ dual, poetical for rays of light. Arabic poets compare the first rays of the rising sua
to horns, and hence give to the sun the poetical name of gazelle. Compare nv_**,M. Getfen., Lex. Kleinert : Strahten
sind ihm zur Seite.
[8 Ver. 4, etc. — ^'^'^^^^ DtC?*), and there — in the sun-like splendor, with the rays emanating from it — is the hid-
ing of his omnipotence, i. '«., the 'place where his omnipotence hides itself. The splendor forms the covering of the Al-
mighty God. Keil.
[7 Ver. 6.— TlD^I, derived by some from 1"TQ, to measure, and by others from *1^D, to be moved, to be agitated
The LXX. read : Kat ea-ixKevOT} r) yij ; the Vulgate has : mcTisus est terram. Luther renders it : und mass das Land ,
Keil: sets Uu earth reeli-ng ; Kleinert: und misst die Erde,
[8 Ver. 6. — i^ n^i3? ni3*^7n. Henderson considers these words as epexegetical of the preceding, and trans-
lates them : His ancient ways. Keil understands it as a substantive clause, and to be taken by itself : everlasting courses^
or goings are to him, i. e. He now goes along as he went along in the olden time. Kleinert : Die Pfade der Vorzeit schtdgt
er ein.
[9 Ver. 7. — 1tt?^D, a lengthened form for tt?^^. Whether it is intended to designate the African or the Arabian
Cuflh is disputed. Gesenius, Maurer, Delitjsch, and others contend for the former ; but the connection of the namfl
with that of 'J*'1Q, is decidedly in favor of the latter. Henderson.
[10 Ver. 9. — "ITIS'S nilSD niySU? is a very obscure clause, and has not been satisfactorily explained. Hender-
son renders it : " Sevens of spears was the word." LXX. : 'EvTeCvtov ecTei/ets to to^ov <tov hr\ tA oKqirrpa, Aeyet Kiiptos ;
the Vulgate : juramenta tribubus qum toculus es : Luther : wie du geschworen hattest den Stdmmen; Kleinert : die durdi's
Wort beschwarenen Zuchtruthen.
fii Ver 11. n VIlT the PT in this word indicates direction. The sun and moon withdrew to their habitation.
*• T ••. :'
pa Vor. 16. — nnn, the lower part, wltat is underneath. "^riHri, what is underneath me, i. e., my lower parts.
[18 Ver. 16. — This clause explains the great fear that fell upon him. Vulgate : ut reguiescam in die tribiUationis. The
LXX. do not translate "ItTM — 'Ai'aTrautro/Aai ei- tjnepo 0\ii/»(r€uls fiov. Luther: O dass ich ruhen mochte zur Zeit der
IViiftsof. Kleinert : dass ich ruhig entgegenharren soil dem Tage der Angst.
[14 Ver. 17. — **3 may be rendered although, as in the A. V., or though^ aa by Henderson : or it may be translated
what time, when ; but it can also be rendered like the Greek yap, or the Latin enim. The LXX. render it in this verse by
JioTt; the Vulgate translates it enim; Luther, rfcnn ; and Kleinert, dwin da. The sense is substantially the same in
either case.
[IB Ver. 19. — n2J2p7, from the Piel of \V^\ signifying, to be over anything, to be ehxef to mperintend — Dem
Qesangmeister. — C. E.]*
EXEGBTICAL.
The prophecy of the judgment of the world,
under the form of a theophany, and already pre-
pared by ii. 14, immediately follows, like Zeph. i.
7 (comp. Zech. ii. 13), the emphatic /ayeie Unguis :
let all the world be silent before the Lord. That
Its contents are evidently just as much prophetic
M the previous is evident from their entirely orig-
wal character and from their having reference
"Uroughout to the fixture; and it hS been fur-
nished by the prophet himself (comp. Introd.) with
the liturgical heading, subscription, and intenne-
diate sign {Selah, vers. 3, 9, 13), for the reason that
it is, in fact, by its rhythm, diction, and formal
finish, conformed to the hymns and psalms adapted
to performance [in the public service]. It is solely
the application of a subjective notion of a psalm on
the part of Delitzsch and Keil, when they make
the entire song a mere lyrical sfl^sion of subjective
emotions, an echo of chaps, i. and ii. in the soul
of the poet inspired with peptic feeling. Compare
on ver. 2. It can be said at the most that the
Hi
HABAKKUK.
elosing lyrical verses, 16-19, sustain a relation to
the prophecy proper similar to that of Nah. ii. 12
tf. to Nah. ii. 1-11 ; hut they do not cease thereby
to belong to the prophecy. That the poetic form
is selected has its reason in the fact, that as all
prophecy involuntarily utters itself poetically in
consequence of the elevation of the soul freed from
the earth, so also the highest degree of the prophet-
ical inspiration includes, at the same time, the high-
est degree of the poetical. We hare examples of
this in the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah, which,
in their greatest height, strike up the key of the
Psalms. It entirely contradicts the thoroughly
original and grand character of the hymn, when
Delitzsch does not even allow it to pass as original,
but brings it down to an imitation of Ps. Ixxvii.
( The reasons for this opinion, which Delitzsch brings
together with great pains, and the most plausible
of which he repeats in the Covimentary on the
Psalms, are only of a subjective demonstrative
power ; a more exact examination is not in place
here, since the question for the understanding [of
the hymn] is an equivalent one. Hupfeld gives
the positive counter proof. Ps. iii. p. .345, Observ.
69.)
According to the contents the hymn is composed
of the following constituent parts : —
I. The prophecy of the theophany itself; vers.
2-15.
II. The application of this prophecy; vers. 16-
19.
The prophecy itself (vers. 2-15) is divided into —
[a] The ivtroihis, ver. 2, five lines.
(6) First chief part: the approach of God, vers.
•3-7, sixteen lines.
(c) Transihis, ver. 8, five lines.
(d) Second chief part : the operations of the
judgment, vers. 9-13, sixteen lines.
(e) The concluding strophe, vers. 14, 15, seven
lines.
The application is divided into two strophes of
six lines each, and a concluding strophe [Abgesang,
Collect] of five lines. [The rhythmical structure
is determined somewhat differently, to wit, by the
recurring Selah, which, in the second place, where
it might be expected on account of the symmetry,
is substituted in the text by a very old intermediate
space ; the theme of the hymn is divided into the
following symmetrical groups : (1) seven lines (2-
3 b); (2) fourteen lines (3c-7); (3) seven lines
(8-9 b); (4) fourteen lines (9c-13); (5) seven
lines (14, 15). The symmetry of the structure ex-
tends even (as is frequently the case in the Prov-
erbs of Solomon) to the separate members, which
generally (only with the exception of vers. 7,8 c,
13 c-14, 16 d) consist of three words. [This of
course refers to the Hebrew text. — C. B.] The
knowledge of this is not unimportant for the inter-
]jretation. Comp. on ver. 1 5.]
The form of the theophany, i. e. of an appear-
ance of God for judgment accompanied with the
agitation of all the powers of nature and elements,
is quite peculiar to the hymnology of the Old Tes-
tament and entirely born of its [0. T.] spirit. It
is, namely, the correlate of the first appearance of
the kind at the giving of the law upon Mt. Sinai
(Ex. xix. 16 ff.), which in its turn refers back to
the first appearances of God manifesting himself
to the patriarchs : compare particularly, Gen. xv.
From that appearance the hymns, which refer to a
historical theophany, take their start, Dent, xxxiii.;
Judges V. (comp. Ps. Ixviii. 8 AT. ; Ixxvii. 10 ff.) ;
Psalm xviii., which sums up the battles of God for
Vis anointed, in the form of the theophany (comp.
2 Kings vi. 17), is included with these. But the
use [of the 0. T. hymns] is not restricted to this
[a historical theophany]. For as God gave his law
with such a proof of his glory, so also will the ful-
fillment and execution of the law, the judgment, be
accompanied by such an appearance of God, com-
ing either as then from the south out of the wilder
ness, or down from heaven. Of this the prophetic
psalms 1., xcvii. treat ; furthennore Is. xxx. 27 If. ■
Ixiv. 1 ff. (with Ixiii. 19 b) [19 b begins chap. Ixiv
in the A. V. ; but in the Hebrew Onginal, LXX.,
Vulgate, and Luther's Version, it closes chap.
Ixiii. — C. E.] ; and most fully this prophecy. It
lies in the nature of the subject, that in prophecies
of this kind prophetic vision, poetic intuition, sym-
bolism, and reality, are interwoven in a manner
that cannot be fully explained by the finite under-
standing.
Heading. A Prayer, a general name of a song
that can be sung in worship, hence also a collective
name of the Psalms (Ixxii. 20), of Habakkuk, —
this passage shows plainly that the 7 in the head-
ings of the Psalms also is intended to indicate the
author — the prophet (comp. chap. i. ver. 1 ) after
the maimer of the dithyramb. This liturgical
definition is, like almost all preserved in the 0. T.,
obscure ; and its signification, since tradition is en-
tirely unreliable in these things, can only be con-
jectured. Probably it is to be traced, like l"l''2t&,
Ps. vii. 1 (comp. Clauss on the passage), to the
root n3tl7, to eir, reel, and accordingly signifies, as
a plur. abstr., the mode of the reeling song, the
cantio erraiica, the Dithyramb. [The Dithyramb
(Epich., p. 72, Herod., i. 23, and Pindar) was a
kind of poetry chiefly cultivated in Athens, of a
lofty but usually inflated style, originally in honor
of Bacchus, afterwards also of the other gods.
It was always set in the Phrygian mode, and
was at first antistrophic, but later usually mono-
strophic. It was the germ of the choral element
in the Attic tragedy. It was sung to the flute,
whilst the rest of the chorus danced in a circle
round the altar of the god. From this circum-
stance the dithyrambie choruses were called Cyc-
liau. — C. E.] It has no connection with the con-
tents of the pro])hecy.
[Keil : As shagdh, to err, then to reel to and fro,
Is applied to the giddiness both of intoxication and
of love (Is. xxviii. 7 ; Prov. xx. 1 ; v. 20), shig-
gayon signifies reeling, and in the termination of
poetry a reeling song, i. e., a song delivered in the
greatest excitement, or with a rapid change of
emotion, dithjrambus. — C. B.]
Introttus. ver. 2. Jehovah, I have heard thy
report [rather the report of thee : the genitive is
that of the object — C. E.] ; not that mentioned i
5 ff'. ; ii. 2 ff. ; for he had not only heard that, but
also written it down, and published it ; bat the re-
port which he is just about to announce (comp.
the retrospective reference, ver. 16; Ob. 1; Jer
xlix. 14 ; Jon. i. ) ; the report of the grand appear-
ance of Jehovah, in the impending judgment,
which is drawing near, for the purpose of visiting
with punishment the Holy Land, and that with a
twofold power of execution (comp. Am. i. 2) ; so
that in the Holy Land laid waste and purified b
the judgment, God by means of the judgment ove>
throws the spoilers. The separate acts meet in »
picture, as in Ps. xtili., before the vision of the
seer. Before the power of this theophany rising
upon his vision, and because the first moment' en-
l {Moment, among other meanings, has that of
CHAPTER III.
35
^rs into his consciousness as a fellow sufferer %vith
others (Micah i. 8) the prophet rccails : There-
fore I tremble, I am afraid. This is the result of
the manifestation of the mighty deeds of God ( Ex.
XV. 14 ; Ps. xviii. 45). Jehovah revive thy work
in the midst of the years. "What work is meant 1
Chap. i. 5 spoke of a work which was to he accom-
plished in a wonderful manner, and under that was
understood the desolation of the earth by the Chal-
dsBan. That work cannot be meant here ; for al-
though the prophet, without human weakness, has
to communicate the severe chastisements of God,
yet he cannot directly pray for them. That work,
moreover, was not called ""^ v3?5, but it was a
work by itself, whose distinguishing feature was
the fact, that, although ordained of God, it never^
theless wrought out itself, it had its power and en-
ergy in itself (i. 7). A work of grace must be in-
tended by which Jehovah proves Himself, in his
peculiar, well-known way, the Holy One of Israel
(i. 12), a work by means of which the impending
calamities are endurable (comp. I^HS 2"i7.2
^3*ni^, Ps. exxxviii. 7). And certainly the mean-
mg is here : quicken it in the midst of the years ;
n^n has the meaning of revivifying, of quicken-
ing anew (Ps. Ixxx. 19 ; Ixxxv. 7 [6]), a work of
grace, which had occurred once already in the be-
ginning of the years, and whose recurrence Israel
now needs, in order to be joyful again. And this
consists with no other act of God than the deliver-
ance from Egypt, which is described, Ps. xliv. 2, in
entirely similar words, and so this passage under-
stands Ps. Ixxvii. 13. It stands in fact at the be-
ginning of the years, namely, at the beginning of
the national existence (Hos. xi. 1). Then do thy
work anew in the midst of the years ; in the midst
of the years make known ; the imperative con-
tinued by the imperfect as in Ps. xxxi. 2 tf. ; to
make known is the same as to accomplish before
all eyes (Ps. ciii. 7). The explanation of the work,
which has been given, agrees well not only with the
circumstance that in fact in the following context
(comp. namely, the "old paths," ver. 6) a return
of the wonderful works, that were performed at the
time of that deliverance, is predicted, bu t also with
the concluding clause: in wrath (comp. Is. xxviii.
21) remember mercy, which, according to what
has been said, evidently means, if thou intendest
to humble us again, do thou also again deliver us.
The announcement follows the exclamation of
feeling : vers. 3-7. The approach of Jehovah from
the Smth. Bloah (poetic archaism instead of
DTt^M, comp. Deut. xxxii. 15) comes from Te-
man, and the Holy One (comp. on i. 12) from
the mountains of Paran. The southern country,
ae in Judges j. and Ps. Ixviii. (lil3"'tl''^), the point
from which God sets out, because He approaches
from Sinai (Ps. Ixviii. 9 [8]), is introduced (com-
pare Deut. xxxiii.) by the enumeration of two
divisions, namely, Teman, which is the same as
Edom, and forms the East division (comp. Ob. 9
with Jer. xlix. 22) ; and the mountainous region
of Paran, between Edom and Egypt (1 Kings xi.
18), forming the West division. Compare the peri-
phrase, Gilead and Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah
(Ps. Ix. 9), for Canaan. In regard to the Selah,
tompare Sommer, Bib. Essays, i. 1 if., Delitzsch,
demflnt, part of a whole. The two momeata, that make up
WW prophetic Tiaion here, are destruction and purification.
" U the flrst which catues the prophet to recoil. — 0. E.]
Psaiter (1867), p. 70 tf. While God approaches,
his splendor covers the heavens (comp. Ps. viii.
1 ), the clear brightness of his glory making its ap-
pearance (Ps. civ. 1 f. ; Luke i. 78), which like the
purple light of the morning (Hos. vi. 3) covers the
heavens, and like a sea of fire sinks on the earth :
and the earth is filled with his glory (comp. ii.
14 ; Is. vi. 3 f ), n^nn, properly praise, here by
metonymy the object of praise, is synonymous with
T133, as in Ps. Ixvi. 2. The flaming glory of
Jehovah filling everything, is a vision of such ex-
cessive sublimity, that one scarcely dares to follow
the prophet in spirit to meditate upon it.
Ver. 4. Out of this glory — the veil of God —
bursting upon the view, shoot forth lightnings like
rays (comp. Ps. xviii. 13 ; Matt. xxiv. 27), like
the rays of the rising sun through the morning
sky : a brightness bursts forth like sunlight (Is.
V. 30), and horns, i. e. rays (Ex. xxxiv. 29 f.) are
at his side [hand]. The Arabic poetry and pop-
ular language also call the first rays of the rising
sun horns, antlers, and conformably with this they
call the sun himself a gazelle (comp. Ps. xxii. 1),
Hence also the dual, IT'S is used in a general
sense : at the side, equivalent to " on both sides " ;
compare the expression, " before and behind " [at
his presence, at his feet — C. E.], in the following
verse (Delitzsch). L'1"T^''P signifies literally "from
his hand," but since the hand is by the side, it is
equivalent to " at his side." "As the disc of the sun
is surrounded by a splendid radiance, so the com-
ing of God is inclosed by rays on both sides." The
suffix in ib refers to God. — C. E.]- And there,
in this radiant splendor, is the veil, properly the
hiding of his omnipotence (comp. Ez. i. 27). He
is so resplendent himself, that even the light is only
his garment (Ps. civ. 2). The garment of his om-
nipotence, by virtue of which He is judge of the
world, and at the service of which are the satellites
of the judgment.
Ver. 5. Before Him goes the plague, and
burning pestUenoe foUows his feet. So had Hos.
xiii. 14 predicted it : I will be thy plague, O death
(the plague, which provides for thee the victim), I
will be thy pestilence, O grave. With these angels
of death he had, approaching from the south, de-
stroyed also the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings xix.
35).
Ver. 6. Then He stands (He alone is calm
amidst all the violent commotion, comp. Micah
V. iii. ) and measures the earth. The measuring,
^^I2 is a function of God as the judge of the
world ; also in Ps. Ix. 8 (Kal is employed to sig-
nify parcelling out tracts of land, comp. Micah ii.
4), and Is. Ixv, 7 (requiting with the right meas-
ure), comp. 2 Sam. viii, 2. He measures the earth,
I. tj.. He measures the countries and their practices,
in order to execute a right judgment. [Delitzsch
and others more conformably to the parallelism, fol-
lowing the Targum : He sets [the earth] reeling ;
however, the signification (i:iS3=l3TO) cannot be
verified.] He looks, examines with a scrutinizing
look (Ps. X. 14), and makes the heathen tremble.
^"^^1 is the Hiphil of "iri^j and means to cause to
shake or tremble. — C. E.] God is a spirit, and
his spiritual acts are of complete energy and eifi-
ciency ; his hearing is granting ; his seeing, help-
ing or judging ; his rebuking, annihilation. Then
the primeval mountains, the unchangeable
[mountains] (Micah vi. 2 ; comp. Deut. xxxiii. 15)
burst asunder; the hills of the eariy world
36
HABAKKUK.
link down. His are the paths of olden time,
I. €., He follows them ; the paths in which He
then conducted his people from Egypt into the
land [of Canaan] (Ixvui. 25 [24]).
Hence also now, as then (comp. Ex. xv. 14 ff.)
the nations on both sides of the way fall into fear
and confusion. It is quite plain that ver. 7, in
which the borderers on the Red Sea, on the east
and west, are mentioned as the trembling nations,
refers to that event [the deliverance from Egypt]
of the ancient time. I, the prophet, see, in vision,
the tents of Cushan, i. e., Cush, Ethiopia, west,
on the sea, in aflBiotion (comp. Jer. iv. 15). (So
Luther, Gesenius, Maurer, Delitzsch, Keil, Hitzig,.
and others. According to the Targum, Talmud,
Cushan of Mesopotamia is meant (Judges iii. 8 ff. )
[which I let pass, it does not agree with the ar-
rangement, Luth.] ; Ewald considers it the same
as Jokshan). [Smith, Z)ic(. of the Bible, art. " Chu-
shan," thinks that Cushan is possibly the same as
Cushan-rishathaim (A. V. Chushan-) King of Mes-
opotamia (Judges iii. 8, 10). See article, "Cushan."
— C. E.] The curtains of the land of Midian,
on the east of the Red Sea, tremble.
Ver. 8. A lyrical intermediate strophe, which,
at the same time, serves as a connecting link with
what follows : the poet stops in the description, in
order to take a new start (compare similar pauses.
Gen. xlix. 14; Judges v. 12; Ps. Ixviii. 20 ff. ;
xviii. 21 ff. ). He inquires after the purpose of the
approaching God. The question is evidently not
put for an answer ; but it is a poetical form. "Was
it against the rivers, O Jehovah, against the
rivers that thy wrath was kindled ? Jehovah is
in the vocative, because it would [otherwise] be
connected with n~)n by b- [The Hebrew idiom
is V nin, to burn to one {sciL, anger), to feel angry,
he wroth. See Nordheimer's Heb. Grain., vol. ii. p.
227. — C. E.] Or was thy fury against the
£.ea? The sea and rivers also retire before the ap-
poaching glory of God (Ps. cxiv. 3, 5). DS con-
nects cumulative questions, even when they have
nothing disjunctive in them (Gen. xxxvii. 8).
1 hat thou didst ride upon thy horses, the cherub
wings of the wind (Ps. xviii. 11) upon thy chariot
of salvation ? The elements, clouds and winds,
here as everywhere, sen'anis, messengers, media of
the manifestation of God (Ps. civ. 4), are symbol-
ized as horses and chariots, because the judgment
is a warlike act of the Lord of Hosts, and chariots
and horses are the instruments of war (Micah v.
9 [10]). [When complex terms receive a suffix,
tliey can stand, according to Hebrew idiom, in
the Stat, constr., Ewald, sec. 291 b.] [This con-
struction is poetical. — C. E.] The signification
o{ victory for H^ltB^ denied by some, is evidently
implied in that of " salvation," both here and in
Is. lix. 17, and in the passages, where the noun oc-
curs in the plural (Ps. xviii. 51, and other places).
[Keil : " By describing the chariots of God as
chariots of salvation, the prophet points at the
outset to the fact, that the riding of God has for
its object the salvation or deliverance of his people.
— C. E.] With this warlike turn the transition is
immediately made to —
The second prirtcipal part, vers. 9-13, which de-
scribes how the judgment is put in execution.
Ver. 9 a, b, continues the picture of God as the
warrior, begun in ver. 8. Thy bow is made quite
bare. [It is unnecessary to invent, with the inter-
preters, for "l"Ii?n, the stem ^'^^ midare, which
has no exi tcnce, of which the form [in question]
would be the 3 fern. imp. Niph. ; it is the 3 imp
Kal from TIV (Is. xxxii. 11), comp. ^l!*. from
V3~\ (Prov. xi. 15). '^'"'^ is an anomalous fem-
inine form of the infin. absolute from the cognate
stem my (comp. Ewald, sec. 240 d. ; 312 b, 2) ;
and so the words are closely connected : it would
have been prosaic and according to rule to have
said TiSn ~li"lU.] [Gesenius, Fiirst, and Keil take
"li3;ri from "IW, and n^n?' as a noun. — C. E.j
God's judgment is represented as an arrow upon
the string also in Ps. xxi. 13 [12] comp. Lam. iii.
12). But the bow, and in general God's weapons
of war, are not to be taken in the strictest literal
sense, but they are, as the prophet adds in explan-
atory apposition, the scourges sworn by the
word. nttQ has nowhere the signiiication of ar-
row, which would suit excellently the bow, and
which is held by some interpreters (e. g., Meier,
Stud. u. Krit., 1842, 1031 f.) ; even in ver. iv. it can
at the most, as in 2 Sam. xiv. 17, signify spears.
Were it to be actually taken in this sense, then,
since it introduces a new figure, it must be joined
to najp by ^. But certainly the "IBS indicates
that here the figure passes over into the thing [re-
ality] ; hence we understand, as we have said, the
clause rather as an explanatory adjunct, and ac-
cordingly mCO as scourges, calamities ; compare
this usage of the language for the chastisements
threatened by the prophets : Micah vi. 9 (hear the
rod !) ; Ez. vii. U ; Is. x. 5 ; ix. 3 ; xiv. 5. They
are sworn to by the word, i. e. the Word of God ;
comp. Micah vi. 9 ; Deut. xxxii. 40 f ; and as to
the absolute use of "IQS for the omnipotent Word
of God, which opens a way for his great deeds in
the world, compare Ps. Ixviii. 34 [33]; 11 [12],
"laS is in the ace. instr. like ^57'^' Ps. xvii. 13.
The participle miJIDtS (comp. Ez. xxi. 23 [28]
is separated from this mstrumentalis belonging to
it, because it should stand emphatically at the be-
ginning, and for the same reason it is also placed
before its substantive ; consequently it is to be
considered as the stat. constr., mtSQ m3?13!B,
like riS ''3"'D2, Micah v. 4 (5). Delitzsch gives
a synopsis of more than a hundred explanations of
this difficult passage). After the Selah the prophet
turns again, ver. 9 c-12, to the description of the
powerful catastrophe of Nature which, according
to the parallelism pervading the Holy Scriptures
between the mikrokosmos and makrokosmos, man
and visible nature, accompanies the judgment.
With streams thou dividest the earth. [Del-
itzsch, Baumlein, Keil: into rivers thou dividest
the earth ; without sense ; Hitzig : Thou dividest
rivers to earth ; Ewald : Thou dividest streams to
land, etc.]. Our translation [riTinS, ace. instr.
like ~'QW] is justified by Micah i. 4, where the
surface of the earth is cleft into guUeys by the
masses of water rushing from the mountains.
Ver. 10. Whence the torrents ? The moun-
tains saw thee and trembled, the water-flood
rushes on. Thunder-storm and violent rains, as
a representation of the most powerful agitation of
the elements, accompany the theophany, comp. on
Micah, at the place cited. From the mountains
the prophet turns to the extreme Of<posite, the
depths of the sea : the abyss raises its voice —
the deep water, that surrounds the main-land (Jon.
ii. 6) and lies spread out under the main-lnnj
CHAPTER III.
37
(Gen. xlix. 25) is here, like the mountains, poet-
ically personified. The voice of the abyss is the
roaring of the waters shut up underneath (Job
Xxviii. 14). It raises its hands on high. Ci"!
is not the subject-nominative, which would yield
no sense, since the height cannot stretch out its
hands over itself; but it is (he accusative of direc-
tion (2 Kings xix. 22). The archaic form ^m"''!''
is selected for pictorial effect, instead of the current
form I^IV By the hands of the abyss one will
properly understand the waves of water thrown
visibly on higli, which, as at the Deluge, break
through the flood-gates of the earth (Nah. ii. 7),
and unite with the gushing rains from heaven
(comp. Gen. vii. U).
Ver. 11. The sun, the moon, either, enter into
their dwelling, i. e., withdraw so that one sees them
no more, and darkness comes oti (Delitzsch, Hitzig,
Keil) ; or, stand still, continue standing terrified
in their place, just where they were standing at
the beginning of the judgment. The latter, on
account of lOV and the reference to Jos. x. is the
more probable, 7l3T is a place of abode (comp.
Ps. xhx. 25 with ciii. 16) ; the precise idea of
dwelling arises only from the addition of n'S (1
Kings vi. 13; 2 Chron. vi. 2).
At the light of thine arrovrs, which flew, at
the shining of thy spear. The holy majesty of
God manifesting itself is turned to the majesty of
a judge executing justice; the holy light into the
devouring fire (Is. x. 17).
The discourse, vers, 12, 13, turns directly to the
acts of judgment connected with the salvation of
Israel : In anger thou marchest (poetical expres-
Bion, as in Judges v. 4 ; Ps. Ixviii. 8) the land,
first of all the Holy Land, since He comes fron;
Sinai (comp. Micah i. 2). In indignation thou
thrashest the heathen, as of old (Ps. Ixviii. 22
n
ver. 13. Thou wentest forth for the salva-
tion of thy people — VW^, as a nom. verb, is con-
strued with the Ace. (Ewald, sec. 239 a) — for the
salvation of thy anointed, by whom, according
to the parallelism, is to be understood not so
much the unworthy Jehoiakim as the nation itself
(Ps. Ixxxiv. 10 [9] ; cv. 15). (LXX., Eosenmul-
ler, Ewald, Hitzig.)
Thou orushest the head (Ps. ex. 6) of the
house of the wicked, laying bare the founda-
tion even to the neck. The house of the wicked
is the Chaldiean nation viewed as a family ; com-
pare the house of Israel, Ps. cxv. 12, and above.
Whilst it is compared to a human body (compare
the inverted comparison. Job xxii. 16 ; Eccles. xii.
3f ) its entire destruction {wavoXedpia, Jo. Schmid)
is represented by the enumeration of the separate
parts, head, lower extremities, and neck. The in-
fin. abs. n1~li?, to lay bare, i. e., from the founda-
tion, to raze to the ground (Ps. cxxxvii. 7) stands
as the abl. gernndii, Ges., sec. 131, 2.
Ihe concluding portion [of the description of
ihi thsophany — C. E.], vers. 14, 15, carries out
ftij thought still further. It differs from what
precedes by beginning with shorter rhythms.
Thlu piercest through with his spear (comp.
>n ver. 9), with the weapons of the wicked one
,'comp. Ps. vii. 17 (16), the head of his princes,
comp. lltlG, Judges v. 7-11 ; LXX. on the same
e, and Ges., s. v. in Thes. The signification
of hordes (Delitzsch, Keil) cannot be evolved from
the circumstance that "^V^^ designates an inhabi-
tant of the niT^^j the plain : the passage treats of
warriors, who have entered by force, not of peace-
ful settlers. His princes, they rush in (comp. i.
11) to disperse me, properly to scatter me: the
prophet speaks in the name of the people ; and
they rejoice as if they were allowed to devour
the poor in secret ; literally, whose rejoicing is,
as it were, in devouring, etc. (comp. Ps. x. 5 ff.).
The 7 concomitantise as in ver. 11.
Ver. 15. Thou treadest upon the sea. Thy
horses upon the billows of great waters. Usu-
ally, Thou walkest on the sea (Umbreit, Hitzig) or
Thou walkest through the sea ( Delitzsch, Keil ) with
thy horses. The exposition has its origin in the
Masoretic interpunction, which, in following the
rhythmical structure of the hymn, unites the first
three words. But already in the preceding verse
the rhythmical unity does not consist of three, but
of two words ; and even if in ver. 15 we take the
number three as a foundation [of rhythmical
unity] the rhythmical arrangement indicated by
the Masorites would still not involve the logical
(comp. Ps. XXX. 8). Our exposition is much
simpler, by which the last four words, with the
verb 'i]Tl, which is naturally to be supplied, form
a sentence. In this way the dragging occasioned
by the following ace. instr. "fDID as well as the
still more pompous conception of the second mem-
ber disappears, and the clause [15B] stands in ap-
position. "f"n has then both constructions, with
21 as in Deut. xi. 24, and with the Ace. as in Job
XX. 15. Following Ps. Ixxvii. 20 (19) Delitzsch
finds in the passage a reminiscence of the lied
Sea ; Hitzig understands by the sea the host of
the enemy. The latter on account of the connec-
tion with what immediately precedes, is the more
probable (comp. Is. xvii. 12 ff.). And it appears
to me nearest the truth according to the joint con-
nection of the combined thoughts : As thou didst
once lead thy people through the Red Sea, and
marching before didst cast down the waters, so
wilt thou now march through, renewing thy
work (ver. 2) and treading down the surging mass
of the enemy's host.
The Subjective Application of the Prophecy follows,
with trembling, but confident faith, in the third
principal part, vers. 16-19. After the vast picture
has rolled past his eyes, the prophet looks back to
the beginning. I have heard this, — this divine
judgment just described, which depends upon the
sad condition of the land's being overrun by the
Chaldaeans ; — my belly trembled (comp. Is. xvi.
11). At the cry, crying aloud, my lips quivered.
Gew. : At the sound my lips quivered (Delitzsch,
chattered). bbS cannot mean to chatter, for the
lips do not chatter, but the teeth. We translate it
according to the analogy of W1.t^7 and nQ"1Kl7,
Ex. XX. 7 ; Ps. xxiv, 4 ; comp. Is. xv. 5. Rotten-
ness, the feeling of complete weakness (Prov. xii.
4) comes into my bones, and under me, down
to my feet (Ewald, sec. 217 k), I tremble : that I
("ItffS, quod, as in 1 Sam. ii. 23; Ps. Ixxxix. 52)
am to wait quietly (n-13, of silen '. submission, as
in Lam. iii. 26) for the day of distress (comp. on
ver. 2 and on Ob. 12), for the approach of him
b»
HABAKKUK.
against tlie people, wlio is about to oppress
them. ?, sensu in/enso, as in Job xx, 27. After
the grand consolatory picture, the prophet once
more indulges, for himself and his hearers, in this
gloomy view, which he draws of the nearest fu-
ture.
Ter. 17. For the flg tree will not blossom,
and no yield will be on the vine — the fruit of
the ohire tree falls: it shrivels up. [Kleinert
translates n^!"ntt7??l|?, dus Ansetzen, die Frucht-
ansdtze des Oelbaums ; it is literally fruit of the
olive tree. Compare the phrase *~'P ^^f? to
bear fruit. — C. E.] Figs, wine, olive tree are
mentioned as the noblest products of the land
(Micah iv. 4 ; vi. 15). And the corn-field yields
no food, mmtr, fields, is plurale tantum, with
a singular signification, equivalent to 'T^'? hence
construed with the singular (Ges., sec. 146, 2).
The flock is away, literally cut off from the fold,
and there are no cattle in the stalls. As in
Joel 1 f the desolation caused by the enemy (e. f )
seems to be summed up with the natural calam-
ities that befall the land (a-d).
But out of the distress the prophet, and with
him the people, raises his eye to the object of faith,
gathering words of hope and confidence from the
Psalms, as in Micah vi. 7. Ver. 18. But I —
used emphatically to express the antithesis: not-
withstanding all that, just as in Micah vii. 7 —
will rejoice upon Jehovah. 3^ not in God, but
as in the verbs expressing delight generally, indi-
cating the ground of the joy, comp. M, Luke i.
47. I wiU exult in the God of my salvation,
who procures my salvation, and upon whom my
salvation rests (ver. 13 ; Micah vii. 7). For —
Ver. 19. Jehovah, the Lord, the God of Israel,
whom othernations do not have, nor know (Micah
iv. 5; comp. Gen. ix. 2.5 (26)), is my strength
(Ps. xxvii. 1 ), and He makes my feet Uke hinds ;
a concise conipanson, equivalent to the feet of
hinds, borrowed from Ps. xviii. 34 (33). This is
not merely a hgure for warlike activity in pur-
suing, but more commonly for the irresistible
strength, which springs from confidence in God
(comp. Is. xl. 29 ff.), (Delitzsch). He makes
me to walk on my high places (from Ps. xviii.
34 (33); comp. Deut. xxxiii. 29), — upon the
heights of salvation, which stand at the end of the
way of tribulation, and which only the righteous
man climbs by the confidence of faith (u.4). With
this p"Ospect of faith resulting from vers. 4-15, the
hymn doses naturally and beautifully.
The Liturgical Subscription, — to the chief singer
on my stringed instruments, — corresponds to
the heading, ver. 1 (compare the Introduction, 3).
3 cannot, as Hitzig thinks, represent the stat.
abs. ; but it is, as in these musical expressions gen-
erally, the 3 of accompaniment (Ps. xxxiii. 2, 3).
Habakkuk accordingly dispatched his hymn to the
director of the teraple-mnsic (comp. the Comm. on
Ps. iv. 1), and stipulated for the accompaniment
of the performance. To accompany the hymn for
the praise of God with stringed instruments was
customary among those skilled in music (Ps.
Ixxvii. 7 (6)). Not merely the Levites, but also
other prominent members of the congregation and
moved by the Spirit, as, e. <;., the king, had the
right and were accustomed to do this in the tem-
ple (la. xxxviii. 20).
[Keil: "The last words, ''ni3"'a52 n?3pb,
do not form part of the contents of the supplica-
tory ode, but are a subscription answering to the
heading in ver. 1, and refer to the use of the oda
in the worship of God, and simply differ from the
headings nS3ab jliS'^MS in Ps. iv., vi., liv.,
Iv., Ixvii., and Ixxvi. through the use of the suf-
fix in "'ni^'^aaa." Through the words, " to the
president (of the temple-music, or the conductor)
in accompaniment of my stringed playing," the
prophet appoints his psalm for use in the public
worship of God accompanied by his stringed play-
ing. Hitzig's rendering is grammatically false,
" to the conductor of my pieces of music ; " for 5
cannot be used as a periphrasis for the genitive,
but when connected with a musical expression,
only means with or in the accompaniment of (3 in-
strumenti or concomitantiai) . Moreover, m3''25
does not mean pieces of music, but simply a song,
and the playing upon stringed instruments, or the
stringed instrument itself (see at Ps. iv.). The
first of these renderings gives no suitable sense
here, so that there only remains the second, viz. ;
" playing upon stringed instruments." But if the
prophet, by using this formula, stipulates that the
ode is to be used in the temple, accompanied by
stringed instruments, the expression binglnoihai,
with my stringed playing, affirms that he himself
will accompany it with his own playing, from
which it has been justly inferred that he was qual-
ified, according to the arrangements of the Israel-
itish worship, to take part in the public perform-
ance of such pieces of music as were suited for
public worship, and therefore belonged to the Le-
vites, who were entrusted with the conduct of the
musical performance of the temple.
Alexander on Is. xxxviii. 20 : " The singular
form, my songs, refers to Hezekiah as the authol
of this composition ; the plurals, we will sing ami
our lives, to the multitude who might be expeeted
to join in his public thanksgiving, not only at first,
but in after ages."
Kleinert has adduced no proof, except the single
case of Hezekiah, which does not seem to be con-
clusive, that others besides Levites were accus-
tomed to take part in the performance of the Tem-
ple-music. David divided four thousand Levites
into twenty -four classes, who sang psalms and ac-
companied them with music. Each of these classes
was superintended by a leader, n?5P placed over
it ; and they performed the duties, which devolved
upon them, each class a week at a time in succes-
sion, 1 Chron. xvi. 5 ; xxiii. 4, 5 ; xxv. 1-31 ; comp.
2 Chron. v. 12, 13. This arrangement was con-
tinued with occasional interruptions. 2 Chron. v.
12-14; xxix. 27; xxxv. 15; Ezra iii. 10; Neh.
xii. 45-47 ; 1 Mace. iv. 54 ; xiii. 51. — C. E.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHIOAL.
Concerning the nature of the theophany see the
Excgetical Exposition.
The works of God are all profoundly connected
with one another. The soul of this connection ia
the revelation-principle, the light. With the shin-
ing of the light the physical creation begins, and
each day is a copy of it [the physical creation] (Ps.
civ., comp. Herder, WW. zur Rel. «. Tieol., L 56
ff. ; V. 70 ff.) ; from a fresh shining it [upon us
CHAPTEE III.
39
sf the light the prophets expect the removal of the
disturbance in the moral world (Hos. vi. 3 ; Is. ix.,
and this hymn) ; and every governing act from
the spirit of God is a prefiguration of this future
[renovation] (2 Sam. xxiii. 4). A shining of the
light into the darkness, is the fulfillment of these
expectations (John i. 5). The connection between
the economy of the Old Testament and that of the
New is this, that the spiritual meaning is evolved,
with increasing clearness, from the physical ground-
work. But this is in the midst of the years. At
the end of the years the entire physicd nature will
be restored to the sphere of the spiritual light.
For between these two spheres there exists also
an indissoluble connection. As the destruction of
the original moral unity between God and" man-
kind reflected itself on nature (Gen. iii.), (and
hence the prophets expect the removal of terrors
and discord from the time of the salvation [the
last time, or time of the Messiah], Is. xi.), so the
last consequence of sin, the judgment, is accom-
panied by the fearful commotion of the elements ;
before the avenging God march the raosi terrible
judgments: the sighing of nature (Rom. viii.) be-
comes groaning and shrieking ; but these again
are only the travail-throes of the pure and glori-
ous new birth. After the darkness and terror at
the death of Jesus follows the resurrection of the
dead.
On the other hand the coming of God to the
judgment is organically connected with the issue
of the document, according to which the judgment
is to take place. It is a coming from Sinai. And
as a coming to the relief and deliverance of captive
Israel, it is associated with the prototype of their
deliverances, — their emancipation from Egypt. It
is indeed always something new, which Jehovah
does, and yet always only a revival of the old ; He
is a steadfast and unchangeable God, and perfectly
uniform in his manifestations, and always ac-
knowledges the beginnings of his actions. How-
ever strange his works and revelations appear, con-
sidered a prion, so strange that the view of them
is unsupportable ; yet when He goes forth, He goes
forth for the salvation of his people. He is a faith-
ful and concealed God.
Every renewal of the wrath and pity of God is
one of the gradual fulfillments of the protevan-
geUum (Gen. iii.), that the serpent is indeed per-
mitted to bruise the holy seed on the heel, on ac-
count of sin, but that again and again its head is
crushed (ver. H) ; and it is a gradual revival of
the pvoto-prophecy (1 Kings xi.x.), acbording to
which, the still small voice, in which God is, comes,
after the wild agitations of the terrible judgment
which goes before Him.
^ lo this all-embracing unity of the work of God
lies the key to the understanding of intuitive
prophecy. Standing upon its watch-tower (ii. 1)
It sees, over the scene of confusion, the work of
God in its unity and entireness, as if its parts
were placed side by side, and it leaves to the suc-
cession of time to carry into effect successively the
parts of that [work], which it sees as one. Thus
the individual fulfillments are like coverings, which
drawn over the picture and transparent, fall oflT
one after the other, until the substance, which lies
in the nature of God Himself, the Cabodh [glory] of
lehovah, shall arrive at its perfect manifestation.
in the mean time it finds in the combined vievv
ground enough to rejoice on [after-, see on ver. 18
— C. E.] God, for the certainty of salvation is the
true central feature of the picture. God is neither
in the storm, and tempest, and earthquake, which
go before Him, neither is He in the fiery chariots
and horsemen ; but behind all these in the stiU
small voice. Wlien those events going before have
purified the high places, God sets his people like-
wise purified upon them. Then Mount Zion is
higher than all mountains (Micah v.).
Crusius : The things, which the prophets an-
nounce, are exhibited {complexe) in a comprehen-
sive picture, so that they are taken into the eya
all at once in their whole extent, or /card rh ctrro-
Te\i(Tim, i. e., according to the form, which the
thing will have at the time of its full accomplish-
ment.
ScHMiEDER (on ver. 13) : The picture might
be still more comprehensive, if, in accordance with
Dan. ii. 31 fi'., we conceive the entire succession of
hostile empires as the image of one man or house,
whose colossal size falls under the judgments of
God, after its head is broken off.
Beck : The promise enters upon a new active
development, when corruption of morals and dis-
tress reached with rapid steps their culminating
point in the Exile. As on the one side the char-
acter of guilt and penal liability impressed itself
always more generally and more perceptibly upon
the life, soon the other side, particularly among the
better sort, a despair of the means of delivery ly-
ing within their own reach, and a longing for rec-
onciliation and redemption, directed to help from
another source, must always have increased the
more, but without being able to find thoroughly
its true development and satisfaction otherwise
than in the ground of Divine grace. For from it
proceeds the consolation of delivei-auce and recon-
ciliation, in such a manner, however, that the fu-
ture salvation is never to be expected in a human
way, but only from the Word and Arm and Spirit
of Jehovah.
HOinLETlOAL.
The consolation of prophecy in the last tribulations
of the people of God.
1 . These tribulations must and will come (ver.
2 a, 16, 17).
2. But the same God, who decrees them, will
also turn them away and put down all his enemies
(Is. liv. 10) (ver. 2 b-15).
3. And the final salvation is certain, therefore
the Church can already, in the midst of troubles,
maintain a joyful heart (vers. 18, 19).
Ver. 2. It; is enjoined in the kingdom of God to
rejoice with trembling. That easy indifference,
which relies upon the forbearance and promises of
God, without considering, with profound earnest-
ness, his powerful wrath and the severity of his
judgments, is a disposition of heart not well pleas-
ing to Him. Rather from the knowledge that no
one can stand before Him, if he will only consider
(ver. 6) what sin and wrong are done, ought the
prayer for mercy to come from every lip. If some
are saved, yet no one has any claim to it ; for it is
alone his work. — Ver. 3. The eye of the prophet
standing upon his watch-tower turns to the south.
In that direction lay Bethlehem, whence, accord-
ing to Micah, the Messiah was to come. — Vers.
4, 5. The hand of God is also in that, which ap-
pears to us the most hostile and the least consist-
ent with his nature full of life and light If men
do not prepare a way for Him, then He must pre-
pare it for Himself — Ver. 6. The judgment pro-
ceeds according to strict justice, not in precipitate,
but in holy, rigorously distributive wrath; -with-
out respect of persons, but with strict regard to
40
HABAKKUK.
the facts. The highest things in the world, which
appear to the eye of man altogether unassailable
and indestructible, sink before the glance of God's
eye into dust and nothing. The Word is every-
where God's weapon and instrument. By the
Word of his mouth all things were created ; be-
fore the Word they perish ; the Word is a ham-
mer, which breaks the rocks. Wind and sea are
obedient to Him ; what will men oppose ? They
raise their weapons (ver. 1-t) in order to destroy
themselves mutually ; they do not hurt Him. If
He cuts off the head of wickedness, then the re-
mainder of it, though it flow like a sea, will not
be able to continue, but it will be crushed. — Ver.
10 f. It is a great matter, that we have the power
to be tranquil in the time of tribulation, but it is
not easy (Matt. xx^i. 37 fiF.). And it is the less
easy since the affliction is not caused merely by
the wickedness and provocation of the enemy, but
by the presence of God's hand besides In this
lies the smarting sting of the chastisement. — Ver.
18. But yet this sorrow is not worthy to be com-
pared with the glory, which is to be revealed in
us 1 If we are of good cheer when cast down,
then we are the more certain that He will place us
upon the high places. It is this alone that can
banish from us what is not God's power, and what
is unworthy of his salvation ; what troubles us.
Hard as it is for us to bring ourselves to this, we
will then nevertheless be tranquil and free. The
lighter the burden the swifter the course to salva-
tion (ii. 3).
Luther : Ver. 2. The prophet says : History
says this of thee, that thou art such a wonderful
God as to afford help in the midst of trouble;
thou castest down and raisest up ; thou dcstroyest
when thou intendest to build, and killest him to
whom thou givest life (1 Sam. ii. 6 ff.) ; thou doest
not as the world does, which at the very begin-
ning attempts to prevent misfortune and continues
involved in it, but thou bringest us into the midst
of it, and drawest us out again. 7n the. midst of
the years means just at the right time : He knows
well how to find the means to render help neither
too soon, nor too late. For in case He brought
help too soon we would not learn to despair of
ourselves and would continue presumptuous ; in
case He brought it too late, we would not learn to
believe. To revive and to make known are nearly
the same thing, only that to revive is to perforin
the miracle and bring relief; but to make known
means that we should be sensible of and delight
in it. He who desires to be saved must learn so
to know God. It is consolatory to believers, but
intolerable to the ungodly. — Ver. 6. At the Red
Sea He stood between Israel and the Egyptians,
and measured off the land so that the Egyptians
could not proceed farther than He had allotted to
them. — Ver. 16. A joyful heart is half the man,
a sorrowful heart makes even the bones weak. —
Ver. 19. The Lord is still my God. Of this we will
be so glad, that we will run and spring like hinds,
so nimble are our feet to become ; and we will no
longer wade and creep in mire, but for perfect de-
light we will soar and fly in the high places and
do nothing but sing joyfully and pursue all kinds
of delightful employment. This is to take place
when the Babylonian sceptre is cursed and de-
stroyed, and we are redeemed and the kingdom
oomes.
Staeke : Ver. 1. Preachers must pray earnest-
•y for the welfare of their hearers and of the whole
(hurch. — Ver. 2. The remembrance of God is
not an inactive, but an active and busy remem-
brance, since He actually increases faith, and causes
the faithful to taste his sweetness, presence, and
assistance. Even if He scourges his children, He
does not cease to be their father, and to remember
his mercy (Lam. iii. 33). — Ver. 3. The reason
that God causes the great deeds which He has
done of old to be written down, is that such deeds
may be made known to all men upon earth, and
that men may thence learn his majesty and glory.
— Ver. 7. We should ascribe to God the brave
deeds of great heroes, by which they have assisted
the Church of the Lord. — Ver. 9. God bends, as
it were, his bow, when He would warn impenitent
people of coming calamity. — Ver. 12. When God
intends to execute penal judgments. He proceeds
by degrees. — Ver. 15. The ungodly man is like
a tempest, which passes by and vanishes ; but the
righteous man continues forever. — Ver. 16. The
pious, as well as the godless, are terrified at the
divine threatenings, but with a great difference. — ■
Ver. 18. In tribulation we ought not to look only
upon the blows which we suffer, but also upon
the gracious deliverance which ensues. — Ver. 19.
Servants of God do not despise music, but only
give directions how it should be properly used in
the praise of God.
P3FAFF : Ver. 2. Behold how merciful and kind
God is. In the midst of tribulation He remembers
mercy, yes, in the midst of tribulation He causes
his children to feel the strongest consolations. —
Ver. 3. How great is the majesty of our God, proof
of which He has given in the giving of his law and
in the destruction of his enemies. — Ver. 8 ff. As
God formerly led his Israel gloriously into the land
of Canaan and protected them against his enemies,
so will He also gloriously protect the spiritual Israel
of the New Covenant against all enemies.
RiEGER : Ver. 1. So can contemplation and
prayer even at this day alternate in the treatment
of the prophetic Word. — Ver. 2. The prophet
shows in the very beginning what was in the bot-
tom of his heart, namely, a calm, holy fear of God
occasioned by the past, and a good confidence ac-
quired for the future. God's work in Christ Jesus,
and the making of it known to the whole world,
fell in the middle of the world's age, as it was fit-
ting for the light of the world. If at the same time
confusion may seem to exist on the earth, and judg-
ments, of whatever kind they may be, may press
upon a people, yet on account of this grace, which
is through Christ Jesus, mercy is conspicuous far
above judgment. — Ver. 3-15. The prophet recalls
in his memory how God had judged from the be-
ginning of the world, and how all former proofs in
the midst of Israel give a ground of hope and con-
fidence for the future ; because all the works and
ways of God in their great diversity have neverthe'
less a coherent relation, and always meet in this,
that in tribulation God yet remembers mercy, and
that from the most terrible commotions still some-
thing gracious comes forth. — Ver. 16 ff. But in-
deed if one discovers a view of the kingdom of God,
be it ever so beautiful, behind the judgments, yet
it fills him with dread that room is to be made for
the good only thus, and we are reminded of what
will still thereby be stripped from us and ours.
Nevertheless the mind gains relief: leave me onljr,
when all is gone, thyself, and Jesus and thy Wore ,
then the mind remains contented and humble, aLC.
one is preserved from all vexation at the ways ci
God.
ScHMiEDER : On ver. 3. The prophet is here a
poet, who soars by separate images easily under
stood to the mental vision of tht 'nexpressible ma'
CHAPTBB ni.
41
esty of the holy God in his active character of judge
and deliverer. All his powerful operations in na-
ture, the power of the sun, storm, earthquake, and
flood, all the recollections of former divine judg-
ments, he employs as insufficient images in order
to indicate how everything lofty in nature, all the
power of the nations, must vanish before the power
of God. The impending judgment upon the em-
pire of the Chaldseans and the deliverance of Israel
from Babylon serve him only as a suggestion, in
order to annonnce in the midst of the years of the
world's course the great deeds of God, which lead
in the very last time to the full revelation of God
and of his kingdom.
ScHLiER : Ver. 10 ff. The head of the enemy
was broken. Pharaoh and his entire host were
drowned in the depths of the sea. So will it be
also hereafter, when the new enemies oppress the
Lord's people ; their head, a second Pharaoh, shall
perish with all his people ; as certainly as the hand
of the Lord then smote the enemy upon the head,
so certainly will it happen to them on every day ol
affliction.
Tarnov: ver. 16 ff. The pious are terrified at
God's threatenings ; the wicked, on the contrary,
despise them at first in proud security ; but after-
ward, when calamity afflicts them, they entirely
lose their courage and perish.
L. OsiAKDER : Ver. 19. When we are assailed
on all sides we find a lasting and firm consolation
within, that our God, the God of our salvation, is
our Saviour and Redeemer. Por after reconcilia
tion and forgiveness of sins, what harm can exter
nal attacks do to us "i Comp. Is. xxxiii. 24.
THE
BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH.
EXPOUNDED
PAUL KLEIITEET,
FABTOB AT ST. QERTEAtn), AND PROFESSOR OP OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOaT DT THI
UNITERSITT OF BERLIN
TRANSLATED AND ENLARGED
CHARLES ELLIOTT, D. D.,
MontssoK or biblioal lttebaturb in the presbttkrian thboiooioal aEuiNABT at ohioago, na^
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS,
Bntored according n> Act ol Congress, in the year 1874, tif
SCBIBITEK, ARMSTBONa, ABD COMPANT,
Ik tile Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashingtOB.
ZEPHANIAH.
INTRODUCTION.
1. Author and Date.
Zbphaniah (Jehovah hides, i. e., protects ; LXX. Vulg. : Sophonias) [Jerome derives the
name from n3!J and supposes it to mean speculator Domini, " watcher of the Lord " — C. E.]
gives, in the heading prefixed to his prophecy, of the authenticity of which there is no
reason to doubt, fuller notices of his person and time than Nahum and Habakkuk. He
traces his descent back through four generations to one Hezekiah.^ If, from his subjoining
this genealogy, we may, with Cyril, draw the conclusion that the prophet was ovk acri;/Aos to
Kara aapxa ytvo% (Hieron. : gloriosa majorum stirpe ortus), then it follows still more cer-
tainly from the circumstance of his concluding with the name of Hezekiah, that he lays an
emphasis upon the fact of his being directly descended from him ; and hence a great num-
ber of modern exegetes following the lead of Aben Ezra (on Joel i. 1), have rightly consid-
ered this ancestor the king of the same name, so that Zephaniah would be descended from
royal blood. If Carpzov, Jahn, De Wette object to this, that between Hezekiah and Josiah,
under whom Zephaniah prophesied, pnly two generations (Manasseh, Amon) existed, Keil
has justly referred [to meet the objection] to the long reign of Manasseh. The objection
of Delitzsch, that if Hezekiah were the king [of that name], it would have been indicated
by appending his official title, does not likewise absolutely disprove it. Zechariah, i. 1,
mentions his ancestor Iddo (comp. Neh. xii. 4), only by name, not by office; and yet Iddo
was a priest, and a distinguished one, as we may conclude from the fact that Ezra, v. 1,
(comp. vi. 14), passing over an intermediate member [of the genealogy] designates Zecha-
riah directly as the son of Iddo. Finally, the fables of the Pseudo-Dorotheus and Pseudo-
Epiphanius, which assign this prophet, like Nahum and Habakkuk, to the tribe of Simeon,
deserve no consideration.
The prophecy, according to the heading, falls in the reign of King Josiah, 641-610. That
the few points of contact with Habakkuk (undoubtedly there is but one, i. 6, comp. Hab. ii,
20 ; for the evening wolves, iii. 3, comp. Hab. i. 8, stand here in an entirely different connec-
tion) afford no ground to place Zephaniah in the time of Habakkuk and consequently after
the death of Josiah, has already been proved in the Introduction (2) to Habakkuk. They
fall under the same point of view as the far more frequent points of contact with Ezekiel,
Zechariah, and Malachi, which are noted in the exegetical interpretation. On the other
hand it is evident from ii. 13, that the destruction of Nineveh is to the prophet still in the
ftiture ; and the descriptions of the condition of the times correspond in many ways to the
parallel ones of the first period of Jeremiah, who began (Jer. i. 2) to prophesy in the
tbhteenth year of Josiah. By both documents is the statement of the heading confirmed.
On the other hand, it is doubtful, in what period of the reign of Josiah, which continued
thirty-one years, this prophecy, which by its internal coherence (see below 3) is proved to
be a unit, is to be placed. Josiah began to reign when he was eight years of age ; and
when the kingdom was in a very ruinous condition by the evil influence of Manasseh and
4mon. As early as his sixteenth year, the heart of this youth turned to the Lord ( 2 Chron.
xxxiv. 3) ; and as soon as he had grown to energetic manhood, this pious man commenced a
decided activity for the religious and moral elevation of the popular life. By this reform
1 [The A. V. hM Hiakiah ; but Hiskiah anJ Hezekiah haye the name fonn in the originaL There iB no reason, the»
•ne, for a different orthography. — 0. B.J
ZEPHANIAH.
his reign is divided into two, more strictly considered, into three great periods of a distinct
character. Namely, the narrative of the Book of Kings, according to which the reforma-
tory activity is concentrated into the eighteenth year of the king's reign (2 Kings xxiii. 1 ff.
21 £F.), receives a more minute statement by the more detailed account in Chronicles, accord-
ing to which the first measures of the king against idolatry began as soon as the twelfth
year of his reign (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3 ff.), whilst the positively final reforms, with reference to it,
of which the Book of ICings gives an account, are crowded into the eighteenth, viz. : the
appointment of the Temple repairs (2 Chron. xxxiv. 8 ff.) and the events which followed
the discovery of the law on this occasion (2 Chron. xxxiv. 15 ff. ; comp. 2 Kings xxii. 8 ff.) ;
the consultation of the prophetess Huldah (2 Chron. xxxiv. 20 ff.), the convocation of the
people (29 ff.), and the feast of the Passover (2 Chron. xxxv. 1 ff.).
Accordingly we have one period before the reform (1-11 year of [Josiah's] reign); one
after the reform (19-31) ; and the reformation period itself (12-18) between them. To
place the prophecy, as H. Ewald and Hiivernick do, in the first period, is clearly impracti-
cable. For when the prophet (i. 4) speaks of a remnant of Baal, it supposes, that a lanre
part of Baal-worship, which was still dominant during the reign of Amon and until the
twelfth year of Josiah (2 Chron. xxxiii. 22 ; xxxiv. 4), had already been overthrown. The
prophecy of Zephaniah will, therefore, like the calling of Jeremiah, certainly fall after the
twelfth year of Josiah. Consequently, the majority of interpreters, especially V. Colin, Hit-
zig, Strauss, assign the prophecy to the reform-period itself However, various considerations
are against this. Certainly little importance is to be attached to the consideration that " the
king's sons " (i. 8), of whom, in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, Jehoiakim was only
twelve years of age, Jehoahaz ten, and Zedekiah not yet born (comp. Delitzsch in Herzo"',
Real-Enc, xviii. p. 500), could not yet have exhibited in this period, the impious character
denounced by the nrophet ; not for the reason that characters are earlier developed in the
East, as Delitzsch remarks, — for the age of twelve and ten is still too young to furnish a ground
for this interpretation, — but because the expression, " king's sons," is a comprehensive one,
and may designate generally princes of the royal blood (2 Kings xi. 2 ; comp. ver. 1 ; 2
Chron. xxii. 11).
Another weightier reason seems to be against it [placing the prophecy in the reform-
period — C. E.]. The law, certainly Deuteronomy, is very frequently quoted in this book,
(comp. in the Com. i. IS, 15, 17; ii. 2, 5, 7, 11; iii. 5, 19, 20), and so quoted as to show
that the prophet needs only to put [the people] in mind of it, as something supposed to be
known. (Compare particularly iii. 20.) This could not take place at a time when the
book of the law was as good as forgotten ; consequently not at the time which preceded the
discovery of the book of the law ; but it finds its explanation only in the powerful impres-
sion, which the reading of the recovered law must have had upon prophets and people
(2 Kings xxiii. 1 ff.). For the law seems to have come already again into public use, and it
IS violated by the priests (iii. 4). Moreover, tlie entire book nowhere takes into view a pro
motion of the royal reform (which, however, might be expected, if it had been contempo-
raneous with it), but it represents the condition of the people as a final one (comp. 2 below),
which is irrecoverably doomed to judgment ; and by this as well as by isolated references
IWendungen, turns] (comp. i. 18), the prophet presupposes the prophecy of the prophetess
Huldah (1 Kings xxii. 16 ff., 19 if.). We will consequently have to come down to the third
period of the reign of Josiah. That there was even in this period a remnant of Baal, we
may conclude from 2 Kings xxiii. 34, -where it is said that even after the eighteenth year of
his reign, the king had still to strive for the extirpation of idolatry. Comp. Ez. viii. 12.
Luther : I pay little regard to the question raised by Hieronymus, when not only in this
place, but also in others, he maintains in a verbose way, that all, who are mentioned here as
ancestors of the prophet, must have been prophets. And the Hebrews in such matters,
have fancied much, for they are very careful in unnecessary things. I grant that they may
have been of the family of the prophets.
[Keil {Introd. to the 0. T., vol. i. p. 415), says: "It seems plain, from the notice of
the existing public worship of Jehovah (iii. 4, 5), at the same time that he rebukes the
remnant of Baal-worship and other idolatry (i. 4, 5), as well as from his still awaiting the
destruction of Nineveh (ii. 13), that he labored after the reformation of worship had com-
menced, but before it was completed, — that is, between the twelfth and the eighteenth years
of Josiah's reign ; and that he supported the pious king in this work by his exhortations."
This corresponds to the second period of Kleinert. — C. E.]
INTRODUCTION.
[The prophecy of Zephaniah dates, according to chap. i. 1, at the time during the reign
of Josiah, when the power of the Chaldseans began to assume a menacing attitude.
I. It falls in the earlier period, i. e., in the beginning of the reign of Josiah, before he com-
menced the abolition of idolatry, consequently, between 641-630, B. c, (a) because he [Zeph-
aniah] declaims against idolatry (ch. i. 4-6), but Josiah first undertook the reform of the
worship in the twelfth year of his reign (Jahn), and (b) the destruction of Nineveh is still
expected. De Wette, Ewald, Hiiv., and others.
IT. During the restoration of the pure worship, consequently between 6.30-624 B. c, or between
the twelfth and eighteenth years of Josiah's reign.
(a) The reform of worship, which (according to 2 Chron. xxxiv. .3-8) began in the
twelfth year of his reign, could not have been already finished, for — (a) according to chap. i.
4, compared with chap. iii. 1, the idolatrous (C'SDZ) existed along with the legitimate priests ;
and (b), according to chap. i. 4, 5 (^?3n IStD), Baal and the Host of Heaven were still pub-
licly worshipped (comp. 2 Kings xxiii. 4, 5), (comp. iii.) ; the expression, " remnant," shows
that the reform had already begun (I.), (b) The fall of Assyria and the destruction of
Nineveh, which took place in the year 625 B. c. (?), are predicted as still impending. Wit-
sius, V. Coelin, Knobel, Hitzig, E. Meier, Strauss.
ni. After the renewal of the covenant with God, which was joined with the renewal of the
Passover (2 Chron. xxxiv. 8-xxxv. 22), consequently between 624-609, because Zeph.,
chap. i. 8, speaks of the king's sons, who, during the periods I. and II., were still in their
minority, and because the law, found in 624 B. c, is taken for granted as known. Bertheau,
Klein. 0. R. Hertwig's Tabellen. C. E.]
2. Character of the Time.
If we compare the delineations given by Zephaniah of his contemporaries with those of
Jeremiah, who lived at the same time, the character of the period presents itself as bad
enough. The phenomenon, which we observe in Micah, that sins attained to so high a pitch
just under the reign of the pious Hezekiah, is repeated here in the reign of the pious Josiah.
To understand this phenomenon we must call to our aid the consideration, that wherever the
light rises clear, the darkness in comparison with it appears the deeper as it rolls away.
[The greater the orb of light, the greater the circle of surrounding darkness. — C. E ]
During the very time of the kings who promoted the reformation, the prophets had a two-
fold motive to accuse, before God and man, the ungodly of their incorrigible opposition.
The king to be sure is not a despiser of God, but his nearest relations are ; and the
abandonment of the national religion and morals has its central place (i. 8) in the sphere of
the men of rank. The law exists, but since the ruling classes are corrupt (iii. 3 f., compare
Jer. ii. 8), it is the same as if it did not exist : it exists for abuse and oppression (iii. 4,
compare Jer. viii. 8 f ). The service of Jehovah is publicly reestablished : his worship is
officially purified ; but the Baals, and Molochs, and the host of heaven sit enthroned in their
hearts, by the side of the lip-service of Jehovah (i. 4 f., compare Jer. vi. 20; vii. 17 f.).
And the idolaters are far from concealing their idolatry : . they have still their priests and idol-
worship (i. 7 f), and swear at the same time to Jehovah and the idol (i. 5, compare Jer.
V. 2, 7; vii. 9). The service of Baal is a remnant, but a powerful remnant, which is rooted
in the national character and does not yield to the good ; while the pure service of Jehovah
having become cryptopaganism has lost the quickening power of sanctification. The proph-
ets prophesy, but not God's word ; they utter their own fine-spun deceits (iii. 4, compare
Jer. V. 13). And in the great mass of the people the religious feeling, wliich Micah could still
recognize, is extinct. Even among those, who do not make themselves directly guilty of
idolatry, many are actuated not by fidelity to God, but by perfect indifference (i. 12, b). A
perishing race and dead in a living body, they sit upon their money-bags, and regard Jeho-
vah with Unconcern (i. 12, 11). If Micah's contemporaries yet at least still asked : Wherewith
can I reconcile God? (Micah vi.) ; they say: Jehovah does no good and no evil (i- 12).
They are a shameless people (ii. 1 ; iii. 5 ; compare Jer. iii. 3 ; vi. 16 flf.) : the city is rebel-
lious, polluted, oppressive (iii. 1 ; compare Jer. iv. 17 ; ii. 22 ; vi. 6). Everything that God
has done for it and is still doing is thrown into the sieve ; exhortations are fruitless, so also
we the exhibitions of power (iii. 17, compare Jer. ii. 30 ; v. 3 ; vi. 9, 19). They receive no
ZEPHANIAH.
discipline willingly ; and it is evident that even the final efforts of the king and of the witneaBei
of God have no effectual result. So the punishment cannot fail to come.
3. Summary of Contents.
On lookin"- over this prophecy we discover at once, as its chief objects, both the fundamen-
tal problems of all prophetic anouunceraent, viz. , the great day of judgment, to the descrip-
tion of -which the first chapter is devoted, and the salvation connected with it, the announce-
ment of which forms the subject of the third chapter fi-om the eighth verse onward. Thus
the external structure of the whole book is easily surveyed. It is divided into six parts, of
which each one separately has a very evident connection : —
I. The Exordium, i. 1-6. Announcement of the judgment of the world, and the reason
of the judgment upon Israel, arising from the evil condition of the present.
II. The description of the judgment, i. 7-18.
(a) In reference to its objects, 7-13.
(b) In reference to its dreadfulness, H-18.
III. An exhortation to seek God, ii. 1-3.
IV. An announcement of the judgment upon tlie heathen nations, ii. 4-15.
V. A repeated description of the remediless misery in Jerusalem, iii. 1-7.
VI. The promise of salvation, iii. 8-20.
(a) The salvation of the heathen following the judgment, 8-10.
(b) The purification of Israel, 11-13.
(c) The salvation of Israel, 14-20.
It is now a question whether these parts, connected in themselves, but in relation to each
other very much disunited, stand related to one another by an internal connection. Exegetes
place as the foundation of the collective view the division into chapters, and thus obtain three
great divisions, without, however, establishing thereby a connection of the whole : the inco-
herence of the parts continues to exist in the separate chapters. Compare e. g., the summary
of contents which Delitzsch gives on the ground of the division into chapters, at the placa
cited, p. 494. Strauss combines chapters ii. and iii. ; Keil divides the book into three sec-
tions : i. ; ii. 7-iii. 6 ; iii. 8-20 ; Hitzig, i., ii., iii. 1-13, 14-20. However these are only im-
perfect remedies and partly not even conformable to the purpose. Unless we are willing to
consider the prophecy a collection of fragments, to which, however, the immediate impression
as well as the beautiful coherence of the beginning and the end is opposed, the attempt to
seek for an internal thread of connection for all the parts is required, and we will thereby
have to put the division into chapters out of the question.
In the first place it is evident, that the brief exhortation to seek God while there is still time,
(ii. 1 ff.), is naturally and self-evidently connected as a hortatory conclusion to the threatening
of judgment (chap, i.), and that we must consequently limit the extent of the frst great divis-
ion to i. 1-ii. 3, to the announcement, reason, description of the judgment and exhortar
tion.
Now how is chapter ii. 4 ff. related to it ? It refers to a series of devastations of foreign
lands : Philistia, Moab, and Ammon are to be laid waste ; after that the remnant of the
children of Israel are to enter into their possessions. Destruction is also to come upon Cush
and Nineveh. And certainly the prophet, in this description, does not follow the march of
a definite historical catastrophe like Amos, who perhaps has before his eyes the military ex-
peditions of the Assyrians, and Jeremiah, who has before him those of Nebuchadnezzar (chapi
XXV.) ; but the heathen nations are grouped together according to the order of the cardinal
points of the heavens, west and east, south and north. The first pair (Philistia, Moab = Am-
mon), represent the neighboving nations ; the second pair (Cush, Nineveh), represent the distant
powers of the world ; they stand representatively for heathen nations generally (comp. on ii. 4
ff.), for it is also expressly declared to these representative nations (v. 11), that the proph-
ecy is intended to be really universal in its character.
Now this announcement of judgment seems mainly to be a simple continuation of the de-
scription of the day of judgment in chap. i. But the execution of these judgments upon
the heathen (iii. 6, 7), is urged as a reason that Jerusalem should have changed for the better ;
out she continues to sin still far worse. And if the remnant of Israel is to enter (ii. 7, 11)
opon the possession of the desolated lands of the heathen, who had been destroyed (ii. 4
ar.), it is plain, that a catastrophe, which is no other than the judgment upon Israel, must be
mTUODUCTtON
placed between the restoration of this remnant and that state of impenitence, which contin
ues in Jerusalem after the desolation of these lands (iii. 6, 7). Accordingly ii. 4 ff. cannot be
the amplification of the judgment upon Israel; but it, together with iii. 1 ff., presupposes it.
Accordingly both the parts, ii. 4-18 and 1-7, are connected with a second great section, in
such a way that the prophet announces a series of chastisements upon the heathen nations,
whict find their cUmax in the destruction of Nineveh (comp. Introd. to Nahum) ; and which,
although they are at the same time exhibitions of grace on the part of God toward Judab
(comp. Nah. ii. 1), are nevertheless just as fruitless as the reproofs, exhortations, and threat-
enings of judgment, which He uttered and denounced against Israel himself (iii. 5). Ac-
cordingly, if the promise that the remnant should enter into the inheritance of the heathen,
which is the necessary result, is to be fulfilled, Israel himself must first pass through thejudo--
ment. Neither ii. 4 ff., nor iii. 1 ff. speaks of this ; therefore the day of judgment, which
was described i.-ii. 3, can only be meant by it. And hence this second great division is con-
nected with chap. i. as a double statement of the reason, for it also begins with ^2 : the
day of judgment upon the wickedness [mentioned] i. 4-6 is coming i. 7 ; ii. 8 ; for
although Jehovah overthrows the heathen (ii. 4-18), yet Israel continues as he was (iii. 1-7).
After iii. 7, the discourse, if the logical connection, according to our occidental mode of think-
ing, were to be completed, might return to i. 7. This is a frequent method with the proph-
ets, to begin with that which is threatened, and then follow with a statement of the reasons.
(Comp. above, p. 3, at the end.)
Instead of the repetition of chap i. the further progress of tlie prophecy, which, conse-
quently, according to the logical connection of the whole, is properly connected with [and
resumes] the conclusion of the first part, ii. 3, is, in the third division, iii. 8-20, immediately
joined with iii. 7. After the separate judgments ii. 4 ff., which fall upon the heathen sev-
erally in their own land, these same nations are assembled once more, in order that in a last
great decisive battle with Jehovah their power may be broken, iii. 8 ; then they come into
the kingdom of God ^treten sie zum Reiche Gottes Jiinzu], iii. 9 f. Judah is purified by the
judgment, chap, i., and his remnant inherits the promise : God is in the midst of him and his
prisoners are restored (iii. 11-20).
The whole structure [^Gesammtzusammenhang] of the prophecy is accordingly closely mod-
eled after that of Obadiah : (1) Judgment, i. 1— ii. 3; (2) Moving cause, ii. 4-iii. 7; (3)
Salvation, iii. 8-20. But it is evident that in the judgment there are several distinct parts
[Momenie] : (1) The immediately impending separate judgment upon the heathen nations,
ii. 4-18 ; (2) the final judgment upon the heathen, iii. 8 ; (3) the judgment upon Israel, i.
7-14; iii. 11. All three parts together form the great world judgment, which is presented
to view, i. 2 f. ; and in tlieir totalify they form the condition [ Voraussetzung] of the salvar
tion.
4. Historical Relations of the Prophecy.
The Scythians, who, contemporaneously with the fall of the Assyrian empire, marched
through Hither Asia, laying it waste (comp. Introd. to Nahum, p. 10), entered also the terri-
tory of the Holv Land. Herodotus (i. 104) expressly states, that their march was directed
through Syrian Palestine against Egypt, and that Psammetichus, King of Egypt, succeeded only
by presents and entreaties, in restraining them from forcing an entrance into his territories.
They marched back through the country of the Philistines, and the stragglers of their hordes
plundered the sanctuary of the goddess at Ashkelon. (Comp. also Sync, ed. Dresd., p.
214.) The city of Bethshean is named Soythopolis after them, Jos. Ant., xii. 8, 5. (The
etymology 'ZkvtowoXl'; recently favored by Hitzig, on Hos. x. 14, is far more improbable.)
The passage, 2 Mace. xii. 30, and also Pliny (^Hist. Nat., v. 16), mention Scythians still
dwelling there. The fact of their marching through is indubitable. And it certainly falls
within the year 634, when Cyaxares was prevented by them from investing Nineveh, and
617, when Psammeticus died. (Comp. also Delitzsch, Habalckulc, p. xviii. ; Ewald, Gesch. Isr.
[Hist, of Jsraef], iii. 746 ff. ; M. v. Niebuhr, Gesch. Assurs und Baheh [Hist, of Assyria and
Bahylon'], pp. 67, 110, 187 ; M. Dunckei-, Gesch. des Alterthums [Hist, of Antiquity'], J- '^51 ff-)
To this expedition of the Scythians, for conquest, this prophecy has, in modern times, been
referred (Cramer, Bertheau, Ewald, Hitzig). Now it is certainly scai-cely to be denied,
that among the enemies, by whom Jeremiah, the contemporary of Zephaniah, announces
Sreat de^ astations, chaps, iv.-vi., the Scythians are included ; ior the manner in which he
ZEPHANIAH.
here and there describes them (the Scythians were a Mongolian tribe, Duneker, at the pas-
sage cited, i. 734, comp. Neumann, Scythen in Hellenlande, 231 ff., 264 fF.) as a strange, uncul-
tivated, nomadic people (comp. namely, iv. 16 f. ; v., xv. ff. ; vi. 3), differs very much from
that in which the dense military hosts of the Mesopotamian conquerors (e. g., Is. v. ; Hab. i.)
are described. But in Zephaniah the matter is far from being very clear. The description
of the devastation of the heathen lands, (chap, ii.) bears, as we see, a universal ideal charac-
ter ; for of the countries mentioned there Cush was not reached by them, Nineveh was not
destroyed by them, and Moab and Ammon were probably scarcely touched by them. Just
as little can the chief contents of the prophecy, in the judgment threatened upon Jerusalem,
be applied to the Scythians. That the enemy falls upon the city from the north (comp, on
i. 10 f.) is certainly not, as some interpreters think, decisive of its application to the Baby-
lonians : the Scythians also came at first from the north ; and the north side is the most
accessible part of the city ; but it is certainly likewise a purely ideal march : the harassing
of the country from the north is, since Joel ii. 20, a permanent characteristic of all threat-
ening prophecies. And moreover the final judgment by which the holy remnant is to be
restored and to which all the heathen nations are to be gathered, is pressed, but with the
most unnatural violence, to a special historical reference. There remains, viewed impartially,
only a single passage, in which it seems that notice is taken of the expedition of the Scyth-
ians, and that is the reference to the taking possession of Philistia (ii. 6). Here the contact
with Jer. vi. 3, and the reference to a migratory people are so apparent (ver. 7 is disjoined from
ver. 6 by the intervening judgment of Israel), that it seems almost in accordance with a definite
aim to exclude, as Kiiper, Maurer, Strauss, Delitzsch, and Keil do, the expedition of the
Scythians, of which, however, Zephaniah, from the condition of his time, must have had
knowledge ; and yet for this aim \_Tendenz] no rational ground can be seen. But it can be
certainly said of this passage, in the first place, that the reference to the Scythians is not
indispensably necessary (comp. on ii. 7), and, in the second place, that we are not yet necessi-
tated to find, even in this reference, an immediately and directly historical expedition. As
ii. 12 is taken from Nah. iii. 8 ff. ; ver. 13 from Nah. ii. ; so this march in the description of
the day of judgment is taken from Jer. vi. 3. The description is an abstract one, which
deals not so much with historical details as with the idea of the judgment, and hence pre-
fers to fall back upon types, or examples. Both the obstinate support of the hypothesis of a
Scythian expedition throughout the book, and the entire exclusion of the Scythians in favor
of the individual application to the Babylonians, which is just as little indicated, show a want
of the faculty of discriminating between special prediction (as Hab. i., Nah.) and general
prophecy (as Is. xxiv. ff., xxxiv. f., Micah vi. 7).
[Keil's Introd. to the 0. T. vol. i., p. 418: "Against the opinion of Cramer, Eichhorn,
Movers, Hitzig, Ewald, and E. Meier, that Zephaniah prophesied of the invasion of Pales-
tine by the Scythians (Herod, i. 105), there are these considerations : (a.) That Zephaniah
does not give any more precise designation of the enemy, i. 7, iii. 15 ; but that in Jer. iv.-
vi., where there has likewise been the wish to find Scythians, the Chaldaeans are most un-
doubtedly intended (comp. Kiiper, Jer., p. xiii. f.). (h.) That the very narrative in Herodotus
leaves it doubtful whether that invasion by the Scythians touched the kingdom of Judah. (c.)
That Zephaniah's prophecy of the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem, and of the chief
cities of other kingdoms, does not suit the marauding incursions of the Scythians, who, like
savage hordes as they were, did no more than plunder countries, and were satisfied with booty.
Corap. Strauss, p. xviii. ff. ; Hiiv., pp. 392-93 ; and Maurer, Comment., ii. p. 572."— C. E.]
5. Literary Character.
The form of representation of this prophet differs essentially from that of Nahum and
Habakkuk. This lies, in the first place, in the more significant character of the contents.
His language wants the plastic power and concinnity of expression, which spring from the
powerful intuition of an immediately impending event : it is more suited to things than
to events. He has in this respect his exemplar in Joel, who certainly excels him in the
poetic coloring of his description. And this brings us to a second particular, to an individual
peculiarity of Zephaniah. His prophecy lacks the sustained poetical character. However
in this respect also he has his example, in single passages, in Micah (comp. viz. Micah iii.),
4S in the first his style is essentially influenced by Micah vi. 7, and, in general, he frequently
reminds us of that prophet. He has even imitated him in individual embellishments of
INTRODUCTION.
speech, as e. g. the paronomasia of the names of cities, i. 4, without, however, attaining the
weight of his powerful predecessor. Next to Micah the influence of Isaiah upon his mode
of expression is everywhere manifest. Finally, peculiar to his style is the fullness of verbal
allusions to earlier prophecies and to the Torah, by which it frequently receives a somewhat
" abbreviatory " (Delitzsch) character. Yet this peculiarity \_Erscheinung, phenomenon] has
perhaps, under the immediate impression of the reading, been frequently exaggerated by
interpreters. While they involuntarily and unconsciously add to the numerous points ot
agreement drawn from the earlier prophets also the not less numerous known expressions,
which the later prophets have borrowed from him, it has become the custom with the major-
ity of exegetes to treat him merely as a compiler, and e. g. in the inquiries concerning the
age of controverted prophecies, instantly to urge the circumstance that the same constructions
are found in Zephaniah that are found in them, as an argument for their higher antiquity.
This is done by Delitzsch. But it is unfair. Although his style is more pathetic than
poetic ; although single figures are constantly occurring, which may appear exaggerated to
the more than assthetic taste of an Eichhorn ; although here and there the form, but nowhere
the peculiar color, the energetic rhythm of the prophetic parallelism, seems to be preserved*
although finally he is well acquainted with the Scripture, and readily leads the spirit, that
speaks by him, into turns of expression employed by his predecessors, yet this spirit, also in
him, is one that is entirely independent and fully conscious. And the impressive deeply
impassioned severity of his style, well deserves that his book should be designated, as the
dies irce of the Old Testament. (Comp. the Vulg. i. 15.)
6. Position in the Organism of Scripture.
The division of the prophets, which has recently come into use, into an Isaian and a der-
emian series, according to which Delitzsch briefly states the characteristic of Zephaniah, by
saying that he begins the Jeremian series, cannot, according to the remark under 5, and in
general, be maintained. Each of the prophets has his peculiarity ; and if, as we saw, the
influence of Jeremiah upon Zephaniah is not to be mistaken, yet his peculiarity is not there-
by impaired. Next to Jeremiah may be mentioned Joel, Micah, and also his immediate
predecessor, Nahum, with whom in part Internal relationship, and in part numerous points of
contact (comp. the Exeget. Expos.), closely connect him.
His significance in the collection of the prophetic canon lies in the Jirst place in the centre
of his prophecy, the doctrine of the judgment. In no prophet is this doctrine so affluently
set out, and so characteristically grasped as in him. The doctrine of the purifying judgment
upon Israel, and that of the retributive judgment upon the powers of the world, which
effected the redemption of Israel, and which are presented as they gradually come to light,
the former in Isaiah and Micah, the latter in Obadiah, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum, are com-
bined in Zephaniah with the doctrine of the final judgment upon the whole heathen world,
which, prefigured by Joel, by Ezekiel xxxviii. f., and Zechariah xii., is here expanded. By
the side of the preceding separate prophecies of the judgment the prophecy of Zephaniah
ranks as an apocalypse of the general judgment, which does not belong entirely to any ol
the four periods of prophecy relating to the judgment (comp. Com. on Obadiah, p. 14.), but is
one in which the rays of all meet and unite in a well arranged picture of the whole. And thus
his significance in the second place is in general this, — that he is in a certain degree a thesau-
rus of the prophetic theology. For even of the other problems of prophecy a series of the
Most important is treated and placed in its necessary connection with the law and with the
whole of the development of the kingdom. The words, in which Bucer in the preface to
his commentary, assigns his reasons, why he undertook to expound this prophet : " Brevis
quidem ille, sed sensibus adeo fecundus, ut omnium sane quce prophetce reliqui quam lihet mag-
uii libris ad nos transmiserunt eleganlem nobis epitomen composuisse rede dicatur," are, although
somewhat extravagant (for, e. g., Zephaniah does not have the doctrine of the personal Messiah),
yet on the whole justly characteristic. Along with the prediction of the judgment the old
prophetical thoologoumenon of the remnant, which receives the promise ("IH'"., j'T'lNtD, "IHtl^,
na'*79), is brought into clear light (ii. 7 ; iii. 12f. ; comp. Ob. 17; Joel iii. 5 ; Am. v.
15; Is. vii. 3 ; xxxvii. 32; Micah v. 6 f.). So also the conversion of the heathen, iii. 9 fi".;
:omp. Is. xviii. if.; the gathering of Israel effected by the return of the captives, iii. 19 f.^
1e grounding of salvation upon the pardoning grace of God, etc. Finally, there is a trait
10 ZEPHANIAH.
peculiar to him, viz., the intimate relation of irorship to the sanctification of the heart. If
in the series of the threefold judgment before the salvation the incidents from the life of
Elias are realized in history, 1 K. xix. ; xi. f. (comp. also, i. 7 with 1 K. xviii. 40), so in the
reproof of the mingling [of idolatry] with the service of God, i. 4 ff., we perceive a reali-
zation of : " How long halt ye between two opinions? (1 K. xviii. 21.) And as Zephaniah
considers the impurity of heart, calling for judgment, proved by this corruption of worship,
80 lie describes the salvation by the pure lips with which the heathen praise Jehovah (iii. 9).
With respect to its external position in the Canon, it is certainly in time older than Har
bakkuk, and follows close upon Nahum. Yet it is, as it appears, for two reasons, placed in
its present position : after Habakkuk, on account of the coincidence of his exordium, i. 6,
with the conclusion of the properly prophetic discourse of Habakkuk, ii. 20 (DP!)! and be-
fore Haggai on account of the coincidence of his ending iii. 20 with the beginning of Haggai
i. 2 (nS). Comp. above, p. 3.
[" There was extant in the ancient Christian Church an apocryphal work in Zephaniah's
name (dwiA.Tji/'is, or TrpO(f>tjT€La tov ^0(f>ovLov vpotfji^Tov), out of which Clemens Alex. (^Strom.,
V. p. 585), and Pseudo-Epiphan. (De Vitis Prophetarwn), quote passages. In the Synopsis
Scripturoe Sacroe, and in Nicephorus, Stichometria, No. 9, it is added among the Apocry-
phal Books of the Old Testament, and its extent is stated as six hundred verses."
Bleek's Introd. to the Old Testament, vol. ii. p. 157. C. E.]
7. Literature.
Separate Commentaries. Mart. Bucer, Comment, in Tzephanjam, Argentor, 1528
[Martin Lutheri, Comment, in Sophon. Prophet. Opera Lalina, t. iv. — C. E.] P. Hocke, Zerglied-
ernde Auslegung der Propheten (Nahum, Habakkuk, und) Zephanjah, Frankf., 1710, 4to. [An-
alytical exposition of the prophets (Nalium, Habukkuk, and) Zephaniah. J. H. Gebhardi :
Erkldrung des Propheten Zephanjah [Interpretation of the Prophet Zephaniah], Frankft. Aa.
O. 1728, 4to. D. V. Colin, Spicilegium Observatt. Exag. Critl. ad Zephanjce Valicinia, Vratisl.,
1818, 4to. P. Ewald, Der Prophet Zephanjah, Erl., 1827. F. A. Strauss, Vaticinia Zeph-
anjah Comm. illustr., BeroL, 1843.
Separate Treatises. J. A. Nolten, De Prophetia Zephanjce, Francf. ad. V., 1719.
Ikenius, De Cemarim, Bremae, 1729, 4to. C. F. Kramer, Scythische Denkmdler in Paldstina
[Scythian monuments in Palestine], Kiel, 1777. C. Th. Anton, Versio c. iii. Proph. Zeph. c.
nova V. 18, interpret, Gorl., 1811, 4to. J. A. Herwig, Beitrdge zur Eiidut. des Propheten Zepha-
niah, in Bengel's Archiv., i. 3. [Contributions to the explanation of the prophet Zephaniah,
in Bengel's Archives, i. 3.]
Devotional. Job. Casar, 21 Predigten iiber den Propheten Zephaniah, Wittenb. [21
sermons on the prophet Zephaniah, Wittenberg], 1603.
[F. Delitzsch, art. " Zephanja," in Herzog, Real-Encyc. L. Beiuke, Der Prophet Zeph
anjah, 1868. Hitzig, Keil. C. E.]
ZEPHANIAH.
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.
Chaptek I. 1-ii. 3.
The Universality of the Judgment (vers. 2, 3) : it will destroy all the Idolaters in
Juddh and Jerusalem (vers. 4—7) : it will fall upon Sinners of every Rank (vers.
8-13) : it will hurst irresistibly upon all the Inhabitants of the Earth (vers. 14-
18) : a Call to Conversion (chap. ii. 1-3). — C. E.]
1 The word of Jehovah, which was communicated to Zephaniah, the son of
Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the sou of Hiskiah [Hezekiah j ;
in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah :
2 I will utterly destroy -^ everything from the face of the earth, saith Jehovah.
3 I will destroy man and beast :
I will destroy the fowls of heaven and the fishes of the sea,
And the causes of offence ^ with the sinners ;
And I will cut off man from the face of the earth,
Saith Jehovah.
4 And I wUl stretch forth my hand over Judah,
And over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
And I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal,
The idol-priests," together with the priests ;
5 And those who worship the host of heaven upon their roofe,
And the worshippers who swear to Jehovah,
And who swear by their king ; *
6 And those who draw back from Jehovah,
Who do not seek Jehovah,
And do not inquire for Him.
7 Be silent before the Lord Jehovah,
For the day of Jehovah is near ;
For Jehovah has prepared a sacrifice,
He has consecrated those whom He has invited.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah's sacrifice.
That I will visit [with punishment] the princes and the king's sons
And all that wear foreign apparel.
9 And I wUl visit, in that day, every one that leaps over the threshold.
Those who fiU the house of their Lord with violence and deceit.
12 ZEPHAOTAH.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah,
[That there shall be] the voice of crying from the fish-
And howling from the lower city,^
And great destruction from the hills.
11 Howl ye inhabitants of the Mortar,'
For all the people of Canaan are destroyed,
All that are laden with silver are cut oif.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time,
That I will search Jerusalem with candles.
And I will visit the men who lie upon their lees,
Who say in their hearts,
Jehovah will not do good, neither will He do eviL
13 And their wealth shall become a spoil.
And their houses a desolation ;
And they shall build houses and not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards and not di-ink their wine.
14 The great day of Jehovah is near ;
It is near and hasteth greatly ;
Hark ! the day of Jehovah,
Bitterly cries the mighty man there.
15 A day of [overflowing] wrath is that day,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of ruin and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds, and cloudy darkness ;
16 A day of the trumpet and of the war-cry
Against the fortified cities.
And against the lofty battlements.
17 And I will bring distress upon men.
And they shall walk as the blind ;
Because they have sinned against Jehovah,
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them
In the day of Jehovah's fury ;
And the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy [anger] ;
For He will make an end, yea a sudden one, to all the inhabitants of the eartii«
Chapter U.
1 Bend '" yourselves, bend ye people, that do not grow pale ;
2 Before the decree bring forth,
(The day passes away like chafi",)
Before the burning wrath of Jehovah come upon you,
Before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.
3 Seek Jehovah, all ye humble of the land.
Who have kept [wrought] his right [law] ;
CHAPTEKS I. 1-n. 3.
13
Seek righteousness, seek humility ;
Perhaps ye will be hidden in the day of Jehovah's wrath.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
p Ver. 2 — ^PS S^DS, the inSaitiTe of the verb P)PS with the Hiphil of the cognate Terb f]!lD. See Oreen'i
Betl. Gram. J Bee. 2E2, a,. LXX. ; *EK\€ii/fet 6x\€(n-^o; Vulg. ; Congregans congregabo.
p Ver. 3.— nwttJpSn'}, sing- niina, Is. iii. 6; plur de idolis, Zeph. i. 3, Ges., Then., s. t. 'h'W'2, p. 721, b.
LXX. : Koi ao^ev^o-ouirti/ ot iffe^els ; Vulg.: et ruince impioruin erunt ; Luth. : sanimt den Aergernissen,6to. ; Kleinert :
tmd die Trummer.
[8 Ver. 4. — D**'nD3n, sacerdotes idolorwm, 2 Kings xxiii. 6 ; Ho3. x. 5. Ges., Thes.^ s. v. "1^3, p. 693, a. LXX. :
li, bvofiara Tbiv lep€<iiu i Vulg. : ei nomina cedituorum ; Kleinert : die Namen der P/aJfen.
[4 Ver. 5. — D27^, P^' "• ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ t'^^ Moabites and Anunonites, e. g.. D3 yD and ^ vtt, Jer. xlix. 1-3.
Bat in Zeph. i. 5 and Am. i. 15, DS/D ia an appellative, tkeir kingj e. g-. Maicham. Ges. : " Name der Gottheit der Am'
motl'dei, mit 7J7D eig. ident,, Jer. xlix. 1-3; Am. i. 15; Zef. i. 5." Fiirst : Heb, u. Chald. Handworterbuch. LXX.:
Tou /Soo-iAe'tiis ainojv ; Vulg. Melc/iom ; Luth. Malckom ; Kleinert, Melech. See Smith's Diet, of the Bible, a. y., " Mai-
diam."
[5 Ver. 10. — rrDtpSn (tUe second), " Nek. xi. 2 et 2 Reg. xxii. 14, pars urbis secundaria vocajbatur certa pars Hiiro
sotymonim, fortasse nova qucedam pars vel suburbium .^'' Ges., Tkes., s. v., p. 1451, b. LXX. : dirb t-^s SeuTepas ; Vulg. : a
iecunda; Luth.: von dem andern Thor ; Kleinert: von der Neustadt. Smith's Diet, of the Bible: "The mention of
Huldah, the prophetess, introduces us to the lower city under the name of * the Mishneh ' (n3ti?73n, A. V. ' college,'
^school,' or f second part')." Vol. i. p. 994, b.
[« Ver. 11. — U?P15^r7, literally " the mortar," probably a deep hollow, so called from its resemblance to a mortar.
See Exeget. Ter. 11.
[7 Chap. U. Ver. 1. — ^t^ipl >lJ£,'CI7iprin : The LXX., Vulg., and Luth. translate these words, as if they were
derived from tTt^p, to gather; but Kleinert prefers to derive them from t£71pj to bend. Ges. and Fiirst take them
ftom WWp. — C. B.]
EXEGETICAL.
On the heading compare the Introduction, I.
.The prophecy itself describes, like Nah. i. I if., in
an abstract manner, the judgment, in its internal,
necessary character. It is —
(a) God's judgment, hence absolute (vers. 2, 3),
but—
(h) In its relation to Israel, it has for its end
the extermination of idolatry (vers. 4-6), so that
it appears as a holy act, not merely as a slaughter,
but as a sacrifice. (Ver. 7.)
To these introductory thoughts are joined —
(c) The description of the separate necessary
acts of punishment (vers. 8-13) ; three strophes
of two verses each, of which each is introduced by
a njn'], and —
(d) A general characteristic of the terribleness
of the day of judgment (vers. 14-18), finally —
(c) An exhortation to repentance before the
judgment (ii. 1-3).
Vers. 2, 3 : The Universality of the Judgment.
From the very first the prophet characterizes his
prophecy as a threatening one : I will sweep off,
sweep off everything from the face of the
earth. Instead of ^0.'?|^i> which we would ex-
pect, the prophet joins to the inf abs. of the root
^DS the verb fin. of the cognate root TIl3. Comp.
on Hab. iii. 9, and Ewald, sec. 312 b, 3. The ret-
rospective contrast to Micah ii. 1 1 cannot be mis-
taken ; and just as little to be mistaken is the allu-
iion to the Divine sentence, Gen. vi. 7.
Ver. 3 : I wiU sweep off .... in the sea.
The creatures are affected by the universality of
the judgment; connected by a community of in-
terests with mankind, on whose account the judg-
ment takes place, they suffer with them. And the
rutns, — the habitations of men, world, land, state,
city (comp. Is. iii. 6), which go to wreck before
the judgment of God, — together with the sin-
ners, comp. Nah. i. 14. The meaning of offense
{Aergemiss\ (Luther, Strauss, Keil), for the word
/WD'D, is not exactly ungrammatical, but it
cannot be substantiated from the usage of the lan-
guage. (It seems certainly to be presupposed.
Matt. xiii. 41. Schmieder. [See note 2, ver. 3. —
C E.] I win certainly destroy men from the
face of the earth, saith Jehovah.
Vers. 4-7 : The edge of the judgment is directed
against Judah and Jerusalem and the idolatry
there. And I wiU stretch out my hand (the
noted favorite expression of Isaiah, ix. 11 ff.,
comp. v. 25) over Judah .... and I wiU de
stroy from this place the remnant of Baal,
which the king had not yet destroyed. Comp. the
Introd. 2. Baal stands for the worship of Baal
(comp. Hos. ii.), as the explanatory ap positional
clause immediately following proves : the names
of the idol-priests [Pfaffen], together with the
priests [Priesternl. D''~1J23 was the oiBcial des-
ignation of the priests of Baal (2 Kings xxiii. 5);
these were entirely to disappear ; this is what is
meant by the destruction of the name (comp. Nah.
i. 14). But, as we may certainly infer from the
circumstance that the worship of Baal had been
introduced into the Temple also (2 Kings xxiii.
4, comp. xvi. 11), the Cohanim too, priests of Je-
hovah, both in Israel and in Judah, had polluted
themselves by their participation in idolatry.
[These, too, are to disappear, though their
name, consecrated by the Torah [Law], cannot bo
removed. [Keil is of the opinion that the Ken. '-
14
ZEPHANIAH.
rim are not prophets of Baal, but, as in 2 Kings xxiii.
5, and Hos. 2.. 5, the priests appointed by the lyings
of Judah for the worship of the high places and
the idolatrous worship of Jehovah. Kohanim, as
distinguished from these, he considers idolatrous
priests in the stricter sense of the word. — C. E.]
And as it befalls the priests, so is it to befall the
worshippers of false gods [GUtzen], ver. 5 : And
those who worship the host of heaven upon
their roofs. [Comp. Jahn's Bib. Arch , sees. 406
and 407, pages 518, 519, New York, Ivisou & Co.,
1866 ; also Thomson's The Land and the Book,
vol. i. p. 52, New York, Harper & Brothers,
1859, — C. E.] This Babylonian worship (comp.
Com. on Nahum, p. 36) was known already in the
time of Moses (Deut. iv. 19).
The practice of it, as stated above, had its nat-
ural place on the open roofs ; it had also been abol-
ished by force in the period of the decline of the
kingdom (2 Kings xxiii. 12; Jer. xix. 13) ; and
had probably, before the spread of the Syrophoe-
uician service of Baal in Judah, been blended with
this so as to form a syncretistic idolatry ; comp.
the name of Baal, Belsamen (VOW vJ75 =
Cntt? bl?3), in Hieron., Aug. in Jud., iii. 449 ;
comp. Flautus, Pcmulas, v. ii. 67. Here also, as
at the end of ver. 4, those who blend the service
of Jehovah with idolatry (comp. 1 Kings xviii.
21 ), are mentioned along with the direct worship-
pers of idols ; And the worshippers, who swear
to Jehovah, and, at the same time, swear by
their king. Swearing is, according to the Old
Testament view, a sign of the service of God and
part of the confession [of Hira]. Is. xix. 18 ; Am.
viii. 14. The Vulgate pronounces the consonants
D37Q Milcom, which is the known name of the
idol-god of the Ammonites. 1 Kings xi. 5. The
Masorites read Malcam, by their king ; and in
keeping with this the LXX. translate it Karh. toD
8ao-i\6Ms atiTui': however, they hardly thought of
an earthly king; they translate also (1 Kings xi.
7) the idol-god Moleeh by /SaeriAeiis (comp. Jer.
xxxii. 35 : rf MoKhx ^oiriXei). This is the one
here intended; at the same time we must assume
that he had been admitted into the syncretism of
the Ahaz-Manasseh idol-worship in Jerusalem (2
Kings xvi. 3). (According to the signification of
the name he may as well have corresponded, in the
southern cultus of Canaan, to the Baal of the
northern cultus, vide Colin.) Here the name does
not appear in the Canaanitlsh form Moleeh (LXX.
Moloch), peculiar to the idol, but in the pure He-
braic form Melech. The prophet purposely changes
ne names of the idols, in order to characterize
the worthless [das zusammengebettelte, scraped to-
gether by beggmg] and intrinsically baseless char-
acter of these idolatries as opposed to the worship
of the One Jehovah. To the actual apostates he
adds (ver. 6), the great number of the careless and
despisers : and those . . . who do not ask for
Him, who by this negative conduct prove the
apostasy of their hearts. Comp. 1 Chron. xv. 13.
[The whole of this entire enumeration (vers. 4-6)
shows a gradual progress from gross external to
'efined internal idolatry. " The Lord will destroy
'1) the remnant of the idols of Baal; (2) the com
uany of their servants ; (3) the worshippers of the
idols, who content themselvok with altars without
'mages, but worship publicly upon the house-
Lops; (4) the secret worshippiers ; (5) those who,
without practicing idolatry, have apostatized from
God in their hearts; (6) The IndifferentistB." —
Schmieder.J
The judgment comes upon all these, rer. 7 : Be
silent before the Lord Jehovah. The graphic
particle Di"' is borrowed from Am. vi. 10 (comp.
Zech. ii. 17). The silence lies here, as in Hah. ii.
20, between the preparative announcement and the
description of the judgment. While the prophet is
deeply occupied in thinking of its coming, he as-
sumes as it wore the character of a herald of God,
who first proclaims what is now about to come to
pass, and then when it arrives he enjoins silence.
That the " silence " serves as ufawte. Unguis to the
introduction to the holy sacrificial act (Hitzig), is
a view borrowed not from the Old Testament, but
from the profane classics. Keep silence, " for the
day of Jehovah is near." [This is the reason
for the command to " keep silence." — C. E.].
Zephaniah makes his announcement culminate in
the noted formula of threatening, which pervades
prophecy from Ob. 15 forward (comp. Joel i. 15 ;
iv. 14), and at the same time gives along with it
the theme for the subsequent representation. He
immediately defines more precisely the character of
this day : for Jehovah has prepared a saorifloe.
npt is here, as in Is. xxxiv. 6 ; Jer. xlvi. 10 [and
Ezek. xxxix. 17 — C. E.], not an abstract of the
verb rTDf, to slaughter [ccedes, Ges., TAes., Maur.),
but, as it is everywhere, a sacrifice. And, indeed,
where it stands absolutely, it is synonymous with
the fuller term. tech. D'^ab^ PIDJ, peace-offering;
the kind of offering, in which only certain parts
of the victim were burned and a feast prepared of
the rest. [Hence in contrast not only to nnjO,
the bloodless, and to Hi^^n, the sin-offering, but
also to n^^J, the burnt-offering. Lev. xvii. 8.]
This connection of ideas suggests the clause: and
has consecrated those whom he has invited.
Kruim, those who arc invited to the feast, as in I
Sam. ix. 13. The heathen nations, whom Israel
are about to destroy, are meant ; hence the wider
thought is taken fi-om Is. xiii. 3, that they are con-
secrated by God for the destruction of the impious
one {aipa!f>i<Tij.4i'0i es toCto, Theodorct) : they come
not only as allies, but also as executors of the holy
act in consideration. On the day of God there
will also be brought by holy hands a holy offering,
and it will be consumed by those whom God has
invited : but the victim is not an animal, but
his people ; those who slay it are not priests, and
those who feast on it are not confederates of the
people, but strangers.
Vers. 8-13. The first detailed statement in the
amplification of ver. 7. The Three Acts of Punish-
ment. The first, vers. 8, 9, falls upon the princes,
who indulge in the customs of the heathen. And
it shall come to pass .... upon the mighty
ones, the dignitaries of state, the heads of tribes
and families, from whose opposition, as was for-
mei-ly the case with the reforms of Hezekiab
( Micah iii. ) , so also now tlose of Josiah were likely
to meet with their strongest resistance, and who,
in influence, might indeed surpass the royal princes,
as is the case in the present day in the kingdoms
of the East. Hence these latter are mentioned in
the second place. " The sons of Josiah (1 Chron.
iii. 14), Jehoiakim and Jehoahaz, being both still
of a tender age, cannot be meant, but only broth-
ers or uncles." Hitzig. Comp. Introd. 1. Th«
CHAPTERS I. 1-n. 3.
15
(eason why the judgment is to fall upon these es-
pecially— the lung is exempted (comp. 2 Kings
xxii. 18 if.) — immediately follows : upon uU, who
ilothe themselves with foreign apparel. " Mihi
ton dubium est, quin ilto cevo alii udEgi/ptios in vestitu
iinitarentur, alii Bal)i/lomos, prout huic aut iili genti
ituddiant." Drusius. The strange apparel shows
the estranged heart ; the iTifriiigemcnt of the pop-
ular manners and the contempt of the national
costume evince the decay of the national spirit.
Moreover tiie law by no means treats of clothing
.as an adiaphoron (Deut. xxii 11 ; Lev. xix. 19).
And 50 nlien among these princes it appears that the
desire after strange clothing goes hand in hand with
the desire of the heart to apostatize from the worship
of the true God, ver. 9 : And I will visit in that
day every one that leaps over the threshold. It
belonged to the ceremonial, in the worship of the
Philistine god Dagon, to leap over the temple
threshold, which was considered sacred and not
to be touched (1 Sam. v. 5). The Chaldsean
briefly paraphrases it : all who follow the usages
of the Philistines. Those who fill the house of
their lords with violence and deceit. As tire
prophet was speaking of leaping over the thres-
hold, the connection requires that we look for the
house behind this threshold, and consequently
that we understand the lords to mean idols, whom
they serve and to whom they carry their unjustly
acquired treasures. Pl^*, according to the signifi-
cation of the word, is equivalent to 72?3 (comp.
the plural D''v3J2, l Sara, vii.4). So also Colin;
Hitzig would understand the passage so as to mean
that those who are reprehended regard the palace
of the king as an idol-temple, and bring into it de-
ceit and violence. But that would be a pompous
way of expressing it; and Josiah would hardly
have suifered it In a similar way Bucer, Ewald,
and Keil [understand the passage]. The conjec-
ture that ordinary servants and masters (Strauss)
are meant, does not agree with the context.
[Keil : In ver. 9 a, many commentators find a
tOndemnation of an idolatrous use of foreign cus
toms ; regarding the leaping over the threshold, as
an imitation of the priests of Dagon, who adopted
,the custom, according to 1 Sam. v. 5, of leaping
over the threshold when they entered the temple
of that idol. But an imitation of that custom
could only take place in temples of Dagon, and it
appears perfectly inconceivable that it should have
been transferred to the threshold of the king's
palace, unless the king was regarded as an incar-
nation of Dagon, — a thought which could never
enter the minds of Israelitish idolaters, since even
the Philistian kings did not hold themselves to be
incarnations of their idols. If we turn to the sec-
ond hemistich, the thing condemned is the filling
of their masters' houses with violence ; and this
certainly does not stand in any conceivable rela-
tion to that custom of the priests of Dagon ; and
yet the words " who fill," etc., are proved to be ex-
planatory of the first half of the verse, by the fact
that the second clause is appended without the
copula Vav, and without the repetition of the
j)reposition 7?. Now, if a fi-esh sin were referred
0 here, the copula Vav, at all events, could not
lave bean omitted. We must therefore understand
by the leaping over the threshold, a violent and
sudden rushing into houses to steal the property
nf strangers (Calvin, Eos., Ewald, Strauss, and
others), so that the allusion is to "dishonorable
servants of the king, who thought that they could
best serve their master by extorting treasures from
their dependants by violence and fraud" (Ewald).
Qr!'^?^*^, of their lord, i. e., of the king, not
" of their lords : " the plural is in the pluralii
majestatis, as in 1 Sam. xxvi. 16; 2 Sam. ii. 5,
etc. — C. E.]
The second act of punishment, vers. 10, 11, falls
(11 c) upon the rich. And it shall come to pass
.... that a woeful cry shall be heard from tha
fish-gate, which iiLso occurs in 2 Chroii. xxxiii.
14; Neh iii. 3 ; xii. 39, and which, according to
Hieron., led to Joppa, so that the nearest way to
the sea passed through it; according to Neh. iii.
3, however (comp. Robinson, Pal., ii. 118), it did
not lead westward, but northward from tlie city,
and howhng from the lower city. The New
City, jiteraily, the second city, is the name of a
part of the city (2 Kings xxii. 14; comp. Neh. xi
9; Jos., Ant., xv. H. 5), probably of the suburb
situated to the north (lower city, Robinson,
Strauss), in which the Fish Gate was situated,
and whence from the natural situation, — for on
the other side Jerusalem is protected by the
ground, — the attack of the enemies was to be ex-
pected. [See note 5 on ver. 10. — C. E.J And
great destruction from the hills, ^'ip taking
the place of the verb, as in Nah. iii. 2, is construed,
according to the sense, with all three substan-
tives.
Ver. 1 1 . Howl, ye Inhabitants of the Mortar
— evidently, from the context, also a section of
Jerusalem, but whose situation cannot be more ex-
actly defined. t27n2D. ^ mortar, then a cavity,
as, e.g., that in which 'the teeth are set (Judges
XV. 19), will, understood as a locality, designate
that part of the city situated in the hollow (Theo-
dotion : iy t$ ^aSei] ; and it lies, we may suppose,
nearest to the valley between Moriah and Zion,
the locality subsequently known as the Cheese-
mongers' valley ['I'yropaeon] . For all the mer-
chant people are silent, entirely destroyed (Ps.
xlix. 13 ; comp. also ver. 7 above), cut off are all
those that are laden with silver. The context,
which is concerned throughout with localities and
wholly with the judgment of the city, shows that
t^JS D5 does not designate the inhabitants of
all Canaan. And it is intended to consider
"Jerusalem indicated by Canaan as far as it is of
a Canaanitish, i.e., of an idolatrous character"
(Hengslenberg, Strauss). On the other hand
the parallelism shows that the people in question
are rich. Accordingly we must suppose that
t53? 03?, as in other places "'ajJOS (Job xl. 30
[A. v. xli. 6] ; Prov. xxxi. 24 ; comp. also, Ob.
20), or even simply ^533 (Is. xxiii. 8), designates
the traders and merchants (Grot., Cijlln). That
these as the more recent comers to the great city
should dwell in the outlying new parts of it, is not
strange, but natural. [If Hitzig were right in
placing the New City, according to the Targum,
on Ophel, then it would be still more natural and
still more characteristic to seek for the dwellings
of the merchants here also. Comp. above, p. 63
a, and Matt. xxi. 12.] [Keil : " The name
'mortar' was probably coined by Zephaniah, to
point to the fate of the merchants and men of
money who lived there. They who dwell thire
shall howl, because ' all the people of Canaan are
16
ZEPHANIAH.
destroyed.' These are not Canaanitisli or Phceni-
cian merchants, but Judtean merchants, who re-
Bembled the Canaanites or I'hffinicians in their
general business (see at Hos. xii. 8), and had
grown rich through trade and usury." — C. E.]
The tidrd act of punishment (vers. 12, 13), falls
upon the careless despiscrs. And it will oome to
pass at that tune, that I will search Jerusalem
with candles. Theodoret ; Ov5' cIs tuiv Q(p&iK6vToiv
imriv diacpiif^eraL Tjjf TifxoipLav^ aWa irapras avTOVs
SiaSdirai (rtpayii- And I will visit the men, who
lie upon their lees, — like old wine which is not
drawn off (coiup. Jer. xlviii. 11), — and say in
their hearts : Jehovah does no good and no evil.
He may perhaps exist, but He does nothing to us.
D^S3p expresses the spiritual obduracy of those
who deny the agency of God in the world (Jer. x.
5), and who, in the opinion that chance governs
the Avorld, despise exhortation and warning, and
live from one day to another." — Hitzig. By such
practical denial of the judgment (comp. Ps. x.
11 f.), they call it down upon them (comp. Ps. 1.
21 IF.).
Ver. 13. Their goods, in which they take pleas-
ure, will become plunder, in the midst of the
wild alarm of the owners, and their houses des-
olation. And ^ wliat the law and the prophets
predicted (Deut. xxviii. 30; Am. v. 11) is ful-
filled, — they will build houses and not dwell
in them, and plant vineyards and not drink
their wine. The apodoses contain the proper
threaten ings in the future ; thereby the preterites
receive iu the protases the signification of the Fut.
exact um.
Vers. 14-18. Second detailed statement in the
amplification of ver. 7. The Dreadfalness of the Day
of Judgment. The day of Jehovah is near, the
great [day] (Joel ii. 14 (11 ?)) i' i^ near and
hastes greatly. "'U^ is not the participle with 12
omitted (Hitz.); but the adverbial infinitive (Joel
ii. 5) construed with the verb Slip (comp. Ew.,
sec. 280 c). Hark (as in Nah. iii. 2), the day of
Jehovah? What is to be heard? bitterly cries
the hero there. L vip, before yom Yehovah (the
day of Jehovah), at the head of an interjectional
clause, has almost grown into an interjection (see
at Is. xiii. 4). The hero cries bitterly, because
he cannot save himself, and must succumb to the
power of the foe." Keil. — C. E.] Ctf is not
purely local, but generally indicates the situation
like our "there" ["rfa"]. Comp. Nah. iii. 15;
Ps. xiv. 5. a day of wrath is that day (Is. xix.
18), a day of anguish and pressure (Job xv.
24) a day of desolation and devastation (Job
XXX. 3 ; on the emphatic reduplication compare
Nah. ii. 11) ; and it is accompanied not only by
terrible signs of destruction upon earth, but also
by the troublous agitation of the elements : a day
of darkness and gloom (Joel ii. 2), a day of
Olouds and of cloudy darkness (Deut. iv. 11 )
a day of the reappearance of Jehovah amidst the
same signs as on Sinai. Comp. on Hab. iii.
Ver. 1 6. A day of the trumpet and of the war
cry {des Geschmetters, battering]. The sound of
the trumpet introduces God's holy festival (Num.
xxix. 1 (i. ; comp. ver. 7 above) ; it is the signal
for the proclamation of God's power over the sin-
fa! people (Hos. viii. 1 ) ; it is the war-signal of
desolation (Am. ii. 2). All three significations
»re realized in the day of Jehovah's holy sacrifice ;
and the last especially (comp. Jos. vi. 5) over the
fortified cities and high battlements, behind
which the wicked people vainly imagine them-
selves secure (Micah v. 10 [U]).
Ver. 17. Yea, I will put the people in dis-
tress, so that they will walk like blind men, —
groping about here and there as insecurely (comp.
Deut. xxviii. 29; Nah. ii. 5), — for they have
sinned against Jehovah ; so then their blood
shall be poured out (term, technicus in legislation
pertaining to sacrifice, comp. ver. 7) like dust, —
in such quantity (Gen. xiii. 16) and with such
contempt (2 Kings xiii. 7), — and their bowels
(comp. 2 Sam. xx. 10, properly the contents of the
bowels, their food, equivalent to Dn7, Job xx.
23. So also Strauss, Colin, Gesenius, Ewald; Hit-
zig, according to the Arab., " their flesh"), like
dung.
Ver. 18. Weither their silver, nor their gold
— all the classes, whom the prophet, ver. 8 ff., de-
clared obnoxious to the judgment, were somehow
entangled in silver and gold, — will deliver them
(S7 Q3 • ■ • D3, neither, ror, as in Ex. v. 14. Com-
pare the repetition of the whole passage, Ezek. viL
19), in the day of Jehovah's fuiy; and in the
fire of His wrath (comp. 2 Kings xxii. 17), shall
the whole earth be devoured; for He will
make an end, yea (TT^) as in Ps. Ixxiii. 1), «
sudden one, to all the inhabitants if the earth
''1 nv3 is construed, like i. 8, as a recond acca
sative; literally. He makes all the inhabitants ol
the earth a destruction.
Chap. ii. vers. 1-3. The Exhortation. The firsi
words, Itflpl Itl'iZ^lpnn, are an old famous cno
interpretum. Interpreters derive them from the
root 27C17p, to which the subst. tOp, stubble, be-
longs ; and from which a Poel 27tyip, Ex. v. 7-
12 ; Num. xv. 32 f. ; 1 Kings xvii. 10-12, with the
signification of "gather," is found. Erom this
the Hithp. reflexivum combined with the Kal for
the purpose of strengthening it (comp. Is. xxix.
6 ; Hab. i. 5), may be derived in the present in-
stance. Some attempt, in the most different ways,
to bring into the context the signification of
" gatlier." Either, collect yourselves in the de-
votional sense ["applied to that spiritual gather-
ing which leads to self-examination, and is the
first condition of conversion." Keil. — C. E.] ; as
we use the word in German (Strauss, Keil); or,
withdraw, keep yourselves at a distance, ac. from
that which is unclean (Hitzig) ; or assemble your-
selves, sc. for a fast [Bus.ifeier, a penitential solem-
nity—C. E.] (Chald., 'Syr., Hier., Colin). It
is scarcely to be denied that by all these interpre-
tations violence is done to the words, and yet in
the end no suitable meaning is evolved. In view
of these dilficulties it seems to me that we should
without hesitation, have recourse to the root, ti71p,
from which the Hebrew is possessed of the deriva-
tive ri27p, bow, which in Arabic (namely, in the
V. conj. corresponding to the Hithp.) has the sig-
nification of incuTvatus est. The forms are then
Hithpolel and Polel (•VJ?ip = ^E7^ip, compi
^':ifO), instead of =li)?.50^ Job xxxi. 15), uii'
less one prefers to consider the Dagesch forte is
^t&lp as a Masoretic addition, and the form a.
CHAPTERS I. l-II, 3.
17
''mpentive Kal. Accordingly, we translate [the
words], bend yourselves, bend (comp. the
D^133?, the bent, ver. 3) ; and this translation
agrees well with the following vocative clause ; O
nation (article in the voc, Ges., sec. 109, Rem.
2), that dost not grow pale. The primitive sig-
nification of the root, ^D3, is pallescere (comp.
F|D3)' and this signification is evidently to be
preferred in this place (Grot., Ges., Colin, Ew.,
Hitz., Keil) to the more common one to " loiiff a/"-
(er " (Rosenm., Hav., Strauss). The people that
do not grow pale (corap. Is. xxix. 22 ; Prov. vii.
13) are the insolent, audacious people (LXX.
(Byos i,TraidiVT6i') who sit erect, at case upon their
money bags (comp. i. 12) ; and whom the prophet
hence exhorts to bend themselves, before the stroke
comes from above.
Ver. 2. Before the law bring forth. [This is
the reason for the appeal, ver. 1. — C. E.J The
law is neither the appointed time (Colin), nor yet
the statute of the prophecy, the decree declared in
it (the other interpreters), but, as in Micah vii. 11,
the Mosaic Law, in specie Deuteronomy, which is
most familiar to our prophet ; that which it brings
forth is the curse, which it places in view, the day
of wrath itself (Deut. xxxi. 17). For everythinn-
brings forth what is in it : the earth brings forth
plants (Is. Iv. 10); the wicked, mischief (Job xv.
35). And this bringing forth on the part of the
law will come with unexpected speed : ver. 2, as
swiftly (Is. xxix. 5) as chaff does the time pass
away, which still remains for repentance. It is
evident that we must understand by CT' in this
place also, as in chap, i., the judgment day
(Strauss) ; but the "133 agrees only with the in-
terval of time passing rapidly away ; the word
does not mean to .approach, to draw on, not even
in the passage, Nah. iii. 19, cited for that purpose
[to prove that it means to approach, etc. — C.
E.] by Strauss. After this short parenthesis the
prophet resumes the structure of the sentence
with which he commenced : before the wrath of
Jehovah .... come upon you.
Ver. 3. Seek Jehovah, all ye humble of the
land ; \'~lNn "'IDU, an idea very frequent in the
Psalms, at first rare in the prophets, but then al-
ways coming prominently into view : the quiet,
the humble in the land, whose righteous conduct
is especially manifested in their separation from
the proud (i. 8ff.) in lowliness and humility be-
fore God (comp. Micah vi. 8),— Ye who have
observed his right [law — C. E.] — have not
loved strange apparel and pi-acticed idolatry —
seek righteousness, seek humility ; the exhor-
tation is addressed to all, who in general are still
willing to hear (comp. ver. 1 ) ; perhaps you may
yet be hidden in the day of Jehovah's wrath.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
The separation of the godly-minded race from
the ungodly-minded is a fundamental principle
[Grundpfeiier, foundation-pillar] of the order of the
Kingdom of God. When both races were at the
first intermingled, the fruit of the union was the
Deluge (Gen. vi.). Hence nothing was so dis-
tinctly enjoined by God when He founded his
kingdom anew with Abraham and Mo.ses as the
going out f'om fatherland and kindred, the seg-
Kgallon, in one word the sanctiflcation of the
nation for Himself. But gradually, during the
decline of the kingdom, the amalgamat'on of the
kingdom of God and of the idolatry of the world
again crept in. A clear scpai-ation between the
nature of Jehovah and that of idols is yet scarcely
possible, and the substance of the national life is
infected by the godless influences that had flowed
in ; partly, in such a way that the community
make themselves guilty of idolatry, partly because
a corrupting deposit of complete indifference was
formed. Therefore, Zephaniah announces a new
deluge. Comp. i. 2 f. with Gen. vi. 7.
Religion and morality are two spheres which
cannot be separated. An upright heart can have
only one God, and in cherishing other gods be-
sides God lies a falseness, which bears its fruit in
the field of morals. Whilst the heart, in its pro-
foundest depths, is actuated by two diametrically
opposite opinions, it is necessary that these influ-
ences should finally neutralize one another. In
this way arises indifference toward motives drawn
from eternal things. This indifference has a two-
fold result : First, temporal motives, among which
the most powerful are pride (Ik-iihion) and avarice,
take the place of eternal. In the second place, the
other result of this fearless, practical atheism is:
God does no good and no evil.
In the 0. T. atheism has always its baneful
effect in the sphere of the practical. It is not so
much a denying of the divine existence, as of the
divine judgment. Comp. Ps. xiv. As the wis-
dom of the pious man is fear of God, so the folly
of the godless man is fearlessness of God. " The
godless say in their hearts : God does no evil and
no good" (i. 12). What does the phrase, "in
their hearts," mean ? Although shame and fear
deter men from publicly exhibiting their unright-
eousness, yet they utter those thoughts secretly,
and are of the opinion that God either does not
exist, or that He sits tranquilly in heaven. This
is the very climax of godlessness, when men, in-
toxicated with sensual pleasure, divest God of his
office of judge : when He is not recognized as
judge, what remains of his godhead 1 The maj-
esty and the kingdom of God do not consist in any
visionary splendor, but in duties, which belong so
entirely to Him alone, that they cannot be sep-
arated "from his being. To Him it belongs to own,
to go\ crn the world, to care for the human race, to
distinguish between good and evil, to succor the
miserable, to punish crime, to suppress unjust
power. He who deprives Him of this retains an
idol." Calvin. The theocratic atheism i is foreign
to the 0. T., as in general abstract thinking is not
a Biblical idea. " When the Scripture speaks of
thinking, it includes the will with it, and gives us
to understand that thinking and willing are one
and the same act in man. For a living man so
thinks, that he at the same time loves, hates, hopes,
fears the thing of which he thinks, is inclined or
averse to it ; he so wills that he wills Ao7iicaJr, and
he cannot will, without at the same time thinking
of that whicli is willed. The thoughts do not pre
cede the will, but they include it, and are in a cer
tain manner intellectual acts of the will. It is evi-
dent that neither the imagination and purpose
(Gen. vi. .5), nor the doubting or joyful thoughts,
nor the crafty and especially political thoughts
(Prov. xii. 5), nor, in general, the word I^WTI
with its derivatives, can be correctly interpreted
1 [Kleinert has " Ber tkeolcratische Atheism \is : " he prob
ably wrote " Der t/ip.nretiscke AtkeLimus — C. E.J
18
ZEPIIANIAH.
if we separate the will from them. It is nowhere
said that thoughts have guided, disordered, or mis-
led the will ; but it is said that man is misled by
them, or walks after them. The Scripture ascribes
also to the thoughts malice, injustice, and perver-
sity, which could not be done, unless they were, at
the same time, acts of the will." Koos.
As the error of atheists is act [practical], so also
they can be made sensible of it only by act. The
light, under which they apprehend it, is likewise
the light of the approaching judgment, with which
God punishes them. They are accustomed to look
upon everything that happens, in a fatalistic man-
ner, as a necessary cycle of sowing aad harvesting,
of building and possessing, and to disregard the
factor of divine grace lying at the foundation of
the whole. Therefore God must break up at once
this cycle ; He must cause the fruit to fail the seed,
the inhabitancy to fail the building : then they be-
come aware that He exists. Then the insolent
heroes cry bitterly.
The most pernicious fruit of indifference is the
shamelessness, which no longer turns pale. " Shame
is the first proplietess, when thou tnmest aside, the
first that beckons thee back again to the land of
peace, — [it is] consciousness of guilt, an arrow
of conscience, a ray of God Almighty in the very
act, a turning back of the course of our blood and
thoughts, of our sea of emotions and instincts ; a
fitracoia of our body." Herder. As the extinction
of shame indicates, in the individual man, the be-
ginning of a liopeless condition, so does it also in
the life of a nation. So long as the whole body of
the people retains a feeling of shame, many indi-
vidual, even heinous sins, may be borne, without
serious injury to the whole. But if that ceases,
then the enormity of individual crimes, considered,
in comparison with earlier times, may perhaps
prove a kind of progress in civilization, and yet the
condition of the whole may have become thereby
a much more vicious one. Even that progress
commonly lies in the laxity of the moral judg-
ment.
However unexpectedly the acts of God come,
their seeds, nevertheless, always exist anyhow al-
ready in the present, and they are disposed into
the continuity of one divine guidance of the king-
dom from the beginning forward. The seed of the
judgment lies in the law. This fact implies that
the judgment is not merely a negative, but a posi-
tive act of God. It is a birth, although a birth
under the form of death.
The decisive turning-point, which from the Old
Testament history of the kingdom takes the direc-
tion of that of the New Testament, is the aban-
donment of the nation as such by the prophets.
Zephaniah discriminates between an eeclesia in
the eeclesia, and this exhortation, so far as hope
is expressed in it, is intended for this congregation
of the lowly and humble.
With this begins the stand-point of the abandon-
ment, which, continued by the later prophets, has
its ultimate fulfillment in the beatitudes of the
Sermon on the Mount. At the same time a Mes-
sianic progress lies in this apparent retrogression.
Because, viz., the internal condition of a humble
mind takes the place of the external one of na-
tional relationship, a new point of view deter-
mines their adoption to salvation. In this view
even those who are not Israelites may fulfill the
preliminary conditions of salvation (Acts x. 35).
To the Anavah — humility well pleasing to God
— belongs also the renunciation of the particular
privileges of descent from Abraham.
CocCF.ius : The day of the Lord, in the widesi
sense, is that time in which God proves Himself aj
King, Lord, and Judge : in a narrower sense, it is
that day which all the prophets have longed to
see, — the day of the appearance of God in the New
Covenant. Accordingly the day of the Lord is to
be understood principally of the advent of the
Messiah in the tlesh, which is connected with lii«
judgment upon the unbelieving ; but moreover it
is also to be understood of the immediate forerun-
ner of that day. So Zephaniah announces as its
precursor and herald another day along with the
destruction of offenses, and purification by means
of the Babylonian captivity. And where the proph-
ets speak of the times after the advent of Christ,
the day of the Lord is the last judgment day,
which times, like the destruction of Jerusalem and
the Reformation, precede, like trumpets, and an-
nounce the coming of the Lord to the kingdom of
the world and to the final judgment.
Strauss : Thus a sacred edifice is built before
our eyes, whose foundation stands on God's right-
eous love and our sin ; to which every act of pun-
ishment and every manifestation of grace adds a
stone, on which finally, after the close of all his-
tory, the crown is set by the judgment of the
world.
HOMmETICAL.
What must we do in order to escape (ii. 3) the com-
ing wrath (i. 2 ; iii. 7) ■?
1 . Seek righteotcsness : turn yourselves —
(a) From the unrighteousness of a divided heart,
which would give a part to God and a part to idols
(i. 4, 5.)
(6) From the unrighteousness of a cold heart
which does not care for God, and deprives Him of
the honor due to Him. (i. 6.)
2. Seek humility: turn —
(a) From the pride of sensual pleasure, (i. 8, 9.J
(6) From the pride of avarice, (i. 9-12.)
3. Do it speedilt/, for —
(a) The day is coming shortly, (i. 14 fF.)
(b) Helpless is the situation of those who meet
it unprepared, (i. 17 ; ii. 1.)
(c) The Word of God is unchangeable, (ii. 2 a.)
{d) The time quickly passes away. (ii. 2 b.)
On ver. 2 f : We have in the best case out
pleasure in the wonderful power and wisdom of
God, who has made all things in the world so glo
nous, and who governs them so well. We think
too little of the fact, that as everything is from
Him, so He can make an end of everything at once.
To the godless man, who does not see in the uni-
verse the creative hand of one God, the whole
world is a heap of ruins. No wonder that he feels,
in judgment and in death, as if the ruins were
falling over him. To the pious man, however, in
this painful moment, the anticipative recognition
of the divine ordering [of the world — C. E.] is
a strong support [sanle, pillar] : he has consolation
in his death. Prov. xiv. 32. How much has God
to judge in thy heart, if He will destroy " the rem-
nant of Baal." The service of the one God is the
most simple, and yet for the regulation of life the
most difficult ; all arc involuntarily syncretists, and
the heart is full of altars. How many a one kin-
dles a fire for the truth, but in the impure flame
one must perceive that the altar, on which he kin-
dles it, is erected, not to God, but to the idol of his
s-ordid zeal. Every idol is a master; one may call
itBaal, or Moloch, or Adon (ver. 9) : the meaning
CliAl-TERS I. l-ll. 3.
1£
of the words is tlie same ; he who does not serve
God is all the more a slave. (Rom. vi. 16-19.)
And his is indeed a slavery to unrighteousness, for
none of the idols which we honor has surpassed
ns in anything, that we should be under obligation
to recompense it. — Ver. 6. Ho who does not ask
after God, is to be considered eo ipso an apostate.
There is an indifference in external peace, which is
worse than direct hostility against God, because
more hopeless. He who flatters such indifference,
as if it were piety, is also a servant of unright-
eousness.— Ver. 7. One thing is wanting in this
sacrifice of the Old Testament, — the pnrity of the
victim. The perfect sacrifice of the divine judg-
ment of wrath is Jesus Christ. In this God has
also sanctified his guests ; in spite of themselves
and without knowing it, Caiphas and Herod and
Pilate are obliged to bear testimony to God. —
Ver. 8 f. Those who wear soft raiment are in
kings' houses. Even where a righteous king rules,
court air is a dangerous air, and whoever is placed in
it must keep a threefold watch over his heart ; that
he do not fall into vicious habits ; that he do not
practice idolatiy with earthly things ; that he do
not, without intending it, by means of adulation,
partisan conduct, or by laziness, heap up deceit
and crime. An upright heart finds the way even
here (Jer. xxxviii. 7 ff. ). An evangelical minister
should not dishonor the house of his God by a
strange dressing of his body and imitation of
strange ceremonies. Whoever thinks to increase
the property [Habe] of God by dishonest means,
legacy-hunting, etc., makes God an idol. — Ver.
10 f. Trade and traffic are good things ; but they
are not the pillars, on which a kingdom stands
firm. — Ver. 11. If men allow the light to go out
in their heart and conscience (Fs. cxix. 105), God
must set up his light. Although they do not come
to the light, yet the time is coming when they will
not be asked whether they will come or not. —
Ver. 12. A knowledge of God's existence does
not determine the salvation of the soul. With
it the soul may bexiome corrupt and perish. The
life of man is action, and piety is found, where
the will conforms itself to the acts of God.
Such a man cannot remain at ease, for in the
kingdom of God there is everywhere much to
do. — Ver. 13. It is painful to be obliged to for-
sake his goods and the work of his hands. And
yet this is the lot of all, who have obtained pos-
session of only earthly things, and who have been
occupied with earthly things. They come to the
judgment with hands entirely empty. For such
(ver. 14) the day of God is always too near. Then
all those, who, as long as tbey were in full posses-
sion of their earthly goods and powers, were es-
teemed by every one mighty heroes, become cow-
ards. For what they esteemed power was not their
own. — Ver. 15 ff. How does he quake, who from
all his possessions, plans, and devious ways has
been cast into the solitary prison. What must it
be only to be inclosed by God's prison ? There
even the stoutest bulwarks of the heart break in
pieces before the sound of God's trumpet. There
even the most ingenious plan is like the groping
of a blind man. For the things with which man
'e accustomed to plan and to act, refuse their ser-
vice. There even the most audacious head must
bow {ii. 1). — Ver. 2. Weneed not tremble before
the dark powers of the world, which are pregnant
with mischief and destruction ; but before that, by
• which the law of God, which judges us, is preg-
nant. Thanks to God that He himself has begotten
file Son, who has destroyed the curse engendered
by the law. But make haste to be saved. In the
whole Gospel we read only of one, who was saved
at the twelfth hour ; for how many has the time
passed away. In the 0. T. the " day of the Lord "
IS the day of wrath : in the N. T. it is the day of
joy. — Ver. 3. Mere humiliation and fear are of
no use ; by them one may attempt many foolish
expedients (Micah vi. 6 ff,"; Gen. iv. 13 ff. ; Matt,
xxvii. 5). Positive action must accompany them :
the seeking of God with the whole heart and an
assurance of deliverance founded on faith. It is no
contradiction, therefore, when it is said. Ye hum-
bled ones seek humility. The disposition produced
by the preaching of judgment must become con-
scious action and steadfast way.
Luther : Ver. 4. The pious king effected thif
much, tliat idolatry did not rule. Nevertheless
some always remained. And we have no reason
yet to hope, that, were we going to suppress all
ungodly practices in the same way, all men would
become pious. For if that could have been done, it
would certainly have been done by this king, who
was considered preeminently faithful, over the law
and service of God. The Chemarim were a remark-
able people and well disciplined in the idolatrous
service, for they took their name from their earnest
and great devotion. They produced an erroneous
opinion among the people, that they were of all
others the most assiduous in religion and divine
worship. I am entirely of the opinion that they
were such people as the monks of the present day
are. — Ver. 8. It is evident that he speaks of the
most powerful, who imitated the foreign customs,
dress, and manners of the surrounding countries,
abandoned their native manners, usages, and dress,
just like the Germans of our time, who are apes
of almost all nations. But this is a proof of a
great frivolity and of an unstable disposition
magnisque negatum, stare din (ii. 3). This prophet,
beyond all others, urges humility. He knows well
that only the lowlj' please God, and that, on the
contrary, the proud, pompous, and hardened de-
spisers displease him.
Starke : Ver. 1. God bears with the ungodly
for a time and does good to them by pious magis-
trates and preachers, in order that He may thereby
lead them to repentance. — Ver. 2. To human
eyes it certainly appears that war arises from this
or that quarrel among men, but the Scripture
teaches us that the exciting cause of all wars is the
sin and guilt of the land, by which God is moved
to vengeance. There is no calamity, which the
Lord does not send (Am. iii. 6). — Ver. 4. God
is bound to no place. When the wickedness of
men increases in a city. He causes it to be laid
waste, though the true religion has long borne
sway in it. ^ Ver. 5. The announcement that God
would extirpate idolaters, who wished to unite
idolatry with the true worship of God, could pow-
erfully strengthen the faithful in their sti-uggle.
The true worship of God suffers no idolatry by the
side of it. It is quite possible, that those who
have been once born again may lose their faith
and fall from the grace of God. Seeking and ask-
ing suppose a salutary knowledge of God, hy which
his goodness and kindness are tasted. When we
have tasted these the longing after God becomes
always greater ; then we seek to know God always
more and more truly. — Ver. 7. Ungodly people
complain, when they are obliged to hear the divme
threatenings on account of their sins, or to feel the
hand of God, but pious people are still and bear the
wrath of the Lord. — Ver. 9. He whc brings un-
lawful possessions into his house, brings the divine
20
ZEPHANIAH.
crurse with them. — Ver. U . To ply trade is not
wrong in itself; but God does not allow dishon-
esty in it to go unpunished. — Ver. 12. Those
who are in the Church, and yet deny the divine
omniscience, are worse than the heathen. Before
destruction comes security. Wine is agitated and
turbid, when it is poured out of one cask into an-
other ; but if it remains in one cask, it settles and
produces tartar. So it is with hypocrites : they
listen, to be sure, to the preaching of the prophets ;
but they do not allow themselves to be made un-
easy thereby in their consciences, and become
finally as hard as stone. — Ver. 14. God gives
courage, and can take it away. — Ver. 17. That
men err in counsel is a judgment of God. — Ver.
18. If the wrath of an earthly king is a messenger
of death (Prov. xvi. 14 ; Esth. vii. 7), how much
more the terrible wrath of Almighty God. — Chap,
ii. ver. 1 . Though no man can become entirely per-
fect in piety here, yet we must see to it that we do
not stand still in godliness, much less go back, but
always advance and become more perfect from day
to day. God has power to hide his own in the
day of wrath upon the ungodly.
Pfapf: Ver. 5. Those who swear by the Lord,
and who say, " as sure as the Lord liveth," are not
meant alone, but those also who have sworn obe-
dience and fidelity to the Lord and yet practice
idolatry and also wish to imite the true with the
false worship of God. — Ver. 8. The foolish imi-
tation of foreign dress and fashions is a sign of
great vanity and of a damnable pride. This vanity
also will be punished. To build houses, to plant
vineyards, to use the possessions of this world, is
entirely right. But then they become a snare to
him who does not consecrate his work by means
of sincere conversion to the Lord. — Ver. 16.
What terror will the day of the last trumpet pro-
duce among men ! Let then the voice of this trum-
pet sound now in our ears, in order that we may,
while it is yet the time of grace, turn to the Lord.
— Ver. 18. Ye rich, your silver and your gold
cannot deliver you in the day of God's wrath. Seek
then a possession which remains and endures for-
ever.— Chap, ii.ver. 1. Nothing is more necessary
and more useful for one who is desirous of his sal-
vation, than self-examination. How much better is
it that we judge ourselves before we are judged of
the Lord.
RiBGER : From the whole representation of the
prophet one sees with what great earnestness that
which is recorded (2 Kings xxiii. 25 ft'.), was
spoken : Josiah turned himself with his whole
heart, with his whole soul, with all his might, to
the Lord ; yet the Lord turned not from the fury
of his wrath and said, I will remove Judah also
out of my sight. The like may often happen in
one ( Amon's) reign that God will never cease until
He has destroyed not only the ungodly, but also
their offenses [that against which or by which a
person meets with a fall — a stumbling-block,
scandal. See Exeget., ver. 3 — C. E.], not only
the sinful customs introduced by them, but also the
places and houses, which have become to others
ways to hell. How accurately does God know
what a wicked heart all outbreaks of sin have as
their source, since they do not even fear God, do
not esteem Him, do not ask after Him. And again,
how does He examine not only the hearts and
reins, but observe also what kind of dress men
wear. What does God often draw forth from that
which is concealed as soon as He begins to search
.vith candles. How little consolation do even great
Dossessions give in the day of such wrath. — Chap.
ii. ver. 1 ff. At first the prophet must certainly have
discovered something good among the entire hostile
people by which they might still enjoy a mitigation
in the day of judgment. But when there was little
or nothing to be discovered among them, he never-
theless addresses those in distress, who, under the
prevailing unrighteousness, had to suffer more th£.a
pleasure from it, and he rouses them, that they
may not fall asleep over the necessity of the time,
but seek the Lord, who conceals himself at such a
time, and that with all the consolation of a good
conscience in righteousness, they should neverthe-
less, though doomed to every kind of sorrow, resign
themselves to humility. Although every one in
such common calamities is involved in much trou-
ble, yet there are exceptions enough, if one is so
concealed, as, e. ff., in the destruction of Jerusalem,
was the case with the prophet Jeremiah (xxxix. 11
f.), Baruch (Ixv. 5), Ebedmelech (xxxix. 17 f.).
BuROK : On ver. 1. God, therefore, permitted
the reign of the pious Josiah to precede the final
doom of Judah, in order that all excuse might be
taken from the Jews. They might have said, Our
kings compelled us to this and to that- If so, the
answer was now ready : Josiah did not compel you,
rather, as far as he could, he sought to turn you ;
but ye continued obstinate.
Theodoeet : Ver. 4. For as I (Jehovah) made
fowls and fishes and cattle for the service of men,
so will I destroy the former also with the latter.
They are unnecessary where there are none to
make use of them.
HiEEON. : The dumb brutes also feel the wrath
of God. When men and cities are destroyed, then
one sees also that beasts, birds, etc., disappear. Of
this Illyria, Thrace, and also Judaea bear testimony.
I come from the last named country, and there
everything except heaven and earth and increas-
ing wilderness has perished.
Sohliee: Ver. 4. Not much was gained by Jo-
siah's reformation. Therefore the Lrfrd himself
will undertake a reformation.
Theremin : Ver. 7. God will first speak in the
judgment. He will say. Ye had Moses and the
prophets ; ye had my words, which are light and
life ; why would ye not hear them 1 These re-
proaches will roll like thunder in the ears of the
guilty. Then the thunders will be silent, and the
judge will be silent, and a silence more terrible
than the thunder will ensue, — the silence of the
eternal decision.
Ab.^rbanel: Ver. 11. Because the people have
become like the Canaanites in sin, therefore, like
them also shall they be driven out of Canaan.
ScHMiEDEE : The prophet uses the name of a
part of the city (" Morser," mortar), in order t»
intimate that those who dwell there, are about to
be brayed in this mortar.
HiEEON. : Ver. 13. He will leave nothing un-
punished. If we read the history of Josephus, it
is there written, how the princes, priests, and no-
bles were drawn from cloacae, lurking-places, pits,
and ditches, where they had concealed themselves
in fear of death.
Keil ; In the carnal repose of their earthly
fortune they think in their hearts, that there is no
God, who rules and judges the world, that every-
thing takes place by chance, or according to inani-
mate laws of nature. They did not deny the ex-
istence of God, but they deiiied, in their disposition
and conduct, the working of the living God in the
world, they regarded Jehovah on a level with dead
idols, which neither do good nor evil. Is. xli. 23.
J. ScHMiD ■ The prophet employs such an ao
CHAPTEES II. 4-III. 7.
21
cumulation of almost synonymous words in order
to intimate on the one hand the certainty of the
thing, and on the other to inspire the Jews with
fear, and to deprive them of all excuse, that they
have not been sufficiently warned, and that with
suitable warning they would have sought the rec-
onciliation of God.
Stkauss : Ver. 16. The sacrifice of joy (Ps.
xxvii. 6),i which the ungrateful people did not wish
to bring, God himself now prepares. The power
of the trumpet's sound continues irresistible; once
it captured the cities of Judah, now it destroys
them who were once captors.
CoocEins : Chap. ii. ver. 3. To seek God, {. e.,
to direct every wish, thought, and effort to this en(^,
that one may know where He is and how holy He
is, and what are his ways, in order that thou may-
est exalt Him, and fleeing to Him enjoy Him as thy
own. To seek righteousness, i. e., to wish to pos-
sess that condition, by which man is an heir of the
kingdom of heaven, — a condition which man doea
not have of himself. (Hab. ii. 4.) To seek humil-
ity, i. B., to seek that condition of soul, by which
man renounces himself and his righteousness,
trusts in God, and oheerfuHy forgives his neighboi
for God's sake.
REASONS.
Chap. II. 4-in. 7.
Ver. 4 For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon shall become a desolation ,
Ashdod, they shall drive her out at noon-day,'
And Ekron shall be rooted out.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea-coast!^
The nation of the Cherithim ! '
The word of Jehovah is against you,
0 Canaan, land of the Philistines !
1 -will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea-coast ^ shall become places for pasture,
And folds for flocks.
7 And the coast ^ shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah }
Upon them will they feed ;
In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening,
For Jehovah, their God, will visit them,
And turn their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,
Who [wherewith they] have reviled my people.
And acted insolently against their boundary.
9 Therefore as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts,
The God of Israel :
Surely Moab shall become like Sodom,
And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,
A possession of nettles and salt-pits,*
And a desolation forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
And the residue of my nation shall possess them.
10 This shall be to them for their pride.
Because they have reviled and carried themselves haughtily
Against the people of Jehovah of hosts.
1 pihe allusion to Ps. xxvii. 6 is better understooij by the
narginal reading, " sacrifices of shouting." The Heb. word
tendered "shouting " in Ps. xxvii. 6 is the same word em-
Jloyed by the prophet, i. 16, and rendered " alarm." In
Lev. xsv. 9 the same word signifies the sonnd of a trampot
Hence the pertinence cf the allusion to Pfl. xxvii. 6 by
Strauss. — C. E.]
22 ZEPHANIAH
11 Terrible is Jehovah against them,
For He destroys all the gods of the earth ;
And all the islands of the nations,
Each from his place, shall worship Him.
12 Also ye Cushites,^
Slain of my sword are they.
13 And He will stretch forth his hand over the north
And destroy Assyria ;
And He will make Nineveh a waste,
A dry place like the desert.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her ;
All the wild beasts ° of the nations ;
Both the pelican and the hedge-hog
Shall lodge on her capitals ;
The voice of the singer in the window :
Desolation upon the threshold.
For the cedar-work He has made bare.
15 This is the exulting city, which dwelt securely,
Which said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides i
How has she become a desolation,
A lair for beasfB !
Every one that passes by her will hiss,
He will shake his hand.
Chapter HI.
1 Woe to the rebellious and polluted,^
The oppressive city !
2 She listened not to the voice :
She did not accept discipline :
She did not trust in Jehovah :
She did not draw near to her God.
8 Her princes in the midst of her
Are roaring lions :
Her judges ar,e evening wolves ;
They reserve ° nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are vain-glorious,
Men of treacheries :
Her priests profene what is holy ;
They do violence to the law.
5 The righteous Jehovah is in the midst of her ;
He will not do wickedness ;
Every morning He will bring his judgment to light ,
It does not fail ;
But the unrighteous man does not know shame.
I have cut off nations :
Their battlements are laid waste ;
I have made tlieir streets desolate,
So that no one passes over [them] ;
Their cities are destroyed,
CHAPTER I.
23
So that there is no man [there],
So that there is no inhabitant.
7 I said : Only do thou fear me,
Do thou receive correction.
And her dwelling shall not be cut off.
According to all that I have apppinted concerning her ;
But they rose up early ;
They corrupted all their doings.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
p Ter. i. — D'^^n^ is dual, and signifies double light, i. o., strongest, brightest. Gen, xliii. 16, 26 , Bent, xj rill 29 j
Jer. Ti. 4.
p Ver. 5. — V50) " cord, rope, Josti. ii. 15 ; Ecc. xii. 6 ; a measuring line, 2 Sam. viii. 2 ; Am. vii. 17 ; a portion
measured out, as of land, and assigned to any one by lot. Josh. xvii. 14 ; xix 9 ; hence, it signifies portion, possession,
ioberitance, tract, district, region.
* [3 Ver. 5. — D'^mS ^'IS ' LXX. : -jrapoiKoi l^oYiriav ; "^^l^.: gevs perditoruyn. They inhabited southern Philistia, 1
Bam. XXX 14 ; Ez. xxv. 16. See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, articles " Cherethims," " Cherethites," and " Caphtor."
[4 Ver. 9. — m^Q. This word is nowhere else used in the Bible. See a copy of " the Moabite Stone," in Tlie Jeto
ish Times, Friday, June 10, 1870, in which the plural of the same word, ver. 25, is rendered " ditches." See also Le
Dormant and Chevallier, vol. ii. p. 211, note.
[6 Ver. 12. — See Smith's Dictionary q/ ike JBible, article "Oush ; " Kitto's CycloptEdia of Bib, Lit,, and Lenormant and
ehevallier 8 Ancient History of the East, vol. i. p. 57 ff.
yH Ver. 14. — '''13"in']n"73 : LXX., iravra to. dripla rrj^ -y^s ; Vulg., Omnes hestia; gentium ; Kleinert, cUles heid
nisclie Gethier; Keil, " all kinds of animals in crowds or in a mass.'*
[Y Chap. HI. Ver. 1. — PT vMSS, NIphal of 7H3, to be defied, polluted, unclean ; used in this sense only in the later
Hebrew. See Is. lix. 3 ; Ixiii. 3 ;' Lam. iv. 14; Mai. i. 7 ; Ezra ii. "" " • ■■ -• ~
Neh. vii. 64 ; Ban. 1. 8.
[8 Ver. 3. — •l/3"^2 from D"^3, to cut off or away ; Piel, to gnaw, crush, craunck bones ; LXX. : ovx virekziTtovro eU rb
ipwi; Vulg. • non retinquebant in mane ; Luther : die nickts lassen bis auf den Morgen Oberbleiben. — 0. E.]
EXEGETIOAL.
The reason for the announcement of the judg-
ment made in chap. i. (comp. Introd. 3) : —
1. God brings the judgment upon all the hea-
then, ii. 4-15.
2. And yet Jerusalem remains incorrigible, iii.
1-7.
Chap. ii. vers. 4-15. The Judgment upon the
Eeathen, Representative nations from the four
cardinal points, West, East, North, and South, are
mentioned, so that by the completeness of the qua-
ternary number of the four quarters of heaven
arises the idea of the universal judgment upon the
heathen nations (comp. ver. 11 and the judgment
of the four winds, Jer. xlix. 36 ; Zech. ii. 6 ; vi. 5).
The description is divided into three parallel
strophes of four verses each : —
(a) Judgment upon Philistia, vers. 4-7.
(*) Judgment upon Moab and Ammon, vers.
8-11.
(c) Judgment upon Ethiopia and Assyria, vers.
12-15.
Vers. 4-7. The judgment upon Philistia, the
land of the West. For — thus the prophet im-
mediately joins argument to the exhortation,
which, in its final clause, directs [us] to the cer-
tainly of the judgmen t — Gaza shall be forsaken.
fl'J? and n^ltV form a paronomasia, like Ekron
Hiid 'npyn, at the close of the verse (comp. Micah
i. 10 ff.). And Ashkelon shaU become a deso-
tation. Aahdod (the seat of the worship of Dagon
(1 Sam. v)) they, (undefined enemies) wlU drive
out at noon-day : so defenseless will it be against
the sudden and powerful attack, that there is not
3ven need of a surprise by night Compare Jer.
XV. 8, where also a word of similar sound, T!!""!?,
occurs, which forms also an unexpressed parono-
masia of thought to TT^tpS i and Ekron is
ploughed up. Even the enumeration of cities is
governed by the symbolical number four, so that
of the five cities of the Philistines (Jos. xiii. 3),
one, Gath, is omitted, according to the example of
Am. i. 7 f.
Ver. 5. The prophet directly addresses those
who are threatened : "Woe to you who inhabit
the sea-ooast, DTT ^DH, a name of the country
of the Philistines (see Deut. iii. 4), ye Cretans.
The connection of the Philistines with the island
of Crete was known from very ancient times (1
Sam. XXX. 14 ff. ; comp. Tac, Hist., v. 2), although
the arguments adduced by Bertheau [Gesch, der
Isradilen, p. 188 ff. [History of the Israelites, etc.])
to identify Caphtor, the native country of the
Philistines, who were not originally settled in
Canaan, but immigrated into it at a later period,
(Am. ix. 7), with Crete, are not sufficient. [Phil
istine means emigrant : in the LXX. they are called
'AA\6<pv\oi. Por an account of their origin see
Smith's Z)!rf. o/ ^e Bft/c, s. v. "Philistines." Com-
pare Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. iv. p. 64, note
4, and Lenormant and Chevallier, vol. i. p. 124.
— C. E.] Caphtor seems rather to be designated.
Gen. X. 13 f , as an Egyptian district. Compare
Starck, Gaza, p. 66 ff. ; 99 flf. ; Duncker, Gesch.
desA, I,, p. 339 A. Hence also il:e name Cretim
is to be derived irom Crete. To derive it from
rnS, to destroy, and to designate, the Philistines
by it, as those who are to be destroyed, as Keil,
following the Targim and the Vulgate, does,
is unnaturs'l. The play upon words, which tho
24
ZEPHANIAH.
prophet possibly had in mind (comp. iii. 6 ; also
the expression mS iramecUaiely following this
verse, and the plays upon words, ver. 4) is far from
etymology. The word of Jehovah is against
thee, Canaan, properly" low country," originally
the name of tlie whole tract of land on the Medi-
terranean, inhabited on the North by the Phoeni-
cians and on the South by the Philistines (Num.
xiii. 30 (291)) ; Thou land of the Philistines.
And I will destroy thee, that there shall be no
inhabitant, t^? is, as is frequently the case,
equivalent to Strre /j.)) €li'ai.
Ver. 6. And there shall be [it will not do to
construe, with the interpreters, the verb nDTI
with V3n, for this is masculine : it can only be
construed with ril3 (comp. Micah i. 9; Ges. 146,
3), so that DTT 72n is to be understood as ace.
loci] in the district upon the sea-coast extensive
places for pastures and sheep-folds. Some take
rn3 as the plural of IT^S, which (from the
root rn3, to dig) would signify, according to
Kimchi, the ditch made round a fold ; according
to Colin, a cistern ; both of which interpretations
are untenable. Others (Strauss, Keil), following
Bochart, take it for the infinitive of rn3; and
understand hy n~l3 m3 pastures of shepherds'
caves, i. e., where shepherds dig caves for i< pro-
tection against the sun. Yet the expression, aside
from the superfluity of the required complement,
IS little adapted to characterize the activity of
the shepherds only. It is best to consider, with
Hitzig, the word as a plural from "13, pasture.
The apparent tautology with m3, is no argu-
ment against it, since n"13, [plural of m3 ; see
Ges., s. v. — C. EJ, dwelling, pasture [for flocks
and herds — C. E.] is a more comprehensive
idea than "^S, a, pasture for lambs [such is the
strict meaning of the Heb. word ~l3 : Kleinert
renders it Viehweide — C. E.] ; and since moreover
D"'^'"! n'"I? and l^^ Hini^ form two pairs of
words closely belonging together, both of which
are subordinate to m3. The abnormal form
[the regular form is ^T?^] ['he plural of "I?,
wherever it occurs, is C^"12. — C. E.] is occa-
sioned by the preceding HIS, and likewise per-
haps by playing npon the word C"'rT^3. It can-
not be by accident that shepherds and their flocks
are mentioned here instead of destroyers, whilst
in threatening prophecies in other places, destruc-
tion is announced hy this form of threatening,
viz., that the city or territory is delivered up to
beasts of the wilderness, monsters, ponds of water,
or to desert vegetation. The resemblance of the
turn of thought to Jer. vi. 3 (comp. Introd. 4) is
remarkable, and it is natnral to suppose tha' as
Jeremiah has there, so Zephaniah has here nis
eyes fixed upon the distress caused by the hordes
of Scythians, whose march through the land of
the Philistines, ap]jeared also to Herodotus to he
sufficiently noteworthy to obtain mention in his
history (i. 104). They set out, the men and fre-
quently al.'o the women, on horseback : they took
with them wagons yoked with oisn, which, fur-
nished with a felt covering, served, at the same
time, for tent and house ; also their property, which
consisted of droves of horses, cattle, and sheep,
from whose wool they prepared those coverings.
(Herod., iv. 2, 61, 75, 114, 122.) Atalater period,
when there shall be only a remnant of Judah left,
another event will follow the first punishment of
Philistia : —
Ver. 7. Then the sea-coast shall fall to tha
lot of the remnant of Israel [Judah is the read-
ing in the Hebrew text — C. E.], they wUl feed
upon them (Dn^727 is construed with H"!? ver.
6, as if it were written there ""T^S) and in the
houses — which have become empty — of Ash-
kelon wUl they he down in the evening. A re-
production [of the idea] of Ob. 19. The connec-
tion of thought (vers. 6, 7) would accordingly
present itself thus : first Philistia is laid waste by •
a pastoral nation. Then Judah is judged, com-
pare 7 c ; and then the remnant of Judah inherits
Philistia as pasture-ground. Hitzig also [inter-
prets it] in a similar way. However the reference
to the Scythians is not at all necessary. Quite as
good and perhaps a still simpler understanding of
the passage results, if we, as indicated in the
translation, render prominent in J~l^2 the idea of
an open, empty place, so that in ver. 6 the destroy-
ers, the shepherds that obtain possession, do not
form the prominent idea so much as the emptiness,
which resulted from a catastrophe left undefined.
The district on the sea-coast, hitherto covered with
cities rich in commerce, becomes open grounds for
pastures, etc. And these open grounds, after Israel
is purified, become the possession of the remnant,
Thus W"l"| (ver. 7) naturally connects with D''J?'^
(ver. 6).
The following reason : for Jehovali, their God,
will certainly visit them, Israel, and, whilst the
wound of the heathen is incurable (Nah. iii. 19),
he will turn their captiTrity, is consistent with
both constructions : it shows how the restoration
of the place is effected. "Ip3 is to be understood
in this passage of the gracious visitation of those
already chastised (Strauss and others), on account
of its close parallelism with n^3tff 31B? : it is,
however, contrary to the prevailing usage of the
book. Concerning the turning of the captivity,
the restoration of the captives, comp. Deut. xxx.
3 ; on Nah. ii. 3, and below iii. 20.
[Keil . " Paqad, to visit in a good sense, i. e.,
to take them under his care, as is almost always
the meaning when it is construed with an accusa-
tive of the person. It is only in Ps. lix. 6, that it
is used with an ace. pers. instead of with ^j'l in
the sense of to chastise or punish. H'Q^ 3't£7
as in Hos. vi. 1 1 and Amos ix. 14. The Keri,
n'^DE', has arisen from a misinterpretation." —
C. E."]
Vers. 8-10. The Judgment upon the East: Moai
and Amman, the sons of Lot. Comp. Is. xvi. 6
xxv. 11 ; Jer. xlviii. 29 fF. If the subject herj
were historical, and not rather the universal and
ideal character of the judgment of the world, then
the interjacent, hereditary enemy, Edom, would
certainly not have been omitted. I have heard
the abuse (HDnn sensu activo, as in Lam. iii.
61 ) of Moab, who from of old armed evil tongues
CHAPTERS II. 4-III. 7.
against me and my people (Num. iv. 22 fF.), and
the revilings of the sons of Amnion, whose old
hatred continued even to the latest times (^feh. iv.
8, 7 ) ; wherewith they have reviled my peo-
ple and haughtily violated, literally, acted in-
solently against their boundary. Corap. Am. i.
13 ; 2 Kings xiii. 20 ; Jer. xl. The suffix in
D^^DJ is to be referred to ^H57 (comp. ver. 10,
ver. 9).
Ver. 9. Therefore as I live — 'Eirel Kar' ouSei/ks
fTye ^eiCoyos ofx6(Tai &/xo(re Kad' iavrov {Heb. vi.
13 ; for the construction compare Ew., 329 a) —
eaith Jehovah of hosts (corap. on Nah. ii. 14
[13] ) the God of Israel : Moab shall become as
Sodom and Ammon as Gomorrah, — they will
incur a destruction lil<,e that of the cities, in whose
fate their ancestor. Lot, was involved — an in-
heritance of nettles and salt-pits (see note on
ver. 9 — C. E.), like the Dead Sea, on which they
dwell, and desert forever. The remnant of my
people shall plunder them and the residue of
my nation ('''IS instead of "'^'U, comp. Olsh., 39 d ;
164 d) shall inherit them. If the details of a s])e-
cial historical prophecy were treated of, then Hit-
zig would be right in olijecting, that the plunder-
ing and seizure by the returned remnant of Israel
must take place before the final destinies of these
countries, that the desolated land is not suitable
for a "^/n?! etc. But the prophet does not think
of individual chronologically arranged dates, but
of the gi'ouping together of everything that in-
volves the execution of Jehovah's judgment upon
the heathen nations ; and this certainly has for its
chief moment the destruction of the sinners and
the redemption of his people.
Ver. 10. This shall be to them for their
pride, because they have despised and boasted
against the people of Jehovah of hosts. The
judgment is talio. The universality of it stands
out with still greater precision, according to its
two-fold fundamental characteristic.
Ver. 11. Jehovah will be terrible against
them (comp. Deut. vii. 21), for He wUl destroy
all the gods of the earth, so that, after they
have brought their peoples to ruin and judgment,
they must themselves now pass away and die like
men (Ps. Ixxxii. 7). Compare below, the Doctrinal
and Ethical part.
And they will worship Him, after that the
hostile powers over them have passed away, every
one from his place, all the islands of the na-
tions. It is the common teaching of prophecy,
that all islands, all nations the most remote, shall
turn to Jehovah. But it generally takes the form,
that they [the nations] shall flow to Jerusalem (Is.
ii. ; Micah iv.). Now it is certainly undeniable that
in the idea of this Jerusalem [of the time] of the
consummation, the spiritual element predominates
(comp. on Micah iv. 1 fF.). But that in this pre-
exile prophet the local covering should already be
80 removed, as e.g. in Mai. i. 11, that he should
consider a worship of Jehovah in all places the
fulfillment of the times, is, although it commends
Itself at the first view of this passage, nevertheless
very doubtful, the more so as Z^phaniah himself
(iii. 10) adheres to the older form of representa-
tion, namely, the offering of the lieathen at the
Holy City [Jerusalem — C. E.]. Hence I believe
that the words : they will worship each from his
place, are used in a pregnant sense ; they will
pour to Him worshipping ; compare the trembling
hither) Micah vii. 17; Hos. iii. 5.
[Keil : " Mimm'komo, coning from his place-
the meaning is not that the nations will worship
Jehovah at their own place, in their own lands,
in contradistinction to Mic. iv. 1 ; Zech. xiv. 16,
and other passages, where the nations go on pil-
grimages to Mount Zion (Hitzig) ; but their going
to Jerusalem is implied in the min (from), though
it is not brought prominently out, as being unes-
sential to the thought." — C. E.]
Vers. 12-1.5. The Judgment upon Ethiopia and
Assyria, South and North. It is in keeping with
the great perspective, which is opened in ver. II,
that distant nations should be introduced for illus-
tration. The retrospect to Nah. iii. 8 fl^ is appar-
ent. Ye Cushites also, Ethiopians, slain of my
sword are ye ; literally " are they." The trans-
ition from the second to the third person has in it-
self nothing unusual (comp. iii. 7 and the whole
of Nahura).
Calvin connects with it the ingenious remark •
"In secunda persona initio versus propheta compellit
ad tribunal Dei,postea in tertia adjungit: erunt," etc.,
in a certain manner the sentence of the judge.
Yet the predicative position of the i^^n is so re-
markable, that Ewald and Hitzig (against Riick-
ert, Strauss, Keil) are certainly right in consider-
ing it as a substitute for the copula. Comp. Is
xxxvii. 16.
[Keil says : i~"3n does not take the place ol
the copula between the subject and predicate any
more than W^i^ in Is. xxxvii. 16 and Ezra v. 11
(to which Hitzig appeals in support of this usage :
see Delitzsch, on the other hand, in his Comm. on
Isaiah, 1. c), but is a predicate." — C. E.].
Ver. 13. And He will stretch out his hand
(comp. i. 4) over the North and destroy As-
shur, and make Nineveh a barren waste, dry
like the desert, whilst at this very time [that the
prophet was speaking — C. E.l the streams of
water and the abundant irrigation are the pride
and joy of the powerful city (comp. pp. 101, 104).
[Keil : " The prophet dwells longer upon the
heathen power of the north, the Assyrian kingdom
with its capital Nineveh, because Assyria was then
the imperial power, which was seeking to destroy
the kingdom of God in Judah. This explains the
fact that the prophet expresses the announcement
of the destruction of this power in the form of a
wish, as the use of the contracted forms yet and
yasem clearly shows. For it is evident that Ewald
is wrong in supposing that tS.";! stands for tOM,
or should be so pointed, inasmuch as the historical
tense, " there lU stretched out his hand," would
be perfectly out of place. 1^ Htt^ ( to stretch ou t
a hand), as in ch. i. 4 : 'Al tdaphon, over (or
against) the North. The reference is to Assyria
with the capital Nineveh. It is true that this
kingdom was not to the north, but to the north-
east, of Judah; but inasmuch as the Assyrian ar-
mies invaded Palestine from the north, it is re-
garded by the prophets as situated in the north.
On Nineveh itself, see at Jonah i. 2 (vol. 1, p.
390) ; and on the destruction of this city and the
fall of the Assyrian empire, at Nah. iii. 19 (p,
42)." — C. E.]
Ver. 14. And herds shall lie down in the
midst of it [viz., of the city, which has become a
desert — C. E.], but certainly not herds of cattle,
which have no nourishment in the desert, but
every kind of heathen beasts, iri^n is not n*n
26
ZEPHANIAH.
with the suffix of the third person, and is accord-
ingly not to be translated, and all his beasts, the
heathen : this form is "in'n (Job xxxiii. 20) ; but
it is the known archaic form of the status constr.
from rt*n (Gen. i. 24; Ges., 90, 3, 0). ''ij is ac-
cordingly the Stat. abs. By the beasts of the
heathen it is most natural to understand either
(according to 2 Sam. xxiii. 13 ; Ps. Ixviii. 31
[corap. the Heb. text— C. E.]), the conquering
world-powers, which take possession of Nineveh as
the remnant of Israel take possession of tlie ruined
kingdoms of the Fhilistines and Ammonites (vers.
7, 9) ; or the roving hordes of Scythians. How-
svei' the interpretation of CoUn, Itosenm., De W.,
Strauss, and Keil is not to be characterized posi-
tively as erroneous : [they interpret it] every (real)
beast, that is accustomed to range in herds (^13) '
compare the goi of the locusts, Joel i. 6.
[Kcil ; " The meaning can only be, ' all kinds of
animals in crowds or in a mass.' "'IS is used here
for the mass of animals, just as it is in Joel i. 6
for tlie multitude of locusts, and as OV is in
Prov. XXX. 35, 36, for the ant-people ; and the gen-
itive is to be taken as in apposition. Every other
explanation is exposed to much greater objections
and difficulties. Eor the form In^Ci see at Gen.
i. 2+." — C. E.].
Pelicans also [see Thomson's The Land and the
Booh, vol. i. p. 403 — C. E.] and hedge-hogs —
the inhabitants of deserted countries and ruined
places — will lodge on their capitals. The as-
sociation of ideas leads the prophet to reminiscen-
ces from Is. xxxiv. 11 ; xiv. 23 ; compare the first
clause [of tlie verse] with Is. xiii. 21. " The cap-
itals of the pillars do not lie on the ground, but
now stand unattached, after the palaces, roofs, and
Hoors, which rested upon them, are thrown down."
Hitzig. Hark, how it sings, — the nesting bird,
— in the window.
7ip, as in i. 14, Nah. iii. 2, literally vox {ejus qui)
zanit, or auditur (is qui) canit. Desolation on the
threshold ! None passes over it any more. For
the cedar -panelling, the beautiful ornament of the
walls (comp. on Hab. ii. 17) He, Jehovah, has torn
down [Heb. has made bare — C. E.]. nT"1N is
related to f ~|.^., as '^IJ'^ is to J'iJ, it conveys a col-
lective idea (Ew., sec. 179 c).
[Keil : " The sketching of the jiicture of the de-
struction passes from the general appearance of
the city to the separate ruins, coming down from
the lofty knobs of the pillars to the windows, and
from these to the thresholds of the ruins of the
houses." — C. E.]
Ver. 15. This is the city, the exulting one
(Is. xxiii. 7), which dwelt so securely, sheltered
behind her defenses of water; the expression is
taken from -Judges xviii. 7. "Fox ut exsultantis su-
oer illaiii." Kemigius. "Which said in her heart :
I am and besides me none ; literally, and besides
me (none) further. "Before 'besides,' the nega-
tion, if the supposition is intimated by the propo-
sition, or in it, can be omitted, and the words for
' besides ' can hence signify also ' only,' comp.
Micah vi. 8." l^itzig. [? — Micah vi. 8, how-
sver, is a diiferent case ; compare on the passage.
And I would prefer, though against the consen-
sus interpretinn, to explain it: I, and if I am no
more, stiil J ; 1 and always I. The sense is the
same in both views.] The same expression, with
the same signitication, ?'s applied to Babylon, Is.
xlvii. 8, 10.
[Keil : The Yod in 'aphsi is not paragogical,
but a pronoun in the first person ; at the same
time, 'ephes is not a preposition, " beside me,"
since in that case the negation " not one " could
not be omitted, but the " non-existence," so that
"'PCS^^ '^3"'^, " I am absolutely no further (see at
Is. xlvii. 8)." See Ges., Thesaurui, s. v. — C.
E.] How has she become a desolation! (applied
to Babylon, Jer. 1. 23) a lair of beasts! Every
one that passes by her, hisses, waves his hand.
The thought is from Nah. iii. 19. The waving
of the hands, like the clapping, Nah. iii. 19, is a
sign of gratified feeling (comp. Ps. xlii. 2 ; Is. Iv.
12). The expression is, in part, similar to Jer.
xix. 8. [See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies,
vol. i. p. 245. — C. E.J
Chapter IU.
Vers. 1-7 The Obduracy of Jerusalem. Woo
to the refractory (nNHIQ, part, from the root
Wn!3, the hiphil of which occurs Job xxxix. 18,
and in the Cod. Sam. Lev. xiii. 51, 52; xiv. 44;
equivalent to nS^D > compare ^^'', Eccles. x.
5, contracted from i^^^'' equivalent to '~IW^'1?)i
and polluted, the oppressive city ! HJV is the
part of n3^, press it, Jer. 1. 16 and above. The
prophet gives four reasons for this sharp address.
Ver. 2. She hearkens not to the voice, with
which the faithful God speaks to her, ver. 7, in all
these acts (ii. 4 ff.). The 3 denotes a hearing
with pleasure and effect : she hearkens not, al-
though she hears. She does not accept disci-
pline. "1D1J2, the lesson which is derived from
the experience of one's own or another's suffering
[^Schadens, damage, harm^ C. E.], and generally
from attention to the ways of God ; compare Prov.
i. 2. She trusts not in Jehovah, but in her
wealth (i. 12) ; to her God she does not draw
near, but to the Baals (i. 6) : the acts of God
and the voice of the prophets die away unheard ;
uo change is effected.
Ver. 3. Her princes, in the midst of her,
(comp. on i. 8) are roaring lions (for the idea
comp. Micah iii. 3 ; for the expression, Prov.
xxviii. 15; Sir. xiii. 19). Her judges are eve-
ning wolves, which go out in the evening for prey
and are very ravenous ( " non quod reliqua tempore
quiescerent," Calv. on Ps. lbs.. 7), which leave no-
thing for the morning, but so eager are they that
they instantly devour the victim that falls into
their clutches. " Ubi latrocinium in ipsoforo exer-
cetur, quid jam de tota urbe dicendum erit 1 " Calv.
Ver. 4. Her prophets are knaves, D^'.ni^)
people, who utter TOTflQ, {. e., vain, empty talk,
brag (comp. Jer. xxiii. 32), men of treachery,
who defraud God (Hos. vi. 7) and men, since they
pretend that their own word is ,the word of God
(Ez. xxii. 28 ; comp. Micah ii. 11 ff.). Her priests
desecrate that which is holy, the temple, with
their sacrilege, comp. Jer. xxiii. 11 (Hieron.), tba
sacrifices (comp. t£71p, Jer. ii. 3) by the neglect
of the prescribed ritual, Ez. xxii. 26, comp. Mai.
i. 11 (Ciilln) : in short, they make everything sa
CHAPTJCRS II. 4-III. 7.
27
trcd common (Hitzig), instead of strictly discrim-
iilating, according to Lev. x. 10 ff., between the
holy and profane. Thus they do violence to the
law, of which they ought to be the guardians.
Therft is a corruption of all classes, of the organ-
ism of the kingdom in its substance, almost still
WCi'st than Micah had pictured it, chap. iii. And
the crause of this disorder does not lie with God
(vers, 6-7). He has left nothing untried.
Jehovah is righteous, as a righteolis one
(cOmp. for the constr. Hos. xi. 9) in the midst of
he*, He does no wrong. Comp. Deut. xxxii. 4.)
Morning by morning (comp. Ex. xvi. 21) He
Bets his justice In the light (comp. Hos. vi. 5).
Gotl's justice is neither his teaching (" docendo
popnlicm kges et jura sua per prophetas, qui hortando
it mmendo per singulos dies id operant dant, ut eum
ad mdiorem frugem vocetit." (Rosenm., Keil), nor his
righteous administration (Chald., Hieron., Cyr.,
Strauss, Hitzig), but the announcement of the
judgnleht, which it was right for Him and obliga-
tory upon Him to bi-ing upon these mad practices
(Soiiip. Calvin, above, p. 17): the sentences of the
predicted judgment (comp. Xv. and Micah iii. 8),
which, on the one hand, are declared against the
heathen, but principally against Israel. He declares
thera, litefally, without failing : He does not miss,
retdiTiing faithfully every morning. The wicked
have their work in the evening and leave nothing
ffjf the morning (ver. 3). Jehovah has it iu the
irittrning and has each day a clear announcement.
But in vain; the wicked [person] knows no
shame (comp. ii. 1) : neither the example of the
righteous government of God, nor the merited
threatening of coming judgments causes him to
blush. Jehovah himself is introduced as speak-
iilg (ver. 6) ; He sets forth his great deeds, which
He had accomplished for and before the eyes of Is-
rSel : I have destroyed nations, those mentioned
chap. ii. and many Otherk ; their battlements are
laid waste, synecdochically for the walls and for-
tresses, which they crown. I have desolated their
strfeets, literally made dry, since the multitude of
men crowding them is considered as a flood (comp.
Hab. iii. 15), so that no one any more passes
through them. "'??'? with the part, like the
bare 'j'O in other places or the pleonastic V^Q, ii.
5, in the sense of necessary negative result (Ew.,
323 a). The same turn [of thought] occurs Is.
xxxiv. 10. [In the passage cited T'W is used. — C.
E.] Their cities are laid waste, literally, fallen
by ambuscade (miJ, Ex. xxi. 13 ; comp. Josh.
8), without people, without inhabitant. And
why all this ? Eor a warning example, that his
people may consider his severity and his goodness.
Ver. 7. I said, — thought in me and spoke to
Ihem by these deeds, — only wovildst thou fear
ms, the imperf instead of the imperative, in order
to show the kindness and tenderness of the warn-
ing ; only wotildst thou receive correction, suf-
fer thyself to be taught. Then their (change
from the second to the third person, as in Micah
iii. 2 if. : a mental speaking and meditating on
the part of God in a certain manner, is indicated)
house, i. e., not merely the temple (Strauss), but
.heir possession and dwelling-place, the place Zion
'eomp. Matth. xxiii. 38j would not have been
iestroyed. To the substantive idea of destrue-
tibn in this clause the following forms an apposi-
tion . destruction should not fall upon them, ae-
sording to all that I have appointed oonceming
them; the whole sum of the evils included in
the destruction, the daily announced l3Qtl'I2, IDS
cannot have the common meaning, to charge, to
command (so still Strauss, for in this sense the
subjoined V? designates, according to the usage
of the language, not the object, concerning which
a command is given, but him upon whom the
charge is enjoined. But as it can signify the
divine care for any one, so it signifies also the
laying up of a debt against any one, so that it
hangs, in a certain manner, over his head, in order
to fall at last upon him or his descendants and to
destroy them ; like "1103, Nab. i. 2. So also Ex.
XX. 5 ; Hos. i. 4. Thus God would have his deeds
considered by Israel, but what avail is it? But
now— 13N after ""i^nttS points out the contrast
of the empirical reality to the fruitless or mistaken
thoughts of the speaker; just as in Ps. xxxi. 23
(22) ; Is. xlix. 4, — they only speed the more
all their infamous deeds, literally, they are in
haste to pervert all their doings. The verb
^nTltOn (Ps. xiv. 2), takes the auxiliary verb
■iO''?tPn (for the construction, comp. Ew., 28.5 b),
which brings into the sentence the emphasis of the
contrast required by I^N : not only that they do
not refrain from acting infamously, they even
hasten to do so.
So it is evident that the judgment denounced,
chap, i., is just, since all the judgments Which be-
fell the heathen in favor of Israel (Nah. ii. 1) pro-
duced no effect upon the people. So firmly con-
vinced is the prophet of the incorrigibility of the
people, that he, without farther ado, as if it Were
a question of the present, presupposes and declares
it : even after the judgments described, chap. ii.
4 S., which in his day were yet future (n^Tl^, ii.
4, etc.), Jerusalem shall wear just such an ap-
pearance^ and, before that time, a worse than at
present.
[Keil : " In vers. 7 and 8 the prophet sums up
all that he has said in vers. 1-6, to close his admo-
nition to repentance with the announcement of
judgment." — C. E.]
DOUIKINAL AND ETHICAL.
The cotitest of Jehovah of hosts (ii. 9, comp. Com.
on Nahum, p, 36) against the heathen, has a four-
fold design. First, it involves — which is the final
point of view on this side — the restoration of the
kingdom of David (comp. Ps. Ix. ), whose exten-
sion, according to prophetic vision, is measured by
the promise to Abraham. But in this respect only
the countries which took possession of portions of
this kingdoln, viz., Philistia, Moab, Ammon, rep-
resentative of the neighboring nations, come into
consideration. Of Gush and Nineveh it is nol; said
that the remnant of Israel will take their lands
into possession. The second, and much higher point
of view, is that of a contest between God and the
[false] gods, which represent the antagonism to the
true God among the heathen (cOnip. ver. 11 a),
The fundamental view of the 0. T. concerning
idols [Gotter, false gods], is that they are nothing
[nichtse, nothings], D''_'''7.S (Lev. xix. 4), and
that the God of Israel, as He alone made the
world (Ex. XX. 11 ; xx.Ki. 17), is the onlv true
God, not merely among his own people and in hi»
28
ZEPHANIAH.
3wn land, but also in the land of the heathen (Ex.
ix. 22 f.) ; another proof of which is furnished in
the bestowal of Canaan [upon Israel] notwith-
standing the prevailing idolatry. Deutei'onomy
formally repeats this doctrine of the oneness of the
God of Israel (vi. 4; xxxii. 39), and the idols are
expressly designated as not-gods (Deut. xxxii. 21 ;
comp. viii. 19). Besides this another representa-
tion is presented to view in the further develop-
ment of the Old Testament revelation, which
seems to ascribe to the idols an actual existence.
In the Pentateuch the passages directly bearing
upon this point have no weight. Either they seem
to be spoken from a heathen standpoint, conse-
quently they are without the sphere of revelation
(comp. Ex. xviii. 1 1 ; Gen. xiv. 20 ; Num. xxiv.
16; comp. also Is. xxxvi. 18 ff. ; xiv. 14); or
idolatry appears as the worship of the objects
of nature, temporarily permitted by God, which
objects of nature are themselves subect to the
power of God (Deut. iv. 19). There is, however,
here, no doubt, a germinant intimation of the op-
position existing between God and idols in the
contest of Jehovah with the Egyptian magicians,
who by virtue of their gods imitated his miracles.
And undeniably the idea of a certain reality on the
part of the gods seems to be expressed in the
eighty-second Psalm. There God judges among
the gods (comp. Ex. xii. 12). Because they exe-
cuted their office unjustly and suffered their wor-
shippers to sink into iniquity, they were to perish
like men (ver. 7), and Jehovah would enter upon
his inheritance, which they had governed for a
time (ver. 8). Ps. xcvii. 9 teaches the same thing ;
and the passage, ii. 11, receives hence a clear illus-
tration. A twofold explanation of this phenom-
enon is possible. Either that the gods have a
(subjective) subsistence by virtue of their wor-
shippers, as a spiritual power, which unites and
moves these worshippers in their appointed wor-
ship ; which power consequently stands or falls
with the existence of the people. So old Tarnov
seems to understand the matter, when he explains
the destruction of the gods at the place men-
tioned : " Panlatlm ac sensim perdit idola, adimendo
ipsis cidtores omniaqiie sacrijicia abolendo." Com-
pare below also, Bucer in the Homiletical sugges-
tions. Or, that we trace back idolatry to Satanic
influences. " This satanic influence, after it has
obtained a place within the soil of humanity, so
insinuates itself into all the forms of development
of the divine revelation and education as to pro-
duce a perverted counterpart of them, in which the
substance of truth is destroyed and falsehood makes
its abode ; for in the common revelation the false
god confronts the pure idea of God, in which
[false god] not only, as in an idol the substance of
divine truth is destroyed, but also, as in a positive
phantom, the spiritual power of the evil one pre-
sents and communicates itself." Beck. " Among
the heathen, active, objective, devilish powers ac-
quire divine honor by a darkening of the human
conscience." Kling. This latter view of the mat-
ter is prominent in Paul, 1 Cor. x. 20. It is evi-
dent, too, that the Old Testament passages, and
especially the one in question [chap. ii. 11 a —
C. E.] comcide more nearly with this view than
with the first [i. e., with Kling's rather than with
Beck's — C. E.] ; only that the solidaric connec-
tion of the [false] gods with the kingdom of Satan
and of the demons is not expressly accomplished
in conformity with the Old Testament standpoint
The doctrine is this : that, while, according to
Jie general view of prophecy, the idols are to be
despised as dead and dumb nonentities, yet the
[false] gods, in a certain sense, rule over the na.
tions, as objective powers, and that by their over-
throw, which forms the inner intellectual side
to the external judgments of the people, the na-
tions, in a certain sense, are restored to an unprej-
udiced condition, since it is again possible to them
to decide for God.
The third object of the judgments upon tha
heathen is this. They must, so far as they are
heathen nations, and as such resist God, be over-
thrown, in order that having been delivered from
the fetters of idolatry, they may seek Jehovah and
learn to worship Him. Ver. 1 1 b.
Finally, the fourth object of these judgments
upon the nations is, that Israel may come thereby
to the knowledge of the glory and power of his
God, and learn to stand in fear of his severity, and
bow to his goodness. This is effected by God, in
that, beside the judgments without, He causes
the import of them — his justice and sentence —
to be explained to the people by the prophets.
His design is this : That thou mightest only fear
me, in order that thou mayest remain safe from
the manifestation of my wrath.
But this plan of salvation is defeated by the peo-
ple's hardness of heart, which blunts the instru-
ments of the divine proclamation and of regulating
the [semer, His] kingdom; andthe judgment must
come also upon Israel : there will only be a rem-
nant, that will enter upon the deserted fields of
Philistia, Amnion, and Moab.
The final and total aim of the judgment is,
therefore, certainly Israel, but not so much the
present Israel, who, rather, is, like the heathen,
under the training of God, and is within this
training certainly nearest to Him, yet not to such
a degree that the heathen should come into con-
sideration merely as objects of the judgment, for
also for them the goal of worshipping Jehovah
is presented in prospect; and Israel, if he does not
receive correction, likewise incurs their judgments.
The final object is rather the future Israel, the
remnant, to whom, from the nature of the case,
the heathen worshippers will also belong.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
OJ" the exhortations which God, by his guidance oj
tlie world's destinij, directs to those who are called to
his salvation,
(1.) He exhorts us to repentance by the severe
punishments which He brings upon the evil-doers
(iii. 6) ; by the majestic power with which He des-
olates populous cities (ii. 4-6) ; He humbles the
proud and leaves nothing unpunished (ii. 8-10) ,
He reminds us also that the most powerful na
tions are not too powerful for Him (ii. 12), that
the most distant are not too distant, the most pop-
ulous not too numerous (ii. 13 f. ) for Him to bring
down their secure arrogance and to deliver up to
scorn and contempt those who trample others un
der foot (ii. 15). He who considers this rightly
must surely perceive that God intends it for tha
destruction of every being antagonistic to him upon
earth (iii. 11), and that He is a righteous God (iii.
5).
(2.) He exhorts us to faith. The promises,
which He has given to his own, are not destroyed
by any judgments, but only confirmed anew (ii 7,
9) : and there is not one of the great works, which
are done under the sun, upon which an illustrative
CHAPTERS II. 4-III. 7.
29
ight does not fal} from his Word (iii. 5). No one
las an excuse that God has not drawn near to him
iiii. 7), and that He has not also had his highest
interests in view (ii. 11).
(3.) But how little do men profit by warnings !
Refer, «. g-, to Jerusalem (iii. 1-3) ; and to our-
selves (ill. 7).
On chap. ii. 4. God's ways of destruction are
also ways of grace (Acts of the Apostles, viii. 26).
— Ver 7. Our hope of the future rests alone upon
grace; and we need not wonder, though our gra-
cious guidance leads through chastisements, on
account of sin adhering [to us]. The remnant of
Baal must be driven out, in order that the remnant
of God may come to the light. — Ver. 8. Murmur
not at poisonous tongues. God hears better than
thou that in which thou art unfairly dealt with :
pray for them who injure thee, for the injury
weighs upon them and not upon thee. The mem-
ory of God is one of the most fearful things of
which a man can think. God notices so particu-
larly the dishonor done to his people for the reason
that only those belong to his people, who take no
heed of dishonor, and are not allowed to avenge
themselves. But take heed that you are not reviled
on account of your own sins. Such reviling God
does not punish, but it is itself punishment. — Ver.
11. Prophecy will certainly come to pass and
not fail. Even the smallest and most distant island
is known to God and is included in his plan of
salvation. But how shall they believe if it is not
preached to theml Where the fear of God has
been abandoned, in a country or among men, a
salutary fear of Him must intervene, in order that
his worship may be restored. On 13 ff. compare
the Homiletical Suggestions on Nahura.
Chap. iii. ver. 1 . God addresses his own city the
most severely (Am. iii. 2). The way of destruction
begins with obstinacy against God : then comes
pollution by vice, finally the destruction of con-
science, which becomes manifest in open acts of
violence and crime. — Ver. 2. He who listens to
God's voice, has this advantage from it, that he
learns prudence. He who trusts in Him has the
advantage, that he can draw near to Him at all
times with assured confidence. We know obedi-
ence by prudence, faith by confidence. Disobedi-
ence is folly, and despondency unbelief. — Ver. 3.
Strength and bravery do not govern a country ;
even the lion is a strong and brave animal. They
mast be restrained by the fear of God and guided
to the right objects. A speedy sentence often
does more harm and wrong than the detriment
arising from ten tardy ones. — Ver. 4. If the
salt becomes insipid, wherewith shall it be salted t
He who speaks in God's name should always
speak with fear and trembling, and as if he were
going to stand to-morrow before the judgment
Beat. — Ver. 5. No one is so liable to profane what
is holy as a priest ; and no one is so responsible.
Thou shouldst offer no violence to the Word of
God. What it does not say thou shouldst not
make it say. Though priests and prophets may
be wicked, it is nevertheless wrong to separate
one's self from the Church of God. The Lord of
Hosts, who docs no wrong, is still in the midst of
Her. Therefore do the sects go so speedily to ruin.
We cannot think of anything more touching than
he long-suffering love, with which God follows a
people and a soul, and keeps always anew, daily
and a hundred times, one and the same thing be-
■bre its eyes, namely, whether it will allow itself to
Be saved. Dark and confused things are not ut-
terances of God. They all have their light in
themselves and do not require that one should
bring in mysteries, which no man sees. Persist-
ent unbelief is a shamelessness of the soul. How
much has God torn from his heart, for the pur-
pose of confirming the Word of his prophets, in
order that we might learn to believe. Not merely
innumerable men, whom He created, and who
were judged according to this prophecy, but hia
own son. — Ver. 7. It is a singular thing, that even
the most faithful counsels and friendly instructions
and allurements strengthen in his perversity, him
who is already in the wrong way. He has shame,
but false ; and there is no stronger enemy of the
true shame than the false.
Luther : On chap. ii. ver. 6. The most mag-
nificent and powerful cities, which were subdued
under no king but David, are so laid waste and
razed, as Hieronymus frequently states that one
sees remaining only some ruined portions. — Ver.
9. These surrounding nations have all been scat-
tered and exterminated by the Persians, Romans,
etc., so that they have not been able to retain even
their name, which they bore of old ; they have all
been united into one nation with the name of Ara-
bians. — Chap. iii. ver. 1 ff. Although the pure un-
adulterated word is accomplished, yet some will
always be found, who will adulterate the word and
the true service ot God, until Christ, at his last
advent, will make an end of this evil. — Ver. 7. la
these few words the prophet has briefly expressed
what belongs to an honest Christian life, for the
fear of God brings with it faith, humility of heart,
so that we hold the majesty of the Lord in all
honor. Discipline [Gor. Zucht ; Heb. Musar] in-
cludes in it outwardly good morals, so that we
may walk together, one with anotlicr, with pro-
priety and honor, without the displeasure of the
brethren.
Stakke : On ver. 5. Even in Christendom there
are many who practice Canaan's doctrine and life :
may God free the Church from them. — Ver. 6.
Compare Luke xiii. 5. — Ver. 7. The wealth of
the godless is preserved for the pious. — Ver. 9.
God confirms his promises with zeal for the con-
solation of the godly, his threatenings for the ter-
ror of the wicked. — Ver. 11. In the New Tes-
tament the service and the worship of God are
confined to no fixed place. — Ver. 13. When God
has warned a city many years by a Jonah, Nahum,
Zephaniah, at last the punishment comes suddenly.
— Ver. 14. Cities, castles, houses, which are built
with much pride by the toiling sweat and blood of
poor people, usually come to a mournful end. —
Ver. 15. Whoever says, I am he, and there is none
besides, robs God of an honor which belongs to
Him alone. — Chap. iii. ver. 2. It is a certain indi-
cation of approaching destruction, when the peo-
ple become more obstinate by punishment. — Ver.
3. Contempt of God's Word causes corruption
among all classes. — Ver. 5. The more one de-
spises God's Word, the more will God continue in
the teaching of it. — Ver. 7. Genuine repentance
obtains not only certain forgiveness of sins, but
also often averts temporal punishments. Unbe-
lievers are more assiduous in evil than believers in
RiEGEK : On chap. ii. ver. 4 ff. Israel has ofte
been stimulated to zeal by the surrounding na
tions, For example, they would also have a king
like the heathen around them ; they fretted them-
selves, on the ground that the other nations should
so advance and become great in their idolatry, and
that they themselves, possessing the true worshij,
of God, should so decline. Therefore the judg-
30
ZEPHANIAH.
ments executed upon other nations are so ffe-
quently held up before them : partly because all
these are under the government of Gfod, who has
fixed and beforetime determined their boundary
how far and how long- each nation sliould have its
habitation ; partly to show what kind of a dis-
tinction God makes, in all His judgments, between
his people and between the heathen, and how in
these He always remembers the covenant with
their fathers anil guides them to the fulfillment of
his promise ; that those shall be blessed that bless
the seed of Abraham, and that those sliall be
cursed who curse them. For this reason also their
excessive arrogance toward Israel and their plea-
sure in his misfortunes are charged so high to the
account of these nations. 0 seek humility ! What
may one briug upon himself by his vainglorious
mouth !
Gkkgoey the Great : On ver. 10. Other
vices drive away merely the virtues, with which
they stand in natural contradiction ; wrath drives
away patience ; drunkenness, soberness ; but pride
is in nowise satisfied with the extirpation of a sin-
gle virtue, but arms itself against everything good
in the soul, and utterly corrupts it like a pest, so
that under its influence every work, altliough it
may be adorned with the appearance of virtue,
nevertheless no longer serves God, but vain self-
glory.
EusEBins : Ver. U. In Zephaniah the appear-
mce of Christ is evidently connected with the ex-
tirpation of idolatry and with the worship of God
on the part of the heathen.
Bucbe; Whilst God destroys all the nations
around, and thereby shows that what they wor-
shipped as divinities, are nothing but false gods,
since in the time of need of their worshippers, they
afford them neither support, nor shelter. He makes
the gods themselves disappear.
Bucek; Ver. 12. Observe, He calls it His
sword. No evil comes upon any one in which the
hand of God is not.
Pfaff: Ver. 15. To the Lord there is nothing
more detestable than the pride of self-arrogating
men. How well He knows to punish it with ter-
rible power ; how his wrath hastens to humble
the proud.
Bucer: Chap. iii. ver. 2. As it is the beginning
and foundation of all salvation to hear the Word
of God with faith, so contempt of the Word of God
is the source of all corruption. If a man despises
the Word of God, then the next thing is that he
refuses all amendment, because he is well pleased
with himself and imagines everything which is in
him good. And this is the climax of perversion
of the life fi-om God.
Bdcee : Ver. 4. There is no divine gift on
which Satan does not cast his filth. So he has
also polluted prophecy.
Beck : The wicked one makes an idol of the
earthly spirit of the age in the polymorphean prac-
tice of error exteuiing itself over the entire circli
of the earth.
THE SALVATION.
Chapter ni. 8-20.
Ver. 8 Therefore wait for me is the saying of Jehovah,
For the day when I rise up to the prey ; ^
For it is my right to gather nations together,
To assemble kingdoms ; •
To pour upon them my fury,
All the heat of my anger ;
For by the fire of my zeal
The whole earth shall be consumed.
9 For then I will turn to the nations a pure lip,
That they may all call upon the name of .Jehovah ;
That they may serve Him with one shoulder.''
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
My worshippers,* the daughter of my dispersed ones
Will present my offering.
11 In that day thou wilt not be ashamed
On account of all thy doings,
By which thou hast transgressed against me,
For then will I remove from the midst of thee
Thy proud exulting ones, [or, those that exult in thy pride].
And thou shalt no more carry thyself proudly in my holy mount^n.
12 And I will leave in the midst of thee
CHAPTER lU. 8-20. 81
A people poor and bowed down,
And they shall trust in the name of Jehovah.
13 The remnant of Israel will not commit wickedness ;
They will not speak lies ;
And in their mouth will not be found a tongue of deceit ;
But they will feed and lie down
And none will make them afraid.
14 Exult, thou Daughter Zion ;
Shout ■■ 0 Israel ;
Rejoice, and exult with aU the heart,
0 Daughter, Jerusalem.
15 Jehovah has removed thy judgments ;
He has cleared ^ away thine enemy ;
The King of Israel, Jehovah, is in the midst of thee ;
Thou wilt see evil no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem :
Fear not Zion, let not thy hands be feeble.
17 Jehovah, thy God, is in the midst of thee,
A Mighty One, who saves ;
He rejoices over thee with gladness ;
He is silent in his love ;
He exults over thee with rejoicing.
18 I gather together those that mourn for the festivals;*
They are of thee ;
Reproach presses upon them.
19 Behold, at that time, I will deal with all thy oppressors,
And I will save the limping.
And gather the outcasts.
And make them a praise and a name
In every land of their shame.
20 At that time I will bring you.
Yea, at the time I will gather you ;
For I will make you a name and a praise
Among all the nations of the earth.
When I turn your captivity before your eyes, saith Jehovah.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
»ei.8. — The t.ty. the other Greek Versions, and the Syriac, render TS by testimony or witneu; but when It
tn this meaning it is pointed IV. Comp. Gen. xlii. 2T ; Is. xxxiii. 23. It is derived from ml7, to rush upon, to
Vtade. See Ges. s. v.
p Ver. 9. — inN D3tr7 one shoulder, i. e., with unanimity The flgrure is taken from those who carry burdens
with even shoulders.
[8 Ver. 10. — ''"inV from Hni? 'o bum incense, to pray as a suppliant. Some interpreters make it the subject ol
Ihe Terb " bring j " others, the object. See Exeget.
[4 Ver. 14. — ^^''"in is plural, because Israel is addressed as a plurality
[5 Ver. 15. — n33 jne(, signifies to clear from impediments, to put in order, to prepare, e. g., a house, Gen. ixiv. 31 ;
Ui. xiT. 86 ; a way, Is. il. 3 ; iTii. 14 ; ixii. 10 ; Mai. in. 1.
[6 Ver. 18. 13?i)3, the time of the feast, when aU Israel gathered together to rejoice before Jehovah. It also Big
JiflM an assembly, and place of assembly- — C. E.j
ZEPHANIAH.
BXEGETIOAL.
The Way to the Accomplishment of the Salvation
opened hy the Judgment.
Vers. 8-10. 21ie Salvation of the Heathen folloLving
the Judgment. Directly at the close of the first
threatening proclamation begins the address (iii.
8), directed to the meek of the earth (ii. 3), the
Becond cheerful address stretching over the inter-
mediate statement of the causes.
What we should expect according to the course
of thought at the close of iii. 7, — therefore I will
rise to the judgment upon .Jerusalem, — "was already
said, chap. i. ; now comes the consolation by which
that threatening of'judgment is tolerable.
Ver. 8. (According to the remark of the Masorah
the only verse of the 0. T., in which all the letters
of the alphabet, inclusive of the five finals, occur.)
Therofore — ?."?!J? is employed, as it often is, in
prophetical language, to indicate not exactly the im-
mediate consequence of what precedes, but the link
of the connection, i- e., of the transition from threat-
ening to promise (comp. Is. x. 24 ; xxvii. 9 ; and
other passages in Ges., Thes., s. v.) : but therefore
still ■wait upon me, ye humble, thou remnant of
the promise (ii. 3, 7, 9 ; comp. Is. viii. 17 ; Hab. ii.
3), saith JehovalL until tlie day that I rise up
to the prey (so Drusius, Colin, Strauss, Keil, fol-
lowing the Masoretie text, translate it. On the
contrary, LXX., Syr., Hitz., following the read-
ing "I? V) render it " for a witness." The sequel fa-
vors the former translation) for it is my right,
my fixed sentence uttered against the earth, not
to be retracted, to gather the nations together.
There is no intimation here that the language
refers to a gathering together of the heathen, in
the sense that those among the heathen desirous
of salvation fall to Jehovah as a prey (Strauss,
Keil) ; the intervention of a judgment, which is a
necessary condition of the salvation, previously
fixes the connection. The last act of the judg-
ment, as it is a fixed element of the prophetic es-
chatology, the final gathering of the heathen na-
tions before Jerusalem, in order to be destroyed in
the decisive struggle (comp. above, Introd. p. 9), is
here i-eprcseutcd under the point of view, that God,
after He has subdued the separate powers that re-
sisted Him, each in its own land (chap. ii. 4 if'.), now
causes the collective mass of nations to flock to-
gether, in order to shatter in one last decisive strug-
gle everything opposed to God, in one day (comp.
Micah iv. 12). That is an object of hope for the
meek of the land, and therefore the prophet pro-
ceeds : wait for me until I (the ^ and the sufSx
in ""UZp / require, what interpreters have over-
looked, that this infinitive, like Qi'^y ''JS^Pi must
be construed with •iSn)^ bring the kingdoms in
cro"wds, and pour out upon them my fury, all
my burning wrath. Thcoilorus Mopsu. makes
the language to be addressed to the exiles : " Kal
SiaTeA.6i"Te Se nphs i/ih afpopoMfres Kal T^y Trap' 4fwii
^o-f^Betav avafj.€V0PTes^ ^y Kara Kaipby itfuy wape^oj,
ws iK v^Kpoiv i//j.a^ aviixrwv Ka\ a-naWarroiv jxev
TJis alxiJ-aXojaias iitavayoiv Se iravras v/xas cttI to.
oiKeia." This view has, at the first glance, some-
thing in its favor : the consolatory moment in-
ended for Israel in the pro])hecy of the judgment,
ver. 8, comes out very plainly in it. Notwith-
standing it is hardly correct, though Strauss as-
sents to it ; since Zephaniah does not predict the
exile, but everywhere addresses the people in Je-
rusalem, and the thought introduced by Theodoras
into this verse from the restoration of the captives
first occurs ver. 18 ff., but even there in such a
way, that the flower of the congregation are sup-
posed to be remaining in Jerusalem, and the cap-
tives are supposed to come as scattered apart from
these (also in a similar way the j"n3C7 ill^Ji?
seems to be employed in the oldest prophets),
comp. the D'D'^^'^Vy, ver. 20." For by the fire ol
my zeal the whole earth shall be devoured:
everything, which is not from God ; the day of
judgment, which comes after the separate acts of
judgment, which turned to the advantage of Is-
rael, is entirely general ; as He judges the Incor-
rigible Israel, chap, i., so He also judges the degen-
erate nations : only the Anavim [meek], who are
enjoined to wait for Him, are excepted. But it
lies in the nature of the case that that for which
they are to wait, is properly not the day of judg-
ment itself (Am. v. 18), but the result, of which it
is the conditio sine qua non.
Ver. 9. For then, after the destruction of the
power antagonistic to God upon earth, first of all
of the power antagonistic to Him in the heathen
world, whose judgment, according to what follows,
is not considered as a destruction of the substance
of life, but as a destruction of the Swd/ids under
heaven alienating the life from God (comp. ii. 11),
will I turn to the nations, which have hitherto
with unclean lip called upon their idols (Hos. ii.
19 ; Ps. xvi. 4), a ptu:e lip ; I will give it to them,
I will create it in them. This act of grace, which,
in Is. vi., is represented under the view of the ex-
piating act of God, is here exhibited under that of
the new creative act.
The two views [Jiomente] complete one another.
I Many interpreters understand the "pure lips"
of the lip of God Himself, which He will employ
in friendly language to the nations (Luth., Cocc,
Marck, Hofmann). But that God's lip is pure is
self evident ; it will not be pure then for the first
time, but it is always pure. Our translation
(comp. Theodoret : " KaSaphv Se x^^^<" '''^ M
Siovs aWci Beii/ 6y6p.a(ov ") is required by the con-
nection, and is also given by the oldest versions
(Ohald., Syr., Aq., Symm., Vulg.). For the
expression [i. e., turn, etc.], comp. 1 Sam. x. 9;
Mai. iii. 23, in A. V. Mai. iv. 6. — C. E.]
The purity of the lips proves itself by the fact
that they all call upon the name of Jehovah ~~
the unity of the children of God existing before the
flood, at the beginning of the history of revelation,
is restored. Gen. iv. 26 — That they serve tTitti
with one shoulder ; compare the expression "with
one mouth," 1 Kings xxii. 13. " The unity is re-
stored by means of all of them bearing the same
yoke, i. e., the yoke of Jehovah, Jer. ii. 20."
Hitzig. Compare also Is. ix. 3. Those who es-
cape from the great slaughter of the judgment
(ver. 8), are dispersed into their own lands, and
there Jehovah's new work of grace reaches them:
compare the fuller expansion of the same thought,
Is. Ixvi. 19 f.
Ver. 10. Even from beyond the rivers of
Cush — from the southern extremity of the known
world, which also appeared to be (ii. 12) the
southern terminus of the judgments, will my
worshippers (the signification of ii-agrance, which
Ges., Ew., Maur., give to the word ^"in^, is un-
tenable), my dispersed people (on HS, comp.
at Micah iv. 14), bring my meat-offerine ; the
CHAPTER III. 8-20.
taved heathen become like a iviile diaspora, after
they have received pure lips, join themselves to
the' organism of the people of God [Heils<jemeinde,
the congregation of salvation], as Isaiah had proph-
esied, chap, xviii., to which Zephaniah refers by re-
peating the words (comp. Is. xviii. 7). [The
vulg., Luth., in his Coram., Marck, Hitzig, con-
sider the words "'"D'7'? ^^^ '^'2'\B'D^ as two
coordinate nominatives. Not only the parallel.
Is. xviii. 7, decides in favor of this construction,
but also the context, which, in ver. 11, applies only
to Israel. Compare also Mai. i. 11. De Wette,
Hengstenberg, Strauss, Keil, with Luther's trans-
lation, take the words as accusatives : from beyond
the rivers of Cush will they liring my worshippers,
my dispersed ones, as my meat-offering. But this
thought is introduced into this passage only from
the reference to Is. Ixvi. 20. The devotional-alle-
gorical turn, which is combined with this view,
that the heathen will convert again to God the Is-
raelites dispersed among them (Hengstenb., Keil),
is entirely foreign to the passage, since the dis-
persed, according to the entire connection, even
though Israelites were to be understood by them,
could not after all be considered as unconverted ;
and the act of bringing them, according to the
usage of prophetic language (comp. Is. xlix. 22,
and above), is an act of homage, and not of con-
version. There are other interpretations, namely,
the old versions, which seem to rest, |n part, on
dilFerent readings, comp. in Colin, p. 56]. Mi/
meat-offering, is that which is due to me, comp.
%vows (Ps. Ivi. 13 [12]).
Vers. 11-13. The Restoration of the Riffhteous Rem-
nant in Israel. In that day, thou, the congrega-
tion of Israel, wilt not be ashamed of aU thy
doings, by which thou hast transgressed against
me, and on account of which it is impossible for
thee to enter, as thou art, into the perfected sal-
vation (ver. 7) : for then will I remove, this pre-
diction is proved by the whole connection to be
fut. exactum ; then will I have removed from
thee those that rejoice in thy pride (comp. Is.
xiii. 3), so that only the meek are left, and thou
wilt no more pride thyself (nn32, fem. inf.,Ges.,
45, 1, b) upon my holy mountain. Pride would
certainly bring shame after it (Is. iii.), but it will
be destroyed.
Ver. 12. And I leaye in the midst of thee a
people bowed down and poor, which, because it
consists of C'^V.- afflicted, are in the right dispo-
Bition to become Q"'13S. [In themselves the words
?^ and 15^1 which, besides this, occurs only once
in the singular, do not point out the antithesis of
the external pressure and of the internal humility,
but they meet in the same fundamental meaning;
compare, in opposition to Hengstenberg and the
mterpreters that follow him, the proof given by
Hupfeld at Ps. ix. 13 ; but in both the passages of
our prophet (ii. 3 ; iii. 12) that antithesis is re-
quired by the connection and parallelism]. They
will trust in the name of Jehovah : antithesis to
iii. 2.
Ver. 13. The remnant of Israel wfll do no
jnong, like God Himself, iii. 5 ; Lev. xix. 2, and
one shall not find in their mouth the tongue of
deceit, which is now found even in the month of
their prophets (ver. 4). But they will feed, in the
undisturbed enjoyment of the fulfilled promise they
live and rejoice in the good shepherd (Micah vii.
14), and lie down, comp. ii. 7, and no one terri-
fies them, as it is promised. Lev. xxvi. 6.
Vers. 14-20. The New Jerusalem. As in Micah
vii. 14 ff., the prophecy here takes a turn. It has
from the beginning, and especially in this conclud-
ing promise, the tenor of the discourse in Micah
vi. 7, a tenor removed from the empirical present
and raised to a jubilation over the accomplish-
ment ; with dithyrambic psalm-tones to the end.
in such a manner, however, that by means of the
expression, " in that day," vers. 16, 19 f., the pro-
phetic character is maintained ; " Confirmat supe-
riorem doctrinam exhortans fiddes ad gaxtdium, quasi
jam prce oculis exstaret, quod antea poUicitus est."
Calvin. Exult thou daughter Zion (comp. Zech.
ii. 14; ix. 9).
Ver. 15. Jehovah has removed the judg-
ments : " everything that He appoints concerning
them," the judgments, which were held out in pros-
pect for the great day, vers. 7, 5 ; swept away
thine enemy, as in Micah vii. 8, a common desig-
nation of the world-power (Babylon, Nimrod, comp.
Com. on Micah, p. 51 ) in all its relations. The King
of Israel is Jehovah in the midst of thee, as Oba-
diah had promised for this time of salvation, vei.
20, comp. Zech. ii. 14 f. (Strauss, Keil : the King
of Israel, Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; but this
method of placing the [noun in] apposition before
is not Old Testament, but modern usage.) Thou
wilt see evil no more, neither evil, but Him
alone, in whom is all good, IIos. iii. 5, nor sin, ver.
11, for the Holy One does not suffer it in his pres-
ence. Dent, xxiii. 15 (14). Therefore thou canst
be fearless, ver. 16 f. : On that day will men say
to Jerusalem, fear not, Zion ! — Zion is in the
vocative — let not thy hands sink down, in slack-
ness and despondency. The understanding of the
address as a designation of the new name (they shall
call Jerusalem : "Fear not Zion ; let not thy hands
sink down i" Ewald), is certainly entirely in accord-
ance with the prophetic spii'it, but it is introduced
into this passage from Is. Ixii. 11 ff., and is not in-
dicated by anything. According to this view Zion
should be construed, like Jerusalem, with V- The
hands have become slack at the approach of the day
of Jehovah, Is. xiii. 7 : " Omnis vigor ita concidit
metUf ut nullum meinbritm sno fungatur officio." Cal-
vin. The requirement that the slackness shall
cease, shows th.at the judgment is past.
Ver. 17. Jehovah, thy God, is in the midst
of thee, a mighty one, who is a Saviour ; comp.
Jer. xiv. 9. The "1123 bs, Is. ix. 5 (6), prom-
j ised by the prophets, is Jehovah Himself, comp. Is.
X. 21. He rejoices over thee in dehght, since
1 He sees no more anything impure, and the old
marriage covenant is gloriously restored anew. Is.
Ixii. 5, comp. Hos. ii. 19. He is silent (Anton,
! Hitzig, following the LXX. read K^^IQ^ instead
of ti7''"in^ : He does a new thing) in his love :
I a silence arising no longer from forbearance, in or-
I der to pnnish at last (Ps. 1. 21) ; but because He
; has nothing more to reprehend, comp. vers. 5 and
ill. His love is, then, a blessed enjoyment and
nurturing. A beautiful anthropopathy. Calvin :
"Z)cws ergo tuus quietus erit in amore suo, i. e., erunt
hrn summce delicice; haeceril pracipua Dei tui volup-
tas, uhi te fovebit ; quemadinodum si quis uxorem
dilectissimam foveat : ita etiam Deus tuus quiescet in
amore tuo." He wiB rejoice over thee with re-
joicing. Is. Ixv. 19. Bucer: "Cum amor Dei er^a
suos verbis humanis explicari nequeat, quicquid omntno
34
ZEPHANIAH.
in amore vahemens est etflagrans, illi se dominus com-
parat. Hinc nioc/o patris, nunc matris tunc et mariti
affectum sibi sumit." Both silence and rejoicing be-
long to love, as salvation is called an eternal rest
and an eternal praising of God, And in this re-
joicing the whole Church is to have a part.
Ver. 18. Those that mourn, ^?^3 instead of
"'313 part. Niph. from n:';=''31, Olsh., 192 a.
Rem. 266 a; so also '"113^3, Lam. i. 4; Vulg. :
nugcB .'] far from the festive assembly, the great
festival of the accomplishment of salvation in the
New Jerusalem, which, in accordance with Hos.
xii. 10 (9), is also represented, in Zech. xiv. 16 ff.,
under the figure of the Feast of Tabernacles as be-
ing the most joyful, I will gather together, I
wil>gather [them] from the dispersion, comp. ver.
20 (for the constr. comp. Ges., 116, 1) : they are
of thee (113, as in Ezra ii. 59) [see also Is. Iviii.
12; Ps. Ixviii. 27, ^Q expressing descent or origin
— C. E.], reproach presses upon them, literally,
as a burden does. The suffix in i^''^.^ refers to
the collective idea HviS or H^-ti' existing in
^3^3 (Hitzig). In order that they may be disbur-
dened and set free, the destruction of the enemies,
in whose fetters the mourners are held, is neces-
sary.
V'er. 19. Behold at that time I wiUdeaJ with
(nC?3 intransitive with emphatic meaning as in
Ez. xxiii. 25 ; xvii. 17 ; Jer. xviii. 23) all thine
oppressors, and that in such a way that I wiU
heal the limping and gather together the dis-
persed, (designations of the Church tried with suf-
fering, from Micah iv. 6, comp. at the passage)
and make them a praise and a name (as it was
promised in Deut. xxvi. 19 ) in every laud of their
shame. " Praise and name," hendiadys for a
celebrated name, which is praised, so that the orig-
inal promise. Gen. xii., is futtilled, and all nations
long to be invested with the citizenship of the new
community. Ps. Ixxxvii. Comp. also Zech. viii.
P
23 and Is. iv. 1
Ver. 20. At that time wiU I bring you, — the
sentence, like all the statements of the verse, has
something compendious, " abbreviatory." S'^^H,
in itself, signifies neither to bring to a possession,
to rank and condition (Ewald), nor to leadout and
in (Keil). Hather the whole sentence becomes
clear only from the reference to Deut. xxx. 3 if.,
which passage the prophet quotes as one known to
the hearers. To this, rn3, ver. 19, comp. Deut.
xxx. 4, which accords nearly quite with Micah, has
already pointed ; likewise y3.p and n^3ti7 3^tt7,
which soon follow, point to it. And thence the
elliptical S''3H receives also (xxx. 5) the significa-
tion " to lead home." It certainly does not have
the same meaning in the passage Is. xiv. 2, from
which Hitzig and Strauss derive this meaning,
there the object of the action is directly added [to
the verb], — but it appears in closer correlation to
this verse [20] in Jer. xxxi. 8. And at that time
I will gather you. Instead of the verb fin. V?P^
the infin. with the suffix is chosen as in Dan. xi. 1,
probably to produce a conformity of sound with
S'^iS (Hitzig). For I will make you a name
• • ■ before your eyes, aaith Jehovah. The
lonclusion of Zephaniah's prediction of judgment
reaches back to the beginning of that of Ob*
diah.
[Kei! : " A fresh reason is assigned for the prom-
ise, by a further allusion to the glorification ap-
pointed for the people of God above all the nations
of the earth, coupled with the statement that this
will take place at the turning of their captivity, i.
e., when God shall abolish the misery of his people,
and turn it into salvation (" turn the captivity," as
in chap. ii. ver. 7), and that " before your eyes " ;
{. e., not that "ye yourselves shall see the salvation
and not merely your children, when they have
closed your eyes" (Hitzig) — for such an antith-
esis would be foreign to the context — but as equiv-
alent to " quite obviously, so that the turn in events
stands out before the eye," analogous to "ye will
see eye to eye" (Is. lii. 8; cf. Luke ii. 30). This
will assuredly take place, for Jehovah has spoken
it. — C. E.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
The ways of God lead not to death, but to life;
for He is a faithful God. But just because He is
faithful. He adheres not only to the promises, which
He has made, but also to the conditions of salvation,
which exist in his holiness, and whose substance is
embodied in the law. Accordingly the revealed
agency of God and its progress to accomplishment
have a twofold fundamental character. In the
first place there is a work of judgment, so that the
whole history of the kingdom is exhibited as a
process of judgment, as a purifying, cleansing,
struggling, and demolishing to the last. In the
second place there is a work of salvation, a new-
creating work, so that the same history is pi'e-
sented as a progressive communication of the di-
vine life-germ, advancing to the complete recrear
tion of that which has become corrupt by sin. To
represent only one of these views as the central one
is wrong; yea they do not in reality allow them-
selves to be so much as wholly separated ; each re-
ceives its internal form by the irradiating lines of
the other. As by the process of judgment sal-
vation shines throughout as expiation, forgive-
ness, amnesty to the elect, so by the process of
salvation the judgment appears as sifting, re-
moving, and pronouncing death upon that which
is unholy. Both views form a perfect complex,
so that one cannot be conceived without the other.
As they form in this complexity the foundation
of all prophetic preaching, so do they also that of
prophetic eschatology. Hence their separate ele-
ments are clear in their internal organic connec-
tion.
In his judicial proceeding it is not enough that
God should overthrow the hostility against his
kingdom just at the point where it becomes di-
rectly actual by a temporal juncture of circum-
stances ; that He should punish the heathen pow-
ers only so far as they come successively and singly
into historical contact with the Church; there
must be a complete breaking up of heathenism, so
far as it is a system of positive opposition to Him :
in this the judgment culminates. This final con-
flict of the judgment, briefly announced by Zephan-
iah, ver, 8, more fully exhibited by Ezekiel xxxviii.
f,, and Zechariah xii, f,, supposes a concentratei,
gathering together against the kingdom of God of
all the powers, which have not yet been added to
it. If this march is elsewhere indicated by the
announcement that the nations of the remotest
distance will be incited to rush agains' Terusaleni,
CHAPTER in. 8-20.
Zephaniah indicates it by the simple emphasis of
the words, "gather together."
It is not incomprehensible that this gathering
together, so far as its occurrence is a necessity re-
quired by the history of the kingdom, does not lie
ij) the sphere of free-will, and that on this account
its ultimate cause is referred to God. (Acts of
the Apostles iv. 28). It was potentially fulfillod
by the struggle of Christ with the combined pow-
ers of heathenism, and of Judaism dissevered from
the kingdom of God, of fanaticism, epicureanism
and skepticism (Pharisees, and priests, Sadducees,
iieroU, and Pilate), avajice and inconstancy (Ju-
das, Peter, and the multitude), death, and the
Evil One. These are the idols of the world, and
its centralized power i« destroyed by the work of
redemption (1 John iii. 8). But the realization
of this ideal in history which the prophecy requires
possibly not only in accordance with its form, but
also in accordance with its substance, and which
cannot be conceived without the actual taming of
all these powers in the kingdom of God, is still
unaccoijiplished. " The prophetic representation of
the victory over the antitheocratic central powers
reaches into the most distant time, and we must
carefully guard against any weakening by rash in-
terpretation." Beck. To the form of the proph-
ecy, on the other hand, belongs the expression,
" to gather," so far as it seems to contain a local
reference. That it treats of a gathering on the
field of spiritual conflict is evident from the fact,
that after this decisive battle, the separate central
heathen powers, which have been subdued, expe-
rience and become partakers of God's work of
grace in their lands.
This work of grace is the restoration of the peo-
ple [der Volker, the peoples] of God to the kingdom
of God by the most ancient and most peculiar
mark of God's children, calling upon the name of
Jehovah (Gen. iv. 26). The Word is the central
idea of all revelation : the Word on the part of
God is revelation itself in the widest extent : the
Word on the part of man is the concentrated sym-
bol of the life of the human soul. ( Comp. Oehler,
art., "Name" in Herzog, Jieal-Enci/c., x. 19.3
S,). The purity of the lips manifested and ef-
fected by the calling upon the name of God, is at
the same time purity of the inner man (Matt.
XV. 18). The other constitutive elements of di-
vine worship — bowing and sacrifice — fall in with
the expression. And indeed the bloody sacrifice
is abolished after the offering of the great sacrifice
i. 6, with which the reconciliation is connected
(comp. ver. 9 with Is. vi. 7 ; also Zech. xiii. 1).
The offerings of the heathen world joining them-
selves to God are represented by the mention of
the meat-offering. (Comp. Mai. i. 11.) There is
at least tacitly promised thereby an essential
change of the Mosaic worship for the time of
salvation — as it is connected solidarily with the
demolition of the barrier of the law between Is-
rael and the nations, between Canaan and the
distant lands. It can be nothing else than an
entirely new order of things, in which the wor
shippers of Jehovah, " the congregation of his dis-
persed ones," even beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
Me found among the sons of Ham. The begin-
ning of the fulfillment is related by Luke in the
Acts of the Apostles viii. 26 ff., and the entire
prophecy of this book chimes in with his narrative
throughout. (Comp, Zeph. ii. 5 with Acts of the
Apostles viii. 26 ; iii. 10 with viii. 27; iii. 9 with
mi. 37 ; iii. 17 with viii. 39).
If an entirely new creation is necessary in the
heathen world to effect the salvation, then the
matter of moment in Israel is to restore by jiurifi-
cation the pure heart of the poor in spirit, of the
humble life of faith, which procures righteous-
ness_ before God. The new Israel will be es-
sentially different from the present in so far as
they will be no more liable to punishment. As in
the case of the heathen so also here the fact of
reconciliation, of purification, and of forgiveness is
tacitly presupposed (comp. however, ver. 14 :) al-
though they have sinned as Israel, as a nation,
yet in the time of salvation there will be a rem-
nant (comp. Com. on Micah, p. .32 ; Com. on Na
hum, p. 36 ; ante, Introd. p. 9), which is not swept
off together with the others in the. judgment, which
has also obtained forgiveness and accepted it in
humility, and which now places its confidence and
hope only in the name of Jehovah. But the proud,
who place their confidence in themselves, who little
consider that the mountain, on which they celebrate
their self-suflSciency, is the abode of the Holy God,
will be swept away in the purification. It also be-
longs to the complete humility of Israel, that they
should abandon the narrowness of their particular-
istic pride. In this way this fact is connected with
the former, by which it is worthy of consideration,
that the conversion of the heathen is placed before
the restoration of Israel.
Both are works of grace: in the case of the hea-
then the grace lies in the entirely new beginning ;
in the case of Israel, in the fact, that after they
have become, according to human view, a wretched
miserable remnant, as such they obtain favor.
Such has been God's way fi-om the beginning : the
younger sons are his chosen in the history of the
patriarchs and kings ; when Israel had pined away
in the bondage of Egypt, Moses arose ; when to-
ward the end of the time of the judges they had
almost ceased to be a nation (1 Sam. xiii. 19),
Samuel came. So will it be also t'. the time of
the consummation.
So also the marks of the work of grace in Israel
and among the heathen agree. The signature of
the new Israel is given with the word of truth, as
the signature of the dispersed congregation, gath-
ered from the heathen, is given with the word of
confession. A¥hat precedes the times of the con-
summation are on the one hand the times of igno-
rance ; and on the other the times of falsehood.
Falsehood is the mortal enemy, which resists the
development of the kingdom of God from within;
and so long as it is not removed, so long the con-
summation is delayed. John viii. 44. And as
among the heathen, so also in Israel the form of
the new kingdom of God is a perfect worship of
(jod: the consummation bears the character of a
festival. So had Isaiah, chap, iv., already de-
scribed, after the type of the Feast of Tabernacles,
the achievement of salvation, which is allotted to
the remnant of Israel after the judgment and rec-
onciliation.
But this is the preeminence of Israel over the
heathen, that they are the centre of the new king-
dom, and that Jehovah dwells in the midst of
them as a Mighty One and a Saviour. The hea-
then come into, but " salvation comes from the
Jews," and the new congregation, although the
heathen (under the supposition, that they ac-
knowledge this privileged position of Israel witt
praise) are added to it, is essentially the continua-
tion and completion of the 0. T. Church. It is
indeed nothing else than the fulfillment of the
promises whicli were made to the fathers, and
which are chartered and sealed in the Torah
ZEPHANIAH.
Only that this continuation and completion pass
through the deep rupture, which discloses itself
in the name of " the lame and the outcasts; '' and
that the covenant of a holy and blessed love
between God and the Israel, whom He has aban-
doned in all lands to deserved shame, must be a
new covenant. And indeed the complete and most
peculiar nature of this new covenant was not
sxhibited in the time of the prophet : it will itself
be a revelation and that a visible one : before
'.he eyes of his own, God will carry it into effect.
The Word of Gad, which was communicated
to Moses and the prophets, and which his Church
has heard with the ear, will appear to the eye
in the fullness of times. Heb. i. Iff.; John i.
5, 9 f.
Concerning the double relation, in which this
prophecy places the heathen to salvation (vers. 8,
l9 ; 9, 10) compare at Nah. i.
HOMIIxETlCAL.
What is the mission of the church, which God has
made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light ?
(ver. 15).
1. We should in the immovable unity of the
Spirit, who is mighty in us, stand fast against the
assembled powers of darkness, until they are over-
come (ver. 8).
2. We should carry on the contest in the name
of God and with pure lips. The purity of the lip
is acquired and preserved by the constant calling
upon God (ver. 9, a, b).
3. Those who believe should not press shoulder
against shoulder, nor sliould they wish to be one
higher than another, but to become one in humble
adoration (ver. 9c.).
4. We should not fix our hearts on the posses-
sions of the world, but remember that, iu this
world, we are a scattered church of God, and pre-
pare the offering of the soul for the eternal homo
(ver. 10).
5. We should in everything hold fast to the one
thing needful. N.amely, that we have no right to
glorj' through ourselves, but through grace against
judgment (vers. 11, 12).
6. We should keep silent at the purifications,
by which grace qualifies individuals for the in-
heritance purchased once for all (vers. 11, 12-19
a, b).
7. We should wage the contest of the light with
the weapons of the light and of righteousness on
the right hand and on the left, ver. 1.3 a, and with
perfect fearlessness, as the flock of the good shep-
herd, whom all enemies are too few to resist (ver.
13 b, 16, 17 a).
8. We should always be joyful in the Lord
(vers. 14-18). For after the acts of reconciliation
He takes delight in man (ver, 17 b).
9. We should walk for the honor of God, as
those who know that it is God's will, that his
name should not be reviled in us, but praised by
,he nations (ver. 19 c).
10. We should keep our eyes open to the past
ind present proofs of the powerful manifestation
of God, and to the signs of his coming (ver. 20.
Luke xii. 3.5).
God's purpose is a missionary purpose.
Ver. 1. A purpose of external missions (vers. 8-
0).
Ver. 2. A purpose of internal missions (vers. 11-
W).
All prophecies are fulfilled in Christ.
In the holiness and veracity, in the struggles
and sufferings, in the humiliation and exaltation
of the historical Christ everything meets, which the
prophets recorded of the deeds, experiences, and
successes of Israel, as the mediator of salvation
and of the coming of God for the accomplish
ment of salvation. He has struggled with tha
united powers of darkness and vanquished them:
He was the poor and humble remnant, who did
no wrong and in whom God was present, and
whom the Father loved wi th perfect satisfaction. —
Ver. 2. In the advancing acts of salvation, by
which the exalted Christ brings his eternal acts in
his body, the Church, to their temporal realization
and form, is fulfilled continuously what the proph-
ets predicted concerning them, that not merely an
individual, but a congregation of the dispersed
people of God should be the heir of the promise. —
At ver. 8 f It is God's right to gather together
the heathen for wrath. But because He is God
grace is the end of his righteous way. Only
those who are near to Him thus know Him, and
hence wait confidently upon Him, however He may
w.alk abroad in his power spreading terror. A
pure lip is the mark of the work of God's grace.
If those who belong to Him would think of this,
how much less, not merely of filthy speech and
buffoonery, which are not becoming, but also of
contention, quan-eling, anger, and unrighteousness
would thei-e be in the world. From the impurity
of the lips it comes, that Christendom, instead of
serving Him with one consent \mit einer Schvlter,
with one shoulder] becomes more unsettled and
rent from day to day. — Ver. 10. There were and
are Christians, so-called worshippers of God, who
go up the Nile to sell the heathen as slaves to
Christians. A meat-offering of abomination (Is. i.
11 ff.). Missions should make amends for this. —
Ver. 11. Tlie most dangerous desecration of the
holy place and of the holy congregation takes
place througli pride. — Ver. 12. It is painful to
the human heart, that it must first become com-
pletely poor and humble, before it learns to trast
entirely in the name of the living God. This is
the reason that the hearts rich in the opinion of
the world arc richest in dead idols. — Ver. 13. Be-
hold there the marks of the true Church, congre-
gationes Sanctorum, Aug. vii. Truly the holiness
of the saints comes from the grace of God, and so
long as they carry in themselves the flesh of sin
their perfection is piece-work. But whoever he be
that knowingly and willingly offends and lies and
deceives from the bottom of his heart, him the
word of God excommunicates, though his lips
may be full of hypocritical profession. The pure
lip is the lip of the heart. Such sanctification fol-
lows, when a soul feeds tranquilly in the pasture,
which God has given to it in his Word. Such
souls no one alarms. In proportion to the inter-
nal separation from the Word, in that proportion
are there much anxious looking around and des-
pondency. — Ver. 14 f. The enemy of the Church
is in the last instance only one : he, whose works
God, who was in Christ and reconciled the world
to Himself, has destroyed. The legal practice
[Praxis] produces in souls fear of the devil as a
conqueror ; the prophetic and evangelic inspires
in them courage against him as a vanquished [en-
emy].— Ver. 16 f. Zion, let not thy hands be-
come slack. How much is there everywhere to
do ! and how must it invigorate our alacrity for
work, when we know that God, the Mighty One
and Saviour, is with us, and that He looks unon our
CHAPTER III. 8-20.
37
irork with heartfelt delight. — Ver. 18. Such work
Is not a trouble, but a feast. It is a disgrace to him,
who does not engage in it. Pray everywhere that
God may turn the disgrace of the afflicted, who
perish far from work in his kingdom, and gather
them. — Ver. 19. We cannot certainly avoid the
necessity of bearing for a short time the derision
and abase of the world for the Lord's sake. But
it is a paltry view to set this as the final object and
result of living Christianity upon earth. By do-
ing so we close our eyes. The final object which
we must always keep present to ourselves, is that
men should learn to glorify God in his own. But
for that active Christianity is necessary. He who
strives after the object in another self-chosen way,
whether, whilst abandoning the Go.spel, he seeks
to gain the praise of the crowd, whether whilst
turning his back upon his brethren, only hinders
the work of God and impedes it. — Ver. 20, How
many who belong to the Israel of God by baptism
are prisoners in the world. Cease not to pray for
your brethren that He may restore them before
your eyes. For this the word of promise is given,
that the faith of those who labor in this work may
be strengthened by it; and that we who are so
ready to say, their destruction is at hand, may
learn to take shame to ourselves in view of the
feithfulness and long-suffering following of God,
who speaks there.
Luther : Ver. 8. The gathering together of
the kingdoms and nations is effected through the
word of the Gospel, which has been proclaimed to
everyone throughout the world. — Ver. 12. He
describes the Christian Church with few, but yet
with most beautifnl words ; namely, that it is a
poor, needy, and oppressed little people, that calls
upon the Lord and trusts in Him, which is the
highest righteousness and the most exalted ivor-
ship. This is the true glory of the kingdom of
Christ, that we are joyfully and in peace reconciled
to God through Jesus Clirist. Not that there is
no longer any cross reserved for us ; not that the
world and Satan will not lie in wait for us ; but,
provided that against all this our conscience is pre-
served secure, we need not care for it. This is the
work of the power of God in us. — Ver. 20. Also
the apostles and martyrs came at last to honor be-
fore God and the world, who before were consid-
ered by the world a despised people; now their
memory sounds with thanksgiving, like that of
John Hiiss, and of all who have suffered persecu-
tion and death for the glory of God. But the
memory of the ungodly perishes.
Staeke : The fulfillment of this text is gener-
ally placed in the times of the Apostles. Though
indeed this interpretation in part is not to be
denied, yet it cannot be granted that these proph-
ecies attained their full measure of fulfillment at
that time. — Ver. 8. If we are a long time chas-
tised for our sins, we should remember, that we
also were a long time disobedient to God, when
He warned us against sin ; and also that it is no
wonder, if He does not soon answer us, because
we would not listen soon to Him. — Ver. 10. Be-
lievers present themselves as a gift, when they put
themselves entirely under obedience to God and
mortify the old man. Although the unbelieving
Tews still continue in such pride of their relation
to God, yet those objects of pride will be put away
from them at the time of their conversion, and
•hey will perish with Antichrist, to whom they be-
long. Though pride is displeasing to God every-
where, yet it is particularly repugnant to Him,
when we are proud in the service of God. — Ver.
12. The Christian Church is not to be estimated
according to its external appearance. — Ver. 13,
Although the pious have then' infirmity in them,
nevertheless they have, according to the inward
man, pleasure in God's law. Where true faith
exists, good works also must infallibly follow.
Those who have been justified by faith have peace
with God and with his creatures. — Ver. 14. The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but right-
eousness, etc., Eom. xiv. 17. — Ver. 17. There is
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenterh, mucli
more over the fact that entire Christendom is rec-
onciled to God. He will be silent in his love, i. e.,
He will be no crier ; He will not deal harshly with
and u tterly cast down the terrified consciences of
those who make a false step ; He will not mag-
nify trifling faults ; in a pharisaic manner make
camels out of gnats, and for that reason make the
erring to be ill spoken of, that every one may fear
to associate with them ; but his care will be exer-
cised to raise them up again and to win their heart
to him. As He dealt with Peter, the thief, etc.,
would that all teachers would also deal with poor
erring sinners.
RiEGER : Ver. 8 ff. When causes of judgment
greatly multiply on one side, then God grants
largely on the other side much that is conducive
to a clear understanding of his word. In the
most doubtful times we must also not just con-
sider ourselves and our own as merely a purifying
offering of the judgments that befall us, for God
can also thence prepare for himself fit instruments
for his purposes. — Ver. 11 ff. 0, that all the
trouble to establish their own righteousness, 0
that all glorying in the flesh, were brought to an
end ; that we may enjoy rest without fear, when
the father of lies shall be imprisoned, and his
[power of] seducing shall be put down with him !
— Ver. 14. It is something great when the joy in
God and in his grace of those that are pardoned,
and God's joy in the fulfillment of his counsel,
shall coincide. He to whom all this seems too
great, let him only look at the great seal, which is
appended to the whole : thus saith the Lord. He
can do great things and execute them speedily,
when the unbelief of men or weak faith sees yet
no preparation for them. Remember, Lord, this
Thy word to Thy servants, upon which thou hast
caused us to hope.
BnOEK : At ver. 8. Things, whose intrinsic na-
ture it is to go far from God, of which one prop-
erly says, when they perish, that they are gathered
again to Him. — Ver. 9. Whoever acknowledges
God in truth can do nothing else than love and
pi*oclaim Him.
HocKE : Heart, mouth, and works meet in the
appellation, pure lips. So long as there is agree-
ment among these three hypocrisy has no place in
men. But if the heart is not purified, then the
lips and works are also unclean, Matt. vi. 22, 23.
BuEOK : The concordant worship of God cor-
responds to the pure lip. As once a counterfeit
unanimity produced multiplicity and confusion of
languages, so unity and purity of speech are about
to produce and maintain true unity.
Pfaff: Ver. 11. Those who glory in the true
church and are still unconverted, are proud saints,
who are an abomination to the Lord.
AnGU.STiNE : Ver. 13. There is a difference be-
tween peccantes and peccatores, just as there is be-
tween scribentes and scriptores.
BncER : Ver. 15. What we suffer is nothing
but judgment, i. e., merited evil, and no one ;an
turn it from us, but the Lord, who sends it. He
38
ZEPHANIAH.
who apprehends this by faith will learn to bear in-
juries and will be broken by no suffering.
Calvin: Ver. 16. On that day He says. But
we must wait as long as it pleases God to disci-
pline his people under the cross. All men might
have rest from nature and suffer nothing bad,
therefore He sets right the too great precipitation,
which we are accustomed to have under chastise-
ment.
BuCER: Ver. 17. All blessings are in God. He
dwells in the Church, so it has nothing further to
desire.
Calvin : What seems more alien to the glory
of God, than to exult like a man in the pleasure
of love. But we would rest in Him, and, as He
weans us from the world, strive after this one
thing, that He would vouchsafe to us his favor :
this is no derogation from, but a proof of his
honor and glory. This is his chief glory — his
unending and transcendent goodness, by which
He has'embraced us and conducted us to the end.
BtJCER : Ver. 19. As a virtuous wife, who loves
her husband sincerely, would a thousand times
rather die than forsake him, or violate her fidelity
to him, and yet does many things which she
knows are displeasing to him, so it is with the
hearts of the pious : they cannot apostatize from
God, and they love Him above everything else, and
yet the flesh is not entirely delivered from its
weakness. There is no one, whom thou wouldst
not be obliged to censure for many faults, no one
who does not constantly need the physician Christ,
no one to whom we must not preach repentance.
The more the truly pious apprehend that they are
constantly in need of Christ, the more ardent will
be their love to Him.
ScHMiEDEK : The lame and the cast out are the
wretched and scattered, who limping aft«r the
flock, remain behind, or are driven into flight and
scattered by the inroad of the wolf — Ver. 20.
" Thus has God spoken."
AuGDSTiNE : So great is the ilepth of the Holy
Scriptures, that if one would apply himself to their
study alone from childhood to declining age with
the use of all his time and the greatest industry, he
would be able to speak of daily progress. Kot nt
though any one by diligence, however great, at-
tained to know that which is necessary to salva-
tion. But if one has grasped this by faith, and
holds it fast, without which a pious and correct
life is impossible, there always remains still for
those who continue advancing farther such a great
fullness of what is mysterious and veiled, such an
exalted wisdom in the matter and words, that pre-
cisely the longer, the more zealously, and with the
more ardent desire for learning, one continues in
them, the better he understands what Sirach has
said (xviii. 6) : a man when he has even done his
best, has scarcely begun ; and if he thinks that hs
has completed his task, he is still far fiom it.
THL
BOOK OF HAGGAI.
EXPOUNDED
JAMES FREDERICK M"CURDY
DWIEUCTOB IN OKIENIAL LANQUAQES, THEOLOQIOAL 8BMINABT, PBINCSIOll, ■. i.
NEW YOEK:
CHAKLES SCEIBNER'S SONS,
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, b^
SCKIBNBK, AeMSTKONG, AND COMPANT,
IB the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at 'Wasbingtoa.
THE PROPHECIES OF HAGGAI.
INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. Person of the Prophet.
The name Haggai ("'SH, LXX., 'Ayyaio;, Vulg., Aggceus) is, in the Old Testament,
borne only by our Prophet. It is usually held to mean Festive, from 2n, a feast, with the
adjectival suffix ■< — for "i — (Green, Heh. Gram., § 194 b; Ewald,^ § 164 c). Other explana-
tions are : My Feast: Feast of Jehovah ; but these are less tenable.^
All that we certainly know of the personal history of Haggai is gathered from a com-
parison of chaps, i. 1 ; ii. 1, 10, 20 of his Prophecy, with Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 14. These notice"
do not throw any light upon his private life or circumstances, but merely indicate the occa-
sions of his official action. They inform us that he began his prophetic career in the second
year of Darius Hystaspes (b. c. 520), and that his discourses bore chiefly upon the erection
of the Second Temple. His recorded public addresses cover a period of about four months,
during the latter half of which he enjoyed the cooperation of Zechariah (comp. Zech. i. 1).
We do not even know whether he was a native of Judtea or of Babylon, whether he was
"orn before or during the Exile. Ewald has inferred from chap. ii. 3 that he had beheld
-e First Temple ; but this is not necessarily implied in the passage. If he was born before
..e Captivity he must have been at least nearly seventy years old when he entered upon his
linistry.'
We have, in the patristic age, statements by Pseudo-Dorotheus and Pseudo-Epiphanius
each of whom composed a history of the lives of the prophets), to the effect that Haggai
eturned to Jerusalem along with the other exiles, being then still a young man ; that he
urvived the completion of the Temple (b. c. 516), and was interred with priestly honors
close to the burial-place of the Priests. We know of nothing to disprove these assertions ;
but neither have we any evidence in their favor, and so many improbable accounts of the
Prophets were in circulation both among the later Jews and the early Christians, that all
unsupported extra-biblical statements concerning them must be regarded with suspicion.
A notion had even gained currency in the time of Jerome (who thought it necessary to dis-
prove it) that Haggai, as well as Malachi and John the Baptist, were angels and not men.
This opinion was based upon a misunderstanding of Hag. i. 13 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; Mark i. 2,
§ 2. Occasion and Aim of the Prophecy.
Haggai was the earliest of the Prophets of the Restoration, preceding Zechariah by about
two months. At the time of his appearance, the offices of a divine messenger were greatly
needed among the Jews. In order to understand their situation as clearly as possible, it
will be necessary to recur to the events which marked their history immediately after their
return from the Exile. During this review we shall have to bear in mind that their conduct
towards God, their neglect or fulfillment of their covenant duties towards Him, mainly deteiv
1 Grammattoal references to this author in the present Commentary are to his Aia/UrUclies Lehrbucli iter Htbraischin
Sprache, 8th ed., 1870. His eiegetical opinions are found in his Propheten des aXten Bimc/es, ii., pp. 616-522
3 Compare the similar names in Gen. xlvi. 16 ; Numb. xxvi. 16.
« See the exegesis of chap. ii. 3. Keil, in ammadverting upon Bwald's supposition, asserts that Haggai most have
IKMI at that time eighty years old. But this he himself disproves by his correct observations upon the passage itself.
In <U8 Lilrodui'ion to tke Old Testament (i., p. 420, Bngl. translation), he had favored the conjecture of Ewald.
I HAGGAI.
mined their temporal and spiritual condition, as well as the matter and tone of the prophetic
communications.
The first religious acts of the little colony promised favorably enough. After reinstituting
the observance of the legal festivals in the seventh month (the month of feasts) of the first
year of their return, which was also the first of the sole reign of Cyrus, they proceeded to
hire workmen and purchase building material, and laid the foundation of the Second Temple
in the second month of the second year, B. c. 535. But even on this joyful occasion there
were indications of a feeling of despondency among those who had beheld the First Temple
in its superior outward beauty (Ezra iii. 12, 13), a feeling which seems to have been soon
communicated to the rest of the people, and to have contributed to that neglect of the Tem
pie which the Prophet afterwards rebuked. The same symptom at all events reappeared even
after the work of building had been more energetically resumed, for it was this that called forth
his third address (chap. ii. 1-9). This point deserves attention here, for if we compare our
Prophet's discourses with the Book of Ezra, we shall find that the delay in the great work
was due no less to the unfaithfulness and faint-hearted ness of the people than to the machi-
nations of their enemies. It was not long before the latter cause began to operate. The
Samaritans, the heathen nations (Ezra iv. 1, 9, 10), who had been planted in the deserted
titles of the ten tribes by Esarhaddon, offered, immediately after the founding of the Temple,
to form an alliance with them, and to assist them in their labors, on the plea that both commu-
nities worshipped the same God. This proposal having been rejected, they next employed
counsellors against the Jews at the Persian court. Their intrigues, after long perseverance,
seemed to be at last quite successful, when, in reply to a petition addressed by them to
Pseudo-Smerdis (b. c. 622, the Artaxerxes of Ezra iv. 7), they were assured that the build-
ing of Jerusalem must be discontinued. The decree of this usurper was immediately carried
into effect, and whatever efforts the Jews might be inclined to make in the way of complet-
ing the Temple were rendered impossible of execution during the remainder of his reign,
which lasted less than a year. But on the accession of Darius Hystaspes (b. c. 521), who
was soon found to be favorable tohis Juda3an subjects., the expostulations and exhortations of
Haggai and Zechariah, as prophets of Jehovah, stirred them up to resume and finish the work.
In studying the disposition of the people during the interval between the founding of the
Temple and their final and successful cflbrt to complete it, and so seeking the justification
of the Prophet's ministry, we can gather enough from the Biblical record to show us that
they were in need of just such a method of treatment as that which he adopted towards
them in his addresses. That the slow progress or the lengthened intermissions in the work
were not entirely owing to the opposition of the Samaritans, is abundantly manifest. (1.)
The rescript of Pseudo-Smerdis against them was not issued until thirteen years had elapsed
after the founflations were laid. The mere intrigues of their enemies were sufficient to deter
them from serious, persevering effort. This shows that they were by no means zealous in
the cause of God and religion. (2.) The rei;;;n of that usurper lasted only a few months,
and it was not until the second year of his successor, and until they were incited by stern
rebuke and expostulation, that they returned to their duty, although it must have occurred
to them that the policy of the former monarch would naturally be opposed by the latter.
(3.) We learn from the Prophecy itself, that, during ihe period we are considering, many of
them had been employing their superfluous means to beautify their own dwellings, while the
House of God was lying desolate, thus manifesting a selfish disregard of his superior claims.
(4.) The scantiness of their harvests, and the want of success that had attended their labors
generally, are ad<luced by the Prophet as an evidence of God's displeasure, since under the
theocracy, national and domestic prosperity or distress was determined by obedience or
neglect of the Divine King. These calamities therefore proved them guilty of ignoring his
demands, the most imperative of which at that time was the restoration of his Dwelling-place.
S".xh were the external circumstances which called forth the Prophet's discourses. They
indicate sufficiently the immediate object of his ministry. The bearing of his prophecies
upon the interests of his people and of the Church of God, can be learnt to any satisfactory
extent only from their e.xposition. At present a few remarks, in a most general way, will be
all that it will be necessary to offer.
Wliile it is characteristic of all the Prophets of the liestoration that they are much occu
pied with the Temple in its relations to God's kingdom, it is the distinction of Haggai that
all his discourses, even the last (chap. ii. 20-23), relate more or less directly to this subject.
It IS not diflicult to discover the reason of this. In the first place, the Temple was the very
INTRODUCTIOK,
3ondition of the national existence. If the returned exiles were to be organized 'and to
continue as a distinct people, the Temple must be restored and sacredly guarded. Other
nations might exist without such a palladium ; they could not. In the second place, those
who were united by this common institution composed the Church of God, his coven int
people. The Temple was his earthly dwelling, where in united worship they were accus-
tomed to seek his covenanted favor and the bestowal of common blessings, the place where
his Presence was specially displayed. It was therefore necessary that the earliest prophetic
addresses to the little community should awaken in them a sense of the relation in which
they stood to God as his subjects and chosen people, and of the obligation thereby entailed
upon them to restore his neglected and desolate House. Then would He return to dwell
with them (chap. i. 14). Then would they enjoy the abiding presence of his Spirit (ii. 5).
Then, too, would He pour ibrth upon them perpetual blessings (ii. 19) instead of the merited
chastisements of the past. Then would they, as the objects of his peculiar care, be preserved
among the commotions which should shatter the surrounding nations (ii. 22, 23). Thus in
this aspect of the Prophet's ministry its grand purpose was to subserve the progress of God's
kingdom by evoking and perpetuating among his people a spirit of ready obedience and love
to his ordinances. This was the part he bore in laying the foundations of the Church of
the Second Temple.
But the Second Temple was viewed by the Prophet distinctively in another aspect.
While inferior to the first in outward splendor it was to be the seat of a more spiritual wor-
ship, which would constitute it a more fitting representative of the Church of Christ. This
relation Haggai seems to have regarded in that one of his discourses which was at once the
most cheering to his cotemporaries and the most instructive to future generations (chap. ii.
1-9). There he even assumes the identity of the Second Temple and the Church of Mes-
sianic times, and describes the former as sharing in the glories of the latter. He announces
that the time is not far off when the privileges of Jehovah's worship shall be extended over
all the earth, and that the treasures of all nations wiU then be brought to adorn this Tem-
ple and to exalt its glory above the departed splendor of the former House, while peace and
prosperity shall reign among the unnumbered worshippers. The divine purpose in this
discourse was, on the one hand, to revive the drooping spirits of those who were engaged
upon the Temple, by revealing to them the transcendent glory which should ultimately
crown their work ; and, on the other, to afford to the feeble and despised people of God, but
lately emerged from their long captivity, a bright glimpse of the future which was in store
for them, when they should embrace all the kingdoms of the earth.^
§ 3. The Booh of the Prophet in Matter and Form.
The Book of the Prophet Haggai consists of five addresses delivered to the Jewish people,
within a period of about four mouths, in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, King of Per-
sia. The^rs( discourse (chap. i. 1-11) is one of reproof, expostulation, and warning, being
designed to arouse the people from their religious apathy, and, in especial, from their indiffer-
ence to the condition of the Temple, which was then lying desolate. The second discourse
(contained in the section chap. i. 12-15), after a relation of the beneficial results of the
first, holds out to them, in their returning obedience, the promise of God's returning favor
and of his aid in their work.^ The third discourse (chap. ii. 1-9), evoked by the despon-
1 If this were the proper place for the discussion, it might be interesting to trace the relations subsisting t>etwecn
the several discourses of the Prophets of the Restoration, which bear upon the Temple, e. g., how Haggai assumes the
identity of the Second Temple and the Church of Christ, while Zechariah (vi. 12, 13) seems to contradict him by assert-
ing that the Messiah would Himself build the Temple of Jehovah, and Malachi resolves into full harmony these seeming
discords of the Prophetic lyre by predicting that Jehovah would come to bis Temple, and purify the son.s of Levi (iii
1-3). The subject is worthy of fuller consideration.
2 Nearly all the Comnientators regard chap. i. as comprising but one discourse, thus making the whole prophecy to
consist of four. The following considerations will show that the p.assage chap. i. 12-15 should form a separate division,
as containing a distinct address. (1.) Ver. 13 seems to indicate that a new message was delivered by Jehovah to Haggai
(2.) As far as ver. 11 the words of the Prophet are objurgatory, thus giving a weli-defioed character to the discourse.
His words in ver. 13 express approval and convey encouragement, they must therefore form the subject of a distinct mes-
llgc. The reason of the contrastis obvious. A complete change (described in ver. 12) had been effected in the disposi-
tion of the people. Before they had been apathetic and careless. But now the rebukee and denunciations of the Prophet
W excited in them that true fear of God whose earliest fruit is repentance (comp. ver. 14). Hence he was commissioned
^assure them of God's renewed favor. The brevity of the message as recorded, is accounted for on the assumption
(probable upon all grounds) that Ilaggai, in accordance with the general usage of the Prophets, has given us a mere out-
line of his address. It is generally held that vers. 12-15 are intended merely to set forth the effects of the first message,
Bht it is to be remembered that the aim of the Prophet was not to write history, and that when he appears tf) be nar
rating, he is simply showing the occasions of his discourses, whose delivery was the sole object of his mission
HAGGAT.
ienoy that had begun to affect some of the people, on account of the outward inferioii^^
of the present temple, predicts for it a glory far transcending that of its predecessor, eince
the treasures of all nations were yet to adorn the Church of the Messiah, of which it was
the representative. The fourth discourse (chap. ii. 10-19), teaches them, from the princi
pies of the Ceremonial Law, that no amount of outward religious observance can commu
nioate holiness, or secure acceptance with God and the restoration of his favor, the with
drawal of which had been so manifest in their late public and private distress. The f.ft\
discourse assures the struggling community of their preservation in the midst of commo-
tions which should destroy other nations, promising to its faithful rulers, represented by
Zerubbabel, the special protection of their Covenant God.
These outlines of his addresses the Prophet has arranged in regular chronological order,
carefully indicating the dates of their respective delivery. They are presented in a style,
which, though lacking the poetical qualities of many of the earlier prophecies, is yet marked in
various passages by great vivacity and impressiveness, to which, among other characteristics,
the frequent use of interrogation (e. g., in chaps, i. 4, 9 ; ii. 3, 12, 13, 19) largely contrib-
utes. A striking peculiarity of the Prophet's style has been remarked in his habit of " utter-
ing the main thought with concise and nervous brevity, after a long and verbose introduc-
tion " (comp. chaps, i. 2; i. 12 ; ii. 5 ; ii. 19). In addition to these more obvious character-
istics, we can discern both rhetorical and grammatical peculiarities natural to the declining
period of the Hebrew language and literature. Of the former class is, for example, the fre-
quent recurrence of favorite phrases ; of the latter are such anomalous constructions as are
found in chaps, i. 4, 6, 8, 9; ii. 3, 15, 16, 18, to the critical discussion of which the reader
is referred for fuller explanation.
§ 4. Special Works upon Haggai or upon the Prophets of the Restoration as a whole.
J. P. Clinton, Comm. up^m Haggai, London, 1560; J. Pilkington, An Exposition upon thf.
Prophet j4 9^eus, London, 1560; J. Mercerus (or Mercier), Scholia et Versio ad Prophetiam
Haggmi, Paris, 1581 ; J. J. Grynaaus, Comm. in Haggceum, Geneva, 1581 (translated into En-
glish by Chr. Featherstone, London, 1586) ; Fr. Baldwin, Comm. in Hagg., Zach., et Mai,
AYittenberg, 1610 ; B. Willius, Prophetos Hagg., Zach., Malach.,.Commentario Illustrati, Bre-
men, 1638; Aug. Varenius, Trifolium Propheticum, seu Tres Posteriores Prophetce, soil. Hagg.
Zacli., et Mai, Explicati, Rostock, 1662, and Exercitationes Duce in Proph. Hagg., Rostock,
1648; Andr. R,einbeck, Exercitationes in Proph. Hagg., Brunswick, 1692; Dan. PfefBnorer,
JSotce in Proph. Hagg., Strassburg, 1703; Francis Woken, Annotationes Exegeticae in Proph.
Hagg., Leipzig, 1719 ; J. G. Scheibel, Observationes Critica: et Exegeticce ad Vaticinia Haggmi
cum Prologomenis, Wratislaw, 1822 ; T. V. Moore, The Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi, a New Translation, with Notes, New York, 1856 ; Aug. Kbhler, Die Weissagungen
Haggai' s erklarl, Erlangen, 1860. W. Pressel, Commentar zu den Schriften der Propheten
Haggai, Sacharja und Malachi, Gotha, 1870.
For Commentaries upon the Minor Prophets which include Haggai, see the General Intro-
duction to this volume.
The Messianic passage in Haggai (chap. ii. 6-9) is discussed by the following writers :
AVm. Harris, Discourses on the Principal Representations of the Messiah in the Old Testament,
Lond., 1724; Bp. Chandler, Defence of Christianity, from the Prophecies of the Old Test,
Lond., 1725, pp. 71-84; J. H. Verschuir, In Hagg. ii. 6-9, Franecker, 1760, reprinted in his
Dissertationes Philol.-exeget., 1773 ; Deyling, Observationes Sacrce, Part iii. § 18 : Gloria Tern-
vli Posterioris ; Hengstenberg, Christologxj, iii., pp. 265-295 (2d ed. Engl. Transl.) ; Hofinann,
Weissagung und ErfUllung, vol. i., pp. 330 ff. ; Tholuok, Die Propheten und ihre '^ts.tsa-
gungen, p. 156 ; J. P. Smith, Scripture Testimony to the Messiah (5th ed.), i., pp. 28» )f.
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HAGGAI.
FIRST ADDRESS.
Sehike and Expostulation of the People for their Neglect of the Temple.
Chapter I. 1-11.
1 In the second year of Darius ^ the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of
the month, there was a word of Jehovah, by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, to
Zerubbabel,^ son of Shealtiel, governor ^ of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Josadak,
2 the High Priest, saying : Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts, saying : This people
3 say, It is not the time to come,* the time for the House of Jehovah to be built. And
4 a word of Jehovah was by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying : Is it the time
for you yourselves ^ to dwell in wainscoted " houses, and this House lying waste ?
5, 6 But come ! saith Jehovah of Hosts, set your heart upon your ways. Ye have
been sowing much and bringing in little ; eating, and it was not to satisfaction ;
drinking, and it was not to fullness ; ' clothing yourselves, and it was not to any
one's being warm ; * and he who has been earning wages has been earning them into
7, 8 a torn purse." Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Set your heart upon your ways. Go
up to the mountain and bring wood and build the House, and I will take pleasure in
9 it, and will be honored,'" saith .Jehovah. Ye have kept looking for much,'* and lo
(it came) to little ! '^ and ye brought it home and I blew upon it. Because of what ? ^'
saith Jehovah. Because of my House which is desolate, while ye are running each
10 to his own house. Therefore above you have the heavens restrained themselves
11 from dew, and the earth has restrained her increase. And I invoked desolation
upon the earth and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new-
made wine, and upon the oil, and upon all that the soil produces, and upon man
and upon beast, and upon all the labor of (men's) hands.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ter. 1. — E7.']*'~n7. Some MSS. of Hagg., Zech., Dan., and Ezra read tiJV'n'^ (Doryavesh), and others,
C^l'^'n'^. The correctnesa of the common reading is established by the forms D&ryavush and Darayavuihy found in tho
Cuneiform Inscriptions. The name is usually held to be derived from the Zendic dar, to preserve, Sanskrit dfiar^ the
normal and root form of the verb dkri. The explanation of Herodotus (vi. 93), epfet'ijs, coercitor, conseroator, is therefore
probably correct.
2 Ver. 1. — b^ST^T is a name derived from ''^It and 733 (Dispersed to Babylon), or from 5J-T1T and 732
(Begotten in Babylon).' * As Zerubbabel was probably born during the Exile, it is impossible to determine which is the
correct explanation. ' Either etymology would of course account for the doubling of the first Beth. Ayin is dropped
in the name bwat», from ^nOttJ and bW.
8 Ver. 1. — nnS. The derivation of this word cannot be said to be yet settled. The commonly received etymology
(snggested by Benfey) from the Sanskrit paksha, a companion (of the king), from which the modern term pas/ia is also
supposed to be derived, is disputed by Spiegel, chiefly on the ground that the word is not found in the Eranian lan-
guages. He proposes to derive from the form pai-an, from pa, to defend, which occurs in Zend and Sanskrit at the end ol
oompounda (e. g., khsatrapavan, satrap, a defender of the kingdom), and in the Avesta as a separate word in the con-
tacted form pavan. He then conjectures a dialectic variation, pa^van^ to account more naturally for our word.
4 Ver. 2. — t^2"n3? ^^7. The only plausible defense for reading H3, and rendering : the time has not come, aa
»ll the ancient translators have done, as well a.s most of the English and early Continental expositors, is that according
* the received reading the infinitive would be written defectively. This, however, is quite common (comp. Ex. ii. 18 ;
t*v. xiv. 48 ; Num. xxxii. 9 ; 1 Kings xiv. 28 ; Is. xx. 1). Moore and Henderson retain the inf. and yet give the aboy«
*fan8lation This can be assumed as correct only on the supposition that the inf. is used absolutely as equivalent to a
8
HAGGAI.
Bnite verb. The position, however, that such a construction can be adopted when no finite verb precedes in the sen
tence, is very precarious, really resting only upon Ezek. i. 14 (comp. Green, Heb. &r., § 268, 1 a, and Ewald, § 280 a)
But there is not the least necessity of resorting to it ; for the translation here adopted, and held by most of the recent
German expositors, is quite natural and agreeable to the context. For the construction of the last clause of the verse,
tee Green, § 267 4 ; Eivald, § 237 c.
" Ver. 4. — oris. On this emphatic repetition of the pers. pronoun, see Ewald, § 105 /., and comp. Jer. ii. 31.
fl Ver. 4. — C^^^SP. This is one of the rare cases in which an adjective qualifying a definite substantive is without
the article.
7 Ver. 6. —The absol. inf. being properly a verbal noun, M^n, ^i^S, etc., depend upon DriV'^T, and are deter
mined in sense by it ; see Green, § 268, 1. The literal translation therefore ifl : Ye have sown much, and (theie waa]
i bringing in of little, etc.
8 Ver. 6. — The impersonal force of the absol. inf. above suggested by the employment in the last clause but one of
17 instead of D37, which would be naturally expected | literally : there was a clothing (of one's self), and it was noi foi
a warming to hitn.
9 Ver. 6. — In the last clause we have a pregnant construction ; earns wages (and puts them) into a purse with holes.
10 Ver. 8. — The keri is n*T3!SM1, which is also found in some MSS. in Kennicott, The He paragogic in the "vol-
untative " future occurs regularly in sentences denoting a consequence (Ewald, § 347 a.). But it is sometimes absent
(comp. Zech. t. 3 with Mai. lii. 7). Its omission in H^"]^! decides nothing, since it is appended but very rarely to H 7
verbs (Green, § 172, 3 ; Ewald, § 228 c). The letter H representing the number five, its omission here has been re.
garded by later Talmudists as betokening that the Second Temple was deprived of the five following things : (1) The Ark
of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim ; (2) The Sacred Fire ; (3) The Shekinah ; (4) The Holy Spirit '.
(5) The Urlm and Thummun.
11 Ver. 9. — rTDD . The inf abs. occurs here without any finite verb preceding, unlike the construction in ver. 6. See
the grammatical remarks upon that verse. It is therefore strictly a verbal noun : (there was) a looking for much, etc
Such a mode of expression often indicates a certain degree of emotion, " after the utterance of which the ordinary man-
ner of speaking is easily resumed " (Ewald, § 328 6). Accordingly a finite verb, DiHS^rT, Is found in the next clause,
12 Ver. 9. — Before t^lJQv some such verb as Tl^Tl is to be understood: (it came) to little.
T : • TT
18 Ver. 9. — rtp 7^*^- T^his is one of the numerous cases cited by Ewald (§ 182&), in which HD occurs for
HD without any assignable cause. Kohler suggeata that the analogy of H^S, H^S, HO *1V might possibly
explain the change as being occasioned by a preceding preposition The laws of Hebrew vocalization are, however, de-
termined by the form and not by the meaning of words, and the existence of such anomalies aa vIp HD (1 Sam. iv.
14), tCQl^O no (2 Kings ii. 7), would seem to show that further investigation would be hopeless.
BXEQBTICAL AND CBITIOAL.
Ver. 1. In the second year of Darius the
King, in the sixth month, on the first day of
the month. The dates aiSxed to the prophecies
generally contemplate the perpetuation of the sev-
eral books and the requirements of readers in all
succeeding time. Haggai indicates with special
care the precise date of the delivery of each of his
messages. In accoi'dance with the practice neces-
sarily adopted hy the Old Testament writers after
the people of God were subjected by heathen pow-
ers, the year of his prophecies is reckoned from
the accession of the king to whom the Jews were
then subject. The Darius here mentioned is Da-
rius Hystaspes, who ascended the throne of Persia
E. c. 521, and whose treatment of his Jewish sub-
jects is recorded in Ezra iv. 24-vi. 22. That it
could not have been Darius Nothus (b. c. 423), as
J. J. Scaliger and a few others have maintained,
appears plainly from eh. ii. 3, where our Prophet,
according to the only natural interpretation of the
verse, addresses those who had beheld the First
Temple, which was destroyed b. o. 588. The
month is named according to the sacred order in
the Jewish ye.ir (comp. Zech. i. 7 ; vii. 1 ; viii. 19).
The sixth month is Elul, answering nearly to our
September, or, more strictly, extending from the
sixth to the seventh new moon of the year. The
first day of the month was specially suitable for
the delivery of the Prophet's message, as being the
feast-day ra the New Moon, when he would be
more likely to attract attention (Hengstenberg).
There was a word of the Lord by the hand of
Haggai the Prophet. The " word of the Lord,"
as always in the Prophets, indicates a freedom
from all human admixture ; while the expression,
"^1-?, intimates that the Prophet himself was mere-
ly a medium of communication, the word simply
passing through his hands. On the name and per-
son of the Prophet see Introd. § 1. To Zerub-
babel, sou of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah,
and to Joshua, son of Josadak, the High Priest.
Zerubbabel is called in Ezra i. 8 ; v. 14 by his Per-
sian name Sheshbazzar (of uncertain origin). In
1 Chron. iii. 17, Shealtiel appears as a son of Assir
and grandson of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin). Accord-
ing to 1 Chron. iii. 19, Zerubbabel was a son of
Pedaiah, a brother of Shealtiel. According to
Luke iii. 27, Shealtiel was a son of Neri, a de-
scendant of David through his son Nathan. The
best method of harmonizing these statements is
that adopted by Koehler and Keil. The latter says :
" These three divergent accounts may be brought
into agreement hy means of the following combi-
nations, if we keep in mind the prophecy of Jere-
miah (xxii. 30), that Jeconiah would be childless
and not be blessed with seeing one of his seed sit-
ting upon the throne of David and ruling over
Judah. This prophecy was fulfilled according to
Luke's genealogical table, inasmuch as Shealtiel'a
father there is not Assir or Jeconiah, a descendant
of David in the line of Solomon, but Neri, ft de
scendant of David's son Nathan. It follows there
CHAPTER I. l-U.
9
fore that neither of the sons of Jeconiah mentioned
in 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18 (Zedekiah and Assir), had a
son, but that the latter had only a daughter, who
married a man of the family of her father's tribe,
according to the law of heiresses (Num. xxvii. 8 ;
xxxvi. 8, 9), namely, Neri, who belonged to the
tribe of Judah and the family of David. From
this marriage sprang Shcaltiel, Malkiram, Peda-
iah, and others. The eldest of these took posses-
sion of the property of his maternal gi-andiathcr,
and was regarded legally as his son. Hence he is
described in 1 Chron. iii. 17 as the son of Assir the
son of Jeconiah, whereas in Luke he is regarded,
according to his lineal descent, as the son of Neri.
But Shealtiel also appears to have died without
posterity, and to have left only a widow, which ne-
cessitated a Levirate marriage on the part of one of
the brothers (Deut. xxv. 5, 10 ; Matt. xxii. 24, 28).
Shealtiel's second brother Pedaiah appears to have
performed this duty, to have begotten Zerubbabel
and Shimei by this sister-in-law (1 Chron. iii. 19),
the former of whom, Zerubbabel, was entered in
the family register of the deceased uncle Sheal-
tiel, passing as his (legal) son and heir, and con-
tinuing his family." Hn^ ("governor") is a
general term for a civil and military ruler of a di-
vision of a kingdom, applied at first to those of
the Persian monarchy, and extended to those of
others in writings of the later period ( 1 Kings x.
15). It was applied both to satraps, as Tatnai
(Ezra v. 3), and to inferior governors, as Zerub-
babel. Joshua is the same person so frequently
mentioned in the Book of Zechariah, upon whom
the high distinction was conferred of representing
the Messiah as the future Prince and Priest of Is-
rael, in the symbolical transaction recorded in Zech.
iii. It is in accordance with this typical function
that Joshua is addressed here along with Zerub-
babel, not merely as the highest representative of
the sacred priestly office, but also, to a certain ex-
tent, as ruling the people jointly with the civil gov-
ernor. Such authority was gradually more and
more assumed by the High Priests after the disso-
Intion of the kingdom until the tendency culminat-
ed in the Maecahaean princes, who formally united
the two functions in one person. It was, there-
fore, as the leaders of the people civil and ecclesi-
astical, that Zerubbabel and Joshua were appealed
to. " Upon them the responsibility is laid if the
work enjoined by Jehovah is not accomplished "
(Koehler).
Ver. 2. Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts.
This venerable formula is employed uniformly by
our Prophet to introduce his messages. This peo-
ple say. There is no ground for assuming, as
many have done, that the word this is here used in
acontemptuous manner, like ovtos and hte. There
is, however, a significance in the choice of the word.
The Jews are not called " Israel " or " My peo-
ple," but by an attributive which denotes indiffer-
ence, and thus indicates the divine displeasure
against them. It is not the time to come. That
this is the correct translation, is proved in the
grammatical note upon this verse. The second
clause : time for the House of Jehovah to be
built, is both explanatory of the first and parallel
lo it throughout in thought and construction.
' Coming " means preparing to build the Temple,
•8 the separate stages of preparation and erection
«re distinguished also in ver. 14. So most of the
recent German expositors, after Osiander, Junius,
Xremellius, and Cocceius. The people had prob-
ably been urging as an excuse for their inactivity
that their relations with Persia were not favorahia
to a resumption of work upon the Temple. Bui
this was a mere pretext ; lor they had made no
effort to discover whether the new and legitimata
king Darius Hystaspes would not regard them
with favor. Their inaction was not the compul-
sory and painful restraint of zealous patriots and
ardent worshippers, but the easy and selfish indif
ference of an ungrateful and unfaithful people.
See a fuller estimate of their disposition at this
time in the Introduction, § 2.
Vers. 3, 4. And a word of Jehovah .... And
this House lying desolate. The disingenuous-
ness of their plea is selfevidcnt, and is therefore
simply assumed in the following discourse, the de-
sign of which is to awaken in them a sense of
their ingratitude to God. It is represented to thera
most impressively, with an allusion to the very
language of their pretext, that while they held
their own wants and even their luxuries to be mat-
ters of pressing moment, they thought any time
suitable to attend to the claims of their God;
that while their own homes had been regained,
there was yet no habitation for the God of Israel ;
that while their wealthy members were using their
superfluous means to adorn and beautify their
dwellings, God's dwelling-place still lay desolate,
appealing in vain to their piety and patriotism,
which had been overborne by selfishness and su-
pineness. The allusion, moreover, could not fail
to expose [he insincerity of their excuses. Houses
wainscoted with cedar were the residence of kings
(1 Kings vii. 7 ; Jer. xxii. 14), and if some of them
had now the command of such resources as enabled
them to live in princely splendor, they might sure-
ly have reserved a portion for the requirements of
the Temple, when the work of building it should
be resumed, — if that work had been giving them
the least concern. The personal pronoun is re-
peated — you yourselves — for the sake of em-
phasis, in order to make more prominent the an-
tithesis between them and Jehovah. See Grammat-
ical note.
Ver. 5. Set your heart upon your wrays.
This expression, so frequent in our Prophet (i. 7 ;
ii. 15, 18), is equivalent to : consider your ways.
As the next verse shows, the people were bidden
to contemplate the results of their late course. lu
these, as displaying the operation of the princi-
ples of God's moral and theocratical government,
they might discern evidences of a disregard of nis
plainly revealed will. They were to infer the na-
ture of their conduct from its results.
Ver. 6. Ye have been sowing much — -'uito a
torn purse. On the peculiar constructions in this
verse see the grammatical note. The consequences
of the people's " ways " are now specified as they
appeared in the unproductiveness of their fields
and the unproHtableness of their labor generally.
The various expressions are intended to form one
general picture, and to set forth in language partly
literal and partly figurative, that not only was
their labor to a very large extent profitless, but
that even what their fields and their manual toil
did produce gave them but little enjoyment. The
latter result did certainly happen, and was due,
moreover, to the withdrawal of God's blessings, as
appears plainly from ver. 9. But to assume that
all the expressions are to be taken in their unqual-
ified literalness, as Calvin, Osiander, Koehler, and
Keil seem to have done, must be regarded as an
unwarranted as well as unnecessary interpretation.
If we compare the prediction of a similar condi-
tion of things in Lev. xxvi. 26 (see on ver. 5), we
iO
HAGGAI.
find that the words : ye shall eat and shall not be
eatisfied, imply, as showr by the context, that the
hunger threatened in case of disobedience would
result simply from the scarcity of food. It is nat-
ural to suppose that similar circumstances are de-
scribed here by the like expressions. But to hold
generally that the hunger and thirst and cold were
not in any degree removed by food, and drink, and
elothing, would be to postulate a miracle quite
without necessity. ^5'7' '^ bring in, is the term
proper to harresting (comp. 2 Sam. ix. 10, and the
figurative use of the word in Ps. xc. 12). The last
clause, in a striking figure, illustrates the inade-
quacy of the remuneration for labor, from which
we may infer that business generally was almost
prostrated.
This verse and vers. 9-11 are not at all incon-
sistent with ver. 4. There the rebukfe is directed
against the wealthier members, as before indicated.
They, having probably become possessed of some
property in Babylon, and having prospered during
the first few years of their Jewish residence, still
lived in comparative prosperity, and were therefore
in a position to give of their means and time to
the work they had neglected. The mass of the
people, however, though presumably also prosper-
ous at (irst, were now suffering from those temporal
inflictions visited upon them by God on account of
their neglect of their paramount duty to Him,
which would soon involve the entire community,
rich and poor, in complete destitution, unless they
aroused themselves from their sinful indifference.
Ver. 7. The admonition of ver. 5 is repeated
here, both as betokening greater urgency, and
also for the purpose of reinforcing the argument
of vers. 5, 6, by showing to what course a con-
scientious review of their conduct should determine
them. They should be impelled, as is next shown,
to make immedinte preparations for the complete
restoration of the Temple.
Ver. 8. Go up to the mountain and bring
•wood, and build the House. It is somewhat dif-
ficult to determine the precise application of "''7'7
5n this passage. Leaving out of view the alto-
gether improbable notion of Grotius, Rosenmiil-
Fer, and Newcome, that it refers to Mount Moriah
Stself, on which the Temple stood, we find that
•while perhaps the majority of modern expositors
i{e.g. J. O. Michnelis, Maurer, Kcil, Moore, Fausset)
iregard it as a collective expression for the hilly
.parts of Palestine generally, in accordance with
Seh. viii. 15 ; Josh. ix. 1 ; xi. 2, 32, many others
'^e. g., Cocceius, Kwald, Henderson) limit its appli-
eatioii to Mount Lebanon. It is most probable that
no 4eiii"iite mountain was thought of, the command
not restricting the sphere of operation even to Pal-
estine itself, but urging the people in general terms
to seek building material in those districts in which
it could best be obtained. It is hardly necessary
to remind the reader that it was upon the high
lands of the country that the most suitable timber
grew. As there is no command with reference to
etone for the walls, the building of which had al-
ready tegun (ch. ii. 18 ; Ezra iii. 10 ; v. 16), it is
plain that " wood " is put here for building material
generally. And I will take pleasure in it and
will be honored. Koehler and Keil translate re-
flexively : will glorify myself, that is, upon the
people by blessing them. But this sense is not ob-
vious. It is best, with Maurer, Moore, and others,
to take the word in its primary application. See
Textual note.
Vers. 9-11. The exhortation of the last verse ii
now reinforced by a more fresh and elaborate pre-
sentation of those disastrous consequences of diso-
bedience which had been urged in ver. 6. The con-
nection with ver. 8 may be easily perceived. Jeho-
vah had there promised to manifest his approbatioh
if the people would return to their duty. The cer
tainty of this must be evident to thom ; for was
not their domestic distress a consequence of their
neglect of his claims upon their service ? The re-
lation of these verses to all of the discourse that
precedes, becomes clearer when we perceive that
the whole passage, vers. 5-11, is intended to force
upon the minds of the people the consideration
that ruin is awaiting them, unless they proceed at
once with the rebuilding of the Temple. The
command in ver. 8 therefore, though expressing
the practical conclusion to which the whole mes-
sage tends, is not the leading sentence in the dis-
course, but is introduced as subsidiary to the main
argument. Ver. 5, and again ver. 7, exhort the peo-
ple to consider their ways. Ver. 8 shows the joyfal
consequences of obedience. Vers. 9-11 suggest, by
depicting the baleful results of past disobedience,
the evils which the continuance of such a course
would entail.
Ver. 9. Ye looked for much — every man to
his own house. On the construction, see Gram-
matical note. The literal translation of the first
clause would be : ye turned towards much (Ex.
xvi. 10). The allusion is to a frequent inspection
of the growing crops. I blewr upon it, for the
purpose of scattering and dissipating it. The
small quantity that was gathered profited but lit-
tle, on account of the absence of God's blessing,
according to the general notion conveyed by ver. 6.
See the remarks upon that verse. ^S^hy ? aaith
Jehovah of Hosts. Though the present condi-
tion of things could very well have been accounted
for by the people themselves, Jehovah condescends
to explain it to them. He Himself asks the cause,
and gives the solution to which the whole of the
discourse had been leading, — that while their own
affairs had been absorbing their thoughts, his
claims had been disregarded. Because of my
house which is desolate, and ye are running
every roan to his own house. As in ver. 4, the
different feelings with which the people were re-
garding God's House and their own houses, are
sharply contrasted, but here the latter do not seem
to be limited in application to the dwellings them-
selves, the word " house " being probably employed
as the centre of that activity which they all mani-
fested in their haste to attend to their own con-
cerns.
Ver. 10. We concur with Keil in the opinion
that it is impossible to determine whether CD"* .75
is to be translated : above you, or : on your ac-
count. We incline rather to the former view,
though it is stoutly opposed by Hitzig, Henderson,
and others. A difficulty likewise meets us in the
rest of the clause, sbs, in the second member of
the verse, is transitive, with a direct object. If
transitive here also, we expect an object expres.sed
or understood ; but Kiihler and Keil, who deny an
intransitive or reflexive sense, do not inform us
what that object is ; for they maintain rightly that
7^353 is privative (from dew), and in fact use in
an intransitive sense the verb which they employ
in their translation (darum haben «ber euch du
Himmd zuriickgehcdten doss kein Thau fid). If
7^13 is priv itive, the reflexive sense would leeB
CHAPTER I. 1-n.
li
to bo unavoidable. Ewald, Umbi'eit, Henderson,
take tlmt word as the object, aud that in a parti-
tive sense : has restrained of her dew, a rendering
which Kohler rightly condemns as too prosaic.
Ver, 1 1 . And I invoked desolation — upon
all the labor of (men's) hands. This verse still
depends upon the "therefore" of ver. 10, complet-
ing the picture of misfortune and threatening ruin
evoked by the unfaithfulness of the people. We
translate ^"y^ desolation, because it is the only
word which will apply to all the objects cited in
the verse. The phrase has moreover been chosen
designedly by the Prophet to indicate both the jus
tice and the fitness of the retribution. They al-
lowed God's House to lie "desolate" (vers. 4, 9J.
Disaster and failure had already visited their fields
and the labor of their hands, and very soon, if
they should remain unmoved in their guilty indif-
ference, the blighting curse invoked by their of
fended God would fall upon them in its unre-
strained severity, when they should realize the full
meaning of that sentence afterwards pronounced
lifion their obdurate and ungrateful descendants :
Behold your house is left unto you desolate.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The two great objects of the institution of
Prophecy were to direct the inner life of God's
people into harmony with the commands and the
spirit of the Law, and to point forward to Him
who was to fulfill both the Law and the Prophets.
Our Prophet, as we shall see, represented both of
these functions. In this chapter he is concerned
with the religious condition of the people as ex-
pressed by their attitude towards God's true wor-
ship. Their persistent disregard of the claims of
their Deliverer and King indicated plainly a grow-
ing estrangement and disloyalty of heart. They
could only be recalled to devotion and duty through
a message of rebuke and warning from God through
an inspired and chosen messenger (comp. ver. 13).
And such utterances were naturally directed against
the most patent and flagrant violation of their re-
ligious duty, — their neglect of the House of God.
The Temple, as the centre of the Jewish worship,
the place where Jehovah's presence was manifested,
where national and individual sins might be cov-
ered over, and where the favor of God might be
invoked upon his people, was indispensable to the
very life of the nation as a people of God. To neg-
lect it was to commit treason against Him, to re-
ject Him as their God and King, and to invite
his rejection of them.
2. Such indi6Ference to the demands of God upon
the service of his people was necessarily followed
by his estrangement from them. For, as the wor-
ship in the Temple secured their admission into
the very presence of God, it was both in type and
reality a meeting not simply of reconciliation but
of cordial friendship, a renewed ratification of the
Covenant (comp. Rev. xxi. 3). As loving God's
House and being devoted to its service, could He
fittingly call them "My People: " and it seems no
less fitting and necessary that indifference on their
part to the enjoyment of his favor and confidence
should ahenate his regard, that tenderness in Him
ihould become aversion, that the Israel of God
•hould be coldly recognized as " this people."
i. But other and more palpable consequences
must follow such a course of conduct on the part
»f God's peo|)le. It was a warning repeatedly
urged upon them by Moses in the illustration ot
that Law which was to be the guide of their na-
tional and individual life ; it was a lesson impressed
upon them by many a hard experience of public
and private distress and calamity, culminating in
that long captivity from which they had so lately
emerged, that the loss of God's favor involves not
merely religious and moral detcjioration, but the
withdrawal of that providential care whieli secures
a due retum to labor, with fruitful seasons and
bounteous harvests, and even follows men to their
homes, leading every act and thought to enjoyment
aud hiippiuess. Deprived of such care, they, in
all their pursuits, might look and look again foj
much, but they would surely bring in little.
4. Such dealings on the part of God towards
his people, while setting forth clearly the doctrine
of retribution (De VVette), are not simply punitive ;
they arc also corrective and remedial in design and
tendency. Otherwise prophecy would be nothing
but the repeated announcement of an impending
doom. Otherwise there would be no meaning in
the message of our Prophet, who, while holding
out to his people no other prospect than that of
distress and desolation as the result of continued
disobedience, presents also the inspiring and quick-
ening vision of their God and King restored by
their obedience to the dwelling-place which they
are urged to prepare for Him, and looking forth
upon them thence in favor and love (ver. 8). In
this he is the prophet, not of his faithless country-
men alone, but also of a God-despising yet not
God abandoned world : he still calls out to men
on behalf of God : Consider your ways.
HOMILETICAL AND PBACTIOAL.
Vers. 2-4. (" This people " instead of " My
people"): The loss of God's confidence: (1) Its
occasions; (2) Its consequences; (3) Its retrieval.
— There is a time for everything with men ; but
they should consider, (1) Who it is that claims
their first and most devoted service ; (2) the means
and methods of serving Him best.
Calvin : Men are very ingenious, when they
wish to hide their delinquencies.
Matthew Henet : There is an aptness in us
to misinterpret providential discouragements in
our duty, as if they amounted to a discharge from
our duty, when they are only intended for the trial
and exercise of our courage and faith. It is bad
to neglect our duty ; but it is worse to vouch Prov-
idence for the patronizing of our neglects.
Cramer : There are many men, who have
a plenty of money when they are going to build
houses for themselves, but a great scarcity of it
when any is wanted for churches, or schools, or
anything else to promote God's glory.
MooHE : The carved ceilings and costly orna-
ments will have a tongue in the day of judgment.
Vers. 5, 6. In considering our ways, we should
seek to discover, { 1 ) the motives that have urged
us; (2) whither our present ways would lead us
at the end of our earthly course.
Gerlach : Frnitfulness or sterility comes from
God, not from blind and powerless Nature. This
is the teaching of the Scriptures from Paradise
and the Fall to its close.
MooKE : A careful pondering of God's dealings
with us will often indicate to us God's will regard-
ing us.
Ver. 8. God will not come to bless us as an un
invited Guest. His favor will be displayed towards
12
HAGGAI.
ns only when we have prepared Him » temple in
our hearts.
. Vers. 9-H. Inflictions of suffering by God in
his providence are always charged with a salutary
lesson ; they are a warning to his despisers, and a
correction to his children.
Fausset : The very evils which men think t«
escape by neglecting God's ordinances, they actu-
ally bring on themselves by such unbelieving neg
lect.
SECOND ADDRESS.
On the Repentance of the People, God's Presence among Them is promised.
Chapter I. 12-15.
12 And Zerubbabel, son of Slialtiel/ and Joshua, son of Josadak, the High Priest,
and all the rest of the people, listened to the voice of Jehovah their God, and to
the words of Haggai the Prophet, according as Jehovah their God had sent him ;
13 and the people feared before Jehovah. Then Haggai the Prophet of Jehovah
spoke to the people on the mission of Jehovah, saying: I am with you, saith Jeho-
14 vah. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, son of Shaltiel, Governor
of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, son of Josadak, the High Priest, and the spirit
of all the rest of the people, and they came and worked upon the House of Jehovah
15 of Hosts their God, On the twenty -fourth day of the sixth month, in the second
year of Darius the King.^
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 12.— vMTl7ti?. The first N is dropped here, as iu Ter. M and oh. ii. 2 ; Bee Green, § 63, 3 a.
3 Ver. 15. — Some M§S. and editions transfer this verse to the beginning of next chapter. The ordinary division ii
Ihown to be correct by the disagreement of dates in successive verses, which the other arrangement would involve.
EXEGETICAL AND CEITIOAl.
The eflTect of the Prophet's words upon the peo-
ple was powerful and abiding, and upon the very
first indication of a change in their disposition, he
is commissioned to tell them that God's favor had
alreadj' returned, and that He would assist them
in their labors. The work is then speedily recom-
menced under the influence of that new zeal with
which Jehovah inspires both leaders and people.
Ver. 12. The dispute among the expositors as
to whether D^'\! '"'''1^^ means : the remnant of
the people, those left from the Captivity, or : the
rest of the people, would seem to be needless, as
it is only those who listened to the Prophet's dis-
courses that are described here, and they were as-
suredly not " all the remnant " of the people. It
is true that the address had been delivered on a
feast day ; but from the religious character of the
community at that time, we can hardly suppose
that it had assembled in a body to worship. Nor
can it be a later occasion that is alluded to, when
they might be fully represented. In that case we
would have to take S'^t^''. as meaning that they
obeyed the voice of the Lord. Their obedience is
not exhibited before vers. 14, 15, and what the
present verse must mean is, that they were listen-
mg to the words above recorded. The words of
1 The phrase " messenger of Jehovah " is not applied to
prophets exclusively ; see Mai. ii. 7, where it is employed
at the priests. It was a term more appropriate to the
yrOTince of the former, but, especially iu later times when
Haggai the Prophet are, doubtless, not an addi-
tional discourse of Haggai unrecorded ; they ex-
plain, by hendiadys, the voice of Jehovah their
God, the message just delivered. It is unneces-
sary, with Koehler, Keil, et al., to render 7?
"I??! according to. It is in fact questionable
whether ? and ^? indicate any difference in the ap-
plication of VTiW. In 2 Kiugs xjc. 13 ; Jer. xxiii
16, v5? is used with this verb in the sense of listen
ing to. "^^^3 has here chiefly a causal sense,
They discerned in the words of Haggai, the voice
of God, and they listened to his address because he
attested himself to be God's messenger. And the
people feared before Jehovah. This clause in-
dicates one of the causes of the rapt attention of
the people, as well as its most important result.
Ver. 13. I am with you, saith Jehovah. This
brief message,^ delivered at this crisis, is one of
great significance in the experience of the people
as reflected in the discourses of the Prophet. The
fact that God could now promise his presence and
assistano* is proof that their fear before Him was
followed by smcere repentance. In their ultimate
significance the words themselves contain the only
explanation of the immediate reviviJ of the com-
munity, political and religious.
prophecy waa retiring more into the background, its flin^
tions were often naturally transferred in some measure to
the former, who thus became teachers of the people. Gomp.
Havemiok, Einteitungf ^ 196.
CHAPTER II. 1-9.
la
Vers. 14, 15. The promised presence and assist-
ance of God, immediately vouchsafed, were mani-
fested in the rekindled ardor of the discouraged
leaders, who, with the repentant people, were now
animated to engage with cheerful alacrity in the
work to which they were summoned. After about
three weeks spent in preparing material sufficient
to justify the inception of the work, the walls of
the Second Temple began again to rise from the
foundations which had been laid fifteen years be-
fore by the same people.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
It is a decisive moment in the life of an individ-
ual or of a people when they are addressed with
words of solemn warning, and discern therein the
voice of God. On submission or indifference to
those words is suspended their weal or woe, their
glory or ruin. Let them but listen with that sav-
ing fear (nS'l^, ver. 12) which is not hopeless ter-
ror, but in reality the birth-throes of a new and
living hope, and Jehovah of Hosts Himself comes
to be with them ; and that not only for inspiration
but also for help ; the one being the condition of
all noble exertion, the other the sure pledge of itt
triumph.
HOMILETICAL AND PEACTIOAL.
Ver. 12. Successful preachers need not ascribt
to themselves the merit of the results of their la-
bors. It is the voice of God which makes their
hearers listen. — Whom God would make strong
for his service He first subdues to his fear.
Vers. 13, 14. The presence of God in our la-
bors: (1) The conditions on which it may be se-
cured; (2) Its infiuences upon our souls ; (3) Its
consequences in our achievements.
BuECK : " I am with y-ou ; " here all former
threatening is recalled, and all former disobedi-
ence forgiven : When God, the Prime Mover,
moves the heart, then the work moves forward.
Matthew Henkt : When God has work to do.
He will either find or make men fit to do it, and
stir them up to it. Those that have lost time have
need to redeem time.
MooEE : God is waiting to be gracious, and
will meet the returning wanderer, even before hil
hand has begun the work of his service.
THIKD ADDRESS.
The Ghry of the Second Temple.
Chapter II. 1-9.
1 In the seventh (month), and the twenty-first (day), of the month there was a
2 word of Jehovah by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying : Speak, now, to
Zerubbabel, son of Shaltiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jozadak, the
3 high priest, and to the rest of the people, saying: Who among you is left^ that has
seen this house in its former glory ? And what are seeing it (to be) now ? Is not
4 such^ (a one) as it like nothing in your eyes? But come! be strong, Zerubbabel,
saith Jehovah ; and be strong Joshua, son of Jozadak, high priest ; and be strong,
all the people of the land, saith Jehovah ; for I am with you, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
5 With the word ^ which I covenanted with you when you were coming out of Egypt ;
6 and my Spirit is abiding in your midst ; fear not. For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Once more * — it is a little while — and I will be shaking the heavens and the earth,
7 and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake * all the Gentiles ; and the treasures
of all the Gentiles shall come ; and I shall fill this house with glory, saith Jeho-
8 vah of Hosts. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of
Hosts ; and in this house I wUl give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
TEXTUAL IND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 8. — *1Kt£73r7. The article is employed here (= who Ifl the one that iB left) because the predicate is made
lefiDite by the description which follows (that haa beheld this House, etc.) ; comp. Jer. xliz. 36, and see Oreen, § 245, 2,
Bwald,§277o.
8 Ver. 8. — riD (= qudlem) agrees with "liHIM as the attributive of the object, Ewald, § 325 a, ad finem. This
*•* of TM2 (as suggesting the character of the object) seems to justify the explanation of ^^Mp ^HD^ after the
■oalogy of Joel ii. 2 : Is not such (a one) as it as nothing in your eyes ? See Ewald, § 105 6, 1. So Riickert, Maurer,
Bitzig, Moore. To this Koehler, and after him Eeil, object that then it would not be the Temple, but something like it
that is compared to nothing, which would be very tame. But every one knows that in expressions of this kind " such "
ftlers to the subject of discourse with aa allusion at the same time to its character. Here ^HD^ (= a temple like
Ws; vould Diturally refer back to HIS (== what sort of Temple ?). Hence wo prefer this view to the one more com-
14
HAGGAI.
monly entertained, and upheld by these critics, that we have here an inversion of the usual order of the particles of
comparison : Is not as nothing so it ? = Is it not as nothing ; comp. Gen. xviii. 25 ; xliv. 18 (as Pharaoh so thou). The
rendering adopted by Rosenmuller, Eichhorn, et al., aA well as by E. V. and most English expositors, is indefensible.
8 Ver. 5. — 'nD'UrPnW. See the exegesis, which involves in this passage so much grammatical discussion that w«
remit the latter to that section.
4 Ver. 6. — The reasons decisive against the opinion that rinW is joined as a numeral adjective to t^pP are (1|
tliat the latter is never feminine, and (2) that in such a construction the numeral always follows the substantive. See
the exegesis, where other grammatical diSlculties connected with the passage are discussed.
5 Ver. 7. — The perfects in this verse have the force of the future perfect and not of the prophetic perfect : I shall
have ehatien, etc. So in ver. 22.
EXEQETIOAL AND CRITICAL,
The rebukes and vramlngs and encouragements
of the Prophet having thus exerted their due in-
fluence, it might seem as if no further message
were needed. But a new danger soon threatened
to retard the progress of the work, a manifestation
of despondency on the part of some of the people.
It was natural that those of them who had beheld
the first Temple in its magnificent beauty, would
feel somewhat dispirited at the sight of the new
structure, so inferior in outward attractions, and
awakening so many suggestions of national de-
cline and calamity, and that their feelings of de-
jection would soon spread through a large part of
the community. These symptoms, on their very
first appearance, called forth the third address of
the Prophet, which, however it may be interpreted
in detail, must be admitted to be a noble product
of the genuine prophetic spirit, and of the highest
significance in that period of their history on
which the people were now entering. We may con-
sider it in three aspects according to its three lead-
ing ideas: (1) as adapted to encourage the people
in their present dejection ; (2) as suggesting those
characteristics, religious and moral, of the new
era, which would prove it superior to any former
period of Israel's history; (3) as predicting the
glory of the universal Church of God, represented
by the second Temple. How these ideas are con-
tained in the address will appear in the course of
the exposition.
Vers. 1, 2. Comparing the date with the time in
which the work began (i. IS), it will be seen that
more than three weeks had elapsed, during which the
enthusiasm of the less ardent of the builders would
have begun to flag. To this change of feeling, a
circumstance would contribute which was noticed
by Cocceius, that the 2 1st day of the seventh month
was the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tab-
ernacles, on which occasion, aa it was the close of
the ingathering, thanks were to be rendered for
bountiful harvests. A certain degree of despond-
ency would be excited by the recollection that the
harvest of the present year had been so scanty
(eh. ii. 9-11). Hence there was all the more ur-
gent occasion for some word of comfort and cheer.
We must remember that such a state of feeling
would be quite unlike that posture maintained by
the people, which had evoked the first discourse.
Then their selfish indifference had to be met by
reproach and warning ; now their fainting courage
must be sustained and their feeble faith revived by
encouragement and promise.
Ver. 3. "Who is he that is left among you ?
>-^— Is it not such (a Temple) as this like noth-
ing in your eyes ? We have no evidence that
the feeling of disappointment among the people
was openly expressed, or that it was sufficient to
prompt them to suspend their labors. All the
greater and more considerate is seen to be Jeho-
rah's returning favor. He would have them not
merely steadfast, but also cheerful and hopeful in
their work. He first addresses those who must
have suffered most keenly in reflecting upon the
outward appearance of the present structure —
those who had beheld the splendor of its predeces-
sor. It was not quite seventy years since the de*
struction of the First Temple, and there must hav«
been some of those still remaining, whose weeping
voices had thrown such a gloom upon the cere-
mony of laying the foundation of the present
House (Ezra iii. 12, 13), with whom the Kingdom
of Israel was not a matter of tradition but of per-
sonal experience. If they could be comforted,
much more likely was it that the younger and
more susceptible portion would be encouraged and
cheered. It is noteworthy that the contrast be-
tween the two temples is made by Jehovah as
strong as possible. He seems to admit that their
dejection was natural, and by sharing their feel-
ings, so to speak. He gives a most winning and re-
assuring evidence of his condescension and sym-
pathy. On the construction and pi-oper rendering
of the last clause, see Grammatical Note.
Vers. 4, 5. But come! be strong Zerubbabel
— feax not. The depressing tendency of the pres-
ent circumstances was admitted ; but this was no
reason why the people should repine. In the first
place, they might plead with perfect confidence the
gracious promise which they had a little before so
joyfully received (ch. i. 13). And if God was in-
deed with them, not only would the possession of
his favor and the enjoyment of his presence compen-
sate for all past distresses, and be all-sufficient for
the new and untried future, but his help, his work-
ing with them, would establish the work of their
hands, and in his strength they would be strong.
He declares to them besides, that, as the Covenant
is still in force, they are as much the object of his
care as when that Covenant was first ratified, and
that in the power of his Spirit resident with and
among them, they would continually enjoy his
presence and support.
Such is the general sense of vers. 4, 5, and it is
not materially affected whatever be the traeconstruc-
tion of the latter verse, concerning which there has
been much difference of opinion. The chief diSi-
culty lies in the ambiguity of ~l3'^n"nS. The
solutions that have been proposed under the sup-
position that nS is the sign of the definite object
will first come under review. Some, notably Ewald
and Hengsten berg, suppose that the governing
word (probably ^~I3T ; remember), is understood
at the beginning of the verse. (Remember) the
word which I covenanted with yon, when you came
forth from Egypt and my spirit dwelt in the midst
of you : fear not. Besides the obvious objection,
that this construction does not readily suggest it-
self, it may be remarked that a reference to Ex
XX. 20, wliich Hengstenberg regards as establish-
ing his view, seems out if place, not only from thi
CHAPTER II. 1-9.
jropiobabiUty in general of an allusion to a com-
paratively unimportant expression uttered so many
ages before, but also from the utter want of anal-
ogy between the present circumstances of the peo-
ple and the situation supposed to be compared
with them here. Moreover (it is not too much to
say), on that special occasion the Spirit of God
was not resting upon the people, as their conduct
immediately thereafter almudantly proves (Ex.
xxxii. 7, 8). Finally, there would seem to be not
merely a certain incongruity between such a refer-
ence and the whole drift of the discourse, but the
allusion would absolutely weaken the latter in its
well-sustained and lofty flight. Equally unsatis-
factory upon e.xegetical, though preferable on
g;rammatical grounds, is the opinion (of Aben Ez-
ra, D. Kimchi, CEeolampadius, Roseumiiller) tliat
^la'jnTlN is the object of -W?!, either repeated
from ver 5 or with the last clause of that verse
farecthetical : perform the word (covenant) which
concluded with you .... then will my spirit
abide with you. As Hitzig remarks, they were not
to fulfill the commands of the Law, but to build
the Temple. Others again (Ruckert, Hitzig, Koeh-
ler, Keil, Henderson, and Pressel) take HS as the
" sign of the definite nominative of the subject."
It is not to be denied that in spite of the elaborate
attempt made by Manrer in his Commentary to
throw doubt upon the existence of this construc-
tion, there are a few cases which seem to prove
its occasional though rare occurrence. The meth-
ods, however, that have been suggested by its ablest
supporters to account for it here, virtually make it
the sign of the definite object — another form of
the view last mentioned. It is supposed either that
'12'^nTl^ is attracted into the case of I^H, a
nsage unknown to thft Hebrew language, a single
example of which is wrongly claimed in Zech. viii.
17 (see Ewald, § 277 a!), or that the Prophet bad
intended to write "TniD^rj instead of H^D^
after Tll'^, making all that precedes the object of
that verb : ( I have established the word . .
and my Spirit among you). Why he should have
abandoned his original intention we are not told.
If he had done so, he would probably have erased
the ns^, as any other writer would do under like
circumstances. More precarious still is the notion
of De Wette, who regards HM as = ipse, according to
the meaning which Gesenius has attributed to that
WM'd as the primary one. He renders : this word,
etc., referring to the la«t clause of ver. 4 : I am with
you. Maurer has been more successful in combat-
ing this theory with regard to ^^, since he has
shown clearly that it need never be taken as a
distinctive or demonstrative pronoun. Luther,
Calvin, Eichhorn, Maurer, Newcome, Noyes,
Moore, and Fausset regard "l^'JilTIM as the
"accusative of the norm or standard." So our
E. V. : according to the word, etc. It may be
admitted that the accusative is sometimes used
absolutely in Hebrew to express such a notion ;
but if it had been so employed here, it is hardly
tonceivable that the Tyi^_, which would have been
tertain to be misunderstood, and moreover, super-
fluous, would have been inserted. No example
MiU be found of its occurrence in such a construc-
tion. We are therefore compelled to assume that
TJ is here a preposition : with, as Cocceins, |
I Marckius, J. D. Michaelis, and Stier have also
done. The first member of ver. 5 would thus ba
an adjunct of the last clause of ver. 4, and the
second member parallel to it. Vers. 4, 5 might
then be thus paraphrased : " Be strong, my peo-
ple, for henceforth I am with you. I come into
your midst with the Covenant which I made with
you, when first you became my people. I renew
it with you now that you have returned to Me ; I
will support and aid you as I have ever done to-
wards my faithful people; My spirit is resting
upon you ; behold in this my faithfulness proved
and ray promise of help fuliiUed." The only ob-
jection of any weight that can be brought againsj
this view is that the repetition of "with" in a
clause which is not appositive would create a cer-
tain degree of awkwardness in the sentence. This
must be admitted ; and yet it is probable that tho
matter has been regarded too much according to
the standard of our Occidental analytical and flexi-
ble languages, and that the locution would be lesl
ottibnsive to the taste of an ancient Hebrew.
Koehier makes the objection, which is repeated by
Keil, that if the ni;^ of ver. 5 had been a prepo-
sition, we should have had in ver. 4, for the sake
of euphony, D?'?? instead of QSPIN. But in
such cases as this it is merely the close recurrence
of similar sounds that offends ; the fact that the
words are identical in meaning is quite without
influence. It is therefore a sufficient answer to
these objections to say that the obnoxious sound ia
repeated here, where, according to the construc-
tion held by these critics, the word DS, repre-
senting it, is at best superfluous. In accordance
with Avhat has been said, the word whlcli I cov-
enanted with you, etc., must be understood as
the promise of God's continuing presence and fa-
vor, suspended upon the obedience of the people,
which expressed his obligations with respect to the
Covenant made at Sinai, whose validity was to be
perpetual. That the words my Spirit refer to
the sustaining and comforting influence of the
Holy Spirit upon the people, and not to the gift of
such special qualifications for the present work as
were imparted to Bezaleel and his assistants, Ex.
xxxi. I (Osiander, Koehier), or to that of the spirit
of prophecy (Targum, J. I). Michaelis, Newcome,
Henderson), is plain if we consider, (1) that the
exhortations are addressed to the whole people, and
(2) that only through an immediate and widely
spread influence could their incipient despondency
be removed and exchanged for cheerful courage.
Such inspiration received and operating, just as it
might be sought and prized, would soon cause
them to forget their fallen fortunes, in their efforts
to speed the coming of the promised triumph.
They might expect even ifiore than this. Not
only would the loss of Israel's .ancient glory be
more than made up to the little colony by the
abiding presence and help of their Covenant God :
the very structure on which they were then en-
gaged, though unadorned by the gilded magnifi-
cence of the former Temple, would yet, in its purer
and more spiritual worship, possess a glory all its
own, to which its predecessor had never attained,
and would thus prefigure that everlasting Temple,
whose transcendent and ever-increasing glory
would be displayed in the pilgrimage thither of
worshippers from eveiy nation, laden with their
choicest offerings, ancl still more in the unre-
strained and continuing presence of the indwelling
Spirit. The verses which contain these promisei
16
HAGGAI.
are so closely coanected that we must expound
them as a whole.
Vers. 6-9. For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts
.... I win give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
The phrase N^H 10370 JinW l^V in ver, 6 has
always been the occasion of much dispute. Tak-
ing a survey of the different views, we find that
the rendering : it is yet a little (while), of the Tar-
gum (S^n S-5''3JT Sin TiS7) and the Vulgate
{adhttcunum modicum est) has been adopted by Lu-
ther, Calvin, Grotius, and by later expositors, as
Kuckert, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Ewald, Umbreit,
and Moore, HHS being regarded by most of them
as = the indefinite article, but by Hengstenberg as
strictly a numeral adjective. Refei-ence is made,
in support of this view, to Ex. xvii. 4 ; Ps. xxxvii.
10 ; Hos. i. 4, and other passages, in all of which
cases, however, t3?"P is either unaccompanied by
an attributive or followed by ^^t^, — an entirely
different construction. Insuperable grammatical
difficulties attend this view, whichever of its above-
mentioned modifications be adopted, as may be
seen from the grammatical note on this verse ; and
the laws of the language must be suffered to de-
cide against it. This consideration has led the
majority of modern expositors to regard the sen-
tence as made up of two members : nHN TlJ?
and H''n tOi?!?. But among these again there is
a disagreement as to the true force of HnN. The
greater number (including most of the later An-
glo-American expositors, after the E. V., Coccei-
us, Marckius, Kuehler, Keil, and Pressel), follow
the LXX. (?Ti airof), who, however, left WH tSpD
untranslated. They understand UVB, which is
often feminine, with nPIM, and make the expres-
sion = once, as in Ez. XXX. 10; 2 Kings vi. 10;
Job xl. 5 ; Josh. v. 2. They accordingly translate
the sentence: once more — it is a little while, etc.
Hitzig, Hofmann ( Weissagimg und Erfiilung, i.
330), Delitzsch ( Comm. zum Briefe an die Hebrder,
ch. xii. 26), understand HV instead of Q??, and
render: one period more — a brief one is it, etc.
The Prophet is then supposed to have declared ( 1 )
" that the period between the present and the pre-
dicted great change of the world, will be but one
period, i. e., one uniform epoch, and (2) that this
epoch will be a brief one" (Delitzsch). But it
cannot be shown without overworking the passage
that this idea possesses any pertinency to the
Prophet's design ; it seems strange in the connec-
tion. Its ad\ ocates also ignore the distinction be-
tween prophecy andAistory. It must therefore be
decided that Dl?3 is the word to be supplied,
which is distinguished from HS as occasion is from
veriod, and that the proper rendering is: Once
more — it is a little (while) — and, etc. The use
of ] to mark the consequent clause of the sentence
after a statement of time is in accordance with
Hebrew usage ; see Green, § 287, 3. STl in the
parenthetical clause Is the copula (Green, § 258, 2)
Rnd not the predicate, as K.oehler asserts. It is
tonformed in gender to HflS, which it represents.
It is natural to assume that ^i37 preserves here its
usual sense : yet, again, more. Koehler, however,
takes it to mean : henceforth, in the future, imi
the whole sentence as announcing that from this
time forward the world would be shaken once, and
only once. This he does not rest upon linguistic
grounds, referring, as he does, to 2 Sam. xix. 36 ;
2 Chron. xvii. 6, only to show that the meaning
proposed is admissible. Now, without maintain-
mg the untenable position (as we think it) of Keil,
that ^iI? always retains its primary sense of rep-
etition or return, it is yet undeniable that it inva-
riably preserves such a force when connected with
a temporal term or phrase, such as DnN has been
shown to be in our passage. Koehler bases hia
opinion upon the notion that repetition cannot be
implied here, because no such commotions of na-
ture as are here predicted had ever occurred before
this time, not even during the delivery of the Law
at Sinai, which is usually supposed to be alluded
to in the passage. In disproving this statement
there is no necessity of referring to the sense of "rij
as understood by the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews (ch. xii. 26, 27) or even to the inference
which he draws from the words " once more " of
our Prophet ; for there we have simply the author-
ity of the LXX., which is quoted and applied after
the custom of the New Testament writers. We
may, however, cite the opinion of that inspired
Writer, that it was the shaking of Sinai that the
Prophet had in mind — an opinion evidently held
without the least reference to the interpretation of
•'"'Cy Tl^; one, in fact, assumed by him as un-
questioned. This any one will perceive on even
the most superficial examination of the passage
Heb. xii. 18-29. Koehler asserts that the shaking
of Sinai cannot be alluded to here, because the
commotions here foretold were to affect all nature,
while the descriptions of the giving of the Law do
not refer to any disturbance beyond the Sinaitio
region. But such passages as Judges T. 4, 5 ; Ps.
Ixviii. 8, 9 ; Hab. iii. 6, represent all nature as hav-
ing been then moved at the coming of God. If it
should be urged that such poetical conceptions are
largely figurative, it may be replied that the con-
vulsions here alluded to are themselves largely fig-
urative, as will be presently shown. The force of
the Prophet's allusion to the phenomena at Sinai
we conceive to be this : He is now holding out to
the faith of his desponding people the prospect of
a new era, which was to be prefigured by their
present Temple. The former dispensation, out of
which they were soon to pass, and of which the
former Temple was the symbol and crown, had
been announced and prepared by the shaking of
Sinai and the other wonders wrought in the realm
of nature during the disciplinary experience of
their fathers previous to their entrance into the
Promised Land. This second, final dispensation
was also to be ushered in by .shakings and convul-
sions. These, in accordance with the more spiritual
character of the new era, were to occur not so much
in the physical as in the moral sphere, the former
class, however, not to be excluded. In accordance
with the wider enjoyment of the new economy, its
portents, so far as they were to occur in the exter-
nal world, would affect all nature, so far as they
were to affect human thought and action, were to
affect all nations. It remains to be seen how this
universal shaking is effected. That the words:
I will be shaking the heavens and the earth
and the sea and the dry land, have chiefly a fig"
urative application, becomes clear from a compari
son with such passages as Ps. Ix. 2 ; xviii. 7-lS
CHAPTER II. 1-9.
n
Is. xiii. 13 ; Ixiv. 1-3, where God's judgments are
represented under images drawn from the phenom-
ena of nature ; also from others such as Is. Ixv. 17
(comp Ixvi 22,and with thisthewords"once more"
in our verse), in which, as the context shows, the
blessed results upon humanity are compared to a
new heaven and a new earth. We do not even
need to go beyond our own book for illastration.
In ch. ii. 21 we have expressions similar to those
here employed, which must have largely a figura-
tive significance, since the overthrow of the sur-
rounding nations was all that the convulsions
there predicted were to accomplish, as our exegesis
of the passage will show. The various depart-
ments of nature are particularized so as to present
a vivid picture of the universal commotions and of
the consequent transformation of the world. The
prediction has its literal fulfillment also, in so far
as remarkable natural phenomena have a porten-
tous significance, in the divine dealings with man,
a truth recognized both by the Scriptures and
by profane writers. We must remember, however,
that the representation is here of a very general
nature. With these conclusions in view it will
appear that vers. 6, 7 describe the working, of God
with its resulting marvelous change in the aspect
of the world in general, and more especially iii its
influence upon mankind nationally and individ-
ually,' preparing them for the universal reception
of the blessings of the promised epoch. The allu-
sion must therefore be to all movements in the
history of humanity, either before or since the
coming of Christ, which have disposed men to
own Christ as their Lord and Saviour. And of
these it is most natural to consider as more imme-
diately intended, those various political convul-
sions which changed the aspect of the civilized
world and adjusted the nations for the ready recep-
tion and rapid spread of the Gospel — the conquests
of Alexander, and the wars of his successors, with
their tendency to combine and equalize the nations
involved, and to weaken the spirit of national ex-
clusiveness, to promote mutual intercourse through
the medium of a common language, in which at
first the Old Testament and at last the New were
given to the world ; followed by the gradual but
irresistible progress of Roman supremacy uniting
the East and the West, and resulting, on the one
hand, in the decline of paganism or national re-
ligiott, and on the other, in the prevalence of a
long and universal peace, so favorable to the
spread of the religion of mankind. — Such was the
immediate fulfillment of the prediction. But we
are not warranted in stopping here. In accord-
ance with the true interpretation of the second
clause of ver. 7 (to be given presently), we must
regard the convulsions as coextensive with their
influence. All nations were to contribute to the
glory of the Church of Christ, and whatever exer-
cise of the divine power in the external world or
iu the spiritual sphere, should dispose man to the
service of Jehovah, must be included iu that mov-
ing of the world which should lead to its trans-
formation. Hence we need not restrict the fulfill-
ment of the prediction to the political changes
which prepared the way for the reception of Chris-
tianity, as has usually been done, but may behold
it also in those subsequent events in the world's
histony, political, social, or moral, which have
subserved (and never more conspicuously than in
t Nations are named here in accordance wifeli the
guarded and partial representation of the salvation of the
flentiles peculiar to the Old Testament. But individuals
m not therefore excluded; thej are rather plainly and
our own day) the growth and glory of the dinrch
of Christ. We may even admit the partial cor-
rectness of Calvin's explanation, that the shaking
denotes that marvelous supernatural and violent
impulse by which God compels his people to betake
themselves to the fold of Christ. The view of
Hengstenberg and Keil, at all events, is beside the
mark, who suppose that the shaking of the nations
is intended to Set forth the punitive judgments of
God upon the heathen, as leading them to subncit
themselves to his rule. As a matter of fact, it was
not, to any great extent, the judgments of God
that led the heathen to accept the Gospel. When,
therefore, Hengstenberg attempts to apply his the-
ory to the preparation for Christ's coming, he natu-
rally fails. Appeal is made to vers. 21-23, where
a shaking of heaven and earth is predicted in con-
nection with the overthrow of surrounding nations.
But the passages are not parallel. Vers. 21-23
are not in the strict sense Messianic ; our passage
is. The subject there is the opposition between
the heathen and God's people; and no hint is
given of the conversion of the former. The sub-
ject here is the honor to be put upon the Church
of Christ (represented by the Second Temple) by
its reception of worshippers from all nations. The
notion of the punishment of the heathen is remote
ft-ora the idea of the promise and irrelevant to the
discourse as a whole. ^
The consequence of this divine influence upon
mankind is next given : D'^iSn-ba Pr\1^Jl '1S3\
But what is meant by QllSn HiaO ' The ren-
dering of the E. V. : The desire of all nations, ac-
cording to which the Messiah is referred to as the
object that should satisfy the universal longings
of men, has always been a favorite interpretation.
The translation of the Vulgate was : " et venit
desideratus cunctis gentibus," and this was followed
by the Reformers (except Calvin), by the older
orthodox Commentators generally, and among
English Expositors, last Ijy Fausset. So confi-
dently has their opinion been held, that Kibera
suspected the later Jews of having corrupted the
passage by changing a singular verb into the
plural (^W3i), with the design of throwing difS-
culties in the way of the true interpretation. It
has been accepted so widely by the Christian
Church through the influence of the various Ver-
sions that it is still everywhere daily heard in their
hymns and prayers. It is natural, moreover, that
many should have been unwilling to give up a
prediction which seemed to embody such a great
and inspiring truth. But such an interpretation
cannot stand the test of correct criticism. In the
first place, we must have regard to the aim of the
discourse, the encouragement of the people in
building the Temple, by assuring them that its
glory would yet be great. This object would not
have been subserved by foretelling the coming of
a Person for whom all the Gentiles were longing.
Such a promise would give no special comfort to
the Jews. The only reason why the "nations"^
were referred to must have been that they them-
selves would contribute to the future glory. Sec-
ondly, it is impossible to see what connection the
silver and the gold of ver. 8 can have with the
coming of the Messiah, though that verse is evi-
dently introduced as confirmatory of this. But,
specially regarded ; for the constraining force is ultimately
not outward compulsion, but the influence of ths Spirit
upon the heart, as the discourse itself implies
18
HAGGAI
finally, the view in question is untenable gram-
matically. ""IMS is plural, while its subject n^IpO
is singular. 'I'hat subject, therefore, cannot be a
person. It is impossible to evade the force of this
argument ; and when we discover that such ex-
pedients have been adopted as to assume that
Christ's two Natures are referred to, the hopeless-
ness of the attempt becomes evident. It has in-
deed been urged that when a plural noun depends
upon and follows a singular, the verb may in He-
brew agree with the plural. This is trae in cer-
tain cases, namely, when the predicate may nat-
urally be referred' to the governed word as con-
taining the controlling idea of the sentence (comp.
Green, § 277). This is of course not the case here.
It is not the nations themselves who are repre-
sented as coming, but their H^^O. More admis-
sible grammatically is the modification proposed
by Cocceius, who translates : I will shake all na-
tions, that they may come to the desire of all na-
tions." But the first argument adduced against
the preceding view is decisive also against this.
It only remains that we take nZ"?r! as a collec-
tive, — which its originally abstract sense renders
natural, and as the plural verb demands.^ The
true sense of mjsn here may be readily deduced
from the usage of its primitive ^li^ : to desire,
to take delight in. The derivation means, first,
the emotion of pleasure, and next, an object of de-
sire or delight (1 Sam. ix. 20; Dan. xi. 37). We
have now only to decide whether it relates to per-
sons or to things. The former sense with the ex-
planation : what is valuable or worthy among the
heathen — i. e., the best of the Gentiles — has been
adopted by Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cappellus,
Riickert, Hitzig, Umbreit, and Fiirst (in his WS?'-
lerbuch). But here, also, all connection with ver.
b fails us. The only meaning which satisfies all
the conditions of the passage is : the desirable
things of the nations ; not : the things desh-ed by
the nations realized in the blessings of the Mes-
siah's reign, as Henderson holds, — an explanation
which like those previously noticed should be dis-
carded because of its want of connection with the
context, and its irrelevancy to the discourse as a
whole. We accordingly translate : the desirable
or precious things, the treasures of the nations, as
most of the later Commentators have done. So
the LXX. appear to have understood it (i)|€i ri
ixKiKra TTiivrccv tuv iBifuv, not ^^ov{n, not persons
but things). Their explanation was adopted in
the Itala and Vulgate, and by Kimehi, and was
completely established by Calvin, the most judi-
cious and penetrating of Commentators. Since
the Reformation it has been held, among others by
Drusius and Vitringa, by Rosenmiiller, Maurer,
Hengstcuberg, Hofmann, Koehler, Keil, Ewald,'^
and among English Expositors, by Adam Clarke,
Newcome, Noyes, Moore, and Cowles. Hengsten-
berg, indeed, followed by Moore, assumes unten-
1 Even in Pa. cxix. 103 the subject is collective ; in Jer.
xi. 84 it is distributive.
2 Ewald, wtio formerly (in his Comm.) maintained that
the '' choice (persons) " of the (Jentiles were me&Qt (see
above), now seems to agree with this opinion. In hia
SpracfiUlire (§ 817 6), he explains the word by Kostbarheiten.
3 Compare for the idea of glory imparted by material
treasures, Nahum ij. 10 (9).
4 It has been said that Herod really erected a third
Temple instead of repairing the second. But this mode of
axD'essiou shows a want of perception of the divitie and
ably that n?P!7 properly means beauty, but both
writers adopt the usual explanation in their ex-
position. From whatever stand-point we regartj
this interpretation, its correctness becomes appar
ent. Grammatically it is unassailable. If we re-
vert to the occasion of the discourse, we find that
it contains the very ground of encouragement
which the despondiiig people required. They had
no need to be disheartened because of the present
condition of the Temple. The outward adorn-
ments which had rendered the former structure so
attractive were indeed absent, but these would be
more than surpassed in splendor by the precious
gifts which all nations should yet bring, to make
glorious Jehovah's dwelling-place. If we regard
the immediate context, the interpretation becomes
self-evident. The display of the precious metals
in the first Temple was mournfully remembered
by the people in their poverty. But the silver and
gold of the whole earth were God's, much more
glorious would be that Temple which should be
adorned by the treasures of all nations which He
should dispose to his worship and service.
We have next to inquire mto the fuljillmertt of
this remarkable prediction. And the question first
suggests itself : is the promise to he fulfilled in a
literal or in a figurative sense, or in both ? The
answer will throw additional light also upon the
concluding words of ver. 7 : I "wiU fill this house
with glory.'* Let us now see to what extent the
Gentiles did bring of their treasures to the sec-
ond Temple. The command of Darius Hystaspes,
given soon after, that abundant supplies should he
allowed the Jews to forward their labors, cannot
properly come into consideration hei'e, because it
was not a consequence of any such shaking of the
nations as that just predicted. The same remark
applies to the presents of Artaxerxes Longimanus
and his councillors through Ezra. We must look
beyond the mighty political convulsions of the
age of Alexander and his successors, in which, as
we have seen, the shaking of the nations first ac-
tually began. And here, as Calvin has shown,
and Hengstcuberg more fully, the renewal of the
second Temple by Herod must be excluded from
consideration. Herod was a foreigner, it is true,
but his labors were not prompted by reverence for
Jehovah, but by worldly policy.' But the case was
different with the offenngs of those proselytes
who, in the decline of polytheism sought to sat-
isfy their religious aspirations by paying their
homage to the one true God in his Temple. These
gifts, however, were little more than a pledge of
the higher, more glorious fulfillment. Otherwise
the prophecy would have' remained unfulfilled.
The Temple (in its true idea and divine purpose)
must be merged into the Church of Christ, the
offerings of whose worshippers must have that
predominantly spiritual character which should
mark the Messianic times. (J.) Because the pre-
diction is given as a revelation from God. Its ful-
fillment is certain.^ A literal fulfillment has been
prophetic idea of the institution. Herod's Temple musv
still be regarded as the second, even though it be conceded
that he erected a new structure. A new Temple must in-
troduce a new era.
6 Some of the Jewish Comirentators would not readily
agree with this. Philippson (Israeli tisthe Bibel, ii.^1489),
after showing that Herod's Temple, which he rightly re-
fuses to regard as a third Temple, was with all its splendor
still inferior to Solomon's, and after admitting that ver. 7,
which he renders correctly, has not been literally fulfilled,
remark^ as follows : " The Prophets give promises for the
CHAPTER n. 1-9.
19
shown to be untenable ; we have therefore to seek
a spuitual one, (2.) This promise is but one of a
large class of similar predictions in the Old Testa-
ment whose spiritual realization is assured by the
New. Corap. Is. Ix. 5, 9-11 ; Micah x. 13 ; Zech.
xiv. 14, with Rev. xxi. 24-26. The harmony and
connection of our passage with these is convin-
cing. (3.) After the restoration the outward splen-
dor of the Temple was never a qiatter of Divine
cognizance. The rebukes of the prophets directed
against the people were not due to any failure
on their part to enhance its external glory. In-
deed we have good reason to think that tliey were
encouraged to make this of little account. It is
at least certain that the spirit cherished by the
Jews, which ultimately led to their rejection, and
to the destruction of the Temple, was the senti-
ment that found expression in the reverence for
the gold of the Temple, which called forth so
scathing a denunciation from the lips of Jesus,
and that, in his refusal to admire the grandeur of
that structure. He was moved by something more
than the mere prevision of its coming ruin, that
He recognized in that terrible calamity the divine-
ly just result of the loss of spiritual worship which
universally prevailed. And if the failure to dis-
cern that the Temple was only the embodiment
and symbol of spiritual truths marked the decline
and fall of Judaism, it was necessary that the
Chdhoh or God, the true Temple beneath the
gold, and outward adornings, should without los-
ing its identity, divest itself of external form, to
invite and receive spiritual worshippers from all
nations. Upon these grounds we claim the fitness
and necessity of a spiritual fulfillment of this pre-
diction. What the treasures are which all nations
were to bring to the Church of God is not far to
«eek. All material offerings presented since the
establishment of Christ's kingdom, for the pur-
pose of advancing its extension or inward growth,
are of course included. But the offerings of the
heart — the prayers and praises of the multitudes
that throng more and more about the gates of
Zion, as the nations are shaken more and more by
forces of, the Spirit's moving, and their self-re-
nouncing devotion of soul and life to her service,
—mainly constitute the perpetual and progressive
fhlfiUment of the prediction. And in the presence
of God among his adoring people we have the
idea embodied in the ancient Temple realized, and
the crowning promises of this prophecy fulfilled :
I will fill this House with glory .... In this
place I wiU give peace. It is the presence of
Jehovah that sheds glory upon the Chui'ch, his
Temple and dwelling-place, that imparts inward
peace and joy, and outward peace and prosperity
(Dwtt') to its members in ever-increasing meas-
ure ; but that Presence is vouchsafed to meet and
reward the submission and service of his people,
gathered from every nation under heaven.
There is another important point in connection
with this subject which needs to be discussed.
The fact that all these promises are applied direct-
ly to " this house," and that, as the subject of
Buch glorious predictions the second Temple is
sharply contrasted with the first, proves that there
future, not in order to predict, but in order to ameliorate
the preaent aod to incite to holy actions. Israelitea have
themeelves made the fulfillment of these prophecies impos-
fllble by refusing to rise to those higher conditions in which
*loue, according to the declarations of the Prophets them-
"I'es, the promises would be fulfllled." Comp. p. 922.
nils is the logical result of the Jewish theory ; for though
must have been something connected with the
former, as compared with the latter, constituting
it a more fit representative of the Church of
Christ. This feature of the discourse is worthy
of a much fuller treatment than is here practi-
cable. We only remark at present that the car-
dinal distinction must have consisted in the more
spiritual character which life, and faith, and wor-
ship assumed in the best times of Judaism after
the Restoration, the Temple being of course un-
derstood to represent then, as of old, the theocrat-
ic community of which it was the centre. Rites
and ceremonies retired more into the background ;
and prayer began to assume its true place. in pub-
lic worship. The religious knowledge of the peo-
ple was kept up through the regular public read-
ing and distribution of the Scriptures, which were
early collected into their present canonical form.
Synagogues were eatablislicd, the people having
learnt at Babylon that God's presence might be
enjoyed in their assemblies in any place or circum-
stances. Thus there was kept alive throughout
the nation a higher and purer typ#of religion
than it had known in the days when the first
Temple with its outward splendor and gorgeous
ritual excited the admiration of the people, but too
seldom led their thoughts to the contemplation of
the truths it expressed and prefigured. Thesa
we regard as some of the characteristics of the
second Temple, which on the one hand exalted It
above its predecessor, and on the other assimilated
it to. the Church of Christ, of which it thus be-
came the fit representative in the Divine promises.
This was the true glory of the Second Temple.
The question finally suggests itself: If this ex-
position be correct, why were these promises veiled
in such a material form ? The same difficulty
must be equally felt in the consideration of the
similar passages in the Prophets already cited. It
is not a sufficient answer to say that such is the
uniform drapery in which prophetic promise is
clothed. The answer which exhibits the inner fit-
ness and necessity of the mode of communication,
is that such a form was the only one suited to the
conditions under which the promise was given.
Its recipients would have been dissatisfied with the
full and clear revelation as not meeting their im-
mediate needs, and moreover covild neither have
grasped its meaning nor appreciated its worth.
They were not as yet prepared to receive the doc-
trine of an invisible Temple and a universal Church,
as the nations themselves were not prepared for
the coming and reign of their common Redeemer.
Hence it was best that the glories of his kingdom
should be described in words suited to their appro
hensions and requirements. He also, when H«
came, in his predictions as well as in his other in-
structions, taught as his hearers were able to bear
them. And even we are under the same tutelage
with respect t.> the mysteries of the New Jeru-
salem ; for we read that it ha's its Temple too
(Rev. vii. 15), and yet we are told that it has no
Temple (Rev. xxi. 22) ; and the announcement
of the final and complete fulfillment of our proph-
ecy (Rev. xxi. 24-26) is little more than a repeti-
tion of the prophecy itself in a material form iden-
tically the same.
some of their Commentators (e. g-., Isaaki, Abarbanel) in-
terpret the passage as predicting a future Temple, compar-
ing Ezek. xliii. etc., yet aa this view ia in plain contradic-
tion of the Prophet's announcement of speedy fu. BDment,
others are, in consistency, driven to renounce the idea of
any true fulfillment whatever.
20
KAutGAI.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The only hope of the Church of God lies in
his favor. If at any time it is weak and languish-
ing, its sad condition is directly due to the with-
drawal of God's presence. But his attitude to-
wards his people is not the result of caprice or of
change of purpose. He is bound to them by a
Covenant (ver. 5) to which He ever remains faith-
ful. It is their unfaithfulness that banishes Hi-m
from among them, and a return to obedience that
restores his favor and help. The latter result is as
assured as the former (corap. vers. 4, 5, with i. 12,
1.3). These truths furnish an antidote to despond-
ency, and a ground of confidence as well as a mo-
tive to renewed consecration.
2. The World is the tributary, and the minister
of the Church. All revolutions, political, social, or
moral, that affect the nations, are harbingers and
preparations of that spiritual and inward but no
less powerful influence which is to impel them
within the boundaries of the kingdom of Christ.
And the treasures of the nations, all that is de-
sirable and valuable in the achievements of human
labor, all the accumulated wisdom and knowledge
of the ages, and all that is pure and lofty in
human motives and purposes, are the offerings
which the world has brought, or is yet to bring
to the Church — " the glory and honor of the Gen-
tiles " presented in the courts of Zion (Rev. xxi.
26).
3. The development and progress of the Church
of God are not marked by an increase of external
splendor. Its true glory does not consist in the
magnificenee of its houses of worship, or in the
pomp and impressiveness of its ceremonies and
rituals. The Ifirst Temple was distinguished by
these outward attractions ; but the Second Temple
in which they were so inferior, is by the Prophet
contrasted with the former, and chosen as the fit
representative, nay even as the partial realization
of the promised Church of Christ. Christians
know, as the pious worshippers in the second
Temple were taught, that the glory of the Church
is derived from the purity of her worship, the de-
votion of her ever-increasing members, and the
abiding presence of God through his Spirit. Even
the Shekinah was wanting in the second Temple ;
but the faithful worshippers there, like those who
now in every nation worship God in spirit and in
truth, could rejoice that they did not need among
them his visible glory, while his presence was felt
in their hearts.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 3 (comp. with ver. 9). Long life is a bless-
ing and happiness, to a servant of God, if at its
close he is permitted to behold the revival of God's
kingdom and increasing signs of its coming glory.
Vers. 4, 5. God's pr»ple should dwell much
flpon their past history. They will thus find that
whatever cheeks and distresses they have experi-
enced were due to their own unfaithfulness, and
that God never failed to fulfill his part in the
Covenant, whether He chastened or blessed. Id
the adversities of the present they may be assured
that their true hope lies in the presence and power
of the Spirit, who dwells with them according aa
they fulfill their part in the Covenant.
Calvin : God is present with his own in vari-
ous ways ; but He especially shows that He is
present when, by his Spirit, He confirms weak
minds.
Vers. 6, 7. In the midst of the changes, polit-
ical, social, and moral, that affect the nations, by
what methods may God's people best seek to at-
tract them with their priceless treasures within the
Church of Christ ?
Henry : The shaking of the nations is often in
order to the settling of the Church and the estab-
lishing of the things that cannot be shaken.
Moore : The kingdoms of the world are but
the scaffolding for God's spiritual Temple, to be
thrown down when their purpose is accomplished.
— The uncertainty and transitoriness of all that is
earthly should lead men to seek repose in the ever-
lasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. — The
glory of the New Testament dispensation is the
conversion of the heathen.
Ver. 8. Since the earth and its fullness are the
Lord's, his people need never fear either that they
will be left destitute, or that the " riches of the
Gentiles " will not be converted to the use of his
Church.
Henrt : Every penny bears God's superscrip-
tion as well as Caesar's.
Moore : The comparative poverty of the
Church is not because God cannot bestow riches
upon her, but because there are better blessings
than wealth that are often incompatible with its
possession.
Ver. 9. Calvin : Though they should gather
the treasures of a thousand worlds into one mass,
such a glory would still be perishable.
Moore : The New Testament in all its out-
ward lowliness has a glory in its possession of a
completed salvation, far above all the outward
magnificence of the Mosaic dispensation. — The
kingdom of Christ makes peace between God and
man, and in its ultimate results will make peace
between man and man, and destroy all that pro-
duces discord and confusion, war and bloodshed
on the earth.
Pressel : Every house of God is a place where
God gives peace, and every place of peace is also
a house of God.
— On the whole discourse : The glory of God's
kingdom: (1.) Its conditions — the faithfulness of
his people to all their covenant obligations and
duties, their obedience, their faith, and their cour-
age, securing his favor and help. (2.) Its nature
— the constant reception of increasing multitudes
of " Gentiles " with their " treasures " of devotion
and service; and t'le abiding presence of God'l
Spirit diffusing peace and joy.
CHAPTER n. 10-19.
21
FOUETH ADDRESS.
Past Calamities accounted for ; and Immediate Prosperity announced.
Chapter II. 10-19.
10 On the twenty-fourth (day) of the ninth (month) in the second year of Darius,
11 there was a word of Jehovah by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying : Thus
12 saith Jehovah of Hosts : Ask, I pray you, the Priests ^ for instruction, saying : If '^ a
man shall bear holy flesh in the lappet of his garment, and touch with his lappet
upon bread, or upon pottage, or upon wine, or upon oil, or upon any food, shall it
] 3 become holy ; and the Priests answered and said : No. And Haggai said : K one
defiled ^ through a (dead) person touch any of these, stall it be unclean ; and the
14 Priests answered and said : It shall be unclean. Then Haggai answered and said :
So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah, and so is every
work of their hands ; and whatever they offer there [at the altar] is unclean.
15 And now, I pray you direct your heart from this day and backward, before the
16 placing of stone upon stone in the house of Jehovah. Since such things were,'
one has been going ^ to a heap of sheaves of fifty (measures), and there were (but)
ten ; he has been going to the wine-vat to draw out fifty pails, and there were (but)
17 twenty. I have smitten you with blight, and with mildew, and with hail — all the
18 works* of your hands; yet ye (returned)^ not to me, saith Jehovah. Direct, I
pray you, your hearts from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of
the ninth (month), to the day on which the Temple of Jehovah was founded ; direct
19 your heart. Is the grain yet in the barn ? And as to the vine and the fig tree,
and the pomegranate and olive tree, they have not borne.' From this day I will
bless.'
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 11. — D"'3n3n*nM is the direct and mli^ tlie indirect object.
2 Ver. 12. — This verse contains a sentence virtually conditional, of which U^^f^'^PT, is the apodosis, and all that pre.
cedes the protasis. But as PT is properly an inteijection the strict translation would be ; Behold, let any one bear, eto.
gome of the articles of food here mentioned are ma4e definite, being considered fleverally as forming a distinct claM
Bee dreen, § 245 if.
8 Ver. 13. — For the construction of C^QD W^^ see the exegesis.
4 Ver. 18. — Dni^njS. See Green, § 267 d, and compare the exegesis.
6 Ver. 16. — S^ . . K3 are used impersonally : one came, etc. These sentencee an virtually condmoiud, ^
Itaarklng the apodosis in each case.
• Ver. 17. — n27515"73 nW. This clause is in apposition to the object of the verb In the one preceding.
1 Ver. 17. — QDiHM ]''S. See the exegesis.
8 Vet 19. — S273 agrees with the nearest subject and Is understood with the others. —
T T
9 Ver. 19. — T[^3M is here used absolutely. There is no need of supplying an object.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
The ministry of the Prophet had at last achieved
l*:s most important object, and with the access of
new zeal and devotion to God's sei-vice among the
people, a powerful impulse had been given to their
national and religions life. Another message was
now appropriate, and that for the accomplishment
of two ends : first, that the people might be fore-
Warned against a course of conduct, which would
again alienate the favor of God ; second, that they
might be further secured against despondency by
the prospect of rich and speedy blessings, as the
consequence of their repentance and obedience.
Ver. 10. The message which follows was de-
livered about two months after the preceding, while
the people were still feeling, probably, in an in-
tensified degree, the pressure of the temporal dis-
tress which was described in tlie first discourse.
It was an occasion peculiarly suitable for the com-
munication of such a message. It was the ninth
month (Chisleu, November-December) when the
early rain was expected to Water the newly-sown
crops. Their fields had lately (ch. i. 6) been giv-
ing a very scanty harvest, and there would nat-
urally be much anxiety about the results of the
labor of the present season ; and great vejoicing
at the receival of an assurance of its' -success.
Ver. 11. We agree with Ewald. Koehler, Keil,
22
HAGGAl
et al. in rcgardiDg nniD here as meaning not
the law but instruction. If the former had been
intended, the article would have been present.
That the answer to the inquiry would he obtained
from the law does not of course affect the ques-
tion.
Ver. 12. If a man shall bear .... and the
Priests answered : No. The priests answered
correctly and according to a natural and divinely
sanctioned inference from Lev. vi. 20 (27). In
that passage the flesh of the animal sacrificed is
said to render sacred any object ("^tpS ^3 there
probably refers both to persons and to things)
with which it may come in contact, a garment
sprinkled with its blood being particularized. It
is not said that the character of legal sacredness
is communicated indefinitely. The enumeration
in our passage of the most common and necessary
articles of food is in accordance with the lesson to
be enforced ; see on ver. 14.
Ver. 13. And Haggai said .... he will be
unclean. Comparing our verse with Lev. xxii. 4^
and that passage with Num. v. 2 ; ix. 6, 7, 10, we
find that the phrase t»?? W!2!? = tt-p.:b SCt? .
defiled with respect to a person. Comparing again
with Lev. xxi. 11 ; Num vi. 6, we find that HO
is to be understood in the latter expression, which
therefore means : unclean on account of a dead
person. The ellipsis is seen to be natural, when
we remember that defilement occasioned by per-
sonal contact usually proceeded from contact with
a dead body, and that this species of defilement
was one of the deepest (see Num. xix. 11-16).
Keil translates : defiled on or through the soul of
a dead man, a rendering whose correctness he fails
to prove both hero and in his exposition of Lev.
xix. 28. Besides giving a contradictory explana-
tion, he would refuse to recognize one of the most
common meanings of 12^53, that of person trans-
ferred to the sense of body. The explanation of
Koehler is worth quoting. He takes nephesh in its
primary sense of breath, and thinks that one who
comes in contact with the breath of a dead man is
referred to. This he docs not seek to establish on
the lucKS a non lucendo principle, as might be ex-
pected, but by the statement that " as long as the
corpse is not completely consumed, even if the
skeleton only is left, a remnant of the breath of
life still remains seeking to extricate itself so as to
leave the body to perish utterly." — Then follows the
.application to the circumstances of the people of
ithese principles of the Ceremonial Law. It will be
■iioticed that the priests and the prophet act in ac-
eordance with their proper functions : tlie former
declare or interpret the precepts of the Law ; the
latter applies them.
Ver. 14. And Haggai answered and said . . .
is tincleau. No distinction is intended to be ex-
pressed between " nation " and " people " here.
The repetition is a hebraism ; comp. Zeph. ii. 9.
So is this people, etc. = So is it with this people.
Be&re me means : in my presence as Ruler and
ludge. The key to the correct application of the
cereHionial precepts, which have occasioned diffi-
culty to some interpreters, is found in the last
clause of the verse, taking into account that CtD
c= Bt the altar (Ezra iii. 3). The people, suffering
from scarcity of food consequent upon the failure
of their crops, had, it seems, been continuing in
some measure their regular sacrificial offerings,
though they had been neglecting the building of
the Temple. These oblations had not been ac-
cepted, as they might have inferred from the with-
holding of the divine blessing, the true cause of
which is now impressively illustrated. As he who
was ceremonially unclean tainted everything with
which he came in contact, so had they, suffering
from God's displeasure on account of their disre-
gard of his claims, communicated the effects of
that displeasure to all the labor of their hands,
which profited them nothing. And, as the conse-
crated flesh of the sacrifices did not convey its sa-
credness to any objects beyond those immediately
in the service, so all their external good works,
even their offerings upon God's altar, could not
reach in its effects beyond the mere ceremonial
fulfillment of outward observances, could not se-
cure those blessings which are the reward of living,
operative holiness. The following verses (15-17)
now exhibit the condition of the people as prov-
ing the above illustration.
Ver. 1 5. And now apply your heart, I pray
you . . . apply your heart. The people ar«
bidden review their condition from the present
time to the period preceding the resumption of
the Temple. ''^V2 in such a connection of
course means backward. The time when the
work was resumed is specified here, because it waa
the turning-point in their fortunes. Their con-
dition before that event is recalled for their con-
templation that they might connect their distress
then suffered with their unfaithfulness ; and the
brief period succeeding their return to obedience
is included because they could not so soon recover
from their embarrassments, no harvest having yet
intervened. OTJKH therefore serves a twofold
purpose : ]Q (from) denotes that the retrospect
should properly begin with the resumption of the
work, and DT!^ (before) indicates the direction in
which the survey should extend. That it is the
resumption of bnilding that is referred to, and not
the first feeble efforts of the returning exiles, is
plain from the circumstances of the people to be
described and the lesson to be enforced.
Ver. 16. Since such things were .... and
there were (but) twenty. DriVnO, literally:
from these things being (so). This means, from
the time when affairs began to be in the condition
referral to. It is clear that V^ need not have the
same reference here as in ver. 15, where it points
backward. Here the people are not commanded
to take a review of the past; the Prophet is now
describing a certain state of affairs consequent
upon their unfaithfulness. There it was a retro-
spect ; here it is a view of cause and efi^ect. The
force of the verse is precisely that of ch. i. 9. The
harvests did not fulfill expectation. Their actual
yield did not even correspond to the appearance
of the crops when gathered in. A heap of sheaves
which seemed to contain twenty measures (it ia
best to supply HKt^, as E. V. does), was, when
threshed, found to contain but ten. A quantity
of grapes usually aflibrding fifty purahs yields only
twenty. 2p' is applied either to the press itself,
or to the vat beneath into which the liquor flows.
Here the latter is meant ; after pressing, they went
to draw from it, expecting the usual proportion
of wine. H^^S, which in "s. Ixiii. 3 means a
CHAPTER rr. 10-19.
23
wine-press, must be used here of the vessel which
was orUinarilv employed to draw up the wine from
the lower receptacle. It naturally came to be
adopted as a convenient measure for such pur-
poses, much in the same way as our " bucket " is
sometimes referred to as a measure. The LXX.
translating fifTpr(T))j make it = i~l2 (abath). Such
an ellipsis as E. V. assumes to exist in the orig-
inal is incredible.
Ver. 17. I have smitten you with blight . . .
saith Jehovah. The immediate cause of the
shortness and inferior quality of the crops is now
presented. On the connection between the first
and second clauses, see Grammatical note. The
people themselves are said to have been smitten,
because the calamities specified fell upon their
crops, the labor of their hands (comp. Virgil's
imrrujue labores), thus disappointing their nearest
hopes. Compare, as exactly analogous, ch. i. 10,
11. These passages further show that there is no
need of rendering with E. V. : in all the labor of
your hands. The last clause is difficult. Most
take D3'7'^ ^^ * nominative, and supply DTiint^
(ye have not returned) after Amos iv. 9, the former
' and latter parts of which passage present a resem-
blance to our verse probably fortuitous. But the
cases in which i^H accompanies a nominative are
so rare that such a construction is not to be as-
sumed except under exegetical distress. More
admissible is the translation of the Vulgate, Ita-
la, Umbreit, et at. : et non fuit in vebis qui reverter-
etur. To obtain this "1E?S is supplied, and D5^N
read. It ought not to be objected with Hitzig and
Koehler, that nS does not mean among or in, but
only beside or with ; for 2 Kings ix. 25 furnishes
an unmistakable instance of the former sense. The
extent of the change involved in the Text is a more
valid objection. It is better, with Maurer, Hitzig,
Ewald, and Keil, to construe according to the
principle laid down by Ewald (§ 262 6), that PM
(properly the construct of 1)'H), being u.sually fol-
lowed by a verbal suffix, because containing a ver-
bal conception (== there is not), here takes the sign
of the object according to the construction after
most verbs. We therefore render : but ye were not
towards me, i. e., ye did not return to me. Hos.
iii. 3, 2 Kings vi. 11, affijrd examples of such con-
structions.
Ver. 18. Direct, I beseeoh you, your heart
. . direct your heart. This verse has received
most diverse and in some instances most extraor-
dinary interpretations. The main difficulty arises
from the peculiar use of 1??^. Most of the Eng-
lish expositors' adopt the rendering of E. V. with-
out explanation, or (as Newcome) supply " and"
instead of " even " before " from," in order to
make the contradiction involved appear slighter.
Faasset thinks that the time is to be measured
backward from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth
month, and forward from the founding of the Tem-
ple, or that the same adverb, n7VO, can be taken
in different senses when connected with the same
verb, which is absurd. Indeed, it would seem very
improbable that ri737J3 here should be employed
in a sense different from that in which it occurs in
"er. 15, as Eichhom, Hitzig, Koehler, et al. as-
sume that it must, in making it refer to the future.
If now we could suppose, with the authors last
named, and Pressel, that the twenty-fourth day of
the ninth month was the day on which the foun-
dation was laid, all difficulty would vanish. The
people would again be directed to review their con-
dition, and to contrast i: with the blessings which
they would henceforth receive, as described in the
next verse.' But the objections to this are insu-
perable ; (1) The Temple was founded in the sec-
ond year of Cyrus, fifteen years before (Ezra iii.
10) ; and if we compare Ezra iv. 4 with iv. 23, 24,
we shall see that the work upon it was continued,
however feebly, until within two years of the pres-
ent prophecy, so that the foundation could not
have fallen into decay. (2) Ch. ii. 3 implies that
the new structure had then become somewhat ad-
vanced. If it were absolutely necessary to regard
]liv as = 1Q (from), we should be driven to con-
clude that the texu, as it now stands, is corrupt.
But the analogy of such words as piPiniSy (to a
distance)V^nip'7S (to the outside), shows thai
the meaning to or until ' is not impossible. So
EosenmuUer, Maurer, Ewald, Moore, et al, have
understood it. This, it must be confessed, is a
somewhat precarious resort ; but it seems the only
one at all defensible. The sense thus obtained for
the whole verse is appropriate. In order to make
the blessings to be announced in ver. 19 appear in
strong contrast to the distress pictured in vers. 16,
17, the Prophet repeats the injunction of ver. 15,
but with a longer range of retrospect. The whole
period back to the time when the foundation of the
Temple was laid in the reign of Cyrus was one of
more or less distress on account of the unfaithful-
ness of the people ; for between that time and the
present all the eflbrts that they had made to com-
plete the work were spasmodic and feeble.
Ver. 19. Is the grain yet tn the bam ... I
will bless. The parallelism and the connection
show that 2 j-Til is to be taken not in the sense ot
com for sowing, but of com already raised. The
interrogation is equal to a strong negation. "T?
probably means here quoad, as to, in which sense it
is of frequent occurrence. Maurer prefers to ren-
der: ad hue, as yet, a sense undeniable in Job i. 1 8 ;
but there is no necessity of assuming such a rare
usage here. The distress before described is brought
nearer to the feelings of the people by the reminder
that it was still present. They could then better
appreciate the worth of the coming relief From
this day, must be taken in a somewhat loose sense,
as denoting the beginning of that period of bless-
ing which was to reward the obedience and devo-
tion now displayed hy the people. There is thus
seen to be no inconsistency between the promise
and the conditions described in ver. 15.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The ceremonial institutes of the ancient Law
were designed to illustrate man's relations to God
as being under his favor or under his displeasure.
The conditions and treatment of uncleanness,
while setting forth most vividly the loathsomeness
and defilement of sin, exhibited as clearly the ef-
fects of God's anger against it, which was shown
to extend to all the sinner's experience, removing
1 ^D 1b not therefore pleonastic ; It still marks the lim-
its of the period specified, separating it from the procadinf
according to its original force.
24
HAGGAI.
him beyond the reach of covenant mercies and
blessings. While the divine displeasure was man-
ifested towards an individual or a nation, no
amount of outward religious observances could
appease it, just as no frequency of contact with
legally consecrated offerings could impart sacred-
ness to any other object.
2. A return to God by his people under either
Covenant has always been followed immediately
by the bestowal of blessings peculiar to the Cov-
enant. In Old Testament times a fullness of ex-
ternal mercies was chiefly expected and received.
But before these blessings could, in the ordinary
course of providence, be vouchsafed, spiritual and
higher blessings were invariably imparted ( see ver.
19) — the assurance of God's favor, the abiding
presence and assistance of his Spirit. The New
Covenant, while it has modified in form many of
the provisions and conditions of the Old, is not
superior to it in the certainty of its fulfillment ;
and nothing is better adapted to revive and
strengthen our trust in God's promises than a fre-
quent recurrence to his dealings towards his an-
cient people.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
Vers. 12-14. Our inward character, and not our
privileges or associations or outward conduct, will
determine God's attitude toward us.
Calvin : Whoever intrudes external ceremo-
nies on God, in order to pacify Him, trifles with
Him most childishly. The fountain of good works
is integrity of heart, and the purpose to obey God
and consecrate the life to Him. — Whatever we
touch is polluted by us, unless there be purity of
heart to sanctify our works.
Geotius : There are many ways of vice, but
only one of virtue, and that a difficult one.
Fausset : Those who are unclean before God
on account of " dead works," thereby render un-
clean all their services.
Vers. 15-17. Matthew Henet : When wa
take no care of God's interests we cannot expect
that He will take care of ours.
MooEE : Men are inclined to assign any other
cause for their sufferings than their sins, yet this
is usually the true cause. — Disappointment of our
hopes on earth should make us lift our eyes to
heaven to learn the reason. — Affliction will harden
the heart if it be not referred to God as its author.
Vers. 18, 19. Mooee : Pondering over the past
is often the best way of providing for the fu-
ture.
Fausset : From the moment we unreservedly
yield ourselves up to God, we may confidently cal-
culate on his blessing.
FIFTH ADDRESS.
Preservation of the People in the Convulsions that should destroy the surrounding
Nations.
Chapter II. 20-23.
20
21
22
23
And there was a word of Jehovah a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth
(day) of the month, saying : Speak to Zeruhbabel, Governor of Judah, saying :
I will be shaking ^ the heavens and the earth ; And I will overturn the throne of
the kingdoms, and will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and
will overthrow the chariot and its riders, and the horses and their riders shall sink
down, each by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith Jehoyah of Hosts
I will take thee, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, my servant, saith Jehovah, and will
place thee as a signet, for thee have I chosen, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Vers. 21,22. — The force and construction of t£?''i?"1J5 '" connection with the following preterites, are the sam«
Rfl those of the same word in ver. 6 : I shall be shaking (a participle being indefinite as to time) and (shall) have over-
turned.
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
In order to supply all that was now needed to
strengthen and encourage his people, the Prophet
delivers, on the same day, a second message, pre-
dicting their safety amidst the upheavals of the Gen-
tile world, and assuring them of God's guardian
care over their rulers as a pledge of this promise.
Vers, 20-22. And there was a word of Jeho-
vah .... each by the sword of his brother.
The shaking of the heavens and the earth here
predicted coincides to some extent with that fore-
told in vers. 6 7. To establish the distinction that
does exist, we have only to assume that the com-
motions to be excited among the Gentiles to carry
out God's purposes with respect to the world are
to be understood as limited by the results to he ac-
complished. In the passage referred to, as we have
seen, the ultimate submission and worship of the
world is announced ; here we are told of nothing
beyond the temporal security of the Jews (for how
long a period is not indicated) amidst the mutual
destruction of other nationalities. It is most prob
CHAPTER II. 20-23.
25
Me that the reference is to wars in which those
countries were involved, with which Israel had
been brought into contact, — Babylon (whose cap-
ture and cruel treatment by Darius Hystaspes, after
rebellion against him, occurred soon after the de-
livery of this prophecy) ; Persia in its conflicts
with Scythia, etc., and especially with Greece ;
Syria in its protracted wars with Egypt. These
limitations seem to be correct: (1) because the
prophecy does not say that the Jews would be pre-
served in contending against other nations, but
only during the mutual contentions of the latter ;
(2) because we find that the Jews did actually suc-
cumb to the power of the Gentiles. The throne
of the kingdoms here means their government,
that which binds men together 1,3 a nation (comp.
Dan. vii. 27). This is based upon the strength
of the kingdoms, which is shattered by the de-
struction of their armies. Every man by the
Bword of hia brother, asserts in a general way
that the nations in their wars would become self-
destructive as well as mutually destructive.
Ver. 23. In that day. This expression denotes,
according to its usual prophetic indefiniteness, not
the period introduced by the commotions just pre-
dicted, — a supposition tenable only by those who
assume that by Zerubbabel the Messiah is directly
intended, — but the period, of whatever duration
it should be, during which the commotions should
continue. If the verses just preceding had alluded
to any remote consequences of the conflicts be-
tween the nations, the former explanation would
be admissible. I will place thee as a signet-ring.
The signet-ring was held very precious, and worn
constantly by its oriental possessor; corap. Song
of Sol. viii. 6 ; Jer. xxii. 24. The announcement
thus conveyed, that during these convulsions Jeho-
vah, who had chosen Zerubbabel as his servant,
would take hira under his peculiar and special care,
is probably to be accounted for and explained in
the following way : The Jews, although it was now
several years since they had returned from exile,
had been constituted a theocratic nation, and rec-
ognized as such by God only through the erection
of the Temple, which was in fact the condition of
their national existence. In the midst of the con-
vulsions that were to shake the surrounding na-
tions, they would naturally feel themselves inse-
cure. To anticipate and allay this anxiety, it was
now announced to them that their government and
institutions would be preserved. For Zerubbabel,
though appointed by the Persian monarch who
was temporarily to be their ruler, was chosen by
Jehovah also as the representative of the throne
and family (Luke iii. 27) of David, which was to
stand secure, while the kingdoms of the earth
should fall. In this promise Zerubbabel is fitly
taken to represent all the rulers of the Jews during
the period within the range of the prophecy. He
was the first and the greatest of their post-exilic
rulers. In a theocratic relation he was the restorer
of the dynasty of David. What was promised to
him we may regard as equally promised to all the
faithful rulers of Judsea who should come after
him. They also would be chosen of God and the
objects of his watchful care, as the guardians of
his people. This we regard as the direct occasion
of the promise. It is probable, however, that these
words were addressed to Zerubbabel (comp. Zech.
iv. 6-10), partly to give him encouragement in his
direction and supervision of the work upon the
Temple, and in his efforts to mould and control
the little community at such a critical period of
ts history.
This discourse has been regarded by most ortho-
dox commentators as Messianic in the strict sense,
namely, as gaining its full and only adequate ap-
plication when understood of the Messiah and his
kingdom. It is clear, however, from the foregoing
exposition, that it is Messianic only in so far as
the progress and prosperity of God's people under
the Old Covenant prefigured the triumph of the
Redeemer's reign. It may bo urged against this
restriction that the address is prefaced (ver. 21) by
an expression similar to that by which the Messi-
anic promises in vers. 6-9 were introduced. There
is this distinction, however, among others, between
the two predictions. In the former the discourse
relates to the Temple as representing the Church
of God in its perpetual and ever-increasing glory
and as the refuge of all nations ; in the latter we
have no indication of a reference to anything be-
yond the preservation of the theocracy so long as
it should suit the divine purposes. The shaking
of the heavens and the earth illustrates in both
cases the violent commotions among the Gentiles
through the divine power, but the result in the one
was to be their ultimate conversion, in the other
their destruction. Among Anglo-American com-
mentators Henderson and Moore hold to the re
strleted and indirect Messianic sense.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The destinies of nations and their rulers are
determined by their relations to the kingdom of
God. When they subserve its advancement, they
are not merely preserved by Him, but even become
the objects of his special care (comp., e. g.. Is. xlv.
1-6). When they cease to do so they are shorn
of their strength and fall. This is the highest and
clearest lesson of history, written as plainly upon
her records, as upon the pages of the Old Cove-
nant.
2. The Jewish nation formed no exception to
this divine law. The only respect in which it dif
fered from other nations in this regard, was that
it contained for a time the Church of Godi This
was its glory and its high trust. Its rulers, when
faithful to the interests of God's kingdom com-
mitted to their keeping, were, as his chosen minis-
ters, precious in his sight, and the objects of his
peculiar care and never-failing help. Through the
administration of such the nation prospered. And
we know as well that it was through the unfaith-
fulness of the leaders of the Jewish people, that
God's favor was withdrawn from them and they
were blotted out from among the nations.
HOMILKTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Ver. 22. Do righteousness and truth control
our national life ^ If they do not we may expect
national dissolution ; perhaps the recurrence of
fratricidal war.
Ver. 23. Are our rulers controlled in their every
act by a regard for righteousness and truth 1 If
they are, they will be guarded and guided by God
for the nation's prosperity and true glory. If they
are not, let them remember the denunciations of
the prophets and of Christ himself against the nn-
faithful leaders of the Jews.
Moore : The best protection for any nation,
the surest guarantee for its political existence, is
a living, working Church in its midst.
PREsaEL ; Even though we are not royal signet-
rings, 0 God, but only little rings on tty eternal
band, how safely are we guarded !
THE
BOOK OF ZECHARIAH.
EXPOUNDED
TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D. D.
or TU PAST0B3 Of IHB OOLLBOIATB anFOBMHD DDIOH OMUBOI
NBW TOKK.
NEW YORK:
CHAELES SCEIBNER'S SONS,
Bkitered according to Act of Congress, in ftie year 1874) by
SOKIBNEE, AKMSTBONO, AND COMPANY,
il tile Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washingtob.
PREFACE.
The general form of this commentary has been determined by that of the woit of which
it forms a part. While conforming to this rule, the author has endeavored to consider fairly
every difficult question, to furnish a tolerable conspectus of the different views upon it, and ■
wherever possible to state his own with the reasons upon which it rests. Reference has
been had to the wants of ministers and students, and it is hoped that they will be able to
find in these pages at least a convenient summary of the present state of critical and exe-
getieal opinion upon this most important of the post-exile prophets. The author has done
the best that he could in the limited time allowed him, but feels painfully that he has fallen
far short of his own ideal. The work, such as it is, he humbly commends to the favor of
Him without whose blessing nothing is either good or useful. A respectable scholar of the
early part of the last century concludes the preface to his annotations upon Zechariah with
words which the present writer cheerfully adopts for himself. " Quantum ad nos, rimati
iumus hanc prophetiam, verum pro modulo nostra. Omnino enim Mc usu nobis venit, quod
Paulus 1 Cor. xiii. 6 inculcat : Ex /xepov^ yLvdorKofxev, Kai Ik /xcpous Trpo(f>'r]r€vofx.iv
Interea, si quid lucis ex opdta nostra lector acceperit, Deo acceptum id referat 1 sin aberasse
ac navos admisisse nos animadverterit, injirmitati nostrw condonet I Ingenue namque agnosci-
mus in exponendo tarn sublimi vaticinio egisse nos non quantum debuimus, sed quantum potuU
mus" (J. H. MichaeHs, 1720.)
THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH.
INTRODUCTION.
1. The Name and Personal Relations of Zechariah.
2. The Historical Background of his Prophecy.
3. The Style and Form of the Book.
4. The Messianic Predictions.
0. The Contents of the Book.
6. The Genuineness of the Second Part.
7. The alleged Influence of the Persian Theology.
8. Literature.
§ 1. The Name and Personal Relations of Zechariah.
The name Zechariah is given to more than twenty different persons in the Old Testament
(see the enumeration in Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 3610), but of these by far the most dis-
tinguished is the eleventh in order of the twelve minor prophets. The word n^"l3T is usu-
ally regarded as a compound of the abridged divine name h\> and the radicals nST, but
opinions vary as to the proper voweHng of the latter word. Some regard it as a masculine
noun = man o/ Jehovah ; others as a feminine segholate ^^ memory o/ Jehovah ; but more
commonly it is taken as a verb = Jehovah remembers. This corresponds to the usual
method in which n'' is compounded with other words in order to form a proper name.
Some of the older expositors (Jerome, Abarbanel), and a few of the moderns (Neumann,
Schlier), endeavor to trace a connection between the Prophet's name and the contents of his
utterances, but such a notion is forbidden by the frequency of its occurrence elsewhere, and
by the fact that there is no prophet to whose words such a name would not equally apply.
He describes himself as " the son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo," which phrases cannot be
taken appositionally (LXX., Jerome, Cyril), but according to all genealogical usage denote
that our Prophet was the son of the former and grandson of the latter. It is no objection
to this view that in Ezra v. 1, vi. 14, he is called the son of Iddo, because in Scripture it
IS by no means unprecedented to give the name son to a grandson, or even a more remote
descendant. Thus in the ninth chapter of 2 Kings, Jehu is styled in the fourteenth verse,
" the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi," but in the twentieth verse, simply, " the son
of Nimshi." Moreover, it is perfectly natural that the Prophet, when formally stating his
own descent in the title of his prophecy, should recite the names of his father and grand-
father, while the omission of the former in an historical narrative such as Ezra's, may be
easily accounted for, either on the view that Berekiah had died young, or that Iddo was the
more distinguished person and perhaps generally recognized as the head of the family, which
appears to be a fair inference from Neh. xii. 1, 4-8. In this passage he is stated to have
been one of " the heads of the priests and of their brethren," who came up from Babylon
with Zerubbabel, and he is said (ver. 16) to have had a son named Zechariah, in the time
of Joiakim, the successor of Joshua in the office of high priest. Hence we may conclude
that Zechariah — owing possibly to the death of his father — became the immediate repre-
wntative of the family after Iddo. He was, therefore, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, a Priest
&s well as a Prophet. As his grandfather was still in active service in the time of Joshua,
Zechariah must have beeh quite young at that time, a fact which is indicated also by the
6 ZECHARIAH.
address made to him in one of the visions (ii. 4), "Run, speak to that young man.*" He
was therefore born in Babylon, and came up with the first company of exiles who returned
to Palestine. This fact of itself disposes of the fables of Epiphanius and others that he
was a man of advanced age at the time of the return, and had distinguished himself by
various wonders and prophecies in Babylon (see the citations in Kohler, Einl.). Similar
patristic traditions as to his deatli and his burial by the side of Haggai, near Jerusalem,
have no historical value. The later Jewish accounts that he was a member of the Great
Synagogue and took an active part in providing for the liturgical service of the Second
Temple, are probable enough in themselves, but cannot be certainly authenticated. The
LXX. ascribe to him the composition of Ps. cixxvii,, cxxxviii., and t6 him and Haggai,
that of Ps. cxlv.-cxlviii., in some of which ascriptions the Peshito and the Vulgate agree.
There seems to be no means at the present day of determining how far any of these are to
be credited. " The triumphant Hallelujuh with which many of these Psalms open, was
supposed to be characteristic of those which were first chanted in the Second Temple, and
came with an emphasis of meaning from the lips of those who had been restored to their
native land. The allusions, moreover, with which these Psalms abound, as well as their
place in the Psalter, leave us in no doubt as to the time when they were composed, and lend
confirmation to the tradition respecting their authorship " (Smith's Diet, of Bible, p. 3599).
§ 2. The Historical Background of his Propheci/.
This is plainly determined by the book itself. Zechariah's first address, one which is on
its face introductory, is dated in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, which is
two months after the first prophecy of Haggai (i. 1). The two prophets, therefore, were for
a time contemporary, and acted in concert in the commencement of their labors so far as
concerned their first object, namely, tlie rebuilding of the Temple. In this Haggai led the
way, and then left the work to the younger man, who, however, by no means confined hia
prophetic activity to this narrow scope.
The restoration of the Temple had been a matter of great and pressing interest to the
company of 50,000 who came up from Babylon under the summons of Cyrus in the year
536 B. c, and reoccupied the land of their fathers. They at once began to collect ma-
terials and workmen, and in the second month of the following year laid the foundation of
the house with mingled joy and grief (Ezra iii. 11—13). But they were not suffered to pro-
ceed in quiet. Their neighbors, the descendants of the people whom Esar-haddon had set-
tled in Samaria, asked permission to join in the enterprise, but were indignantly rejected.
In consequence they exerted themselves in opposition, both by throwing obstacles in the wsiy
on the spot and by hiring influential counsellors at the Persian court. They were success-
ful even during the lift; of Cyrus (Ezra iv. 5), but in the reign of Gomates, the pseudo-
Smerdis, obtained a decree absolutely prohibiting the further prosecution of the work. lii
consequence the whole enterprise lay in abeyance for a period of nearly foui'teen years. But
in the year 521 B. c, Darius, the son of Hystaspes, ascended the throne. Immediately the
prophets Haggai and Zechariah, inferring that the prohibitory decree of the preceding king
ceased at his death, incited their countrymen to resume the work. They did so under the
lead of Zerubbabel and Joshua, but were again interrupted, not however by their malignant
neighbors, but by Tatnai, the Persian governor west of the Euphrates, who simply as a mat-
ter of administration inquired into the origin and object of the movement. The conse-
quence was a writteL "eference to the central government at Babylon. A search in the
records at Ecbatana Drought to fight the original decree of Cyrus ordering the restoration
of the Jews and their worship. This, Darius cordially renewed and confirmed in the Sec-
ond year of his reign, so that thenceforth there was no longer any outward difficulty in the
way.
But it is very evident from the language of Haggai that a great change had occurred in
the views and feelings of the people. Their former zeal for divine worship had almost dis-
appeared. They became engrossed in the Work of repairing their private fortunes and
Becuring the comforts of life. They accepted the hindrances in the way of work upon the
Temple as providential indications that they were not to resume it, and very energetic ap-
peals and remonstrances were required to rouse them from their apathy, and engage them
with becoming diligence and constancy in the enterprise. These efforts of the two prophets
were successful, and the building was finished in the sL&th year of Darius (b. c. 615), twenty
INTRODUCTION. . ]
one years after its commencement. All the notes of time given in Zechariah (i. 1-7 ; viL
I) fall within the period occupied in labor upon the Temple, but it does not seem to follow
as a necessary consequence that all his earlier prophecies are to be understood as mainly
intended to secure this consummation. The Temple was to the Jews both an indispensable
means of worship and the one great symbol of their faith ; and indifference to its existence
W progress was a sure token of spiritual declension. The Prophet therefore has a constant
reference, direct or indirect, to this work, but he by no means confines himself to it. His
utterances take in the whole character and condition of the covenant people, their present
dangers and discouragements, their tendencies to formalism and self-deception, their rela-
tions to the surrounding heathen and their influence upon the future prospects of the world.
His historical position in the second-fourth years of Darius merely furnishes the background
for the delineations he presents of the present and coming fortunes of the kingdom of God.
To insist, as some recent writers do, upon limiting the scope of the night visions to the
Prophet's own age, greatly embarrasses the interpretation, and at the same time disregards
what is one of the characteristic features of all Scripture prophecy, namely, that it con-
stantly brings together the near and the remote, deals in gerferic statements, and prefers a
logical to a chronological connection. The sacred writers of course met the wants of their
contemporaries ; but the Spirit that was in them gave their words a force and bearing
which passed far beyond the immediate present.
§ 3. The Style and Form of the Book.
From the earliest period complaint has been made of the obscurity of the Prophet.
Hengstenberg quotes from Abarbanel, " The prophecies of Zechariah are so obscure that no
expositors however skilled have found their hands (Ps. Ixxvi. 5) in the explanation," and from
Jarchi, " the prophecy is very abstruse, for it contains visions resembling dreams which wan
interpreting ; and we shall never be able to discover the true interpretation until the teacher
of righteousness (cf. Joel ii. 23 marg.) arrives." The same thing had been said long before
these Jewish expositors by Jerome, who after pronouncing the first part very obscure, begins
his comment on the second with these words, " Ah ohscuris ad obscuriora transimus, el cum
Mope ingredimur in nubem et caliginem. A byssus ahyssum invocat in voce cataractarum Dei,
et gyrans gyrando vadit spiritus et in circulos suos revertitur : Labyrinthios patimur errores el
Christi cceca regimus filo vestigia." So Lowth speaks of him as the Prophet " who of all is
perhaps the most obscure." To the same effect speak many of the rationalistic expositors.
And although some of these complaints may be traced to subjective causes as, e. g., the ex-
treme difficulty a Jew would find in understanding any writing which apparently describes
a suffering Messiah, or the unwillingness of one who denies the possibility of prophecy in
the strict sense of the word, to see or admit what manifestly is a prediction of a remotely
fature event ; yet it is undeniable that there are passages which in themselves are hard to
be understood. This is owing mainly to the predominance of symbolical and figurative lan-
guage, and occasionally to the brevity and conciseness of the statements. Yet, as Vitringa
observes, this fact ought not to frighten any one who is eager for the truth, since there is a
sense, even if hidden, which relates to the most important things ; and this should only
stimulate one's endeavors. Moreover, as Hengstenberg suggests, there are two considera^
tions which greatly aid the interpreter of Zechariah. One is that he leans so much upon
his predecessors prior to the Captivity, and hence much light is gained from parallel pas-
sages. The other lies in his being a Prophet of the restoration. Of course one element of
uncertainty which is found in the earlier Prophets here ceases. A good deal of what was
future to them is to Zechariah either past or present, and it is not possible to explain any
of his glowing delineations of a future state of deliverance and enlargement as fulfilled in
the return from Babylon. The contraction of the possible field of vision lessens the liability
to err.
Zechariah delivers his oracles partly in direct prophetic speech, partly in the relation of
visions, and partly in the description of symbolical acts (chaps, vi., xi). The occurrence of
the two latter forms has been attributed to his Chaldaic education, and to the influence of
Babylonian usages and doctrines upon his mind. This is far-fetched and needless. Ever)
peculiarity may be sufficiently accounted for by reference to the older Prophets with whom
he was familiar, especially Jeremiah and Daniel. The occurrence of symbolic visions can-
aot be due to the influences of the exile, for such visions are found in Amos (vii.-ix.) who
ZECHARIAH.
lived long before that period, and are not found in Haggai, who was Zeehariah's contempo-
(ary. In res] act to our Propliet's doctrine of angels, good or bad, equally groundless is the
view which makes him a debtor to Mesopotamian or Persian theology. As this point will
-c found treated at some length in a subsequent section (§ 7), only a few words need be
added here. As to good angels in general, and the angel of the Lord in particular, the
Book of Genesis furnished him with accepted models ; and as to Satan, his existence is found
clearly set forth in the Book of Job, which no sober interpreter has ever assigned to a later
date than the Solomonic era. Zechariah, therefore, reveals no " Babylonian-Persian color-
ino- " in his writings. The particulars which have been cited as showing such a coloring
are either distinctively Israelitish (e. g., the number seven, iii. 9), or else manifestly general
(e. g., the company of riders, i. 8). On the contrary there is every indication that his cul-
ture was native and national. Not only does he expressly refer to the former Prophets (i.
4-6 ; vii. 7-12) but borrows their phraseology, as in Be silent all flesh, etc., ii. 13, cf. Hab.
ii. 20; a brand plucked, etc., iii. 2, cf. Amos iv. 11 ; quiet my spirit, vi. 8, cf Ez. v. 13;
2t^a^ "IS^P. '^ii- 14, ix. 8, cf. Ez. xxxv. 7 ; fear not, etc., viii. 13, cf Zeph. iii. 16 ; let
us go speedily, etc., viii. 21, cf. Is. ii. 3; shall take hold, etc., viii. 23, cf Is. iv. 1. Other
references may be seen by comparing i. 12 with Jer. xxv. 11, 12 ; ii. 8 with Is. xlix. 20; iii.
S and vi. 12 with Is. liii. 2 and xi. 1 ; Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15, iii. 10 with Micah iv. 4 ; vi.
13 with Ps. ex. 4 ; viii. 4 with Is. Ixv. 19, 20 ; viii. 19 with Jer. xxxi. 13 ; xii. 1 with Is.
xlu. 5; U. 13.
Henderson speaks of his prose as "diffuse, uniform, and repetitious," which is far too
sweeping a charge. If by it he refers to the reiteration of " Ye shall know that Jehovah of
Hosts hath sent me " in ch. ii., or of " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts " in ch. viii., it may be
said that if one considers what an impression is thus made as to the Prophet's consciousness
of his inspiration and the certainty of the declarations he utters, these will not be deemed
" vain repetitions." I agree with Pressel that he must have no eyes who does not see and
admire the grandeur of the night visions, and he no ears who does not hear the heavy tread
of the last six chapters. Manifest as is the dependence of Zechariah upon his predecessors
in the particulars before mentioned, he yet has a marked individuality both in thought and
expression, e. g., God's protection of Jerusalem as a wall of fire round about and glory
within (ii. 5) ; the dramatic scene of Joshua and Satan before the angel of the Lord (iii.
I, 2) ; the poetic delineation of the resistless Spirit (iv. 7) ; the development of the idea in
the word Branch (iii. 8 ; vi. 12) ; the exquisite picture of peace and prosperity (viii. 4, 5) ;
the representation of Judah as a bow which the Lord bends and Ephraim the arrow fitted
on the string (ix. 13) ; the energy in describing the wretchedness of the flock of slaughter in
xi. 5 ; the striking comparisons in xii. 8-10 ; the amazing conception in the phrase "fellow
of Jehovah " (xiii. 7) ; or, the picturesque method of setting forth universal holiness in xiv.
20, 21.
The Hebrew of Zechariah is now admitted to be pure and remarkably free irom Chal-
daisms. There are some orthographic peculiarities, such as ^^^'^ for 1)'^ (xii. 7, 8, 10).
Some singular uses of words, as nnS for the indefinite article (v. 7), and some unusual con-
Btructions, as vDBTlS DStt^i'', or the unusual position of HH in vii. 7, viii. 1 7, cf. Haggai
ii , 5 ; but in the main the language corresponds to that of the earlier models, and exhibits
far fewer traces of linguistic decay than we should expect.
§ 4. The Messianic Predictions.
It is an old remark that Zechariah is distinguished for his insight into the moral and spir-
itual meaning of the Mosaic economy, and his illustration of the Apostle's statement that
the law is a schoolmaster unto Christ. A great largeness and clearness of view is apparent
even on a cursory inspection of his writings. His rebuke of formal fastino- in ch. vii. is not
nearly so eloquent as Isaiah's treatment of the same theme in the fifty-eighth chapter of his
prophecies, but it is every way as decided and vigorous. The universality of the coming
dispensation is suggested again and again. It is not individuals merely, but many nations
and far-off peoples who are to be joined unto the Lord The old boundaries of the cove-
cant people are to be enlarged until they become coextensive with the limits of the habit-
able earth. See ii. 11; vi. 15; viii. 20-23; ix. 10; xiv. 9-16. The sacred inscription
upon the tiara of the high priest, Holiness to the Lord, which procIs.uned his entirti
INTKODUCTION.
lionsecration to the sacerdotal function, Zechariah sees engraved hereafter even upon the
bells of the horses in token of the fact that all believers are to become a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, and that, to such a degree that even the most ordinary functions of life shall be
discharged in a religious spirit. (See xiv. 20.) Again, the reconstruction of the material
Temple upon its old site is so far from satisfying bis enlarged views that he passes at once
to the true house of God, the Temple not made with hands, the glorious structure composed
of living stones, built and inhabited by the Spirit of the living God. (See vi. 13; iv. 6).
The golden candelabrum of the Tabernacle is to bim not a mere ornament however brilliant,
but the resplendent type of the city of God, precious to Jehovah as the apple of his eye,
and shining from afar like a city set upon a hill, the means of its illumination being pro-
vided from ever fresh and imperishable sources. (See iv. 1-12.) Himself a member of
the priestly order, he looks forward to the time when the patriarchal type of Melcbizedek
shall be realized in the combination of regal and sacerdotal functions in one person. Not
even the evangelical Prophet presents this instructive and consolatory thought with the
clearness and emphasis of Zechariah. (See iv. 13, 14; vi. 13.) Yet again, the union of
the highest doctrines of grace with the most stringent ethical claims is given in a manner
worthy of Paul. Over and over is it asserted that the Lord has chosen Jerusalem (i. 17 ; ii.
12; iii. 2), a fact which is made the sole ground of her preservation, enlargement, and de-
fense against all foes, visible and invisible ; and yet he who asserts this sees between heaven
and earth the flying roll inscribed with curses against all transgressors (v. 2-4), and also
lays down with sharp precision the immutable laws of justice, goodness, and truth, founded
upon the recognition of man's relations to his fellow-man, and their common relation to the
one Maker and Father of all (vii. 8-10 ; viii. 16, 17). Once more, the fine conception of a
joint observance of the Feast of Tabernacles by all families of the earth, represents the final
issue of the world's great pilgrimage, when the race of man, having concluded its march
through the wilderness of error and trial, shall gratefully record the divine goodness in the
new Exodus, and keep a perpetual memorial of this distinguishing mercy (xiv. 16).
But besides these general allusions and references to the coming dispensation, there are
specific and unquestionable predictions of the one great person through whom they were to
be accomplished. These are given not in a continuous succession, but, just as they were by
the former Prophets, at different times, and in various relations according to the circum-
stances and object of the Prophet on any particular occasion. Each prediction answered a
definite purpose when it was uttered, and the whole together serve admirably to supplement
and complete the Messianic literature of the preexile period. These specific references are
more frequent and emphatic than in any of Zechariab's predecessors except Isaiah. They
are six in number.
1. The first one occurs in ch. iii. 8, where Zechariah appropriates a name already used
by Isaiah (iv. 2) and by Jeremiah (xxiii. 5 ; xxxiii. 1 5) for the same purpose — Branch.
Jehovah declares that he will bring forth his servant, thus entitled, and, in close connection
with this promise, asserts that the iniquity of the land will be removed in one day.
2. In ch. vi. 12, 13, the same promise is resumed and enlarged. The man whose name
is Branch. He will start from a lowly origin and build the Temple of Jehovah, not the
mere material structure, but the true spiritual Temple composed of living stones. Not only
will He sit in majesty upon a throne, but be a priest upon his throne, uniting in Himself the
two distinct offices and so securing the perfect discharge of the functions of both.
3. In ch. ix. 9, 10, the King reappears. His dominion is peaceful but universal, and
shouts of triumph hail his coming. Yet that coming is marked by signs of lowliness and
sorrow. The passage presents the same combination so often found in Isaiah, of the absence
of external signs of majesty with the reality of a world-wide power and influence.
4. The next Messianic reference is found in the obscure and difficult eleventh chapter,
where (vers. 12, 13) the wages of the good shepherd are estimated at the contemptuous sum
of thirty pieces of silver. " A goodly price," says Jehovah, with certainly not unbecoming
irony, "at which I was prized of them." The New Testament (Matt, xxvii. 9, 10) leaves
no doubt that here is a designed allusion to the price of the fearful treason of Judas and
the subsequent disposal of the wages of unrighteousness.
5. In ch. xii. 10 is a still more remarkable delineation of the suffering Messiah, and a
vivid statement of the connection between his death and the kindling of an earnest and
genuine repentance in those who look upon Him as one whom they have pierced. It was
fulfilled at Pentecost, and has been i'lustrated in the effects of th? preaching of the cross
to ZECHAEIAH.
ever since. The repentance thus wrought is not ineffectual, but results in forgiveness and
holiness, as is- shown in xlii. 1, which is the conclusion of the passage commencing at the
tenth verse of the previous chapter.
6. The last distinct reference to the coming Saviour (xiii. 7), is perhaps the most striking
in the entire range of prophecy. In it Jehovah is represented as calling upon the sword to
awake against the man who is his fellow, where we are confronted with the two mysteries ;
that one sustaining such a relation should be subjected to such a doom, and that the Being
who calls for and causes it, is Jehovah with whom he is so intimately united. The only ex-
planation lies in the historical statement of the Evangelist, — God so loved the world that He
gave his only-begotton Son. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Thus is apparent the gradual progress of the disclosure. First, Jehovah's lowly servant,
Branch ; then that servant as priest and king building Jehovah's Temple ; thirdly, as a
meek and peaceful, but universal monarch ; fourthly, a Shepherd, scorned, rejected, betrayed,
and (by implication) slain ; fifthly, his pierced form seen by faith a means of deep and gen-
eral repentance attended by pardon and conversion ; and lastly, the Fellow of Jehovah
smitten by Jehovah himself, at once the redeemer and the pattern of his flock.
Dr. Lange {Genesis, p. 40) finds in ch. x. 11 a representation of Christ as going before
his returning people through the sea of sorrow, beating down the waves of the sea. But
this is gained only by an arbitrary interpretation, at war with the connection, unsustained by
usage and scarcely admissible even upon the theory of accommodation.
§ 5. The Contents of the Book.
It is very obvious on even a cursory inspection, that the book consists of two parts, the
former of which (chaps, i.-viii.) contains mention of the dates at which its various portiona
were communicated, while the latter (chaps, ix.-xiv.) contains no dates at all. There are
other and even more important points of diflference, as will presently be seen, but this one is
enough to indicate the occurrence of a break in the stream of prophetic utterance ; the first
part having been set forth in the earlier years of Zechariah's activity, even before the com-
pletion of the Temple ; the latter on the contrary having been delayed for several, possibly
many years, as there is no internal indication in either its structure or its substance, that it
was called forth by any particular juncture of circumstances in the condition of the people.
The analogy of the Book of Isaiah suggests the opinion that the Prophet, having in the
former part of his book communicated the revelations which bore immediately upon the
duties and interest of his countrymen at the time, in the latter took a wider range, and set
forth the future destiny of the Church in its lights and shades, in such a form as to be of
equal benefit at all times and to all classes.
The First Part.
This is determined by the several dates to consist of three distinct prophetic utterances.
I. Chap. i. 1-6. These verses contain an introduction in the form of a solemn admoni-
tion enforced by an appeal to the experience of the fathers, who not only felt but acknowl-
edged that Jehovah's threatenings were not a vain thing but a formidable reality. The date
is the eighth month of the second year of Darius, B. c. 515.
II. Chaps, i. 7-vi. 15. Eight Night-visions followed by an Appendix, namely :
1. The Man among the Myrtles, or Successful Intercession for the 'Covenant people (ch. i.
7-17).
2. The Four Horns and Four Smiths, or an Adequate Defender against every Assailant
(oh. i. 18-21).
3. The Man with the Measuring Line, or the Enlargement and Security of the People
of God (ch. ii.).
4. Joshua the High Priest before the Angel of Jehovah, or the Forgiveness of Sin and
ihe Coming of the Branch (ch. iii.).
5. The Candlestick with the two Olive Trees, or the Positive Communication of God'j
Spirit and Grace (oh. iv).
6. The Flying Roll, or the Destroying Curse upon all Sinners (ch. v. 1-4).
7. The Woman in the Ephah, or the Permanent Exile of the Wieked (ch. v 5-11).
INTRODUCTION. n
8. The Four Chariots, or Jehovah's Judgments upon the Heathen (ch. vi. 1-8).
Appendix. This recites a symbolical action, the Crowning of Joshua, the Hi^h-priest, or
the Functions of the Priest-King whose name is Branch. The date of the whole series is
the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius, B. c. 515.
III. Chaps, vii. and viii. An answer to the inquiry of the People whether they should
continue to observe the annual fasts which commemorated special calamities in their former
experience. The Prophet first (ch. vii.) rebukes their formalism and recounts the sins and
porrows of their fathers ; and then (ch. viii.) promises such blessings as will change their fasts
into festivals and attract even the heathen to seek their fellowship. The prophecy was ut-
tered in the fourth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, B. c. 517, which is
the last date mentioned in the book.
The Second Part.
This, as has been said, bears no date, and may have been, and probably was, delivered
long after what is contained in the preceding chapters. It is divided into two oracles by
the titles which head respectively chaps, ix. and xii. The general theme is the Future
Destiny of the Covenant People.
I. The First Burden (chaps, ix.-xi.).
This seems to outline the course of God's providence toward his people as far as the tima
Df our Saviour.
1. Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach (ix. 1-8), or the Syrian Conquests of Alexander
'the Great.
2. Zion's King of Peace (ix. 9, 10). Plainly Messianic.
3. Victory over the Sons of Javan (ix. 11-17), or the triumphs of the Maccabees.
4. Further Blessings of the Covenant People (ch. x.). Their gradual increase in means
and numbers under native rulers.
5. The Rejection of the Good Shepherd (ch. xi.). A striking delineation of our Lord's
treatment by his own people,
H. The Second Burden (chaps, xii.-xiv.).
This carries forward the outlook upon the future even to the time of the end.
1. Israel's Victory over Trials (xii. 1-9), or the Triumph of the early Church over perse-
cuting Foes.
2. Repentance and Conversion (xii. 10 ; xiii. 1), or the Power of Christ's Death to awaken
Hid renew.
3. The Fruits of Penitence (xiii. 2-6), as shown in the abolition of false worship and
.false prophecy which stand for all forms of sin.
4. The Sword against the Shepherd and his Flock (xiii. 7-9), or Christ is smitten by his
Father, and his People suffer also.
5. Final Conflict and Triumph of God's Kingdom (ch. xiv.), or a General Survey of the
eheokered course from beginning to end.
§ 6. The Genuineness of the Second Part.
This is in some respects the most interesting and important question pertaining to the
book, and needs to be considered at some length.
1. The History of the Assault. This is comparatively of late date. The question seems
iiever to have been stirred until the middle of the seventeenth century. The first to raise
a. doubt was the learned and pious Jos. Mede in the Fragmenta Sacra appended to his Dis-
sert. Eccles. Triga, London, 1653. This was suggested to him by the citation in Matt.
(xxvii. 9, 10), which the Evangelist attributes to Jeremiah, whence he concluded that "the
Jews had not rightly attributed these chapters to Zechariah ; " and he was further confirmed
in this opinion by the contents of the chapters, some of which he thought required an earlier
date than the exile, and others were not suitable to Zechariah's position and object. Mede
*fas followed in this view by Hammond, 1681 ; Rich. Kidder, Demon, of the Messiah, 1700;
Whiston, 1722; Archbishop Newcome, Imj). Version, etc., 1785; to all of whom Blayney
iinade what Hengstenberg calls " an admirable reply,'' in his work on Zechariah, Oxford,
1797. The controversy was first awakened in Germany by B. G. Fliigge, in an anonymous
Work published ic 1 784, in which he maintained that the second part consisted of aine dis-
f2 ZECHARIAH.
tinct prophecies, delivered before the exiJe. After him Eichhorn, Corrodi, Paulus, and
Vatke went to the opposite extreme and assigned its origin to a writer living in the time of
Alexander the Great. The greater part of the hostile critics (Bertholdt, Eosenmiiller, Ges-
enius, Hitzig Knobel, Maurer, Ewald, Bleek, Bunsen, Von Ortenberg, Pressel) followed in
the wake of Mede and Newcome, and maintained, with however many variations amonn
themselves, that the six chapters in question dated from a period prior to the Captivity-
Some (Davidson and Pressel) deem the whole the work of one author, probably the Zecha?
riah mentioned Is. viii. 2, who lived in the reign of Ahaz. Others (Knobel, Bunsen, et al.)
assign chaps, xii.-xiv. (to which Ewald excepts xiii. 7-9, which he thinks misplaced where it
is) to a later unknown author, probably a contemporary of Jeremiah ; and thus they make
two ante-exile composers of the second part. The traditional view of one book and one
author has been maintained by Carpzov, Beckhaus, Jahn, Koster, Hengstenberg, De Wette,
(in the later editions of his Einleiiung), Umbreit, Havernick, Keil, Stahelin, V. Hoffman,
Neumann, Kliefoth, Kohler, Reinke, et al. ; and in England by Henderson, Wordsworth,
and Pusey, while Jno. Pye Smith and Davidson hold to the preexile authorship.
2. The Grounds of Objection to the Genuineness. These have been already suggested.
(a.) The first and most important is the New Testament authority as apparently given by
Matthew (xxvii. 9, 10), where the Evangelist attributes to Jeremiah what is unquestionably
a citation from Zech. xi. 12. Various readings are found in some MSS. and VSS., but these
are such as in all probability sprang from a desire to make the Gosi^el conform to the fact.
(J.) Another ground is sought in the contents of the six chapters, e. g. Mede argues that one
of the chapters contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem which was fulfilled by
Titus, and this was by no means suitable to the object of Zechariah, whose mission was only
to console and to encourage. Again, Ephraim and Judah are spoken of together as if both
were still existing as distinct kingdoms, which they never were after the exile. Assyria
and Egypt are mentioned as formidable powers which at that time they were not, Persia
having absorbed the former and subdued the latter. So also are Phoenicia, Damascus, and
Philistia represented as important foes, when their power had long been broken. Com-
plaints are made of false prophets and idolatry, of neither of which is any trace found after
the Captivity. The delineation of the Messiah in the second part, as rejected and put to
death, is inconsistent with those statements in the first, which represent Him as glorious
and blessed, (c.) A third objection is drawn from the alleged contrast of style between the
parts. The first is prosaic and poor, the second is poetic and forcible, so that the difference
is manifest. The one is full of visions, and speaks much of angels and also of Satan, of all
of which there is scarcely a trace in the other. Certain characteristic phrases, " The word
of Jehovah came," " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts," etc., found in the first eight chapters,
do not occur at all in the last six, while on the other hand " in that day " occurs frequently
in the latter, but not once in the former. A convenient summary of these objections may
be found in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 3603, 3609.
3. The Argument for the Traditional View, (a) Here it may be remarked, first that the
©pinion which refers the origin of the controverted chapters to the time of Alexander or of
liie Maccabees, is now generally abandoned, and by the later writers on the other side is not
deemed worthy of reply. Indeed it never rested upon anything but the dogmatic prejudice
that the Prophets could prophecy only of that which lay in their own time, and could be
foreknown by their own unaided faculties. Eichhorn frankly confessed that all other argu-
ments were unsatisfactory, {b.) The degree of variation among the objectors themselves,
casts suspicion upon their views. Men of equal learning, insight, and candor differ alike
upon the authorship they suggest and the grounds upon which they defend it. Some make
one writer, others make two ; one rests mainly upon the text in Matthew, another is guided
by the variations in matter and tone between the first part and the second, another makes
much of the variations in style. It seems then that as soon as we leave the traditional view
we are all at sea, with no certain criteria of judgment, and Uable to be borne hither and
thither by mere subjective influences, (c.) We have no record of any other Zechariah
who might be presumed to have written what was afterwards confounded with the genuine
writings of the son of Iddo. Mention is made (Is. viii. 2) of a man bearing this name, but
it is only as a " faithful witness," without the least indication that he bore the prophetic
character or discharged the prophetic office ; and later, another is spoken of (2 Chron. xxvi.
6) who was a trusted counsellor of King Uzziah, but this man, even if the text be correct
(of which there is serious doubt), while he ' understood the sight of God," yet did not stand
INTRODUCTION. 15
Ln the prophetic order and is not credited with any prophetic utterances, much less writintrg
for popular edification. Nothing then but a vigorous exercise of the imagination can pro-
duce another Zeohariah whose compositions might by mistake have been appended to those
of the post-exilivm Prophet, (d.) The theory of another author or authors implies that
there was a mistake made by the framers of the present Canon of the Old Testament. It
is quite certain that they intended all the fourteen chapters of Zechariah to be regarded as
the work of one and the same person. Did they err ? We may admit, as Pressel claims,
the paucity of our knowledge as to the time of the compilation of the Canon, and the men
by whom it was done ; nor can we urge witl» Hengstenberg that Zechariah lived in the
same age with the collectors of the Canon, which may or may not have been the case. But
it is certain that the Canon was completed before the version of the Septuagint was made,
i. e., iu the first half of the third century before Christ, and its compilers had abundant op-
portunity to satisfy themselves as to the claims of the different classes of writings upon
which they adjudicated. Some they admitted ; others they rejected ; and their judgment
stands to-day accredited by the highest authority, — that of our Lord and his Apostles. We
know from Josephus and other sources what Scriptures they were upon whicli the blessed
Saviour placed his imprimatur. They included the AwScicaTrpoc/ii^Tov, just as it stands, and
m this, the Book of Zechariah just as it stands. Would he have sanctioned such an error
as is claimed to exist ? Is it reasonable to think that the Providence which confessedly
watched so carefully over the sacred writings in all other respects would have failed just
here ? The cases which Mede cites are not parallel. He speaks of Agur's prayer being
included in the Book of Proverbs of Solomon, and of liturgical compositions by other au-
thors being included in what are called the Psalms of David. But in both these cases the
rule was applied, a fortiori nomen Jit ; and besides, the added portions were for the most
part marked with the names of their respective authors. In Zechariah nothing of the kind
is seen. Not a hint of divided authorship is given, nor was even the thought of such a
thing suggested, until twenty centuries had rolled away. Nor is there a single ascertained
instance in the older portions of the Scriptures, in which pieces by different authors are col-
lected into one book and ascribed to one and the same author.
(e.) As to the passage in Matthew's gospel, it may be truly said that the Evangelist would
hardly be likely to make a correction of the Jewish Canon in this indirect manner, without
giving some intimation to that effect. " The uniform reference of these chapters to Zech-
ariah in the Jewish Canon is much more difficult to account for if he did not write them,
than the verse in Matthew is, if he did " (T. V. Moore). Moreover, Matthew's statement
gives no countenance to those who claim an early Zechariah, for he explicitly mentions Jere-
miah, and they who plead his authority must take it as it stands, and not bend it to suit
their own purposes. So far then as the present argument is concerned, we might dismiss
this citation as having no bearing upon the question of an earlier or later Zechariah. For
a full statement of the question the reader is referred to Smith's Bible Dictionary, 3609, and
to Lange's Comm. on Matthew, I. c. la my own view, the citation is not to be explained as
an error of memory, which is inconsistent with the true doctrine of the inspiration of the
sacred penmen ; nor as a textual error, for the existing text is completely established ; nor
as a quotation from a lost book of Jeremiah (Origen), or an apocryphal book of his (Jerome,
Eichhorn), or one of his oral statements (Calovius), or from a genuine work of Jeremiah
from which the Jews have expunged this passage (Eusebius), since all of these suppositions
are as destitute of probability as they are of proof; nor by the theory that the Evangelist,
fusing two passages together, one from Jeremiah and another from Zechariah, names the
joint product from the older Prophet (Grotius, Hengstenberg), for this is extremely artificial
and unlikely; nor by the claim that the name Jeremiah was purposely substituted for, that
of Zechariah in order to teach us that all prophecies proceed from one Spirit, and that the
Prophets are merely channels, not sources, of the Divine truth (Wordsworth), for this would
create far greater difficulties than it removes, by undermining all confidence in any specific
quotations. The only remaining view is that of Scrivener and Lightfoot, that the Book of
Jeremiah, being actually arranged by the Jews as the first of all the Prophets (Bava
Bathra), gave its name to the whole body of their writings, and that thus Matthew was
justified in naming his quotation as he did. If this be not acceptable, all we can do is to
assume an error on the part of one of the earliest transcribers, or to say with Calvin, Me
nescire fateor nee atixie laboro. But however this citation may be explained, or even if it be
given up as inexplicable, it cannot be used to prove that the authorship of the second part
ZECHAEIAH.
of Zechariah was an open question in the time of the Apostles. For if that had been the
case we should have had some other evidence of the fact. Especially, since Matthew makes
two other quotations from Zechariah (xxi. 5 and xxvi. 31), but in both cases follows his
usual method of quoting without name ; in one, saying, " which was spoken by the Prophet,"
in the other, simply " it is written." But if he had really held that the second part of
Zechariah, although inspired and canonical, was not attributed to its true author, would ha
not have said so in these passages as well as in xxvii. 9 ?
(f.) As to the contents of the chapters in question the objections spring from a misap-
prehension of their exegetical meaning. Majiy of these will be considered as they arise in
the course of the exposition, but a few remarks may be made here. The mention of
Ephraim by no means presupposes the distinct existence of the northern kingdom. That
name is used to designate a part of the existing population just as the corresponding term
Israel is employed by Malachi (ii. 11), whom no one denies to be a post-exile Prophet.
Assyria and Egypt in like manner are brought forward as natural and convenient represen-
tatives of the heathen foes of the covenant people. Phcenicia and the other kingdoms on
the coast line of Palestine, although not flourishing and independent, were certainly in ex-
istence in Zechariah's time, and suffered under the victorious march of Alexander which
our Prophet predicts. The difficulty about the reference to false Prophets and idolatry is
diluted by the prophetic peculiarity of representing the future under the forms of the past.
As to the Messianic predictions in the second part, they are a pledge of its genuineness,
sustaining as they do the same relation to the Messianic allusions in the first part, as Isaiah's
later predictions on the same theme (xlix., liii.) do to his earlier writings (ii., ix., xi.). When
Zechariah's main object was to encourage the people in carrying forward the Temple, he
naturally gave special prominence to the brighter side of the Messianic picture ; but after-
wards when his scope was larger, he brought in the more developed thought of one who
triumphs through suffering, (y.) In xii. 11 there is an undeniable allusion to the death of
Josiah in the valley of Megiddo, which is fatal to the assumption that the second part was
composed in the time of Ahaz. Nor can this be successfully eluded by assigning chaps, ix.-
xi. to one author, and chaps, xii.— xiv. to another, for the two " burdens " are intimately con-
nected by their common description of the people as a flock, and of their leaders as shep-
herds, and by the dependence of xiii. 7 upon xi. 11. But if the six chapters form one
whole, how could they have been uttered in the days of Jeremiah and yet have attained no
recognition at his hand ?
(A.) As to the alleged diff'erences of style, Pressel, himself an opponent of the genuine-
ness, says with some sharpness that the man who professes to see such a contrast that he
can say of one part that it is post-exile Hebrew, and of the other that it is ante-exile He-
brew, must have an ear fine enough to hear tlie grass when it grows I Still it must be ad-
mitted that there are some differences ; yet these are not more than may be easily accounted
for by the diff'erence of age and of aim in the author. Zechariah (ii. 4) was a young man
when he composed the first part, and was possibly quite advanced when he composed the
second. The first part is in large measure descriptive, the second wholly prophetic ; and
there was room in the latter for an elevation and grandeur which were not called for before.
It surely is not an accepted canon of criticism that because an author writes at one time in
a certain style, he must always use the same in any subsequent work. This reasonintr would
(as T. V. Moore says) make us affirm that Burke could not be the author of the Reflections
on the French Revolution, because he wrote the Treathe on the Sublime and Beautiful, which
is as simple and subdued as the former is impassioned and brilliant. Moreover, it is worthy
of remark that the first part, which on all sides is admitted to be of post-exile orio-in, pre-
sents some great diversities of conception and expression. What can be more unlike the
bold and startling symbolism of the night visions than the plain didactic utterances con-
tained in the two chapters (vii. and viii.) which follow them ? Yet no one has suggested a
diflferent author here. Why then should we think of one when we come to the second part,
where the variation is certainly no greater ? A word may be added respecting the depend-
ence of Zechariah upon the earlier Prophets (see the citations and references in § 3) as evi-
dence of his posteriority. It is true that Kijhler, himself a defender of the genuinencsss
declines to use this argument, saying that it is impossible to decide in such cases which ia
the original source of the words, phrases, and images used. But the point is well taken by
Stahelin, that it is far more likely that one Prophet quoted from many than that many quoted
INTRODUCTION. 15
from one. Indeed, it was this consideration principally which led De Wette to change his
opinion, so that after having delared for two authors of Zechariah in three editions of hii
Introduction, he returned to the traditionary view in the fourth.
(i.) The adverse theory claims that the compilers of the Canon found these six chapters
either together or in parts, floating around as a part of the inspired literature of the nation
and generally recognized as sueh, but without having the name of any author prefixed ; and
that by mistake they put them in connection with the acknowledged prophecies of Zechariah.
Here, it may be urged in reply, is an exceedingly improbable supposition at the outset. All
the prophetical writings of the Old Testament of which we have any knowledge state in
each case at the beginning the name of the author. This is true of the twelve Minor
Prophets, of the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and of the particular prophetic
visions of Daniel (vii. 1 ; viii. 1 ; ix. 1, 2 ; x. 1). This was not the case with the histories
of Scripture, for the obvious reason that these, whether because they were drawn from the
archives of the nation, or because they bore intrinsic evidence of their correctness, did not
require to be authenticated by the authors' names. But prophecy had its entire value in its
divine inspiration, and its human author must furnish in his name and personality the evi-
dence that he stood in such a relation to God as to be made by Him a channel of revelation.
This then being the case, it is wholly unreasonable to suppose that an anonymous prophecy
was current among the Jews at the time when the Canon was made. On the contrary we
are justified in holding that had such a nameless work come before the compilers, they
would have rejected it as on its face spurious.
(j.) The testimony of tlie Jews on this subject is unanimous. Not only the learned
Bcribes in the days of Ezra and afterwards who compiled the Canon, but the schools of
Hillel and Shammai who flourished in Jerusalem just before and after the time of our Lord,
the great Jewish Seminaries of Tiberias and Babylon, the authors of the Targums, and the
continuous series of learned Babbins down to the Reformation, all with one consent, accept
the Book of Zechariah just as it stands in the Old Testament as the product of one man,
the contemporary of Haggai and Zerubbabel. Of the learning of these men there can be
no question. They were as well able to judge questions of evidence, internal or external,
as any modern critic. They were notorious for their extreme jealousy for the integrity of
the sacred writings. Their absolute silence as to any diversity of authorship is wholly in-
explicable, if the apparent indications of that fact have anything like the degree of strength
and clearness which is claimed by the opponents of the traditional view.
Mr. Perowne, the author of the article on Zechariah in Smith's Bible Dictionary, con
eludes a review of the whole argument, with the remark, " It is not easy to say which way
the weight of evidence preponderates." I cannot agree with tliis opinion. Of course it
would be idle to say that there is no ground for suspecting the preexile date of the chapters
in question. Too many critics of various countries and of diflferent shades of theological
opinion, have agreed in adopting this view to warrant its contemptuous rejection. At the
same time a careful review of the case justifies the immemorial historical tradition. No
dates are given, because none were needed, the entire outlook being on the distant future.
The author's name is not once mentioned ; but the same is true of the later prophecies of
Isaiah, the twenty-six brilliant chapters which close the book. The northern kingdom ia
not mentioned in the last three chapters, while it does occur in the three preceding ; but if
its mention in the latter has no historical significance, its omission in the former need have
none. The efi'orts made to explain particular predictions by occurrences in Hebrew history
prior to the Captivity, have totally failed, as e. g., the conquest of the sea-coast (ix. 1-8),
the victory over Javan (ix. 13-17), the feeding of the flock of slaughter (xi.), the general
repentance (xii. 10-14), or the inward purity and universal ascendancy of Judah (xiv. 16-
21). But most of these can be very satisfactorily shown to be fulfilled in the period be-
tween the restoration from Babylon and the founding of the Christian Church ; and any
others may safely be considered as belonging to the as yet unfulfilled purposes of the Most
High. What then is there startling in the thought that Zechariah in the later years of life,
nnder the guidance of the same inspiration which undeniably vouchsafed to him the night-
visions, proceeded to record these two oracles or burdens sketching in outline the future for-
■-unes of the people of God, exhibiting their struggles and triumphs, their sins and purifica
lion, and especially their Priest-king, not merely in his wide and peaceful r«ign, but also i-
Wie rejection, humiliation, and sacrifice by which that reign is procured ? Then, since w
16 ZECHARIAH.
know that Jeremiah on one occasion by divine command (xxxvi. 2) reduced to writing all tha
prophecies of his preceding ministry, why might not Zechariah have done the same thing,
making one complete record of all that the Lord had seen fit to reveal by him ?
Furthermore, let the reader compare the course of thought in the eight night visions and
their appendix with that of the second part, and he will hardly fail to see a surprising coinci-
dence in the general scope, whatever may be the variations in detail. There are the same
promises of increase and enlargement, of protection and security, of overthrow of foes, of
removal of iniquity, of effusion of the Spirit, of the punishment of the incorrigible, and of
the final ingathering of far-off peoples. This is apparent from a glance at the contents of
the respective sections as given in § 5, but is still more evident upon a careful continuous
reading of each part with the attention fixed upon the order of thought and its general ex-
pression. As to the development of the Messianic idea, the lowly and peaceful rider upon
an ass's foal (ch. ix. 9) is quite in harmony with the repeated use in the former part (iii. 8 ,
vi. 12) of the modest term " branch " (= sucker, shoot). And although the later chapters
contain a revelation of suff'ering in the good shepherd, of which there is no hint in the
earlier, yet this is just what we should expect from the analogy of Isaiah, where we have
the king and the kingdom, the branch and the glory in the earlier prophecies, but no indi-
cation of the solitary, patient, wronged, and martyred sufferer till we reach the later por-
tion. It seems to have been the purpose of the Most High to give full force and sweep to
the brighter and more glowing anticipations of Messiah's character and course, and after
this preparation, to disclose the darker outlines of his extraordinary career. And if, as seems
probable, the second part of Zechariah was issued at an advanced period of his life, when the
restored exiles had outlived their early trials, and were firmly established on their ancestral
soil, their situation would admit of a distinct reference to the suffering Messiah which would
have been unsuitable at an earlier period when it was particularly required that they should
be consoled and animated.
§ 7. The alleged Influence of the Persian Theology.
That Zechariah shows in the style and form of his writings traces of his early Chaldaean
education has long been admitted, and the only matter of surprise is that those traces are
not more numerous and palpable. But it is often asserted that not only his language but
his thought has been affected by contact with Ethnic races and religions, especially by the
religious views of the ancient Persians. Thus Mr. Alger says (Doctrine of a Future Life,
p. 132), "We have unquestionable proofs that during the period from the Babylonish Cap-
tivity to the advent of Christ, the Jews borrowed and adapted a great deal from the Persian
theology." Again, he quotes (p. 141) the acute and learned scholar. Dr. Martin Haug, aa
declaring that " Judaism after the exile received an iiiiportant influence from Zoroastriani'im,
an influence which in regard to the doctrine of angels, Satan, and the resurrection of the
dead, cannot be mistaken." As Zechariah does not refer to the resurrection, it is only the
former two of these questions which need to be handled here.
There is no doubt that the two systems, the Hebrew and the Persian, substantially agree
on these points. According to the latter, Ormuzd, the Principle of Good, the Fountain of
Light, not only created the earth and man, but also a number of spiritual beings, some of
whom stood as counsellors around his throne and all of whom were engaged in his service.
Over against Ormuzd stood Ahriman, the Principle of Evil, the instigator of all wrong and
misery and death, who also was attended by subordinate evil spirits like himself And^these
two essential principles stood in eternal conflict with each other. Here then is the doctrine
of good and evil angels, as a constituent and very ancient part of the Zoroastrian system,
as all expositors of that system agree, however they may diff'er on other points. Its antiq-
uity was at least six centuries before Christ, and may have been four or five centuries earlier,
while Dr. Haug, one of the latest scholars in this field, holds it for certain {Alger, p. 141),
that Zoroaster lived from fifteen hundred to two thousand years before the Christian era.
On the ground mainly of this early date, it is insisted that Zechariah borrowed from the
Zend-Avesta. But surely this position is not tenable. What reason is there whi.'h compels
us to believe that either borrowed from the other ? The Hebrew system claims to be a
revelation, begun at the fall of man, and gradually enlarging in the scope of its disclosures
during a long course of ages, while it narrowed in the numbers of those to whom it was
given from the whole race at the first to a particular division in the time of Noah, to a piu
INTRODUCTION. 17
ticular family in the time of Abraham, and lastly to a single individual in the time of Jacob
whose descendants constituted the chosen seed. If this be admitted, what is to hinder the
view that some portions of the primeval revelation to Adam, Noah, or Abraham, may have
floated down the stream of time outside the channel of the covenant, and, being appropriated
by Zoroaster, were vfrought by him into the system which bears his name ? Beyond all
question the tradition of the flood thus descended in almost every direction. It is surely
not unreasonable to think that other traditions were transmitted in the same way. But in
only one instance were they seized by a man able to retain these fragments of primitive
truth and develope them into a complete monotheistic system. In this way the orio-in of the
Zoroastrian doctrine as to angels, good and bad, may be fairly accounted for. But if on
the other hand the postulate of an original revelation at the beginning be wholly denied,
we are not shut up to the conclusion that Zechariah and his predecessors borrowed from the
author of the ancient Persian faith. For if Zoroaster was able by his own faculties to ex-
cogitate the system which bears his name, why may not the same power be supposed to have
inhered in one or more of the eminent Hebrews ? On the plane of mere naturalism, the
question resolves itself simply into one of mental grasp and constructive power, and on what
possible ground can it be claimed that Moses or Samuel or David were unable to do what
the East Bactrian reformer did ? Or even if one should allow the preposterous assertion of
Mr. Alger (p. 141), that, " The Hebrew theology had no Satan, no demonology until after
the residence at Babylon," why could not Zechariah himself have developed this interesting
fact of the unseen world without Ethnic aid ? He was the heir of a civilization and a lit-
erature which had existed for centuries, as well as of by far the purest and most spiritual
monotheism which the world has ever seen, and was certainly in a condition to lend truth
rather than to borrow it.
Nor does it avail to say, as has been said, " How often the Hebrew people lapsed into
idolatry, accepting Pagan gods, doctrines, and ritual, is notorious." For this remark, true as
it is, does not meet the case. The people did frequently fall away under the pressure of
temptation. The instances are too numerous to be recounted, stretching all the way from
the calf worship instituted by Aaron at the foot of Sinai, down to the weeping for Thammuz,
and the chambers of imagery which Ezekiel rebuked. But the same faithful narrative which
informs us of these apostasies, also informs us that they were never regarded as anything
else than departures from the truth.' However widely they might prevail, always a few
were left who remained faithful to the covenant, and these preserved the hereditary faith in
tact. Error was transient, truth permanent. A sure evidence of this is found in the Book
of Psalms. The human authors of this inspired liturgy were many, and they flourished at
widely different periods, yet the theology of the book is the same throughout. The earliest
Psalm and the latest agree in every doctrinal sentiment. Even in the northern kingdom
where, although Jehovah was still worshipped (except in the times of Ahab and Jezebel),
idolatry was formally established, the Prophets who officiated in that kingdom (Hosea, Amos,
etc.) never gave place to the prevailing errors, but rebuked them with the utmost vigor and
boldness. There is not a single instance in which Hebrew theology was shaped or even
colored by these outside influences. Its authorized expounders with one consent rejected
every suggestion of the heathen. Why then should Zechariah have proved an exception ?
Why should he violate the usage of a thousand years and accept new doctrines from a
heathen source ? The very fact that the nation previously often went astray in whole or in
part, and in some instances for a length of time, and yet never succeeded in ingrafting its
errors upon its own literature, renders it a most unlikely thing that Zechariah should have
turned aside to borrow a, heathen superstitution.
Again, if the Prophet borrowed from the Persian system, why did he stop short with its
doctrine of angels ? How came he to escape its grand peculiarity — the eternal and neces-
sary existence of Ahriman ? This is the answer which Zoroaster gave to the vexed ques-
tion of all theologies and all ages. Whence comes evil ? And it is the best or most plausi-
ble solution which unassisted reason can render to that perplexing problem. Now if Zech-
ariah obtained from Babylon the idea of Satan, he must have become familiar with the
whole doctrine of the Persians upon this subject. How came he to take just so much and
no more ? Not a trace of dualism appears in any portion of his prophecies. True, he does
not, like his illustrious predecessor Isaiah (xlv. 7), put his foot upon the seductive theory
with such significant words as these ; " I form the light and create darkness ; I make peace
»nd create evil; I the LoBi) do all these things." But he ignores it as contemptuously at
l8 ZECHARIAH.
if it were unworthy of notice. Yet if he was indebted to this system for the suggestion of
an evil spiritual being, the adversary of God and man, it is certainly fair to suppose that in
adopting one part of the view, he would at least have hinted at his rejection of the other
and more characteristic portion.
Once more. All the circumstances of the case oppose the alleged indebtedness of the
Prophet to the Zend-Avesta. The Jews were carried to Babylon against their will, and
one of the most painful features of this compulsory exile was its interference with fbeil
religious worship and privileges. They had no temple, no altar, no sacrifices, no festivals
no solemn processions, nothing but the law, the Sabbath, and at first the occasional voice 9
a Prophet. But they appear, with the exception of such as were taken for domestic service
to have been settled together as a sort of colony, so that there was not much difficulty ir.
preserving their ancestral traditions. To these they adhered, seemingly with the more
steadfast determination because they were cut off from their regular forms of worship. As
Ewald remarks over and over (Geschichte d. V. I., iv. jmssim), they became entirely self-
centered, their thoughts reverted incessantly to their past history, to their peculiar position
among the nations of the earth, and to the singular hope of a Deliverer to come which lay
at the bottom of their political and religious organization. This is shown by the fact of
restoration. Instead of being hopelessly dispersed and merged among the nations with
whom they were identified for more than two generations, they survived in suflicient num-
bers and with enough national spirit, to avail themselves of the permission of Cyrus, and
return to their desolated ancestral homes and there renew the old commonwealth. The sever-
ity of their trials only endeared to them the more their former faith and institutions. A
gleam of this feeling shines out in the touching strains of the 137th Psalm, " How shall we
sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? " One thing is certain. There was a complete and
surprising change wrought in the whole body in respect to idol worship. Before the Cap-
tivity they were incessantly falling into this snare. There was scarcely one of their heathen
neighbors whom they did not at some time imitate in their objects of worship. It made nc
difference who presented the temptation or what was its particular nature, they were always
ready to exchange the glory of the uncorruptible God for a lie, and bow down to the objects
their own hands had made. But after the Captivity all this was reversed. Henceforth
they became proof against any such allurement. Nay, so far from going of themselves into
idolatry, they defied the power of any ruler to force them into it. It was the insane fury
of Antiochus Epiphanes for the introduction of the Greek cultus into Judaea which oc-
casioned innumerable martyrdoms, and at last provoked the insurrection of the Maccabees
and the series of heroic struggles by which they achieved the independence of their country.
The question then recurs — How is it possible that one of the leaders of the people, an
inspired Prophet, who shared in all their intense national convictions and hopes, and who as
a Jew regarded Gentiles with far more of scorn and dislike than a Greek of the age of
Pericles did those whom he called fiip^apoi, — how could he think of improving or per-
fecting his theology by adaptations from the views of uncircumcised heathen ? Such a thing
might have been possible (though not probable) at an earlier day, but that it should have
occurred at the era of the restoration, is, I humbly insist, quite inconceivable. Nor is it of
any avail to refer to the acknowledged excellences of Zoroastrianism, — ^its pure theism, its
fierce hatred of idolatry, its elevated morality, and its doctrine of a future state, — as if these
would conciliate the favor of a devout Hebrew and incline him to adopt new views from
such a source. The immemorial faith of the nation was that it had been chosen by Jeho-
vah as the depository of his truth, and therefore had express and immediate revelations from
him on all points of religious faith. As long as they held this conviction, it would seem
nothing less than treason and sacrilege to borrow doctrinal opinions from any ethnic system,
however pure and spiritual it might seem. A pious Jew could not admit that he had any-
thing to learn about religion from an uncircumcised stranger.
§ 8. Literature.
L Patristic. Jerome (f 420), Theodore of Mopsuestia (f 429), Cyril of Alexandria
(t 444), Theodoret (f 467), all treat of Zechariah in Commentaries upon The Twelve Minor
Prophets.
II. Jewish. R. Salomon ben Isaak, called Jarchi or Rasehi (f 1105). K. Abraham ben
Meir ibn Esra, called Aben Esra (f 1167), David Kimchi (f 1230). AU these with the Tar-
INTRODUCTION. ^ 19
gum are contained in Buxtorf 's Rabbinical Bible, Basle, 1618. Kimclii, translated by Dr.
M'Caul, London, 1837.
HI. Reformeks. M. Luther Ausleg. des PropTi. Zecharias, Wittenberg, 1528 ; Me-
lanethon. Coram, in Zechariam, Witt., 1553 ; Calvin, Prcelec. in Proph. Min. ; Tremelliua
and Junius, Bib. Sac, 1579; J. J. Grynseus, Comm. in Zech., Geneva, 1581.
IV. Later "Writers. C. Vitringa, Comm. ad Zach. qum Supersunt, 1 734 ; B. G.
Fliigge, Weissag. des Proph. Zach., 1784 ; Venema, Sermon, in Zech., 1787 ; Blayney, New
Translation of Zech., 1787. Besides, in works on the Minor Prophets: Cocceius, 1652;
Markius, 1698-1700; Archbishop Newcome, 1785.
V. Of the Present Century. F. B. Koster, Meletem. in Zach. partem poster., 1818 ;
E. Forberg, Comm. Crit. and Exeg. in Zach. part, post., 1824; J. Stonard, Comm. on Zech-
ariah, London, 1824 ; Hengstenberg, Integritd des Sach., Berlin, 1831 ; Christology (second
edition), 1856 ; J. D. F. Burger, Eludes sur Zech., Strasburg, 1841 ; M. Baumgarten, Nacht-
gesichte Sach., 1854; E. F. J. v. Ortenberg, Die Beslandtheile des buck. Sack., 1859; W.
Neuman, Weissag. des Sachar., 1859 ; Th. Kliefoth, Der Proph. Sachar., 1862.
In works on the Minor Prophets : Rosenmiiller, 1826; Henderson, 1830; F. W. C. Um-
breit, 1845 ; J. Schlier, 1861 ; Hitzig, 1863 ; C. F. Keil, 1866 ; Prof. Cowles, N. Y., 1866 ;
C. Wordsworth, 1870.
In works on the Post-exile Prophets: T. V. Moore, N. Y., 1856; A. Kohler, 1860-65;
W. Pressel, 1870.
In Introductions : De Wette, Havernick, Bleek, Stahelin, Donaldson.
In other writings : J. C. K. Hoffman, Weissagung und ErfUll., 1841 ; Schriftbeweis, 1867
Beinke, Die Mess. Weissagungen, Giessen, 1859-1862.
THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH.
PART FIRST.
UTTEEANCES FOR THE PRESENT TIME.
Chapters I.-VIII.
I. THE INTRODUCTION.
Chapter I. 1-6.
A. J. Call to Eepentance (vers. 1-3). B. Enforced by an Appeal to the Experience of
their Fathers (vers. 4-6).
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah
unto Zechariah, the sou of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 Jehovah hath been sore displeased with your fatliers.'
3 Therefore say thou ^ unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Eeturn ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
4 Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Turn, I beseech you, from your evil ways and from your evil doings ; *
But they hearkened not, and paid no attention to me,
Saith Jehovah.
5 Tour fathers, where are they ?
And the prophets, can they live forever ?
6 Nevertheless,^ my words and my statutes,'
Which I commanded my servants the prophets, —
• Did they not overtake ^ your fathers, so that they turned and said,
Like as Jehovah of Hosts purposed to do unto us.
According to our ways and according to our doings,
So hath He dealt with us.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 2. — The collocation of the verb and its cognate noun renders this verse very emphatic. Literally, Angry vni
Jehovah at your Cithers with anger.
2 Ver. 3. — The vav conv. with the Perfect, indicating a necessary consequence firom what precedes, is rendered in
the imperative. — D^^S does not refer to the nearest antecedent " fathers," but to the prophet's contemporaries, im-
plied in the pronoun " your."
8 Ver. 4. — The Kethib D^*^^*^ V^Q is to be retained, both because the preposition is wanting In the Kerf, and also
because the latter seems to have originated in the offense taken at the masculine ending in the plural of a noun feminino
In the singular, although similar cases are not rare (Green, Heb. Gram.^ § 200 b),
4 Ver. 6.— T|S. This word is very inadequately rendered in the B. V., by the simple adversative but
6 Ver. 6. — ''pn. For a precisely similar use of this word, see Zeph. ii. and Job xxiii. 14.
6 Ter. 6. — ^^' C£?n. The marginal rendering of E. V., overtake, is to be preferred to the text, take hold.
EXEGETIOAL AND CRITICAL.
^ The main debign of Zechariah's prophetic ac-
tivity was to administer consolation and encour-
«gement to tlie people of God still in a condition
»f weakness and suffering. This plainly appears
from the general tenor of the night-visions, from
the promised change of fasts into festivals, and
from the glowing pictures of future blessedness
and honor which occur in the latter portion of his
book. Yet it was necessary to prevent these con-
solations from being usurped by anj" to whom they
22
ZECHARIAH.
did not belong, and to show that reiJentance and
holy living were indispensable conditions of the
attainment of any of these blessings. This [bought
is again and again pxpvessed in the course of the
prophetic revelations (iii. 7, vi. 15, vii. 7-10, viii.
16, 17, X. 1, 2, xi. 10, xiv. 20), but it is made es-
pecially prominent in these opening verses, which
seem to be a kind of introduction both to the
prophet's labors in general, and also to the present
collection of his utterances. In them Zechi^riah
sounds the key-note of all spiritual religion, a re-
turn to God, and urges its iniporti^nce by the men-
tion of their fathers' sins and their fathers' punish-
ments.
Ver. 1. In the eighth month, etc. The first
note of time does not mean, "In the eighth new
moon" (C. B. Michaelis, Kohler), because cAot^esA
is never used in this sense in chronological notices.
The general, introductory nature of this particular
address did not require that the precise day of the
month should be indicated. On other points in
this verse, see the Introduction.
Ver. 2. Jehovah hath been sore displeased,
etc. The inenlion of God's wrath is the ground
of the summons in the following verse. Because
God had been so angry with the fathers, the chil-
dren should now repent in all sincerity. The se-
verity of this wrath had been painfully shown in
the overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the
Temple, and the bitter c.%ile in Babylon (Ps.
cxxxvii.). The contradiction between this verse
and the statement in ver. 17, that Jehovah was
" but a little displeased," is only apparent, for the
latter refers to the duration of the wrath, while
the former expresses its inten.sity.
Ver. 3. Eeturn ye ... I will return. The
exhortation and promise contained in this verse,
often repeated elsewhere (Mai. iii. 7, Jas. iv. 8),
are remarkably strengthened by the trine repetition
of " Saith Jehovah of Hosts." The occasion of
the summons is not to be sought in a temporary
abandonment of the work of rebuilding the Tem-
ple, for which there is no historical ground, but in
the spiritual condition of the people. It reminded
them that the mere out^ya,rd ^yprk was not enough,
but there was need of a thorough conversion, a
genuine heartfelt return from their former works
and w^ays to the service and enjoyment of God.
Ver. 4. Be not as your fathers. Since nat-
UTally pfirents are apt to transmit their own char-
acter and course to their children, the prophet
here repeats his injunction in a negative form, bid-
ding his countrymen carefully to shun the exam-
ple of their predecessors, who had utterly scorned
the Lord's remonstrances. Th? former prophets
are those before the exile, and Zechariah inten-
tionally overlooks Daniel, because he officiated at
a heathen court and not in the midst of his peo-
ple, and his prophecies treated not so much of the
mward duties of Israel as of its outwaril fortunes
amid the mighty revolutions of the heathen world.
.For a full summation of the course of the former
prophets as here set forth, see 2 Kings xvii. 13-23.
The ways and works of the earlier generation arc
called evil, in the first instance, because they were
morally corrupt, but also because they were fol-
lowed by sore consequences (Kiihler).
Ver. 5. Yo ir fathers, where are they ? The
concluding verses of the section sustain the warn-
"ng not to imitate the fathers, by pointing out the
fate which overtook them in consequence of their
disobedience. The general sense is plain, and ac-
knowledged by all interpreters, but the precise
force of the questions in ver. 5 is variously slated.
Both, of course, imply a negative answer, but in
what sense is the decease of the prophets men
tioned? Some (Jerome, Cyril,', referring to Jere
raiah xxxvji. 10, suppose that ialse prophets aro
intended ; but the persons spoken of here must be
the same as those mentioned in the preceding
verse, vfho are manifestly true servants of GoA
Others make the second question a rejoinder of
the people to the first (Raschi, Burger, etc.), whicl:
seems forped. Others say that a contrast is pre
sented between the fleeting, dying prophets, and
the ever-living word of Jehovah ( Calvin, Grotius,
Hitzig, etc.), as if the meaning were, I allow that
both your fathers and my prophets are dead ; but
my words, are they dead 1 but the latter part of
this contrast is not found in the text, but supplied
by the interpreters. Another class conceive that
the point of the second question is to remind Zich-
ariah's contemporaries that the voice of prophecy
would soon cease, and therefore they should heed
it while they had the opportunity (Abarb., Ewald),
which is a very natural sense of the Tvords if they
stood alone; but it is contradicted by verse 6j
which shows that the reference is not to the exist-
ing, but to the former prophets. The true view is
the one given by Kbhler and others, that the for-,
mer of the two verses contains a concession which
is limited and corrected by the latter. Thus : Your
fathers are long since dead, and it may seem a^
though they had thus escaped the threateti^ngi
pronounced against them ; the prophets, too, have
gone the way of all flesh, and apparently their
words died with them; nevertheless your fathers
did not die until the threatenings of the short-
lived prophets had overtaken them, nor until they
themselves had acknowledged that fact. This view
is sustained by the strong disjunctive conjunction
at the commencement of verse 5. The phrase,
" take hold," in E. V., fails to give the force of
the Hebrew verb. The prophet conceives of God'^
purposes of wrath as commissioned messengers
which followed the Israelites and overtook them
(cf. Kent, xxviii. 15, 45). Mournful acknowledgi
ments of this fact are to be found in Lamenta-
tions ii. 17, in Daniel's penitential prayer (ix. 4
ff.), and in Ezra's humbling confession (ix. 6, 7).'
There may be long delay, and consequently a
growing hope of escape, but sooner or later every
transgressor makes the affecting acknowledgment
of the Psalmist (xl. 13), " mine iniquities have
overtaken me."
THEOLOGHOAL AND MORAL.
1 . The opening words of Zechariah state a truth
of great importance, — and none the less so be-
cause in every age a persistent attempt has been
made to deny or to evade it — that God has wrath.
The blinding influence of their own depravity ren-
ders men insensible to the evil of sin, and they
easily come to transfer their own views to their
Maker — " thoa thoughtest that I was altogether
such an one as thyself" (Ps. 1. 21). Hence they
attribute to Him an easy good nature which read-
ily condones moral offenses and is quite too gentle
to give eftijct to the forebodings of a guilty con-
science. To set forth his justice, and assert his
prerogative as governor of the world, is regarded
as an unwari'antable disturbance of men's peaco
and an impeachment of the amiableness of the di-
vine character. This device is as old as the Apos-
tles, and Paul exposes it with his usual vehemence,
" Let no man deceive you with va-n words, for be-
CHAPTER 1. 1-6.
23
cause of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience " (Eph. v. 6).
God has wrath. Nature bears witness to the fact.
The earth does not everywhere smile with verdure
and beauty, but all over its surface shows blots
and scars which suggest the moral disorder of the
race. This fact has been set forth with equal elo-
quence and truth by Mr. Euskin. Speaking of
(he revojations of God made on the face of crea-
tion, he says, " Wrath and threatening are invari-
ably minglsd with love; and in the utmost soli-
tudes of nature, the existence of hell seems to me
as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utter-
ances s^ of heaven. It is well for us to dwell with
thankfulness on the unfolding of the flower and
the falling of the dew, and the sleep of the green
fields in the sunshine ; but the blasted trunk, the
barren rock, the moaning of the bleak winds, the
roar of the black, perilous whirlpools of the moun-
lain streams, the solemn solitudes of moors and
aeas, the continual fading of all beauty into dark-
ness and of all strength into dust, have these no
language for us ? We may seek to escape their
teachings by reasonings touching the good which
ie wi'ought out of all evil ; but it is vain sophistry.
The good succeeds to the evil as day succeeds the
night, but so also the evil to the good. Gerizim
and Ebal, birth and death, light and darkness,
heaven and hell, divide the existence of man and
his futurity."
2. The words in ver. 2 do not belong to the mes-
sage to the people, but were delivered only to the
Prophet ; and tliey disclose to us the internal pres-
sure under which he entered upon his office (Pres-
Bel). A due sense of tlie power of God's wrath
lies at the basis of all true earnestness on the part
of his Prophets. It is the " burning fire shut up
in the bones" (Jer. xx. 9) which imparts its own
vehemence to the message, and produces corre-
sponding conviction in them that hear. We ob-
serve it in the Prophet of all Prophets, the Saviour
Himself His groaning in spirit at the grave of
Lazarus, his tears at the sight of Jerusalem, show
how deeply he felt the terribleness of God's anger.
Banyan's Grace Abounding affords a remarkable
testimony from his own experience. " Now this
part of my work I fulfilled with great earnestness,
tor the terrors of the law and guilt for ray trans-
gressions lay heavy on ray conscience ; I preached
what I felt, what I sraartingly did feel, even that
under which my poor soul did groan and tremble
to astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one sent
to them from the dead ; I went myself in chains,
to preach to them in chains ; and carried that fire
in my own conscience that I persuaded them to be
aware of"
3. The Lord's first message to the people by the
mouth of Zechariah contains the fundamental prin-
ciple Df all his communications to fallen men, alike
in the Old Testament and in the New. There is
» command and a promise, each comprehending
in itself all others of the same class. Men are
sumraoned to turn back to God, and then He en^
gages to return to thera. Alienation from God
is the primary sin. Men turn away from their
Maker, hide from Him like Adam, or wander off
like the prodigal, and of course are dissatisfied
and wretched. Having left the fountain of living
waters, they find the cisterns they hew out for
themselves to be broken cisterns which can hole"
no water. No matter how often the experiment is
repeated, it always fails. The only escape, the
first duty, is to turn to the Lord. This duty
would be difficult, nay, it would be impossible, but
for the gracious promise which accompanies it.
God is found of those who seek Him. T'his is a
truth of the older dispensation as well as of the
later. The father in our Saviour's parable who,
while yet the wayward son was a great way off,
discerned, and welcomed, and ran to meet his re-
turning steps, is only a vivid picture of him who
waited to be gracious all through the history of
his ancient people. Even in the early days of Job,
Eliphaz announced (xxii. 21 ) the cheering assur-
ance, " Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at
peace ; thereby good shaU come unto thee."
4. God's providence not only insures the ful-
fillment of his threatenings, but compels the ac-
knowledgment of that fulfillment from those who
sufTer it. In the case of the Jews this recognition
was frequently uttered, as mentioned'before. (Sea
Exeget. and Grit., ad finem.)
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAIi.
T. V. MooEE : It is a sign of a sickly piety
when men are willing to hear nothing of the wrath
of God against sin. If men expect God to return
to them in prosperity, they must return to Him in
penitence. The flower averted from the sun must
turn tovfard it, to catch its genial smile.
Pkessel : No mercy without return, and no re-
turn without mercy. He who will not hear, shall
feel. Haste (eile) that you may not be overtaken
(ereilt). 1. Haste, for your day of grace is short,
and even the messengers of grace are passing
away. 2. If once you are overtaken, your eyes
will open too late, and only with trembling lips
can you give honor to the Lord.
Wordsworth : Zeehariah comes forth like
John the Baptist, atjd begins his preaching with a
call to repentance, and warns the people by the
history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges
will profit them without holiness, but rather will
aggravate their guilt and increase their condemna-
tion if they disobey God.
Calvin : We learn here that the examples set
up as a shield for wrong-doing are so far from be-
ing of any weight before God that they enhance
our guilt. Yet this folly infatuates many, for the
Papists claim their religion to be holy and irrepre-
hensible, because it has been handed down by theil
fathers.
24 ZKCHARIAH.
n. THE NIGHT VISIONS.
Chaptee I. 7-VI. 15.
This division contains a series of risions all given at one time and therefore naturally snpposed to
be closely connected with each other and to exhibit an orderly progress of thought. The first vision
sets forth the evident need of a divine interference in behalf of the people, with a strong assurance
that it shall be vouchsafed. The second indicates one form of this interference in the fact that the
foes are driven away. The third promises great enlargement and absolute security. The fourth ex-
hibits the forgiveness of sin which had been the cause of all the previous troubles and endangered the
recurrence of them. The fifth is a counterpart to the fourth by promising the positive communica-
tion of God's Spirit and grace which secure sanctification as well as justification. The sixth guards
against a perversion of the two preceding visions as if they warranted security on the part of the im-
penitent, by exhibiting the fearful curse of God upon all sinners of whatever class. The seventh en-
forces the same point still further by representing that a longer and yet more dreadful deportation
than that to Babylon awaited the unfaithful members of the theocracy. Finally, the eighth completes
the entire series of visions in an artistic manner by returning to the point whence they set out, and
repeating much the same imagery. It shows the accomplishment of all which the first image prom-
ised. From the purified and divinely protected theocracy, symbolized by mountains of brass, there
go forth executioners of judgment who do not stay their hands until God's Spirit is completely satis-
tied. But there is another future in reserve for the distant heathen, besides that of judgment. They
are to be converted from enemies into friends, and in the days of the Branch shall come from far, and
freely contribute to build up and glorify the Lord's holy kingdom. This cheering thought is exhib-
ited in the shape of a symbolical action, appended to the visions and appropriately closing and crown-
ing their hallowed disclosures.
VISION I. THE MAN AMONG THE MYKTLES.
Chapter I. 7-17.
A. A symbolical Representation of the tranquil Condition of the Heathen World and.
consequent Need of Divine Interference (vers. 7-11). B. Intercession for Suffer-
ing and Desolate Judaea (vers. 12, 13). C. Assurances of Relief and Restoration
(vers. 14-17).
7 On the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is the month Sebat,'
in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah to Zechariah, the son of
8 Iddo the prophet, saying: I saw that^ night, and behold a man riding upon a
red horse, and he stood among the myrtles ' that were in the valley, and behind
9 him were red, bay and white horses. And I said, what are these, my lord ? And
10 the angel that talked with * me said to me, I will show thee what they are. And
the man who stood among the myrtles answered,^ and said. These are they whom
11 Jehovah has sent to walk through the earth. And they answered the angel of
Jehovah who stood among the myrtles, and said. We have gone through the earth,
12 and behold, all the earth sits still ^ and is at- rest. Then the angel of the Lord
answered and said, Jehovah of Hosts ! how long wilt thou not pity Jerusalem and
the cities of Judah, against which thou hast been angry these ' seventy years ?
] 3 And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me, good words, comforting
14 words. And the angel that talked ' with me, said to me, Cry, saying :
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
I am jealous ■"' for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy,
15 And I burn with great anger against the nations at ease.
For I was angry for a little, but they helped forward the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah,
I have returned to Jerusalem in mercy ,^^
My house shall be built in her, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And a measuring line ^' shall be stretched over .Jerusalem.
17 Cry also," saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
CHAPTER I. 7-17.
25
My cities shall yet overflow ^^ with prosperity,
And Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion,
And shall yet choose Jerusalem.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 7. - - 13D^, the month which extended from the new moon of February to the next new m^ion. The DAma
M Chaldee, but of uncertain etymology,
2 Ver 8. — n v'^v'n is not accusative of duration = by night, for which there is no other example, but tke or that
night, namely, that of the day mentioned in the preceding verse.
8 Ver. 8. — Tke myrtles. Ewald, following the T.XX., supposes the true reading of D^&in to be D^"inn, as in
Ti 1, and landers mountains ; but there is no reason for departing from the Masoretic text, and the relation of "the last
vision to the first is one not of resemblance but contrast.
4 Ver. 9. — ^^ has been translated in me, to me, through me, and with me. The last is more accordant with usage
(Nmn. xii. 8) and the connection.
6 Ver. 10. — Henderson says that PlDl? signifies to commence or proceed to speak, as well as to answer, and cites
iiroKpt'vo^at in the New Testament as used in the same way. But his remark Is true neither of the one nor the other.
The reference always is to a question preceding, either expressed or implied, or to the resumption of discourse by the
Bame speaker after an interval, aa Is. xxi. 9. Of. Vitringa's remark quoted under ill. 4, infra.
6 Ver. 11. — Sits stiU is a fe,r better rendering of HJ?^^ than the bald and prosaic derived sense adopted by the
LXX. and the Vulgate, KarotKeiTtu, habitatur.
I Ver. 12. — nStt? D^'^^Stt? nT might be rendered now seventy years (cf. vii. 3). A similar combination ol
noun and pronoun in the singular with numeral adjective in the plural, is not rare. See Dent. viii. 2-4 ; Josh. xiv.
10 ; Esther iv. 11. Nordbeimer (§ 890) explains it as referring to the abstract idea of time ; but it seems to me to b«
due rather to the conception of the various years as a single period or cycle, which like a collective noun would of course
admit of a singular pronoun.
8 Ver. 13. — D^ZSni, The Keri omits the dagesh in Q, but some codd. in Kennicott have the form D^'D^nS,
which grammatically is the more correct. It is not an adjective, but a noun in apposition.
» Ver. 14. — This verse and the one before it exemplify one of the infelicities of the E. V., which renders the samfl
original word, in ver. 13 talked, and in ver. 14 communed.
10 Ver. 14. — TlW3p, The pret, means not merely, " I have become jealous," but " I have he&n and am." God'f
jealousy had already begun to manifest itself
II Ver. 16. — Fiirst, sub voce, with great plausibility, renders ^l^Tl? intransitively, " they exerted their power " with
a view to destruction.
12 Ver. 16. — D'^Dnn occurs only in the plural. To translate it so, therefore, as in A. V., whUe apparently more
literal, is in reality less so.
15 Ver. 16. — The Kethib Hip, to be read Hip, is an old form, found elsewhere only in 1 King vii. 23 and Jer.
zxxl. 39, for which was substituted the contracted form ^p,
14 Ver. 17. — liV, also here seems to express the sense better than the customary yet. The Prophet was to cry
umething more besides what he waj^ told in ver. 14.
16 Ter. 17. — HillJ^Dn is simply a variant orthography of HD^S^Ori (Green H. G., § 168, 3).
EXEGEMCAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 7. The date of this revelation is from three
to four months after Zechariah's first prophecy
and exactly two months after Haggai's last, name-
ly, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh
month, Shebat, our February, of the year 519.
The precise day of the month, here and in Hag-
gai ii. 10-20, seems to have been suggested by the
fa«t that on just this day of the sixth month the
building of the Temple had been resumed (Hag.
i. 14, 15). The Lord thus indicated his pleasure
in the resumption of the work. The visions are
called the word of Jehovah, because they had
the significance and answered the purpose of oral
revelations.
Ver. 8. I saw that night. The disclosure was
made to the Prophet, not in a dream (Ewald, Hit-
lig), but in a vision. His senses were not locked
in sleep, but like Peter at Joppa (Acts x. 10, xi.
4) he was ii/ eKtrratrei. This trance-like condition,
iccording to iv. 1, bears the same relation to ordi-
nary human consciousness which that does to the
condition of sleep. A man's usual state when un-
der the control of the senses and able to see only
what his own faculties discover, is one of spiritual
sleep ; but an ecstatic condition, in which the
senses and the entire lower life are quiescent, and
only pictures of divine objects are reflected in the
soul as in a pure and bright mirror, is one of spir-
itual waking. The Prophet received his visions
at night, because then his susceptibility for divine
communications was most lively, in consequence
of the stillness, the suspension of worldly cares and
the freedom from outward impressions. In the
space of one night the whole series of stately sym-
bolic scenes passed before his spiritual eye, for the
title in ver. 7 extends to the end of chap. vi. after
which a new title first occurs, and besides, the nar-
rative itself shows (ii. 1 ; iv. 1, etc.) that as soon
as one vision ended another began. Behold, a
man riding upon a red horse, etc. A man, i. e.,
one in the shape or appearance of a man, for mani-
festly an angel and not a human being is intended.
He is seated upon a red torse, the meaning of
26
ZECHARIAH.
irhich is seen in the fact that red is the color of
blood. In Rev. vi. 4, it is a rider on a red horse
who receives a great sword and has power to take
peace from the earth and cause men to kill one an-
other. The color of the horse then is a symbol
of the purpose of its rider namely, wrath and
bloodshed. He stood among the myrtles that vrare
in HvlL'S. The meaning of this word is much
contested! The Vulgate gives it in pro/undo, which
supposes that the text is only another form of
n V^ISC, which ordinarily means the depths of
the sea. Hengstenberg and Baumgarten adopt
this, and explain it as a symbolical designation of
the abyss-like power of the world, in which the
Clmrch stands like a feeble, lowly shrub. Others
(Gesenius, Hendet-soti), following the LXX., derive
the word from 7 7^, in the sense of shade (so Br.
Van Dyck in the New Arabic Version), but in this
case we should expect a different middle vowel,
and besides, as Pressel says, it would be a pleonasm
to speak of trees in a shady place. Others (Hit-
zig, Furst, Bunsen), following an Arabic analogy,
render it tent, by which they suppose heaven is
intended, but this is extremely artificial. There
seems no reason to depart from the Vulgate and
Targum, or to make it other than = rfeep phce,
i. «., a low valley or bottom. It will then stand in
vivid contrast with the corresponding point in the
eighth vision, which is the complement of the first.
There, the chariots start from between two moun-
tains of brass = the theocracy under the mighty
protection of Jehovah ; here, the horsemen issue
from amid myrtles in an open bottom = the
Church in a condition of feebleness and exposure.
Behind the first rider are other horses of different
colors. They have riders (see ver. 11), but this
fact is allowed to be understood, because the em-
phasis is laid upon the color of the horses. They
are like their leader red (explained above), or
bay, or white. The last like the first is easily
understood from Scripture usage — white being
the reflection of heavenly glory (Matt, xvii 2),
and therefore the symbol of victory (Rev. vi. 2),
But the second epithet is difficult. ""'Ef' is ren-
dered by the LXX. : ifapol koX ttoikIKoi, Vulg., varii,
Peshito versicolores, after whom Maurer, Umbreit,
Kcil, etc., render it as in text of A. V., speckled.
But Gesenius and FUrst derive it from an Arabic
root, signifying dark red, and Hengstenberg ren-
ders this brown, but Kohler bay o-r flame-colored.
The latter gives the better sense. The colors do
not signify the three kingdoms against whom the
riders were sent (Cyril, Jerome, et ah), for all ap-
pear to go in company, nor the quarters of the
heavens (Maurer, Hitzig, et al.), for the fourth
quarter is wanting ; but the nature of the mission
which they had to perform, namely, to take an ac-
tive part in the agitation of the nations, those upon
red horses by war and bloodshed, those upon bay
horses by burning and destroying, and those upon
white horses by victory over the world.
Ver. 9. The Prophet a«ks, What are these,
i. e., what do they signify 1 The question is ad
dressed to one whom he calls my lord, but who is
this 1 Manifestly, the one who gives the answer,
the angelus interpres. It is no objection to this
that he has not been mentioned before, for in
proi)liecies, and especially in visions, from their
driimatic character, persons are frequently 'ntro-
rtuoed in such a way that only from what *hey say
Br do, can we leirn who they are. This angelus
interpres, or collocutor, had for his sole function to
open the spiritual eyes and ears of the Prophet
and cause him to understand the meaning of the
visions. The preposition in the phrase ''2 ~'?"^n
is not to be understood, with Ewald, Keil, etc., al
denoting the internal character of the communica-
tions made, for this would not distinguish him
from the other angels of the vision, but the phrase
is simply an official designation of the angel'a
character.
Ver. 10. And the man who stood among, etc.
The rider on the red horse states the object of the
horsemen's mission. He is said to have answered,
because, although not referring to any definite
question, his words were a reply to the Prophet's
desire for an explanation.
Ver. 1 1 . The riders themselves state the result
of their mission. This is called an answer to the
Angel of the Lord, because it replies to a question
implied in the circumstances. It is given to the
Angel of the Lord. But is this a created or an
uncreated angel ? The latter view is maintained
by McCaul, Lange, Hengstenberg, Philippi, and
Kahnis, the former by Hoffman, Delitzseh, Kurtz,
Kohler, Pressel. That the angel of Jehovah is
distinguished from the other angels, and in many
places identified with Jehovah, is undeniable (Geni
xvi. 7-10, xxxi. 11-13, xxxii. 25-31 comp. with
Hos. xii. 4 ; Ex. iii. 2-4 ; Judg. vi. 11-22 ; Zech.
iii. I, 2). On the other hand, there are passages
where he seems to be discriminated from Jehovah
(Ex. xxiii. 20-22, xxxii. 34). The simplest way
of reconciling these two classes is to adopt the old
view that this angel is the Second person of the
Godhead, even at that early period appearing as
the revealer of the Father. The mingled clear-
ness and obscurity of the representation is quite
analogous to the same features in the delineation
of the Messiah in Pss. ii., xlv., Ixxii., ex., and in
various prophecies before and after David's tinle.
In this vision he appears first as a man upon a red
horse, then as the leader of the troop standing be-
hind him, and when these have made their report,
as the angel of Jehovah who presents the prayer
of the pious before God. The answer which he
receives from the troop is that all the earth sits
still and is at rest, — a phrase upon which Words-
worth comments as denoting proud and licentious
ease, because, as he says, the word for " at rest "
is shaandn. This is a strange mistake, for it is
another word, ''"l^tjt''', which rarely, if ever, has
any moral significance, and means merely quiet,
peaceful secui-ityi without reference to the way in
which that state has been attained or is employed;
Here the sense is that the nations at large were
dwelling in a calm, serene repose, undisturbed by
any foe. The reference seems to be to Haggai ii.,
where the Lord promised that in a little while He
would shake the heavens and the earth and all nar
tions, and in consequence his house would be filled
with glory. The riders now report that having
gone through the earth they find it not at all
shaken but quiet and serene. This statement,
furnishing such a vivid contrast to the prostrate
and suffering condition of the people of God, gave
occasion to the intercession recounted in the next
verse.
Yer. 12. How long wilt thou not pity Jeru-
salem, etc. '! The language is that of interces-
sory expostulation. The reference to these ser*
enty years does not imply that that period pre-
dicted by Jeremiah (xxv. 12) was just drawing to
CHAPTER II. 7-17.
27
1 close, for it had already expired in the first year
of Cyrus (Ezra i. 1). But although the people
had been restored, they were still in a sad state, —
the capital ior the most part in ruins, its walls
broken down, its gates burnt (Neh. i. .3), the pop-
ulation small, the greater part of the land still
a waste, and the rebuilding of the Temple embar-
rassed witii difficulties. It might well seem as if
the troubles of the exile would never end, and the
more so, since there was no sign of that violent
agitation of the heathen world which was to be
the precursor of Israel's exaltation. The inter-
cession was effectual.
Ver. 13. And Jehovah answered, etc. Here
tlic answer is given to .another person than the
questioner. The best explanation is that of Heng-
Btcnberg, that " the angel of the Lord had asked
the question not for his own sake, but simply in
order that consolation and hope might be com-
municated through the angelus inlerpres to the
Prophet, and through him to the nation at large."
bood words are words that promise good. Cf
Josh, xxiii. 14 (Heb.) ; Jer. xxix. 10. The con-
tents of these good and comforting words follow
in vers. 14-17, the first two of which assert Jeho-
vah's active affection for his people, and the latter
two, his purpose to manifest that love in the res-
toration and enlargement of Jerusalem,
Ver. 14. I am jealous, etc. ^.vI7> I't., to bum,
to glow, indicates h vehement emotion which may
have its motive in jealousy (Num. v. 14), or in
eiivy ((3en. xxvi. 14), or in hatred (Gen. xxxvii.
11), or in love (Num. xxv. U). The last ex-
presses its forcfe here, which is gfeatly strengthened
by the addition of the cognatfc noiln. Jehovah is
inspired with a blirnihg zeal for Jerusalem and
for Zion, the holy hill which He has chosen for
his habitation. He had already displayed this in
part, and would soon develop it to the full.
Ver. 15. Toward the heathen, on thecontrary, Je-
hovah burned with great anger. This was partly
because they were " at ease," i. e., not merely
tranquil, but iii a state of carnal security, proudly
confident in their power and prosperity, but mainly
because, while He had been angry for a little, t. e.,
tiine (cf. Job x. 20), they, on the contrary, had
helped forward the afSiction, lit., had helped
for evil, i. e., so that evil was the result. 'The Lord
'contemplated a moderate, limited chastisement in
love, with a view to the purification and restora-
Hon of his people. The heathen, on the contrary,
rioted in the sufferings of helpless Israel, and would
willingly prolong them.
Ver. 16. I have returned .... Jerusalem.
The emphatic therefore indicates the consequence
it God's love for Jerusalem. He has actually re-
turned with purposes of mercy, and these shall be
fully executed. All hindrances shall be removed,
the Temple completed, and instead of scattered
houses hei'e and there, the whole city shall pass
under the surveyor's measuring line. But the
blessing is not to be confined to the capital, as ap-
pears from what follows.
Ver. 17: Cry also, i. e., in addition to the fore-
going. 'The other cities of Judah shall overflow
with prosperity, lit., be scattered, yet not by an
invading foe, but by the inward pressure of abun-
dant growth requiring them to diffuse themselves
over a larger surface (cf ii. 4, viii. 4, ix. 17, x. 7).
This overflow of blessing will assure the covenant
people that Jehovah is still comforting Zion, and
has by no means renounced the purpose in pursu-
ance of which he had orininalb' chosen Jei-usalem.
The same cheering reference to God's electing love
is found in ch. ii. 12 and iii. 2.
The object of this first vision was to satisfy tho
dispirited colony that although there was no pres-
ent appearance of an approaching fulfillment of
promised blessings, yet these blessings were sure.
Jehovah had appointed the instruments of his
righteous judgmunta, and by these would accom-
plish his purposes upon the ungodly nations, and
thus secure the salvation of Zion. "The fulfillment
then is easily pointed out. The completion of the
Temple, the restoration of the city under Ezra and
Neheniiah, the increase of the population, all de-
clared Jehovah's fidelity to his engagements. But
this was only the beginning. Zechariah, like his
predecessors in office, looks down the whole vista
of the future, and utters germinant predictions, as
Bacon calls them, which do not exhaust them-
selves in any one period, but wrap up in pregnant
sentences long cycles of historical development.
The first vision pi'esents the general theme of the
whole series, each of which stands closely related
to the others, so that there is an evident advance
fi'om the beginning to the end, as will appear io
the course of the exposition.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. How near are the seen and unseen worlds I
Nor are they without sympathy with each other.
We have a craving for the knowledge Of creatures
higher than ourselves, and yet fellow servants with
us of the same Creator. All the various forms of
Polytheism show this natural longing of the race,
but the Scripture satisfies it by revealing to us the
existence, character, and furtction of the holy an-
gels. This revelation is not made merely to grat-
ify a curiosity, however intelligent and reasonable,
but to furnish important aid in the conduct of life;
It pleases God to employ the agency of these su-
pernatural beings in establishing his kingdom in
the world. " Are they not all ministering spirits
sent forth to minister for them who shall he heirs
of salvation f " (Heb. i. 14.) In the book of Gen-
esis, after the call of Abraham, we obsen'e frequent
instances of this blessed ministry, guiding, protect-
ing, and upholding the patriarchs (xviii., xix.,
xxiv., xxvii., xxxii.). Again, in the time of the
Judges similar manifestations were made to Gideon
and to Manoah. But at and after the Captivity,
their interposition not only resumes its former fre-
quency, but is manifested on a wider scale. To
Daniel and Zechariah the angels are revealed, not
only as watching over the covenant people, but as
executing the counsels of Jehovah toward the hea-
then world. There does not seem to be the least
necessity for attributing this circumstance to the
influence of Chaldaean or Persian modes of thought
upon the minds of these prophets. They follow
in the line of the earlier traditions of the chosen
people, with only that degree of variation and ex-
pansion which is natural under the altered circum-
stances of the case. It was a comforting thought
to a feeble colony overshadowed by a colossal em-
pire to be reminded of superhuman helpers whose
mighty interposition was ever at hand. Of course
even these celestial beings could prove efficient
only by the power of God, but their intermediate
agency rendered that power more directly conceiv-
able. In the New Testament there is not the
same prominence given to these " sons of God '
(Job xxxviii. 7), but enough is stated of their min-
istrations at the Incarnation, io the wilderness, the
28
ZECHARIAH.
garden, and the sepulchre, and of their sympathy
with the joys and sorrows of God's people, to
make us teel that the shining stairway which rose
over Jacob's head to the clouds (Gen. xxviii. 12)
still exists, and is traversed by the same holy be-
ings. It is still true, as Spenser said, —
" They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant,
And all for love and nothing for reward ;
Oh ! why should heavenly God to man have such regard ? "
2. The extraordinary position assigned to the
angel of Jehovah in this vision and also in the
one recorded in the third chapter, continues and
completes the long chain of ancient testimonies
beginning in Genesis, to the existence of self-dis-
tinctions in the Godhead. (See t^he summary of
the argument in Lange's Genesis, p. 386, or Keil
On Pent., i. 184, and Hengstenberg's Christoloqy, i.
107 fr., iv. 285.) The view that this exalted' per-
sonage was only a created angel through whom
God issues and executes his commands, and who
speaks and acts in God's name, was favored by
Origen, defended by Augustine, adopted by Jerome
and. Gregory the Great, and has been maintained
in our own day by some eminent critics ; but it
cannot displace what has been the almost universal
doctrine of the early Church and of the great body
of believers in all ages, namely, that this angel was
the Old Testament form of the Logos of John, a
being connected with the supreme God by unity
of nature, but personally distinct from Him. The
most frequent and plausible objection to the old
view afSrms that it unreasonably transfers the rev-
elations of the later dispensation to the older, and
introduces notions entirely foreign to Hebrew hab-
its of thought. But the contrary is the case. Tlie
Old Testament records one stage in the progressive
development of religious truth, and the New Tes-
tament another, and both correspond in the most
striking manner to em.h other. Indeed, they present
what is not found, is not claimed in any other
book in the world, — a complete system of typical
and antitypical institutions, events, and persons.
This feature has been sometimes pressed to an ex-
travagant extent, and applied where it has no real
bearing. But its general correctness is admitted by
all sober interpreters. This being so, if the tri-
unity of the divine nature is plainly set forth in
the New Testament, especially if the great revealer
of the Father (John i. 18) is emphasized by evan-
gelists and apostles, is it not to be expected that a
foreshadowing of so important a truth will be
found in the elder Scriptures ? Guided by such an
analogy, it was neither uncritical nor rash for the
Church to conclude that the being called the Angel
of Jehovah, the Angel of his Presence, the Angel
of the Covenant, in whom Jehovah puts his name,
who is identified with Jehovah, who performs the
peculiar works of Jehovah, and yet is in some
sense distinct from Him, is the same divine person
who is represented in the New Testament as the
brightness of the Father's glory and the express
type of his essence, the image of the invisible God
in whose face the glory of God shines, and in whom
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
3. The intercession ascribed to our Lord in the
Christian Scriptures was not only typified by a re-
markable function of the high-pries"t on the great
day of atonement, but was actually performed by
the second person of the Godhead long before his
incarnation. He was "the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world," and the merits of his
priceless etpiation could as well be availed of an-
tecedently as subsequently, and they were. In ali
the affliction of his people, he was afflicted, and hii
potential voice was habitually uttered for their re-
lief. The returned exiles, who were laying again
the groundwork of Judah's prosperity, were dis-
couraged, not only by their scanty numbers and
impoverished resources, but by the consciousness
of their own and their fathers' sins. What claim
had such as they upon the Holy One of Israel ?
The prophet draws aside the veil and discloses an
Intercessor who had nothing to hinder Him from
immediate access to the Most High, and the surest
prospect of success. How long, 0 Lord, was the
anxious refrain of many a distressed ixliever in
former years ; and ages afterward John heard the
same importunate cry from the souls under the
altar (Rev. vi. 10). Many a time since, solitary
sufferers, unable to penetrate .the dark mysteries
of Providence, waiting and watching for relief
from sore burdens, have had the same exclamation
wrung from their lips. What with them is a burst
of impatience or the utterance of exhausted na
ture, on the lips of the uncreated angel is the calm
reminder of Jehovah's gracious promise and eter-
nal purpose. And his intercession being always
" according to the will of God," is therefore always
successful. " Good words, comforting words,"
soothe and cheer the tried believer, untU those
words are translated into deeds, and the weary
length of the night is forgotten in the brightness
of the dawn.
4. Forbearance is not forgiveness. To the out-
ward observer in Zechariah's day it looked as if
prosperity was all on the side of the heathen
world. Quiet reigned in all quarters, and divine
justice seemed asleep. But it was only the calm
before the storm. God is eternal, and therefore
never in haste, and never slack as men count slack-
ness. He can afford to wait. Kings and rulers
take counsel together against Him and his Anoint-
ed ; with malice and rage they help forward the
affliction of Zion ; but He that sitteth in the heav-
ens laughs (Ps. ii. 4). "Who thought," said Lu-
ther, " when Christ suffered and the Jews tri-
umphed, that God was laughing all the jime ? "
Since He knows that his enemies cannot escape
He suflfers them to proceed long with impunity.
Often He uses them as instruments to chastise his
own people, but when the chastisement has been
inflicted. He breaks the rod and casts it into the
fire. The quiet of the old Persian world was soon
broken by a succession of strokes which scattered
and destroyed all the persecutors of the Church.
But Zion lived and grew and extended, until she
becamethe most potent factor in all htunan society ;
and to-day is lengthening her cords and strength
ening her stakes to fill the whole earth.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Pkessel : The Church militant does not stand
alone ; there is always at its side the Church tri-
umphant. (1.) It often appears to us as if it stood
alone, and then we are misled either to despond-
ency, as if our labor and hope were vain, or to
self-confidence, as if the result depended upon our
running or willing. (2.) But no, the Church tri-
umphant stands at its side and watches while wa
sleep; and He who is. its Head and ours, brings
our prayers before the Father.
Moore ; The hour of darkest uesolation tff the
Church, and of haughtiest triumph to her eneiriee,
is often the very hour when God begins his work
CHAPTER I. 18-21.
29
of judgment oa the one, and retnrning mercy on
Ihe other.
Calvin : "When the servant of Elisha saw not
the chariots in the air, he became almost lost in
despair; but his despair was instantly removed
when he saw so many angels ready at hand for
help (2 Kings vi. 17); so whenever God declares
that angels are ministers for our safety, He means
to animate our faith. At the same time He does
not send us to angels, but this one thing is enough,
that when God is propitious all the angels have a
care for our salvation'.
VISION n. THE FOUR HORNS AND FOUR SMITHS.
Chapter I. 18-21.
A. Four Horns which scattered the People of God (vers. 18, 19).
which cast down these Horns (vers. 20, 21).
B. Four Smith*
18-19 And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns. And I said to the
angel that talked with me. What are these ? And he said to me, These are the
20 horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And Jehovah showed
21 me four smiths. And I said. What come these to do ? And he said thus,^ These
are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that ^ no man lifted up his head, hut
these are come to terrify them, to cast out ^ the horns of the nations which lifted
up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
TEXTUAL AND QKAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 21. — niD"l)9n HyK is not an absolute nominatiTe which would require a different construction, but to
be rendered just as the same phrase is in ver. 19.
2 Ver. 21. — ''53, supply ~W_tJi = so that. This is a rare use of the form, but it is allowed by nearly all critics.
8 Ver. 21. — .'ni"*r\ Prof. Cowles says that this word has the sense caf!t down to the ground^ but none of the in
Itsnoes of its use (Jer. 1. 14 j Lam. iii. 53, etc.) will bear a stronger sense than cast or cast out.
EXEOBTICAL AND CRITICAL.
This vision carries forward the assurance given
tn the one before it, by showing the provision made
for repelling the foes of the covenant people.
Ver. 1 . I lifted up my eyes. After seeing the
first vision, the Prophet had sunk down in medi-
tation. Again he raises his eyes, and behold, four
horns. The horn is a common Scriptural symbol
of strength, and in the prophecies usually repre-
sents a kingdom or political power. Do these
four horns refer to just so many kings or empires
which oppressed the covenant people ? Not a few
expositors answer in the affirmative, but they differ
widely in the designation of these opposing powers.
Cyril names Pul, Salmaneser, Sennacherib, and
Nebuchadnezzar ; Grotius, the Persian Kings, Al-
exander, Antiochus, and Ptolemy; Pressel, As-
syria, Chaldfea, Egypt, and Persia ; but the greater
number refer to the four great empires predicted
by Daniel, so Jerome, Kimchi, Hengstenberg, Keil,
Baumgarten, Wordsworth. It is not a sufficient
objection to this last view, to say with Henderson
and Kohler, that of these powers two were not
in existence at this time, and cannot have been
spoken of, because the hostility described in the
vision had already taken place; for the vision
might very well have included the future as well
M the past. A m 5re serious objection is that each
of these destroyed its preilecessor, whereas in the
vision the smiths are represented as distinct from
the horns. And besides, neither the Persian nor
Alexander were enemies of the Jews. It is better,
therefore, with the majority of interpreters (Theod-
oret, Calvin, Umbreit, Hitzig, Maurer, Kohler), to
refer the number four to the cardinal points of
the compass, and thus make it include all possibla
enemies. As a matter of fact the people of God
had enemies on all sides, the Assyrian, Chaldean,
and Samaritan on the north, the Egyptian on the
south, Philistines on the west, and Moabites and
Ammonites on the east. These foes scattered
Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, i. e., the twelve
tribes in their completeness, with special mention
for the sake of emphasis, of the capital city. The
objection to this founded upon the lack of ^^ be-
fore the last substantive (Keil) is of no force, as
that sign of the definite object may be inserted or
omitted at pleasure, Deut. xii. 6 (Green £1. G.,
§ 270 b).
Ver. 20. The Prophet saw four smiths. The
LXX. render CtT^n, rtxroyes, whence our B.
v., " carpenters." The Vulgate gives /o6rj, which
corresponds exactly to the Hebrew, but in view of
the work assigned to these persons, most exposi-
tors render the term smiths. No man lifted up
his head = all were in an utterly prostrate con-
dition. To scatter it = its inhabitants. The
four smiths simply express the various powers
which God raises up and employs to overthrow
the agencies which are hostile to his people. There
is no indication in the passage itself what theso
powers are, and there seems to be no need to seek
information elsewhere. The point of the entire
30
ZECHAKIAH.
Vision lies in the coincidence of the numbers of the
horns and the smiths. For every horn there was
a smith to beat it down. The Church then could
rest calmly in the assurance that every hostile
power that rose in opposition should be judged
and destroyed by the Lord. The primary refer-
ence was of course to the work of the Jews in re-
storing the city and completing the Temple, but
this did not exhaust the meaning of tliis very sim-
ple but significant sj'mbol. It had as wide a sweep
as the corresponding verbal statement of Isaiah
(liv. 17), " No weapon that is formed against thee
shall prosper." Zioh's God controls all persons
and powers and events ; and through the long
tract of the Church's history it will be seen tluit
for every evil there is a remedy, and for every en-
emy a deliverer. The horn will arise and do its
work, but the smith will also appear and do his
work.
It is worthy of observation that what the angel
in ver. 19 calls "Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem,"
he calls in ver. 21 simply "Judah." So that here
is a clear and indubitable proof, in the first part
of tile Book whose post-exile origin is unques-
tioned, that Israel is used, not to denote distinc-
tively the northern kingdom, but merely to round
out the view of what was left of the entire cove-
nant people after the restoration. This bears
upon the similar use of " Israel " and ** Ephraim"
in the second part of these prophecies.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
1. The Church of God on earth exists in the
midst of conflict. There always have appeared
horns which attempt to scatter it. A halcyon
period sometimes is found like that mentioned in
Acts i.x. 31, " Then had the Churches [true te.xt.
Church] rest throughout all Judfea and Galilee
and Samaria," but its normal state is that of a
struggle against numerous and mighty foes. The
Saviour came not to send peace on earth but a
sword. The carnal mind is enmity with God,
and the flashing of truth upon an uni-egenerate
conscience must needs provoke wrath. Hence the
bloody tracks which so often occur in the records
of the past. There has never been any consider-
able period since our Lord's ascension, in which
persecution of his followers has not existed in
some quarter of the earth. Even now it is found
in the remote east, in the Turkish Empire and in
the Baltic Provinces of Russia. True believers
are tossed on the horns of furious foes. Their
eourse lies through a storm to the haven, through
a battle to the crown. Let them not "count it
a strange thing " when even a fiery trial befalls
them. Such an experience belongs to the fixed
purpose of God.
2. Conflict does not mean defeat. The very
lame voice which announces the gory horn, sets
forth the agency which is to crush it. The cha^
acter of this agency varies indefinitely. One horn
may be used to destroy another horn, or a totally
different instrument may be employed, but in either
case the result is the same. Such an equilibrium
between assault and defense is maintained that the
Church is indestructible. One heathen ruler per-
secuted, another protected and restored. So in
the conflicts of the early Church and of the Ref-
ormation, for every formidable horn there was
found an equally formidable smith. Thus, too,
in the organized attacks of Deism, Rationalism,
and Scientifle Atheism, at first the air was filled
with the shouts of victory, but the rejoicing was
pr-emature. In every instance, the head of the
Church raised up, sometimes in an unexpected
quarter, a workman who needed not to be ashamed,
who successfully vindicated the old truth and put
to flight the armies of the alien.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Jay : We see from this that the fi'iends of Zion
are as numerous as her foes ; that her defense is
equal to her danger ; and that as the state of hig
people requires it, the Lord will seasonably raise
up means and instruments for their succor and
deliverance. The assurance may be derived from
four principles : the love of God ; the power of
God ; the faithfulness of God ; the conduct of
God. In the first we see that He must be inclined
to appear for them as they are infinitely dear to
Him. In the second, we see that He is able to do
it. In the third, that He is engaged to do it, and
his promise cannot be broken. In the fourth, that
He always has done it, Scripture, history, and ex
perience being witness.
Then let the world forbear their rage,
The Church renounce her fear ;
Israel must live throngh every age,
And be the Almighty's care.
Calvin : The Prophet by asking the angel (ver.
19), sets before us the example of a truly teachable
disposition. Though the Lord does not immedi-
ately explain his messages, there is no reason for
us disdainfully to reject what is obscure as many
do in our day, who complain that God's Word ia
ambiguous and extremely difficult. The Prophet
although perplexed did not morosely turn away,
but asked the angel. And though the angels are
not nigh us or at least do not visibly appear, yet
God can by other means afford us help when it is
needed. He promises to give the Spirit of under-
standing and wisdom. If then, we do not neglect
the word and sacraments, and especially if we asls
for the guidance of the Spirit, there is nothing
obscure or intricate in the prophecies which H«
will not make known so far as is ne(«ssary,
CHAPTER n. 1-13. 31
VISION III. THE MAN WITH THE MEASURING LINE.
Chapter II.
iL A Man with a Measuring Line, and its Meaning (vers. 1-5). B. Further Prom-
ises (vers. 6-13).
1 And I lifted up my eyes ^ and saw, and behold, a man, and in his hand a meas-
2 uring-line. And I said, Whither goest thou ? And he said to me, To measure
3 Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what its length. And behold the angel
4 that talked with me came forth and another angel went forth to meet him, And
said to him, Eun, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall lie as open coun-
try^ for the multitude of men and cattle in the midst of her.
5 And I will be to her, saith Jehovah, a wall of fire around,
And for glory wDl I be in the midst of her.
6 Ho ! ho ! flee out of the land of the north, saith Jehovah,
For as ^ the four winds of heaven have I scattered you, saith Jehovah.
7 Ho ! * Zion, save thyself.
Thou that dwellest with ^ the daughter of Babylon.
8 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
After glory hath He sent me to the nations that plundered you,
For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple * of his ' eye.
9 For behold, I swing my hand over them,
And they shall become a spoil to their own servants.
And ye shall know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me.
10 Shout and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion,
For, behold, I come, and dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah,
11 And many nations shall join themselves * to Jehovah in that day,
And become a people to me.
And I will dwell in the midst of thee,
And thou shalt know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to thee.
12 And Jehovah shall take Judah as his portion in the holy land,
And shall yet' choose Jerusalem.
13 Be still, all flesh, before Jehovah,
For He has risen up fi-om his holy habitation.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Tor. 1 — There ia nothing in Hebrew to correspond to the " again " In the B. V.
2 Ver. 4. — n1t1S, lit. = plains^ here denotes open level ground, in contrast with walled and fortified cities. Set
the full expression in lilzek. xxxTiii. 11.
8 Ver. 6. — The various reading H in "^StP, is sustained by a number of MSS. and the Vulgate, but is inferior lo
the lextus Seceptus.
4 Ver. 7. — This verse begins with the same inteijection, "^In, which occurs at the beginning of the preceding verse^
ind should be so rendered, and not confounded, aa in the S. V., with the mere sign of the vocative.
C Yer. 7. — 3t£?^, construed directly with the accusative, is found also iu Ps. xxii. 4, 2 Sam. vi. 2.
8 Ver. 8. — nDD, The prevailing opinion derives this from H-lilS or DD^, and makes it = entrance, or gate to the
•ye, its centie-point.
1 Ver. 8. — The reading ''i^V, though given in several MSS. and sustained by the Vulgate, appears to be due to a
topyiflt's correction.
8 Ver. 11. — Tho reflexive sense of the Niphal in ^IvD Is much more suitable and expressive than the simple paa-
live.
5 Ver. 12. — T^V, in the same connection, In i. 17, is rendered in B. V. yet, while here It appears aa again. It If
{letter rendered yet in both places, the sense being not that God will make a new choice, but that He will demonstrate
ttfaiu in actual experience his old choice. Fs. Ixxviii. 68, IxxxvU. 2.
82
ZECHARIAH.
EXEGEIICAL AND CRITICAL.
As the second vision represented the destruction
of Israel's foes, the third makes an advance by
Betting forth the enlargement and security of the
Covenant people. (a.) Vers. 1-5 contain the
symbol; (6.), vers. 6-13 the fuller explanation of
its meaning, namely, the despoiling of the nations
(vers. 6-9), the indwelling of Jehovah in Zion
(ver. 10), and the ingathering of many nations
(vers. 11-13).
(a.) The S(/wbol and its General Sense (vers.
1-5). Vers. 1, 2. And I lifted up my eyes. . . .
what its length. The prophet sees a man with
a measuring-line in his hand advancing upon the
scene, and he asks whither he is going. The an-
swer is that he is about to measure the length
and breadth of Jerusalem. This man is not to be
identified with the interpreting angel (Rosenmiil-
ler, Maurer, etc.), for the latter is plainly distin-
guished from him in ver. 3 ; nor does the passage
furnish any reason for regarding him as the Angel
of the Lord (Keil, Hengstenberg, etc.). He is
rather simply a person introduced to perform the
symbolical action of the vision, and having done
this, he passes out of view. His mission is to as-
certain by measurement the present size of Jeru-
salem, with a view to its prospective indefinite en-
largement. This view is not stated by liim, but
is clearly to be inferred from ver. 4, and the gen-
eral tenor of the chapter.
Ver. 3. After the measuring angel has gone
away to do his office, behold, i. e., the prophet
sees "the angel that talked with me" coming
forth, i. e., from the back-ground of the scene, and
probably, as Kohler suggests, from the direction
in which the measuring angel had disappeared.
Before, however, the interpreting angel can either
address or be addressed by the prophet, he is met
by a third angel coming from the opposite direc-
tion. The character of this third angel is not fur-
ther described, but from the tone of authority,
" Run, speak," etc., and from vers. 8, 9, it seems
not unlikely that he is the Angel of the Lord
(Neumann, Pressel, etc.). There are no data for
a positive opinion.
Ver. 4. And said to him. The subject here
can only be, whether grammatically or logically,
the third angel. His direction tells the angelus in-
terpres to do just what his function required. This
young man = the prophet himself, as most of the
earlier and later expositors conceive. Zechariah
is thus styled because of his age, and not, as Je-
rome, Vitringa, and Hengstenberg think, because
of his subordinate relation to the angels, wliich is
nowhere else thus expressed. Kun, because it is
good news. The substance of the good news is
that Jerusalem is to have a vast influx of men
and cattle, so that it shall no longer be confined
by narrow walls and fixed limits, but be spread
out like the open country. Cf Is. xlix. 19, 20.
Ver. 5. And I will be to her, etc. But it might
be feared that great danger would result from this
unwalled extension. This is met by the promise
that Jehovah would be a wall of fire around,
perhaps in allusion to the pillar of fire in the wil-
derness (cf. Is. iv. 5). The fire would consume
jvery invader. There should be, however, not only
protection without, but glory within. This splen-
dor is to arise firom the manifested presence of
God (cf. Is. Ix. I'J). The full force of this promise
is to be gathered from the following verses.
(6.) I 'viler Explanation of the Si/mbol (vers. 6-13).
Vers. 6, 7. Ho, ho, flee out .... daughter
of Babylon. An assurance of Jehovah's presenca
and blessing with his people is given in the an-
nouncement of judgment upon Babylon; and this
is expressed very strikingly in the form of a sum-
mons to the Jews still remaining in the Chaldaean
capital to flee away in haste lest they should be
overtaken by the coming storm. There were, no
doubt, many Jews who, because of age or infirmi-
ties or ties of property, preferred to remain in Bab-
ylon rather than risk the hardships of the restora-
tion ; but the call of the text seems intended not
so much for their benefit as to show to the de-
sponding people in Palestine how severe a blow
impended over their former oppressors. Iiand of
the north. Babylon was so called because armies
and caravans coming thence to Jerusalem entered
the Holy Land from the north. Per as the four
winds, etc., assigns the reason why such a return
was possible. God had scattered Israel not to the
four winds, but as them, i. e., with a violence and
fury such as would result from the combined force
of all the winds of heaven. Keil's explanation of
tons as = a beneficent diffusion, is not sustainea
by the usage of the verb, and is against the con-
text. Ho ! Zion I etc. Zion stands for the inhab-
iwnts of Zion, i. e., the people of God, who are
now still dwelling with the daughter of Babylon,
I. e., the people of that city personified as a woman
(Ps. ix. 14, cxxxvii. 8).
Vers. 8, 9. Further reason of the call to flee
from Babylon. Alter glory. Gesenius, Maurer,
and others strangely construe this. He hath seitt me
after glory, in the sense of with a view to acquire
it. This is quite inadmissible, not because ""IIM
is not used as a preposition (Moore), for it is often
so employed, but because it is never construed with
a verb of motion in this sense, and the verb in the
text has its appropriate object and preposition im-
mediately following. We must therefore, follow-
ing the LXX. and the Vulgate, render " after glo-
ry " = after the bestowment of the glory stated in
ver. 5. The speaker was sent to these plundering
nations to execute God's judgments upon them.
The reason for this mission is announced in the
last clause of the verse by a beautiful and touch-
ing image, borrowed from Ps. xvii. 8 ; cf. Deut.
xxxii. 10. The apple, literally, the gate, through
which light enters the eye, hence = pupiL The
pupil or apple of the eye is a proverbial type of
that which is at once most precious and most easily
injured, and which therefore has a double claim
to the most careful protection. The pronominal
suffix his is to be referred to Jehovah, and not to
the enemy himself.
Ver. 9. For, behold .... servants, furnishes
an additional explanation of the sending after
glory. The Angel of the Lord would swing his
hand (cf. Is. xi. 15, xix. 16), as a gesture of men-
ace or a symbol of miraculous power, over the na-
tions, so that they should become — ^""n^ expresses
consequence — a spoil to the Israelites, who had
before been obliged to serve them. A close par-
allel is found in Is. xiv. 2. And ye shall know
.... sent me. By the execution of this judg-
ment it would he made clear to Israel that Jehovah
had sent his angel. They would know the fact
not only by faith, but by experience.
Vers. 10-12. The people are summoned to re-
joice over the Lord's indwelling and its happy re-
sults. Behold, I come. The glorification is about
to commence. Jehovah comes to Zion to take up
CHAPTER II. 1-13.
83
his abode, and this is the pledge of all conceivable
blessedness The close resemblance of the language
used here to that in ch. ix. 9, sugge.sts that both
refer to the same form of Jehovah's tabernacling
with men, namely, the incarnation. Even Kimchi
refers the passage to "future events in the times
of the Messiah." This is further confirmed by the
next veree. And many nations, etc. The King-
dom of God, instead of being confined to Israel,
will be enlarged by the reception of numerous
heathen peoples (ch. viii. 20, 21 ; Is. ii. 3, xvi. 1 ; Mi-
cah iv. 2). The two latter clauses of this verse are
emphatic repetitions of what has been said in the
same words in vers. 9, 10.
Ver. 12. And Jehovah wiU take, etc. The
speaker reverts to the ancient declaration. Dent,
xxxii. 9, " Jehovah's portion is his people, Ja-
cob the lot of his inheritance," and announces its
complete fulfillment through the coming of the
Lord. The holy land is of course, Palestine, but
only in the first instance. Wherever the people of
God are found, there is the holy land. Israel is to
overflow by the large additions made to it, so that
its original territory will be too small. "The new
aggregate shall inherit all the blessings promised
to the original chosen nation. The same thought
is conveyed in the other member of the parallelism.
Ver. 13 furaishes a sublime close to the chapter.
Be still . . . habitation. All flesh is summoned
to wait in reverential silence the coming of the
Lord to his work, and the reason assigned is that
it is soon to begin. For Jehovah has risen up from
his holy habitation, which is heaven (cf Deut.
xxvi. 15; 2 Chron. xxx. 27). Illustrative paral-
lels of the sentiment are found in Ps. Ixxvi. 8, 9 :
" The earth feared and was still, when God arose
to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth,"
and Zeph. i. 7 : " Hold thy peace at the presence
of the Lord God, for the dajr of the Lord is at
hand." Here the contrast is emphatic between
men, even all of them, who are but flesh, and the
everliving Jehovah. Calvin thinks that the tem-
ple rather than heaven is meant by the holy habita-
tion, and that the point is, that even from that deso-
lated place, exposed to the derision of the ungodly,
God would come forth to judgment. But it is
better to adhere to the usual meaning of the ex-
pression, and to understand the contrast as being
between God rising up in heaven, and all flesh on
the earth. The divine majesty has seemed to be
asleep, but now it is roused up ; let men therefore
beware.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
_ 1. Pressel justly remarks that although at first
view this vision appears to resemble those which
were received by EKekiel (xl. 3 IF.), and John
(Rev. xi. 1 ), yet in reality it is very different. In
the latter cases the imagery seems to have a fixed
and definite meaning, however difficult it may be
to ascertain and state that meaning ; in the former
the sj'mbolical action is of the simplest kind, and
serves merely to give vividness to the subsequent
oral statement. Whenever a house or a city is to
be enlarged, the first step is to make an adequate
survey of the existing buildings. The divine con-
descension uses this preliminary measurement out-
wardly represented, as =■ token of a future indefi-
nite expansion which would leave the surveyor's
lines far in the rear as a thing of the past. The
!ntlre chapter is an admirable illustration of the
jerminant nature of prophecy. In its primary
aspect it met directly the situation of the Proph-
et's contemporaries and animated them to new
zeal and hope in their endeavors to restore tha
national capital, and reestablish the former civil
and ecclesiastical institutions. Yet it manifestly
cannot be restricted to this. The incorporation
of many nations with the Jews, as set forth in ver.
11, had no counterpart in the actual experience of
the Jewish commonwealth as such. It was ful-
filled only in the rapid and general diffusion of the
Gospel by which multitudes of t le heatlien were
turned from dumb idols to serve the living God.
Yet the prophet passes without a break from the
narrower to the larger scope of his prediction.
They to whom it was first given may have found
it difficult to see tlie exact nexus of events ; but
to us who live at n time when Providence has
interpreted promise, it is easy to trace the way
in which the Spirit leads Zechariah from a tem-
porary act of consolation to a declaration which
sets forth one of the chief glories of Messiah's
blessed reign. The narrow walls of the Mosaic
forms were to be thrown down, and the church's
limits extended to those who were then far beyond
those boundaries. Moore speaks of it as at least
a curious coincidence that when this enlargement
did take place the centres of population were the
first to experience the blessing, and so the dwellers
in villages (pagani) became synonymous with those
who still remained in heathenism ; but at last the
Gospel reached and converted those very joa^anos
(pagans) ; and then in very deed Jerusalem inhab-
ited the villages or was spread out as the open
country.
2. The twofold blessing of Jehovah to his
Church. Nowhere even in Scripture is this set
forth with so much beauty and force as in the con-
cise statement that He is a wall of fire without
and a glory within. What deep moats or massive
walls or elaborate defenses are comparable to a
circle of flame, fed by no human bands, ensuring
destruction to the assailant before he can even
reach the presence of those he seeks to attack %
The Psalmist uses a striking figure when he says
(cxxv. 2), "As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people
from henceforth even forever." But the hills
which arose around Jerusalem might be scaled, or
commanded from a still higher elevation. Not so
with devouring fire ; that is an impassable barrier.
The promise lien is complete ; all that is needed
is faith to appropriate it. As Luther says, " If we
were surrounded by walls of steel and fire, we
would feel secure, and defy the devil. But the
property of faith is not to be proud of what the
eye sees but of what the word reveals." The one
prayer suitable for times of darkness or despond-
ency, is that of the disciples. Lord, increase out
faith.
But the assurance of Jehovah is not only for
outward, but also for inward wants, and that in a
most remarkable and comprehensive w.ay. He
Himself will be for a glory within. As the Psalm-
ist says, God is in the midst of her. Zion's true
boast is not in buildings or services, in music or
eloquence, in numbers or popularity, but in the
manifested presence of her great Head. If his
Holy Spirit reveal his power in cheering the bowed
down, in sanctifying the afBicted, in quickening
penitence, prayerfulness, holy living, and the usual
expressions of a gracious character, in calling dead
sinners from their living tombs, in elevating the
general tone of piety, in renewing the lost ima^a
in which man was originally created, then there it
34
ZECHARIAH.
glory far, far beyond what earth can gire. The
Psalmist said (cii. 16), "When the Lord shall build
np Zion, He will appear in glory." We may rev-
erently reverse the clauses, and affirm that when
He appears in glory, Zion shall be built up. Let
Him come wlien He will and as He will, his pres-
ence is enough.
3. God's people are unspeakably dear to Him.
7 hey are like the apple of his eye. He chooses
them as his portion. He guards them as his jewels.
The pupil of the eye is peculiarly delicate and
sensitive. It is not necessary to pierce it with a
knife to make the owner shrink ; a mote, or even
a touch will startle and grieve. So the blessed
Lord feels toward those whom He has chosen and
called. In all their affliction He is afflicted. When
Jesus remonstrated with Saul of Tarsus for his
furious enmity toward the infant Church, the lan-
guage was, " Why persecutest thou me? " Every
blow, struck at the least or humblest member of
the body, reaches its invisible but glorious head.
In like manner whatever is done for the people of
God is regarded by God as done for Himself He
" is not unrighteous to forget 3'our work and labor
of love which ye have showed toward his name, in
that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister "
(Heb. vi. 10). This is not the estimate of the
world at large. They look down upon believers
as deluded visionaries, or at best atniable enthusi-
asts, while sometimes the carnal heart finds ex-
pression in much harsher terms. So mitch the
more necessary is it to remember the Lord's judg-
ment in the case, and to feel and act toward those
who bear the Christian name and walk according-
ly, as to those who, whatever their outward sur-
roundings, are loved by their Lord with an affec-
tion beyond what even a mother bears to the son
of her womb.
The whole history of the Church is a comment
upon this utterance. From the time of its insti-
tution in the household of Abraham, when latent
in Egypt, wandering in the desert, militant in Ca-
naan, triumphant in Jerusalem, captive in Baby-
lon, oppressed under the Syrians and Romans, it
was sustained by heavenly food, by visions and in-
spirations, by miracles and portents, by God's
effective support on the right hand and the left.
Afterwards, when revived and renewed by the per-
sonal ministry and blessed sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus, it was brought into still closer fellowship
with the Most High, fitted for unlimited diffusion,
proclaimed to all the world, and established alike
among the loltiest and the lowliest of the earth.
And tliough tried in every possible way by malice
and envy, it was only purged by sutt'ering, con-
firmed and rooted by the storms of persecution,
and protected against all the powers of earth and
hell by an arm which even the blind may see be-
longs to none but the living God.
4. The introduction of nations into the fellow-
ship of the people of God is one of the grand pe-
culiarities of the later dispensation. In earlier
days the Church was far less restrictive that it is
often supposed to have been. Not a few outside
of the chosen line obtained entrance to the com-
munity. Not only Hobab, and Rahab, and Ruth,
and Gittai, but many others found a home in Zion ;
still in all cases they were required to leave their
original home, to forget their father's house, and
transplant themselves to the seat of the theocracy.
But now the good news goes to the heathen in-
stead of their coming to it. The various tribes
»nd families whom God so carefully separated
'Acts xvii. 26), although they were of one blood,
still retain their distinct national existence, but on
receiving the Gospel arc counted as seed of the
promise. A very remarkable Psalm (Ixxxvii. 4)
speaks of these collective bodies as subjects of re-
generation. " I will mention Rahab and Baby
Ion as knowing me. Lo, Philistia and Tyre with
Ethiopia. (As to each of these it shall be said.)
This one was born there." These ruling poweis
among the heathen, most of them hereditary en-
emies of Israel, are given as samples of the whole
Gentile world. Not individuals alone, but whole
nations are to experience a spiritual birth, and la
consequence join themselves to Jehovah. Not by
force of outward compulsion, but by the power of
an inward conviction. The flocks of Kedar and the
rams of Nebaioth with good will (or of their own
accord) ascend the altar of Jehovah (Is. Ix. 7). It
is of course trite that conversions are effected in-
dividually and not en masse, but these are to be so
multiplied that a little one becomes a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation. The history of
modern missions has furnished repeated instances
in which a whole people has been revolutionized
and made as distinctively Christian as it before
had been heathen. It needs only a farther devel-
opment of divine grace in the same direction to fill
out in reality the most glowing pictures sketched
on the prophetic canvass.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL,
Pkessel : A fine illustration of the defense
which Jehovah is to his people is furnished in the
experience of a widow who alone with her daugh-
ter occupied a house standing by itself in the di-
rect way of the Russian array on its march to
Schleswick, and comforted her weeping, despair-
ing daughter with the assurance that the Lord
could and would protect them from all harm. The
same night a heavy fall of snow so covered all ap-
proaches to the house that when the army marched
on the next day it was not visited or apparently
seen by even one of the licentious soldiery. A
wall of snow was as effectual as a wall of fire.
MooEE ; The true glory of the Church is not
in any external pomp or power of any kind. Her
outward rites and ceremonies, therefore, should
only be what the earth's atmosphere is to the rays
of the sun, — a pure, transparent medium of trans-
mission.
— Delay of punishment is no proof of impunity.
God often seems asleep when He is only awaiting
the appointed time ; but in the end, when all seems
as it was from the foundation of the world, the
herald cry shall go forth, Be silent, 0 earth, for
Jehovah is roused to his terrible work, and the
day of his wrath is come.
Jay : If God regards his people so kindly and
is so jealous for their welfare (ver. 8), it becomes
them on the other hand to be equally concerned
for his cause and his glory. We are to regard his
Word as we keep the tenderest part of the tender-
est member of our body. He says, " Keep my
commandments and live ; and my law as the apple
of thine eye " (Prov. vii. 2).
Hodge: I will dwell in the midst of thee''
(vers. 5, 10, 11). God is said to dwell wherever
He specially and permanently manifests his pres-
ence. And since He thus specially and perma-
nently manifests his presence in his people collec-
tively and individually, He is said to dwell in all
and in each 'The human soul is said to he
full of God when its inward state, its affection!
CHAPTER III. 1-10. 3£
ind acts are determined and controlled by Him,
eo as to be a constant manifestation of the divine
presence. Then it is pure, and glorious, and free.
and blessed There is unspeakably more in
the promises of God than we are able to under
stand.
VISION IV. JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST BEFORE THE ANGEL OP
JEHOVAH.
Chapter III. 1-10.
A. Joshua accused by Satan, hut forgiven (vers. 1-5). B. A Promise of Protection
to the High Priest, and also of the coming of Branch and its blessed Results (vers.
6-10).
1 And he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah,
2 and Satan ^ standing at his right hand to oppose him.' And Jehovah said to Satan,
Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan, even Jehovah who chooses ^ Jerusalem rebuke thee !
3 Is not this a brand plucked from the fire ? And Joshua was clothed in filthy gar-
4 ments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake to those who stood
before him, saying. Take the filthy garments away from him, and he said to him,
See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from^ thee, and will clothe thee with festal
5 raiment. And I said,^ Let them put a clean ° mitre upon his head ; and they put
the clean mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of
Jehovah was standing by.
6 And the angel of Jehovah testified ' to Joshua, and said,
7 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, *
If thou wilt walk in my ways and keep my charge,
Thou shalt judge my house, and also keep my courts,
And I will give thee access ' among these standing here.
8 Hear, I pray, 0 Joshua the high priest.
Thou and thy colleagues ^ who sit before thee,
For men of wonder ^ are they,
For, behold, I bring my servant, Branch.
9 For, behold the stone which I have laid before Joshua ;
Upon one stone are seven eyes ;
Behold I execute its carving ; '"
And I remove the iniquity of this land in one day.
10 In that day saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Ye shall invite every man his neighbor
Under the vine and under the fig tree.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — i3Ct£?7 llDtt^n. The force of this aatanacl^is can hardly be expressed in a version — the opposer $f>
tppose him fails to convey the force of the proper name Satan.
'i Ver. 2. — nni not as E. V. who " has chosen," but according to the force of the participle, who now and habit-
ually chooses. Henderson with a marvelous lack of taste substitutes for the simple meaning, " taketh delight."
8 Ver. 4. " From thee," lit. ; from upon thee. The guilt or punishment of sin is conceived as a burden restinf{
Dpon the sinner until forgiveness removes it.
i Ver. 5. —Tor ~iaH"l Ewald, following the Targum, Peshito, and Vulgate, proposes to read "ID"!, and Hender
•on, ^ISS\ But on general principles the Masorctic text is to be preferred, and especially here, where the motive of
Ihe change is obvious, and nothing is gained in clearness or emphasis by departing from the Hebrew.
9 Yep, ;. Tin^. The E. V. " fair," besides being a needless departure from the meaning of the word, fails tc
•xpreso the point involved in cleanness as the emblem of purity or forgiveness.
• Ver. 6. — ^57'^ a strong term, implying the inj.portance and the certainty of the commnnication.
' Ver. 7. — " Access," lit., ways, t. e., means of free ingress and egress among my immediate attendants. See Exeg.
M Critical.
36
ZECHARIAH.
8 Vei. 8. — tT^3?"1 = companions, but as it is associates in office who are iatended, colleagues seems the neareet
pquiTaleat.
9 Ver. 8. — jHDiD is rendered wonder (E. V. margin), to preserve its original signification. Perhaps " men of omen ^
wonid be more easily understood.
10 Ter. 9. — D'^nnS HnD iii-: to open openings = to carve.
EXEGETICAl AND CEIIICAL.
The third vision lays a sure foundation for the
glowing assurances and promises contained in
(hose which precede by revealing the fact of the
divine forgiveness. Sin had been the cause of all
the previous troubles of Israel, and its continuance
would bring them all back. Hence the need and
value of the great truth expressed in the dramatic
form and rich symbolism of this vision. The first
half of the chapter (vers. 1-5) represents the high
priest standing before the angel of Jehovah and
opposed by Satan ; but .Joshua is forgiven, — a fact
damaging others, he secures his own OTerthrow.
The emphatic repetition of the exclamation indi-
cates the certainty of Satan's failure. The other
words of the verse show the ground of this failure.
It is not at all in the innocence of the high priest
or the people, but in the gracious purpose of Jeho-
vah. He chooses Jerusalem, and that choice
must stand. This is further confirmed by the
question. Is not this a brand .... Are ? cf.
Amos iv. 11. Most expositors, ancient and
modern, refer this to the exile in which Joshua
had suffered, but from which he had been restored.
God had rescued him for preservation not for de-
struction. Having snatched the brand from the
which is both literally stated and also symbolically ] flames, he did not mean to throw it back into the
represented.^ In the second half (vers. 6-10), the i fjre. The reference of course is to the high priest,
high priest is assured of present protection, and of
the future appearance of the Branch, who will re-
move sin at once and bestow the fullness of salva-
tion.
(a.) The Symbol (vers, l-.'i). Ver. 1. Ajid he
showed me. The subject of the verb is Jehovah,
as appears from the fact that He is the last person
previously mentioned, and from the parallel phrase
m i. 20. It is not necessary to suppose that it is
a judicial scene (Hoffman, Ewald, Kohler, Pres-
sel) which is presented to the Prophet's vifw. So
far as the terms used are concerned, they will ap-
ply equally well to the high priest's appearance
before God in the discharge of his official func-
tions. To " stand before Jehovah " was the tech-
nical term to denote the ordinary service of the
priests (Deut. x. 8 ; 2 Chron. xxix. U ; Judg. xx.
28; Ezek. xliv. 15). The presumption then is
that he was here not for himself only, but also
and chiefly on behalf of the people, as their reprc-
Bentativc. That he was engaged in prayer is im-
plied in the circumstances, and also in the descrip-
tion of Jehovah's words in ver. 4 as an ansiva-.
But another person appears on the scene who is
called Satan, lit., the adversary. Some (Kimchi,
Ewald) refer this to a human adversary, such as
Sanb.illat, but the emphatic form of the term ; its
analogy to 6 ai^riSiKos (1 Pet. v. 8) and 6 KaT-l^ycap
(Kev. xii. 10) ; the LXX.'s equivalent Sid(3o\os ;
and the occurrence of the word in Job i., ii. ; all
point to the chief of the evil spirits as the person
here intended. Ho is said to stand on the right
hand of Joshua, not because this was the position
appropriated by Jewish usage to an accuser, for
no such usage can be, or at least has been, estab-
lished ; but because this is the most suitable place
for one who wishes to impede or oppose another
(Job XXX. 12; Ps. cix. 6). Satan s object is to
oppose Joshua. The manner is not specifically
stated, but from the next verse it seems as if Sa-
tan's work was to dwell upon the sins of the high
priest and his people, and upon this ground urge
their condemnation and overthrow.
Ver. 2. And Jehovah said. Almost all ex-
positors agree that the angel of Jehovah is the
Speaker here who takes the name of Jehovah be
cause of the intimate and mysterious relation he
sustains to Him. There is no debate between the
parties, but the adversary is at once repelled with
mdignation. Jehovah rebuke thee I Instead of
not so much in his personal, as his representative
character.
Ver. 3. Clothed with filthy garments. Eich-
horn, Ewald, et al., consider this soiled raiment de-
signed to set forth that he was an accused person,
but this is arbitrarily to transfer a Roman custom
(Liv. ii. 54) to the East where not a trace of it is
to be seen. In Hebrew usage such garments rep-
resent sin. Is. Ixiv. 5 : " We are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags."
Sorely as the nation had been chastised, its iniq-
uity was not wiped away. The last clause is not
a superfluous repetition of what is stated in ver. 1,
but indicates a patient expectancy in Joshua, that
notwithstanding Satan's accusation, relief would
come.
Ver. 4. And he ans^wered, i. e., the prayer for
forgiveness involved in the fact of the high priest's
appearing before the Lord. Vitringa says (on
Zcch. i. 11), " In every case in which n317 or onro-
KpiveffSai is placed at the opening of a speech or
narrative without any question preceding it, there
is always a question tacitly assumed; just as in
the Books of Scripture, where they commence with
the copula, some antecedent is always supposed to
exist, with which the narrative or speech is tacitly
contrasted, even though nothing at all has gone
before." Those who stood before him = surely
not, as Ewald maintains, the friends of the ac-
cused, but the Lord's own servants, the angds.
These are ordered to remove the filthy garments,
and then the angel of Jehovah explains the mean-
ing of the symbolical act. I have taken, etc.
This does not refer to sanctification (Mark), but
to forensic forgiveness. The two cases (2 Sam.
xii. 13 and xxiv. 10) establish this as the meaning
of the phrase, l^t? ~'"'?57il. The festal garments
may symbolize innocence (Chaldee), or joy (Koh-
ler, Pressel), or glory (Keil).
Ver. 5. And I said. At this point the Prophet
who had been only a silent spectator, comes sudden-
ly forward with a prayer for the completion of the
work begun, and says, Let them put .... head.
It cannot be made out that any special significance
attached to the mitre or turban, and the emphasis
must lie upon the qualifying word clean. "' The
turban can be referred to only as an article of
dress which would be the first to strite the eye "
CHAPTER III. 1-10.
37
(Hengstenberg). The wish of the Prophet was at
once complied with. The last clause of the verse
does not mean that the angel of the Lord rose up
from his seat (Henderson, Kohler, Prcssel), but
that he continued standing by, " like a master
presiding over the ceremony, approving and adorn-
ing it with his presence" (C. B. Mich.).
(6.) The Promise (vers. 6-10). The comple-
tion of the symbolical action is made the occasion
of a further and far-reaching assurance, addressed
to the high priest and through him to the nation.
Ver. 6. Testified = made a solemn declaration
(Gen. xliii. 3 ; Deut. viii. 19).
Ver. 7 contains a promise with a condition.
The condition is partly personal — walk in my
ways, and partly official — keep my charge. The
promise is altogether official. Judge . . . courts
= administer the service in the holy place and
guard the house of God from all idolatry and un-
godliness. " This is here represented not as a
duty but as a rewai'd ; inasmuch as activity in
connection with the kingdom of God is the high-
est honor and greatest favor which God can confer
upon any mortal" (Hengstenberg). The last
clause contains an important additional promise.
D''D7nB is a difficult word which occurs no-
where else. (1.) Some take it as a noun, plural
of 'iJiPr'P = ways, i. c, ingress and egress, de-
noting a peculiarly free access to God among his
heavenly servants (Calvin, Hitzig, Maurer, Ewald,
Kohler, Fiirst, etc.). (2.) Others regard it as a
Chaldee form of the Piel participle of tj vil, taken
intransitively = walkers, i. e., angels who as mes-
sengers go between the high priest and Jehovah
(LXX., Vulg., Pesh., Grotius, Baumgarten). (3.)
Others derive it from the Hiphil participle of the
same verb, meaning = leaders or guides (Luther,
Geseu., Heng., Umbreit, Dr. Riggs, etc.). Against
the last two is the circumstance that Zechariah
eould very well have expressed that sense in regu-
lar Hebrew form ; that they require an alteration
of the text ; and that T*? is required to be ren-
dered as=r2Q. I hesitatingly prefer the first.
One thing is certain, that some kind of association
or influence with God's immediate servants on
high is here promised to the high priest.
Ver. 8. Hear, I pray, etc. This opening calls
attention to the importance of what follows. The
address is made not only to Joshua, but to his col-
leagues, i. c, associates in the pi-iestly office. The
next clause assigns the reason for including them.
They are men of vyonder, i. e., men who excite
wonder in others, and thus attracting attention
to themselves, become types of what is to come
(cf. Is. viii. 18 ; xx. 3 ; Ezek. xii. 6 ; xxiv. 24-27
(Heb.j. The constant exercise of priestly func-
tions in the offering of sacrifices which had no in-
trinsic efficacy was a perpetual testimony of man's
need of forgiveness and of God's purpose in future
to satisfy the need thus made known. The objec-
tion to this view on Ihe ground that we should ex-
pect are ye and not are they, is removed by the fact
that such cases of euallage are not rare (cf. Zeph.
ii. 12 (in Heb.). The reason why these typical
men, Joshua and his priests, are summoned to lis-
ten, is given in the next clause, which declares that
Jehovah will bring forward that antitype whose
appearance would show that their typical charac-
ter was founded in truth. My servant Branch.
The antitype is described by two names taken from
Ihe earlier Prophets. One, servant is of frequent
occurrence in Isaiah (xlii. 1, etc.), and also in
Ezek. (xxxiv. 23, 24). The other, branch, occurs
in Jeremiah xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15, — passages which
plainly lean upon Isaiah's statements xi. 1, liii. 2.
The term denotes the original obscurity of this
personage and the gradual development of hia
character. Instead of being a tall and stately
tree, he is a mere branch or root-shoot. This ref-
erence had become so well understood in Zechar-
iah's time that he uses the word as if it were a
proper name, my servant Branch. That it pointed
to the Messiah is admitted by the Chald. Par.,
and almost all expositors, ancient and modern.
The suggestion of a few (Kimchi, Theodoret, Gro-
tius, Blayney), that Zerubbabel was intended, ia
refuted by the fact that the Branch had not yet
appeared, while Zerubbabel had ; and also by the
consideration that this civil governor had nothing
to do with the priestly office and could not possi
bly be an antitype of its holders. A similar figur-
ative description of the Messiah is found in Ezek.
xvii. 22, 23. The Lord, having described the
royal house of Judah as a strong and lofty cedar,
which had been plucked up by the roots and left
to wither and die, declares that He will take from
its summit a slender twig and plant it on the
mountain of the height of Israel, where the little
scion shall take root, and grow, and spread, until
it commands universal admiration. Every tree of
the field shall own its superiority, and every fowl
of heaven seek its shelter.
Ver. 9. For behold .... seven eyes. This
verse assigns the reason for the fulfillment of the
preceding promise. The condition of the cove-
nant people was so deplorable that it seemed vain
to expect such a blessing as the coming of the
Messiah. To countervail such despondency, Jeho-
vah of Hosts assures his people of the watchful
and loving care which will secure the gracious re-
sult. The sinrjle stone is not the Messiah (early
interpreters, Kliefoth), for he was not " laid be-
fore Joshua ; " nor the foundation stone of the
Temple ( Rosen miiller, Hitzig, Neumann, Hender-
son), which had long since been laid ; nor the top-
stone (Maurer), nor the plummet (Grotius), nor a
jewel of the high priest's breast-plate (Theodoret,
Baumgarten, etc.) ; but the covenant people, now
appropriately described as lying before Joshua,
who was their ecclesiastical leader. It is no objec-
tion to this view that the Messiah is elsewhere
spoken of as a stone (Ps. cxviii. 22 ; 1 Pet. ii. 7),
for sometimes the head and the body both have
the same term applied to them, as in Isaiah's use
of the term servant, where only the context can
determine which of the two is meant (Is. xllv. 2 :
Hi. 13). The seven eyes may denote, either the
all-embracing providence of God, or (according to
the statement in Rev. v. 6 of the seven eyes of the
Lamb which are the seven spirits of God, sent
forth into all the earth) the seven-fold radiations
of tlie Spirit of Jehovah, by which the stone ia
preserved and prepared for its glorious destina-
tion. I see no reason why both may not be com-
bined. According to this view, the eyes are not
engraved on the stone, but directed toward it (cf.
Ps. xxxii. 8 ; Jer. xxxix. 1 2 for this use of ^'i).
Ewald ( Geschichte d. V. I., iv. 239) sees in this
verse a distinct evidence of Zoroastrian ideas. He
says the conception of the seven eyes of Jehovah
was derived from the Persian notion of the seven
Amshaspands who surround the throne of thu
Supreme, and adds m a note that the upper ser-
vants of a great king were often called his eyes
38
ZECHARIAH.
and his cars. How far-fetched is this 1 The He-
brews were familiar with the term eyes of God or
Jehovah, and meant liy it just what all men mean
by it ; and the number seven had for ages been
well known to them as a symbol of sacredness and
completeness. See the excursus at the end of this
section. The passage is perfectly intelligible oa
the supposition that Zcchariah had never even
heard of such a tiling as the seven Amshaspands
of the Zen d-avesta. Execute its carving = make
it a beautiful and costly stone. So most exposi-
tors from Calvin to Pressel. The last clause com-
pletes the brilliant promise. This land, i. e., the
land of Israel, which of course includes its inhabit-
ants, and they stand for the whole Church of
which they were tlien the re|)resentatives. The
guilt is to be removed in one day, which can
hardly be any other than the great day of atone-
ment at Golgotha. The plirase is analogous to
the "once for all" in Hebrews vii. 27, x. 10. It
presents a contrast between the continually re-
peated sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood and
the one final and effectual sacrihce of the Messiah.
Ver. 10. Ye shall Invite . . .fig tree. The
result of this is expressed in a proverbial phrase
borrowed from the older Scriptures, where it fii-st
occurs in the description of the happy period un-
der Solomon (1 Kings iv. 25). " Whether it is to
be taken literally or spiritually here has been much
contested, the Rabbins favoring the former view,
the Fathers the latter. We rightly combine both,
and maintain that this picture of peaceful prosper-
ity and cordial union is realized, although imper-
fectly, yet just as far as Christ's kingdom has its
proper influence and the communion of saints is
felt" (Pressel).
The entire vision and promise were admirably
adapted to effect their end. The high priest con-
quers his fierce antagonist, is assured of his for-
giveness and confirmed in his ofSce, and is certified
of the continuance of the people until the appear-
ance of the long expected Branch, who once for
all and forever would take away the guilt and pun-
ishment of sin.
The Number Seven. The question why the eyes
spoken of in vcr. 9, whatever their meaning, should
^e stated as seven, brings up for consideration the
peculiar significance of this number. Its employ-
ment here and in the next chapter (ver. 2, seven
lamps and seven pipes, ver. 10, those seven), are
instances of a usage at once very ancient and very
wide spread. Leaving out of view the literature of
Jndia, Persia, and Arabia, we find in Scripture an
.extraordinai-y frequency of its occurrence. Seven,
seventh, and sevenfold are found in the Old Testa-
ment and the New, not less than three hundred
and eighty-three times, while a similar enumeration
of .the instances in which six and eiyht are used,
reaches the sum of only one hundred and seventy-
eix, or less than one half of the sevens. This usage
begins with the first book of the Bible and ends
only with the last. We find in Genesis the seven
days t)f creation ; seven-fold vengeance denounced
for -Cain ; clean beasts and fowls received into the
ark b_y sevens ; the dove despatched from the ark
at intervals of seven days ; Jacob serving seven
years for a wife he did not want, and seven more
for the wife he did want; and seven fat kine and
jeven lean, seven good ears and seven thin, rep-
resenting the seven years of plenty and famine.
In the Mosaic ritual, many sacrifices required seven
rictims, and often the blood was required to be
iprinkled seven times. Not only the seventh day
was holy, but the seventh week of the year (q
week of weeks) ; and the seventh month ; and the
seventh or Sabbatical year; and the Jubilee or the
year following seven weeks of years, were all
marked by festival observances. Jericho was over-
thrown by a march of the people seven successive
days around the walls, headed by seven priests who
blew as many trumpets. On the seventh day che
circuit was made seven times, and then at the
shout of the people the walls fell. Samson gave
the Philistines of Timnath seven days to solve his
riddle, he was bound with seven withes, and his
seven locks were woven with the web. Seven years
of famine were inflicted in Elisha's time, and the
same offered as an alternative to David. The
Psalmist praised God seven times a day, the just
man falls seven times and rises again, Nebuchad-
nezzar's furnace was heated seven times more than
it was wont. In the Apocalypse, the recurrence
is still more marked. A condensed summation
reports that there are two sevens in the introduc-
tion, namely, seven churches and seven spirits, and
in the body of the work two sevens of sevens,
namely, first, seven candlesticks, stars, seals, horns,
eyes, trumpets, thunders ; and secondly, seven an-
gels, heads, crowns, plagues, vials, mountains,
kings.
Of the fact that this number is exceedingly
prominent there can be no question. The precise
ground of the prominence is not so easily stated,
'rhe late Professor Hadley, from whose article' on
the subject our statement is drawn, enumerated
five dift'erent theories. One is the Arithmetical,
used by Philo the Jew, and based upon the peculiar
property of seven as compared with any other of
the digits. A second, the Chronological, is founded
upon the early division of time into weeks. A
tliird, the Symbolic, conceives seven to be the
union of two numbers, namely, three, which sym-
bolizes the divine, since the Godhead is a trinity,
and four, which symbolizes the cosmical, the cre-
ated universe of space, this being determined by
the four cardinal points of the compass. The seven
then represents that reunion of the world with
God, which is the great aim and crowning con-
summation of all true religion. A fourth is the
Physiological theory, tracing the preeminence of
the seven to the fact that there are seven parts of
the body, namely, the head, chest, and loins, with
the four limbs ; and seven openings of the head,
namely, the three pairs of eyes, ears, and nostrils,
with the mouth ; and further, that the seventh,
fourteenth, and twenty-first days are critical periJ
ods in diseases. The fifth hypothesis is based on
Astronomical reasons. The nocturnal heavens
offered to the men of primitive times a constant
and impressive spectacle. Here they could not but
be struck by the seven members of the planetary
system, as well as by the fact that the fixed stars
exhibited the same number in several of the most
brilliant constellations, e. g., the Great Bear or
Charles' Wain, the Septeniriones of the Romans ;
the Lesser Bear with its remarkable pole-star; the
Pleiades with their " sweet influences," and the
Ilyades, whose frequent rains " vex the sea."
Upon the whole, in view of the antiquity of the
usage and the character of the early Hebrews, it
seems most natural to trace their sense of its sa-
credness and completeness to its original associa
tions with the times and means of religious wor
ship.
1 Essays Phitotogical and Critical, New York, 1878.
CHAPTER in. 1-10.
39
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL.
1. This chapter contains one of the passages in
the Old Testament in which the great spiritual
adversary of God and man is spoken of under
the name Satan. The other places are 1 Cliron.
ymi. 1 and the prologue to the book of Joh. (The
word T^^ occurs also in 2 Sam, xix. 23 and Ps.
cix. 6, but it is extremely doubtful whether it is
need in these passages in any other than an appel-
lative sense = adversary. ) It is a favorite notion
with " the later criticism," that Zechariah imported
his conception of Satan from the Zoroastrian doc-
trine of Ahriman, the original source of all moral
and physical evil, the chief of malignant spirits, the
king of darkness and of death, and consequently
the eternal enemy of Ormuzd, and of his kingdom
of light. But there is neither historical nor logical
foundation for this fancy. During the very (ijw
years which elapsed between the Persian conquest
of Babylon and the appearance of Zechariah as
a prophet, there was not time for the theological
notions of the Zend-avesta to penetrate the Jewish
mind and to color its conceptions of the unseen
world. The dualism of Zoroaster must have had
a most extraordinary degree of self-propagating
power, to pass in so short a time from the central
point of the Persian Empire to one of its farthest
outlying provinces. Besides, Zechariah's doctrine
of Satan differs fundamentally from the Persian
conception of Ahriman. The latter is an inde-
pendent, eternal, and self-existent principle,whereas
the former is a created, fallen, malignant being, of
vast capacity and immense power of mischief," but
still under the control of the Almighty, often thwart-
ed in his machinations, and destined one day to an
ntter and disastrous overthrow. Nor had Zech-
ariah any need to learn from the Persian theol-
ogy. The existing precedents in the sacred books
of the Jews furnished him with all the materials
necessary to construct or to understand the sym-
bolical vision vouchsafed to him. What he sees is
the head and representative of the nation in sacred
things standing in solemn service before the Angel
of Jehovah, who is attended by a train of angelic
ministers (ver. 7), while over against this important
official stands Satan accusing and opposing ; and
in the end Jehovah rebukes the adversary and fa-
vors his own servant. Manifestly this corresponds
m form and in substance to what is contained in
the prologue of the book of Job, the date of which
is allowed on all hands not to be later than the
Solomonic era.
A remarkable confirmation of this view is given
in the New Testament, where (Rev. xii. 10) Satan
IS called, " the accuser of our brethren, who accuses
[i KaTrryopSii'] them before our God day and night."
Accusation is the element of his being! He accuses
God to men (cf Gen. iii. 4, 5), and he accuses men
to God (as in Job and in this passage). Hence
his usual name in the New Testament, Diabolits,
from Sia$aAXeiv^to set at variance, namely, by
gander, — a descriptive title quite as strong as the
Hebrew term, Satan = opposer, the inherent and
everlasting adversary of God and man, and of all
thf.t is good. This antagonism, however, takes a
particular form which runs through all the Scrip-
ture from Genesis to Revelation, and is seen not dim-
h in our prophet. In the curse pronounced in the
Garden of Eden upon the tempter, the Old Serpent
(Rev. xii. 9), God declared that He would put en-
toitj between him and the woman, and not only
that, but " between thy seed and her seed ; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
The seed of Satan are all the ungodly, of whom ha
is the head ; the seed of the woman are all thegodly,
of whom Christ is the head. These two heads stand
in mortal conflict ; both suffer, but the one only in
the extremities, the other in a vital part, " For this
purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He
might destroy the works of the devil " ( 1 John iii,
8). In the end the kingdom of our God and the
power of his Christ will be too much for the craft
and malice of Satan. Still that malignant being
opposes the truth, and leaves no stone unturned to
turn away God's favor from his people, and thus
overthrow the entire redemptive economy. This is
the point of the symbolical vision here. Did the
Lord cast off his people entirely and recall his
promised grace, the historical basis tor the Messiah
to come would perish, and no room be left for his
appearance according to the ancient predictions.
The issue, then, was vital. It did not concern an
individual merely ; it did not belong only to some
one particular crisis in the history of the restored
exiles ; but it touched the very existence of the
Kingdom of God on earth. If' the confessed sins
of Israel were sufficient to secure their final rejec-
tion from God at that stage of their history, the
hopes of the race were blasted, and the prospect
of a blessing for all the families of the earth, be-
came a beautiful but empty dream.
2. The doctrines of grace are finely illustrated
in this vision. The opposition of Satan is evidently
grounded on a charge of sin in Joshua and those
for whom he acts. Joshua came before the Angel
of Jehovah in his representative capacity, which
of course implies the existence of sin to be atoned
for and pardoned, for holy beings need no sacrific
ing priesthood between them and God. This was
emphasized at the present time by the recollection
ot the abominations which had called down the
Babylonian captivity, and the still more recent re-
missness of the restored people in building the
Temple. The Jews were weak in faith, despondent
in spirit, and more prone to labor for their tempo-
ral fortunes than for their spiritual interests. Sa-
tan then had a high vantage-ground from which
to oppose them. But mark the source of his re-
pulse. " Jehovah, Jehovah that chooses Jerusalem,
rebuke thee ! " The people are reminded here, as
they so often were in earlier times, that they had
not chosen the Lord, but He had chosen them. It
was not their numbers, nor wisdom, nor wealth,
nor moral excellence (Dout. vii. 7, 8) which in-
duced Him to make them the depository of his
truth and the channel of his grace to a fallen world.
It was his own sovereign, condescending grace
which had its own reasons, but not reasons subsist-
ing in the moral qualities of Israel. As He had
chosen them once, the election still continued, and
was a valid reason why they should not be cast off.
Nay, the very circumstances whith Satan might
plead against them were in anothe- point of view
arguments in their favor. They had been in the
glowing furnace of Chaldiean bondage and exile,
and the smell of fire was still on their garments.
Everything in their condition spoke of apostasy
and its merited recompense. They were a very
small remnant left of that proud kingdom which
once stretched from the Leontes to Egypt, and
from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. It was
difficult to see any trace of the former grandeur in
the poverty-stricken colony which gathered around
their fathers' graves. But their very fewness and
poverty and weakness pleaded for them They hai
iO
ZECHABIAH.
been rescued from the common doom of trans-
planted people by a peculiar providence. A forced
migration of an entire population to a distant
land usually breaks the old association entirely and
forever. New ties and interests are formed, and
the present drives the past out of view and out of
memory. But here God, by the hand of a man
whom He had called and named centuries before
he was born (Is. xliv. 28, xlv. 1), had broken the
fetters and recalled his banished ones. The work
of reestablishmenthad begun, and should it cease t
Nay, verily. The brand so carefully rescued from
a general conflagration, would be preserved, not-
withstanding all the clamor of Satan. He who
had begun the good work would carry it on to
completion. The gifts and calling of God are
without repentance.
3. The doctrine of gratuitous forgiveness is the
glory of the Gospel. "Not by works of righte-
ousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us." Even so was the Church
taught in the older dispensation, not only by word
as when Abraham's faith was counted for righte-
ousness and by type, as in all the sacrifices, but
also by symbol as in the case of Joshua, the liigh
priest. There was no denial of the truth of the
facts upon which Satan based his accusation. Oa
the contrary, open confession was made in the
very appearance of the priest. Instead of being
arrayed in the pure and shining robes expressly
appointed for sacerdotal functions, he was clad in
filthy garments, — fit emblem of the hideous moral
stains by which he and his people were soiled.
Each one of those polluted garments echoed the
words of the royal penitent, " I acknowledge
my transgression, and my sin is ever before me "
(Ps. li. 3). Physical stains may be extracted, but
no human agency in all the world can take the
soil of sin from the conscience. That is done only
by the act of the Lord of the conscience. Its ac-
complishment here was represented by the order
to remove the filthy garments and replace them
by festal raiment. It was a sovereign act of the
God of grace, — I have caused thine iniquity to
pass from thee. This lies at the root of all true
religion. " There is forgiveness with thee that
thou mayest be feared." Despair is death. He
who has no hope or prospect of the divine mercy,
has nothing leit but to go on in sin and at last lie
down in interminable sorrow. To encourage Is-
rael, fast verging to such a forlorn condition, this
vision was vouchsafed. Its aim was not to send
the people to sleep in their sins witli the false peace
of self-righteousness, but to assure them that, not-
withstanding the magnitude of those sins, God
would of his own free grace remit the penalty and
bestow the gift of justification upon the high
priest, and in him upon the nation at large. Such
an assurance gives peace. Who is he that con-
demneth"? It is God that justitieth.
4. Great as were the present privileges of the
covenant people, something better was in store.
Their whole economy was introductory and pre-
parative. The golden age of the Hebrews, unlike
that of all other ancient nations, was not in the
past but the future. Poets and JProphots rejoiced
to sing of one who was to come, in whom ail the
families of the earth should be blessed. Priests
and kings were emljodied types of the character
and functions of this great deliverer. Reminding
Joshua and his colleagues of this truth, Jehovah
renews the promise of one who should be by em-
'nence his servant. In naming him, the precise
term used by the older Prophets is employed again,
the Branch, which does not mean " a limb in the
sense of one among many on the same tree, but a
shoot which springs up from the root, and which,
though small at first, becomes a tree of wonderful
qualities" (Cowles), The monarchy which in ths
persons of David and his son Solomon stood like s
majestic and wide-spreading tree, now lay in ruins,
— the huge trunk cut down, mangled, burned
But from the stump there should come a slendet
shoot, which in course of time would grow up into
a mighty monarch of the forest, putting out limbs
and foliage under which whole nations should col-
lect themselves. The term therefore kept steadily
in view the salient points thS people were to seize.
The lowly, unpretending, unpromising origin of
this deliverer and the ultimately vast sweep of hia
beneficent agency. In all outward aspects he stood
at the farthest possible remove from his distin-
guished types, whether of the priestly or kingly
line. He never bore the brilliant breast-plate of
Aaron into the holy of holies, nor did his hand
hold a sceptre except the mocking reed of Pilate's
soldiers ; yet his sacerdotal function was the only
real and eflicacious one the earth ever saw, and
his royal office has secured a depth of attachment
and a fullness of service to which all the recordfl
of earth-born loyalty together furnish no parallel.
HOMILETICAL AND PBACTICAL.
WoEDSwoETH : Ver, 1 , Satan stood at Joshua's
right hand and endeavored to work his ruin. So
Satan stood at the right hand of our Joshua on
the pinnacle of the Temple and tempted him to
cast himself down. He stood at Christ's right
hand when He was betrayed hy Judas into whom
Satan entered ; he tempted him in his agony and
passion ; and he is still standing at Christ's right
hand by his opposition to the preaching of the Gos-
pel and by his sowing tares of heresy in his Church.
— Ver, 2, Here is a solemn warning against the
sarcastic, bitter, and virulent spirit which so often
shows itself in speaking and writing against others.
The holy angels, even in contending against Sar
tan, use mild words. But these rash and reckless
persons imitate Satan who is called in Scripture
Diabolus or Calumniator. How can they hope
to be with good angels hereafter f Must they not
rather look to be with those wretched fiends whom
they imitate '!
Calvin : Jfhovah who chooses Jerusalem. We
are reminded that we are not to consider our des-
erts in order to gain help from God, for this
wholly depends upon gratuitous adoption. Hence,
though we are unworthy that God should fight for
us, yet his election is sufficient, as he proclaims
war against Satan in our behalf It hence follows
that those men who obscure and seek as far as they
can to extinguish the doctrine of election, are en-
emies to the human race ; for they strive their ut-
most to subvert every assurance of salvation.
Owen: Vers. 3-5. Two things are here said
to belong to our free acceptance with God, {!,)
The taking away of the guilt of our sin, our filthy
robes ; this is done by the death of Christ, the
proper fruit of which is remission of sin, (2,) But
more is required, even a collation of righteousness,
and thereby a right to life eternal. This is here
called change of raiment, or, as it is called by the
Holy Ghost in Isaiah (Ixi, 10), the garments of
salvation, the robe of righteousness. Now this is
made ours only by the obedience of Christ, as th«
other is by his death.
CHAPTER IV. 1-14.
41
MoOKB : Ver. 7. A gratuitous justification fur-
nishes no excuse for inaction and sin, but leads to
more entire obedience Fidelity in God's
service shall be gloriously rewarded.
Gill ; Men rf wonder. The people of God are
wondered at by themselves, that God should have
any love for them, call them by his grace and at
luft bring them to glory ; wondered at by men of
t>,'j world that they should make such a choice as
tiiey do, should bear afflictions with so much pa-
tience, and even thrive and flourish amidst them ;
wondered at by the angels as they are the chosen
of God, the redeemed of the Lamb, and called
from among men ; and they shall be spectators
of wonderful things themselves, which they will
be swallowed up in the admiration of to all eter-
nity.
CowLES : I will execute, etc. The engraving
of the Church into forms of spiritual beauty, is
eminently God's work by the cnisel of his provi-
dence and the agency of his Spirit.
Jay : Ver. 10. The reign of the Messiah is dis-
tinguished by three things : (1.) Enjoyment. The
very image of the vine and the fig tree is delight-
ful. (2.) Liberty. Slaves and captives did not
sit under their vines and fig trees, nor did proprie-
tors in time of war. (3.) Benevolence. "Ye shall
call every man," etc. There is no selfishness, no
envy. All are anxious that others should partake
of their privileges.
VISION V. THE CANDLESTICK WITH THE TWO OLIVE TREES.
Chaptee IV.
A.. A Golden Oandelahrum and its Two Oil Feeders (vers. 1-5). B. Divine Grace
the Source of Strength and Success (vers. 6-10). C. The Means by which
that Grace is obtained (vers. 11-14).
1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man who is
2 waked out of his sleep ; And said to me, What seest thou ? And I said,^ I have
looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its oil-vessel ^ upon the top of it and
its seven lamps upon it, seven pipes each ^ for the lamps which are upon the top of
3 it ; and two olive trees by it, one on the right of the oil-vessel and the other on tha
4 left of it ; And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying,
5 What are these, my lord ? And the angel that talked with me answered and said
6 to me, Knowest thou not what these are ? And I said. No, my lord. And he
answered and spake to me, saying : This is the word of Jehovah to Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might and not by power,^ but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel ? ^ Be a plain ! ' And he shall
8 bring forth the top stone' with shoutings, Grace, grace unto it ! And the word of
9 Jehovah came to me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of
this house, and his hands shall finish it, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of Hosts
10 hath sent me to you. For who despiseth * the day of small things ? And they
rejoice and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, [even] those seven ; ^ the
11 eyes of Jehovah, they go to and fro through the whole earth. And I answered
and said unto him. What are these two olive trees on the right of the candlestick
12 and on the left ? And I answered the second time and said to him, What are the
two branches '" of the olive trees, which by means of the two golden spouts '^ empty
13 the gold ^ out of themselves ? And he spake to me, saying, Knowest thou not
14 what these are ? And I said, No, my lord. And he said, These are the two sons
of oil which stand before " the Lord of the whole earth.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 2. — The Kethibh 'nQS*! must be considered a oopylat's error ; the Keri, besides agreeing better with th«
tonneotion and with usage, is found in numerous MSS., and also in the LXX., Itala, Vulg., Targum, and Peshlto.
! Ver 2. — PI bp, which Is pointed correctly, may stand for nnbp, as Da^DH, Hos. xii. 2, which escapes tht
necessity of assuming a masculine vb, of which there is no other example.
« Ter. 2. — njJattJ'l n^Dtt?, seven and seven, must be taken distributively, for which there is an exact parallrf
In 2 3am. xsi. 20.^ Of. IChron. xx. 8.
i2
ZECHARIAH.
4 Ver. 6. — It seems impossible to establish any distinctioQ between 7*^1 and rT!D, Both are used iadlscrimiiiately
of physical or mental or moral power.
6 Ver. 7. — The Masoretic interpunction requires " before Zerubbabel " to be connected with what goes before, ana
not, as E. v., with what follows,
6 Ver. 7. — Be a plain ! is quite as correct a rendering of "l*)Ci?^D V as to supply a future (B. V.), and surely tar mor<
spirited.
7 Ver. 7. — The Raphe over the last letter of nt£7K"nn shows that this word is a feminine form of tt?^'^, and in
TIT '
apposition with ]^_Kn,
8 Ter. 10. — t^ is one of the two instances in which verbs of this class take Pattach instead of Kamets. The
other verb is TTi^.
9 Ver. 10. — " Those seven." The translation makes this phrase the subject of the verb rejoice. Professor Cowlall
objects to the "violent inversion," but this is not worse than to disregard the accents and both the tense and number of
the verb, by rendering ''who hat/i despised, etc.. Let them rejoice."
10 Ver. 12. — ^]72t^, oLTT. Aey., lit., ears, here twigs or branches, so called because of their resemblance to ripe ears
of grain, or (Fiirst) of their undulating motion.
11 Ver. 12. — n'l~li71'^-- "^^'^ ^^^0 is an air. \ey. It does not mean presses (Hengstenberg), which is sustained nei4
ther by etymology nor taste; nor receptacles (Pressel), which is too vague; but, as E. \.,pipeSj i. e., tubes or spouta
through which the oil was discharged.
12 Ver. 12. — There is a play upon words here. The shining oil is like liquid gold ; hence it is said the golden spouts
pour gold out of themselves.
18 Ver. 14 — 7l? (as Henderson suggests) is elliptical for '^3D"7^ = before ; or it may be (as 1 Kings xxii. 19, Is.
vi. 2) lit., above him, which would naturally be the appearance if the Lord was sitting and they were standing.
EXEGETICAL AND CEITICAL.
In the former vision tliere was a lively display
of the means and ground of the forgiveness of sin.
This one advances farther, and shows a positive
communication of grace by which all obstacles are
overcome and the establishment of God's kingdom
effectually secured.
a. 2'he Vision (vers. 1-.5). Ver. 1. And the
angel .... out of his sleep. These words im-
ply a pause between this vision and the preceding
one, during which the interpreting angel had
withdrawn, and the prophet had relapsed into the
condition of ordinary consciousness. This con-
dition, compared with the ecstatic state in which
supersensual objects are seen, was like sleep com-
pared with waking. Hence Zechariah needed to
be aroused fi'om his ordinary and normal state.
This was done by the return of the interpreting
angel. The new vision presented to him is strik-
ing. A candlestick of gold with an oil-vessel on
top, from which the oil flows into each one of the
seven lamps through seven tubes ; and two olive
trees by the side of the candlestick.
Ver. 2. And I said . . . the top of it. Upon the
var. read, see Gram, and Text. The candlestick
was formed alter the pattern of the one in the tab-
ernacle (Ex. XXV. .31-37), but with some remark-
able variations. The candelabrum the prophet
saw had a round vessel on its top, and seven feed-
ing-tubes for each lamp, and two trees at its sides,
none of which were seen in the original pattern in
the sanctuary. The precise meaning of the phrase
rendered, seven pipes each, lit., " seven and sev-
en," has been much contested. Hitzig and Hen-
derson propose an alteration of the text, omitting
one of the sevens, in accordance with the LXX.
and Vulgate. Pressel gains the same end by con-
necting the first seven with what precedes, — which
is harsh, and forbidden by the interpunction. Koh-
ler adds the two together, thus making the number
of pipes fourteen, but if the prophet had meant
that, he would have said so. It is better to take
the text as it stand.'!. Forty-nine tubes are very
many to proceed from one oil-bowl, but as we know
not the size of either the vessel or the pipes, no
judgment can be expressed against the possibility
of such a thing. That it was probable, seems to be
clearly shown by the fact that the visionary can-
dlestick is a designed enlargement of the real one
made by Moses.
Ver. 3. Two olive trees. The meaning of
these trees is further explained in vers. 12-14.
The candlestick represents the Church as the ap-
pointed light-bearer in a dark world. This is con-
firmed by such passages in the New Testament as
Matt. V. 14,'16, Luke xii. 35, Philip, ii. l."), and by
the express statement in Rev. i. 20, " the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
churches." The seven lamps indicated the fullness
of the light that was shed, and the seven times
seven tubes the number and variety of the chan-
nels by which grace was imparted to the luminary.
Vers. 4, 5. And I answered . . . no, my Lord.
" I answered," i. e., to the statement suggested in
the visionary scene. The counter-question of the
angel implies that the prophet might have learned
the object of the vision from the analogy of the
golden candlestick in the holy place. Then the
angel gives him the answer.
b. Divine Grace the Source of all Strength (vv. 6-
10). Ver. 6. This is the word, etc. The vision
was an embodied prophecy intended in the first
instance for the guidance and comfort of Zerub-
babel ; and its sum was given in the abrupt utter-
ance : " Not by might," etc. That is, the work
which the Hebrew governor has undertaken will
be carried out not by human strength in any form,
but by the Spirit of God. The candlestick gave
light, but it could not do this unless furnished with
a plentiful supply of oil. So all that was needful
for the maintenance of the Church of God on
earth, including the restoration of its material cen-
tre at the time, the Temple, could be attained only
by the same blessed agency. That the oil of the
lamps should symbolize the Holy Spirit, is the less
strange, as the anointing oil of consecration was
understood always to mean this. The attempt of
Kliefoth to establish a distinction between the
two words 3P^ and ~'i7?^ as if the former al
CHAPTEK IV. 1-1*.
43
(rays meant anointing oil, and the latter, illumina-
ting oil, is altogether vain. Both are used promis-
juously for either purpose, and both may have the
same symbolic signification.
Ver. 7. Who art thou, etc. As the resources
of the Jewish leader were few, and the obstacle* in
the way numerous and formidable, the thought
contained in ver. 6 is expanded in a striking form.
The exclamation, Who art, etc., gives great vivid-
ness to the sentiment, and this is still further in-
creased by the concise force of the appended com-
mand, Into a plain! Some understand by the
mountain the Persian Empire, which is to be lev-
eled to a plain (Chald., Jerome, Kimchi, Hitzig,
Hengstenberg, Keil, etc.). But it is better to take
it as a figure of the colossal difficulties which rose
mountain high at the continuation and completion
of the building of the temple. So Kliefoth, Neu-
mann, and most interpreters. This view includes
the other, and at the same time allows of an appli-
cation of the assurance to the Church in all ages.
That a mountain in prophecy usually symbolizes
a kingdom, as Hengstenberg insists, surely does not
compel us always to understand it in that sense.
As one well says, the imagery of the Bible is not
stereotype. And he shall bring, etc. The sec-
ond half of the verse foretells the joyful comple-
tion of the Temple. The stone mentioned is not,
as Hengstenberg and Henderson say (with whom
agrees Dr. J. A. Alexander, in his comment upon Ps.
cxviii. 22), the foundation-stone, for which a differ-
ent phrase is used (Job xxxviii. 6, Jer. li. 20), but
the finishing or gable stone. Nor can the verb be
rendered as a simple preterite (Hengstenberg), but
in accordance with Vav cons., must be given as in
E. v., " And he shall bring," etc. The nomina-
tive to the verb is not Jehovah (Henderson), but
Zerubbabel, as the next verse plainly shows. The
Jewish leader shall at last bring forth the cope-
stone amidst loud acclamations of the people, cry-
ing, Grace, grace unto it ! i. e.. May God grant
his grace to the stone and the building it repre-
sents, so that it may stand forever. ^
Ver. 8. An additional communication is now
made to the Prophet. Its source is not mentioned,
but the analogy of ver. 9 b with ii. 9-U indicates
the angel of Jehovah as the author.
Ver. 9. The hands of ... . sent me. As
Zerubbabel had laid the foundation of the house
of God (Ezra iii. 8-10 ; Hag. ii. 18), so should he
finish it. A confirmation of this promise is given
in the next verso.
Ver. 10. For who despiseth .... whole
earth. The construction here is nmch disputed.
Many (LXX., Targum, Peshito, Vulgate, Calvin,
Ewald, etc.) make the second clause the apodosis
of the first, thus, " for whoever despises the day of
small things, they shall see with joy," etc. But
^S, cannot he rendered whoever, when followed by
a preterite with Vav cons. Keil and Wordsworth
retain the interrogation, but consider it = a denial ;
in the sense that no one who hopes to achieve, or
does achieve, anything great, despises the day of
small things. But this gets a meaning out of the
text by first putting it in. It is better to take the
clause as a general challenge, " Who despises,"
etc., i. e., with reason. Then follows the ground
of the question in the rest of the verse, the stac-
tato style of which is well explained by Pressel as
1 climax, of which the steps are three, namely,
Jl.) Those seven, already mentioned in theprevi-
•us vision. (2.) They are the eves of Jehovah.
'8.) They sweep through all the earth. These seven
eyes, the seven-fold radiations of the Spirit of
Jehovah (eomp. on iii. 9), gladly see the plummet,
etc. However discouraging the small beginning!
may be in themselves, the willing cooperation of
the divine Spirit ensures success to the enterprise
of Zerubbabel. The plumLiet in the hand indi-
cates the work he is engaged in.
c. The means by which this aid is secured (vers.
11-U>
Ver. 11. And I answered .... left. The
main portion of the symbol has now been ex-
plained, but there remains one feature untouched,
— the olive trees on either side of the candlestick.
Accordingly the Prophet asks the interpreting an-
gel. But without waiting for an answer, he re-
news the question with a slight modification. The
repetition seems to indicate a conviction in his
mind of the great significance of this new and pe-
culiar feature of the candelabrum.
Ver. 12. I answered the second time, etc.
Here it is the branches of the oil trees he inquires
about. These arc emphasized, apparently, because
they are the link of connection between the can-
delabrum and the trees, and because the peculiar-
ity of this part of the symbol lay in the fact, that
the supply of oil came without any intervening
agency directly from the source in nature. These
branches through spouts discharge at once their
oil, which is called gold, because of its color or
preciousness. A similar use of this word is found
in Job x.xxvii. 22, where it is said, " Gold cometh
out of the north," gold being put for the golden
brightness of the sky (E. V., fair weathei'). The
later critics incline to take the word literally.
Ver. 13. To awaken his attention still more to
the importance of this portion of the symbol, the
angel asks the Prophet if he understood its mean-
ing, and being answered in the negative, proceeds
to give the necessary information.
Ver. 14. These are the two sons of oil, etc.
" Sons of oil " = supplied with oil, i. e., anointed
ones. " Stand before " = are servants of. These
sons of oil are not the believing members of Is-
rael and the Gentiles (Kliefoth), for this would
confound the olive trees with the candlestick; nor
Haggai and Zechariah (Hoffman, Baumg., etc.),
nor Joshua and Zerubbabel considered as individ-
uals (Henderson, Pressel), for the supply of oil to
the candlestick, {. e., the communication of grace
to the Church, could not be made to depend upon
the lives of two mortal men. The phrase rather
denotes the regal and priestly offices which were
the chief media in the Old Testament for convey-
ing God's gracious gifts to the Church, and which
at the time of the vision were represented by
Joshua and Zerubbabel. The ap])ropriateness of
the designation lies in the fact that unction was
the ceremony by which persons were inducted into
these offices.
The peculiar encouragement of this vision ap-
pears in the circumstance that the Church was
still represented by a stately candelabrum, made
as formerly of solid gold, but furnished with far
more numerous pipes of communication, and sup-
plied with oil, not by the daily service of the
priests, but from living olive trees at its side which
continually poured in a fresh and abundant stream
of the golden liquid.
THBOU 8ICAL AND MORAL.
1. The Chiirch is a golden light-bearer, and
therefore at once precious and luminous. Pre-
34
ZECHARIAH.
cioua in the sight of Gotl as chosen and called and
honored by tlira. Zion is his peculiar inheritance,
its members are his jewels, acquired by an im-
measurable ransom. Notwithstanding, therefore,
their fewness or obscurity or imperfections, they
are pro])erly symbolized by an article made of solid
gold. But this article is as significant in its use
as it is in its material. It is a candlestick or lamp-
stand. Its object is to give light. Hence our
Lord said to his followers. Ye are the light of the
world. This has been one of the chief functions
of the Church in all ages. For the greater part
of the race has always been in the condition de-
scribed by Isaiah (Ix. 2), "Darkness covers the
earth and gross darkness the peoples.*' This was
the natural and necessary result of depravity,
" their foolish heart was darkened." They often
made great advances in civilization, but there was
no corresponding growth in religious opinion or
practice ; on the contrary, " professing themselves
to be wise they became fools." All the true and
pure light the ancient world enjoyed streamed out
from the candlestick which God set up in his
chosen people. With all their imperfections the
Jews preserved the knowledge of the true God
and of the mode of acceptable worship ; and their
sacred books were a torch from which many a
minor light among surrounding nations was kin-
dled. Still more largely was this the case when
the new economy was established. It was intended
to be diffusive and propagandist, but only by the
force of light, — the manifestation of the truth. It
courted the day. It disowned the unfruitful works
of darkness. It demanded intelligent faith and
adherence. Never was there a more unscriptural
maxim than that which claims ignorance as the
mother of devotion. The Church is now, as she
always was, a light-bearer, and seeks to accom-
plish her objects by mental and moral illumina-
tion. Nor is there the least ground for the not in-
frequent charge of unfriendliness to the progress
of discovery in physical science. Zion holds firm-
ly that the author of nature and of revelation is
one and the same, and that it is quite impossible
that there can be any real discordance between the
two forms of God's self-disclosure. She objects
to hasty inferences and unsound deductions, but
knowledge, true knowledge of all kinds, she wel-
comes as akin to her own nature, and subservi-
ent to those great ends for which the Most High
has set up his golden candlestick in this dark
world.
2. But the Church like the moon shines only
with a borrowed light. She has nc resources of
her own. All depends upon the central Sun of
Righteousness, not only for illumination, but for
every other kind or degree of influence. This is a
fundamental truth of Scripture and experience.
In religious development, outward or inward, the
eiBcient cause always lies back of what is seen.
God uses human instruments, and rarely, if ever,
operates independently of them, but when they
effect their aim, the power comes from above. A
sailing vessel perfectly appointed and manned,
cannot move in a calm. The most ingenious ma-
chine accomplishes nothing, if motive power be
withheld. In like manner the Church is helpless
f forsaken of the Spirit of God. A new birth, a
new creation, a resurrection from death in tres-
passes and sins, — these are objects which mock
»11 the array of mere human agencies. Only He
who made the sou] and breathed into it of his own
inspiration can recast the broken mould and bring
Hack the fair image so sadly marred by sin. Hence
the unspeakable importance in all Christian work
of giving due honor to the Spirit. Neither is he
that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but
God that giveth the increase. The Apostles were
held fast in Jerusalem until the Spirit was poured
out from on high. Then and not before, the Word
had free course and was glorified. And so it has
been ever since. Whether in individual conver-
sions or in mighty movements among races and
nations, the effect is due to a divine and supernat-
ural cause. In the great Reformation of the six-
teenth century, so long as this truth was recog-
nized, the work went on ; but when an arm of
flesh was introduced and reliance placed upon gov-
ernment or policy, a retrograde movement began.
God is jealous for his honor ; his glory He will not
give to another. If his people will not receive the
doctrine that all real advances are made by his
Holy Spirit, then He teaches them by sore experi-
ence that nothing can be done by might or by
power, by the very best human appliances. Le-
viathan is not so tamed. " He esteemeth iron
as straw, and brass as rotten wood, and laugh-
eth at the shaking of a spear." Only " He that
made him can make his sword to approach unto
him."
3. The contempt of small beginnings especially
in religious matters has been quite a common feel-
ing. Yet such a feeling is rebuked by the whole
experience of the Church of God. The prospect
of a godly seed on the earth once lay wrapped up
in a childless man, "and him as good as dead; "
and yet there sprang from Abraham as many as
the sand which is by the sea-shore innumerable.
The stripling David was reproved by his brothers
and derided by Goliath, yet a stone from his sling
laid the giant low. The Psalmist sings of a hand-
ful of corn on a bleak mountain top, which yet
yields a harvest that rustles like the lordly woods
of Lebanon ; and the Prophet tells of a worm Ja-
cob which threshes the mountains. Samaritan
scoffers laughed at the first feeble walls of restored
.Jerusalem, yet there came a time when to suppress
the sedition of that city strained the last resources
of imperial Rome. Twelve men went forth to
give the Gospel to the world, and before the end
of the first century, believers were found all the
w£iy from the shores of Britain to far Cathay. In
the sixteenth century one man entered the lists
against the anti-christian corruptions of the time,
and Leo X. spoke contemptuously of " Brother
Martin," but in the issue one half of Europe was
emiincipated from the papal yoke, and the Man
of Sin received a fatal blow. The finest wit of
Great Britain set the polite world on a broad
laugh at the " consecrated cobblers " who com-
menced the work of East Indian missions ; yet to-
day the whole Church of Christ honors that heroic
vanguard of Hindoo missionaries, and the friends
of the wit would gladly sponge out his misplaced
jests. The law of Providence is to begin with a
day of small things. A little leaven hid in the
measures of meal at last affects the entire mass.
The smallest of seeds when planted grows into a
tree upon whose branches the fowls of the air may
lodge. No mature grain ever springs instanta-
neously from the earth. It is " first the blade, then
the ear, then the full corn in the ear." The oak
which has withstood the storms of a thousand
years was once an acorn. The mighty river which
fertilizes a continent began with a tiny streamlet
which even an infant's hand could divert. It be-
comes no one, least of all a believer, to deride a
feeble beginning. No matter how small it maj
CHAPTER V. 1-4.
45
Be, yet if carried forward in faith and prayer,
neither man nor angel can tell whereunto it may
grow.
4. The effusion of the Holy Ghost is not an arbi-
trary thing. Whitsunday stands in direct relation
with Good Friday and Easter. The lamps of the
candlestick give light because the manifold tubes
convey oil in a constant ilow from the central res-
ervoir. But how is this reservoir kept full ? By
living trees whose supply is perpetually renewed.
These living trees are the priesthood and kingship
of the Lo*id Jesus Christ. By his sacrifice the
blessed Lord procured the measureless grace of the
Holy Ghost, and by his enthronement at the Fa-
ther's right hand fie has power to shed down the
life-giving influence in streams as mighty as those
which made Pentecost forever memorable. These
trees are living, ever-living. The blood of the one
great ransom is ever new IxaivSs, recens) ; it does
not clot so as to be inefficacious ; it belongs to an
unchangeable priesthood ; it endures to the utter-
most in point of time. So the session on high is
uninterrupted. Our Lord sat down forever on the
right hand of God (Heb. x. 12), and therefore al-
ways holds his ascension gifts to be dispensed at
will for the preservation, the extension, and the
exaltation of his Church. The oil of grace cannot
fail, just because the Lord Jesus is an eternal priest
and an eternal king. Here is a valid ground for
faith, hope, and prayer. There is no machinery by
which the most fervid evangelist can yoke the
blessed Spirit to his methods and measures. But
the varied and repeated and emphatic promises of
the One Mediator {John xiv. Ifi, 17, 26, xv. 26,
xvi. 7-U, 13-15) encourage every toiler in the
vineyard, however feeble or obscure, to look up to
the priest upon his throne, with an absolute convic-
tion that his arm is not shortened that it cannot
save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. If the
Saviour in the days of his flesh, had the Spirit
without measure, how much more must He now,
in his glorious exaltation far above all heavens !
The wonders of Pentecost were explained by the
Apostle Peter (Acts ii. 33) as an immediate gift of
the ascended Saviour, who " having received of
the Father the promise of the Spirit, hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear." The sup-
ply of spiritual gifts depends upon the perpetual
intercession within the veil ; and in vain do we
look for oil in the lamps if by conceit or neglect
we neglect the olive-branches from which alone the
■upply 13 maintained.
HOMILETICAL AND PKACTICAL.
Calvin : The materi.il of the candlestick waa
intended to set forth a mystery. It is indeed true
that gold is corruptible ; but as we cannot other-
wise understand what exceeds the things of the
world, the Lord, under the figure of gold and silvei
and precious stones, sets forth those things which
are celestial, and which surpass in value the earth
and the world. It was for this purpose that God
commanded the candlestick to be made of gold, not
that He needed earthly wealth or riches, or was
pleased with them as men are.
Wordsworth : Observe the candlestick is
golden and the oil is called gold ; it is like liquid
gold. The Church must be pure and holy; and
what she teaches and ministers to the people must
be pure and holy also ; not adulterated with the
admixture of any novel doctrines, such as those
which have been added by some to the faith once
delivered to the saints, and imposed as necessary
to salvation.
C. Bradley : Observe, these Scriptures do not
say that there are no enemies, no mountains, no
difficulties. They do not make the salvation of the
Church that light thing which some of us make it.
Ou the contrary, they suppose it to be in itself a
work of the utmost difficulty. But then, Christ,
they tell us, is more than equal to it ; He is mighty
to save ; He can prepare his people for heaven and
carry them there, in spite of everything.
John Foster : When good men despise the day
of small things, it is because the grand essential of
religion. Faith, is wanting. They lack faith in the
unerring wisdom of the Divine scheme and deter-
minations ; faith in the goodness of God, the ab-
solute certainty that infinite wisdom and power
cannot be otherwise than good ; faith in the prom-
ise of God, that his servants shall in the succession
of their generations see bis cause advance from the
small to the great, though this be not granted to
any one separately.
Patson : We ought not to despise the day of
small things, because, (1 ) such conduct tends to pre-
vent its becoming a day of great things. (2) An-
gels do not despise, etc., but rejoice over even one
repenting sinner. (3) Our Saviour does not break
the bruised reed, nor quench, etc. (4) God does
not despise, etc., but noticed even some good thing
found in the son of Jeroboam. (5) The day of
small things is the commencement of great things.
Gill : The lamp of a profession without the
on of grace is a dark and useless thing.
VISION VI. , THE FLYING ROLL.
Chapti;P V. 1-4.
A. A large Roll fiying over the Land (vers. 1, 2). B. 7< contains and executes a
destructive Curse (vers. 3, 4).
1, 2 Aad I lifted up my eyes again,' and saw, and behold a flying roll. And lie said
to me. What seest thou ? " And I said, I see a flying roll ; its length twenty cubita
3 and its breadth ten cubits. And he said to me, This is the curse that goeth forth
over the face of the whole land; for erery one that stealeth shall be cut ofi"^ on this
46
ZECHAEIAH.
side according to it, and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on that side, accord
4 ing to it. I have brought ' it forth, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and it shall enter into
the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth by my name to a
falsehood, and it shall lodge * in the midst of his house and consume it, both its wood
and its stones.
TEXTUAL AND GKAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 1. — Again. For this meaning of ^^tC, of. 2 Kings i. 11.
■^ Ver. 3. — rTp3 = emptied, exhaxisted, here manifestly = destroyed.
S Ver. 4. — iT'riS^in cannot be rendered, " I wit! bring it forth.
4 Ver. i. — np.^ irreguJiir for H^ V. It means, to pass the night, h. abide.
BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
The series of visions here tal<es a sharp turn.
All that preceded were of a consolatory character,
setting forth the overthrow of Zion's foes, the for-
giveness of the people, their illumination and ex-
altation by the Spirit of God, and consequently
the sure and speedy completion of the Temple.
Now, however, the prophet is directed to show
his countrymen that Jehovah is a holy God, and
wickedness cannot dwell with Him. There is no
toleration for sinners while they continue such. As
many as still remain impenitent, or reject God's
provision of mercy, shall be visited with an exter-
minating judgment, or experience a captive exile
far longer and more dreary even than that which
their fathers had suffered in Babylon. This is set
forth vividly and plainly in the two visions which
follow, which, although entirely distinct in form
and manifestation, yet are closely allied in subject
and bearing.
The former of the two borrows the groundwork
of its striking symbolism from the Mosaic Law
(" curse," " roll "), and sets forth with fearful en-
ergy the retributive consequences of sin.
(a.) ITieFlyingRoU {ycrs. 1, 2). Ver. 1. lUfted
up . . . again. This implies an interval, longer
or shorter, since the last vision. What he saw is
described fully in the next verse.
Ver. 2. And he said. That is, the interpreting
angel said, as is obvious from what precedes.
" Roll " = book-scroll or parchment ; of course
one so large as this must have been composed of
many skins fastened together. It is seen flying-
over the earth unrolled, so that its size could be
discerned. Its dimensions are ten yards long by
five broad. Some (Kiihier, Henderson, ct al.) con-
sider these measurements as intended only to state
that it was of considerable size. But as that could
be so easily expressed in a simpler way, it is better
to regard the dimensions as significant. But of
what? Hengstenberg, Hoffman, Umbreit, follow-
ing Kimchi, assume a reference to the porch of the
Temple which was of the same size (1 Kings vi. 3),
and mfer that the intention was to represent the
judgment as " a consequence of the theocracy," to
which, however, it is justly objected that the tem-
ple-porch in itself had no symbolic significance,
nor was it a meeting-place for Israel. Keil and
Kliefbth say that the dimensions were taken from
those of the holy place of the tabernacle (twenty
cubits by ten), and explain, " the measure by which
this curse upon sinners will be meted out will be the
measure of the holy place," i. e., it will act so as
to cut them off from the congregation of the Lord
which appeared before God in the holy place. I
should prefer to take the dimensions as a sugges-
tion of the scope of the impending judgment,
namelv, the covenant people.
(b.)' Meaning of the Roll (mxs,.Z,i). Ver. 3. This
is the curse. Henderson compares our Lord's
words, "This is (represents) my body." "The
whole land," i. e., of Israel, as the analogy of the
preceding and following visions shows. The curse
hovers over the entire region, ready to fall upon its
destined objects. These are the thief and the
false swearer, who are taken as examples, one
from each table of the law ; and therefore stand
for all sinners. Such are to be cut off ^driven
out of the fellowship of God's people, with the
usual implication, in that phrase, of destruction.
On this side, on that side, refer to the two sides
of the roll (Ex. xxxii. 15), on one of which was
the curse against one class of sinners, and on the
other that against the other class. Then accord-
ing to it (i. e., according to its terms) refers re-
spectively to these two sides.
Ver. 4. I have brought. To render this in the
future, as E. V., is a needless departure from the
original. God has caused it to come forth, as the
prophet sees. He proceeds now to tell him what
It will do. It will enter the house of the sinner,
and come to stay. Lodge, literally, pass the night,
and hence dwell permanently. Nor will it remain
idle, but destroy until not only the contents but
even the most durable parts of the house were con-
sumed. Cf. 1 Kings xviii. 38.
CHAPTER V. 5-11
47
VISION VII. THE WOMAN IN THE EPHAH.
Chapter V. 5-11.
A. The Prophet sees an Ephah going forth (vers. 5, 6). B. A Woman thrust down in
it and shut in (vers. 7, 8). C. The Ephah carried away to Shinar (vers. 9-11).
5 And the angel that talked with me came forth, and said to me, Lift up thine
6 eyes, I pray, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it ? And
he said, This is the ephah that goeth forth. And he said. This is their aim ^ in
7 all the land. And behold, a round piece ^ of lead was lifted up, and this is a
8 woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. And he said. This is wickedness ; and
he cast her into the midst of the ephah, and cast the weight* of lead into its mouth.
9 And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, two women came forth and the wind
was in their wings, and they had wings like a stork's wings ; and they lifted ^ up
10 the ephah between earth and heaven. And I said to the angel that talked with
11 me. Whither are these taking the ephah ? And he said to me, To build for her' a
house in the land of Shinar ; and it shall be established' and settled there upon its
own base.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ter. 6. — DD*^!?, lit., eye, here that to which the eye is directed = aim. The Genevan version gives sight. Sea
Exeg. and Celt.
2 Ver. 7. — ^33. Margin ot E. V. gives weighty piece^ but the word denotes shape rather than size or weight. It
£ another word that is rendered weight in the next verse.
3 Ver. 7. — nnS, This seems to be one of the cases in which the first numeral is employed as an indefinite arti-
tie, as Ex. xxix. 3.
i Ver. 8. — '^^i^ = stone, here lead-wsigkl, just as in iv. 10 it is used with 7"'72jn to mean tin^weight or plum-
met.
6 Ver. 9. — In n3"t!?n the quiescent H is dropped (Green, H. (?., § 164, 2).
6 Ver. 11. — The grammatical subject of the auflix in H^ is of course the ephah, but logically it must refer to the
ffoman it contains, as a house is not built for a measure. The marginal Masoretio note calls for a Raphe to mark the
absence of a dagesh in the H, but it is not found in the text.
T Ver. 11. — 7^^n according to its gender is to be construed with n^'D, and nn*'3n with HQ^S or th«
ffoman inclosed in it.
EXEGETICAL AND CKITIOAL.
o. The Ephah (vers. 5, 6). Ver. 5. And . . .
goeth forth. This shows that we have a new
vision here, and not a continuation of the preced-
ing one (Umbreit, Neumann, Kcil). The two are
closely allied, indeed, in tone and character, still
they are distinct in form and as sucli were repre-
sented to the Prophet.
Ver. 6. What is it ? The Prophet sees some
vague form rising, as it were, out of mist, but is
not able to distinguish what it is. To his ques-
tion he receives the reply that this is the ephah,
i. e., the one which is to constitute the main feat-
ure of the vision. The ephah was one of the
Most familiar of dry measures among the He-
brews. Its capacity cannot now be exactly deter-
mined ; according to Josephus it contained some-
thing more than eight gallons and a half; accord-
ing to the Rabbinists, a little less than four gal-
lons and a half. Nothing in the interpretation
depends upon its exact measurement. The latter
part of the verse is difficult. DJ"'? is rendered
by the LXX., Peshito, and Arabic, as if it were
pointed Q315! (their sin), and these have been
followed by Hitzig, Burger, and ITUrst (in Lex.).
But for such a reading there is only one MS. au-
thority, and besides, as Pressel says, in that case
the ephah would be called unrighteousness in ver.
6, and the woman in it would receive that name in
ver. 8. We must, therefore, accept the traditional
pointing, and render their eye, but in what' sense 1
Many from Luther down say that it means appear-
ance, or as in B. V. "resemblance," i. e., the peO'
pie are like the sin-containing ephah (Rosenmuller
Maurer, Bunsen, Keil). But this is an unusua
sense of the word, and besides gives a frigid senti-
ment. It is better to take the term as designating
the object to which men's eyes were directed (Um-
breit, Hengstenberg, Kohler, Pressel). The dwell-
ers in all the land were looking to the ephah as a
measure to be filled with sin. Their success and
its unhappy results are set forth in what follows.
b. Its Contents (vers. 7, 8). — Ver. 7. A round
piece of lead. 'The symbol is still further devel-
oped, and the Prophet sees now a circular mass of
48
ZECHAKIAH.
metiil lifted up over the ephah. "1?? is often ren-
dered talent elsewhere in cases where its meaning
as such is determined by a following noun, but
here it is better to adhere to the literal sense.
This is. Now for the first time it appears that
the ephah has an occupant. Hence the form of
the expression " This is," equivalent to. See, tliere
is a woman, etc. nnS is probably used merely
for the indefinite article (1 Kings xx. 13) ; but if it
is to be pressed as=OHe woman, it will then indi-
cate that the sinners, although many in number,
are considered as one living personality.
Ver. 8. This Is wickedness. On the meaning
attached to this phrase turns the entire bearing of
the vision. Many (Calvin, Kohler, Pressel, Baum-
garten, Henderson), take it as = wickedness in it-
self, abstracted from its perpetrators, and this, they
say, is confined, sealed up, and transported far off,
BO as to leave the land where it once dwelt pure ;
and thus the vision is one of promise. But this
view is opposed by the tenor of the preceding vision
which all admit to be closely allied to this one, as
well as by its own intrinsic improbability, although
Hengstenberg speaks far too strongly when he says
"It is only concrete sin that admits of being car-
ried away. The transportation of sin apart from
sinful individuals, is nonsense." How would that
learned man have reconciled with his statement
such language as that of the Psalmist (cni. 12),
" Far as the east is from the west, so fer hath he
removed our transgressions from us ! " But on
this hypothesis it is difficult to conceive of any
reason why Shinar rather than any other place
should be mentioned as the place of deportation
(ver. 11). It is better therefore to take the other
view (Marck., Hengstenberg, Keil), which regards
the woman as a personification of the ungodly
Jewish nation. A somewhat similar usage is
found in 2 Chron. xxiv. 7, where (in Hebrew)
Athaliah is called " the wickedness." Consequent-
ly, the subsequent acts of the angel, in casting the
woman down into the measure and then closing
the same with the heavy solid lid, simply indicate
the full provision made for the due punishment of
the sinners thus carefully secured.
c. Its Removal (vers. 9-11). — Ver. 9. Two
women came forth, etc. The removal of the
ephali with its contents is described. This is done
by two women, — women because it was a woman
they were carrying away, and two, because the bur-
den was too heavy for one to bear. They are fur-
nished with wings, because the movement is to be
through the air. The wings are specified as being
those of a stork, not because the stork is a bird of
passage (Umbreit, Baumgarten, etc.), for the move-
ment here is not periodical ; nor because it flies
fast (Maurer), for other birds fly faster ; nor be-
cause it was an unclean bird (Kohler) ; nor be-
cause it was &pia avis (Neumann), which does not
suit the object ; but simply because it had broad
pinions, and such were required to sustain so heavy
a mass as the ephah with its leaden lid. The wind
was in these wings to increase their velocity. The
women have been supposed to represent Israel and
Judah, or Ezra and Nehemiah, or the two last
kings of Judah, or the two captivities, or Titus
and Hadrian ; but there is no need of strictly de-
fining them, since they belong to the mere drapery
of the symbol, and stand only as representatives
of the powers employed by God to carry away the
tinners of his people.
Ver. 11. To build ... Shinar. In reply to
the Prophet's question he is told that the object of
the two women is to prepare a permanent habita«
tion for her, i. e., the woman in the ephah. Shinar
is an old historic name (Gen. x. 10), afterwards ap.
plied poetically to Babylon (Is. xi. 11 ; Dan. i. 2).
Its occurrence here led Rosenmiiller to suppose
that the entire vision referred to the past, and not
to the future, which is simply impossible. There
is no difficulty in explaining it by a reference to
the usage of the Prophets, to represent future
events by images drawn from the past, and at the
same time transfer to the former the names which
belong to the latter. This verse then simply fore-
tells the punishment of wickedness by another ex-
ile, — like that to Babylon, and therefore called by
its name, but far more prolonged. This latter feat-
ure is expressed by the building of the house, but
intensified by the final clause — "established and
settled on its own base." According to Keil.
Shinar is not here a geographical epithet, but
taken as an ideal designation of the sphere of un-
godliness, and the symbol accordingly expresses
the truth that the wicked will be removed out of
the congregation of the Lord and permanently set-
tled -within the ungodly kingdom of this world.
This distinction and separation will run on through
the ages, and at last be completed in the general
judgment. Henderson maintains that the woman
in the ephah represented idolatry which was carried
away by the two women, i. e., Assyria and Baby-
lonia, to Chaldasa, where it was to commingle with
its native elements and never be reimported into
Canaan ; in support of which he cites the fact that
for two thousand years the Jews have never once
lapsed into idolatry. But idolatry did not at this
time exist in Judea, and therefore could not be re-
moved out of it ; and if it was taken to Babylon,
it certainly did not remain there, for the Moham-
medan occupants of that region are not idolaters.
It agrees better with the original force of the word,
with the connection, and with the preceding vision,
to take the term as denoting the entire wickedness
of the people of all kinds, or rather the people as
such embodied wickedness. As thus understood,
the vision was fulfilled centuries afterward, when
the Jews as a whole, having rejected with scorn
their Messiah, were given over to the stroke of
vengeance. After a most desperate struggle, they
were crushed by the Roman Emperors, and scat-
tered to the four winds of heaven. And so they
remain, shut up in the ephah, the tremendous
weight of their own obstinacy forbidding the pros-
pect of release. The corresponding passage to
this one in the second part is couched in different
terms (xi. 15, 16). After the rejection of the good
shepherd and the breaking of his staves of office,
the wretched flock is given over to a foolish or
wicked shepherd who does what he ought not to
do, and fails to do what he ought, and so the poor
sheep suffer in every way. But wholly different
as the imagery is in the two passages, there is !i
remarkable sameness in the underlying idea.
THEOLOGICAL AND MOKAL.
I. In the two preceding chapters the constituent
elements of the Gospel were presented ; here we
are brought face to face with the Law. The white
robes of innocence and the golden oil of the Holy
Spirit disappear, and in their place comes a fear-
ful curse overshadowing the land and threatening
an irrecoverable overthrow. There is no contra-
diction, no inconsistency in this. The one mes-
sage was as true and as pertinent as the other.
CHAPTER VI. 1-8.
49
Zechariah's design was not simply to urge on the
rebuilding of tlie Temple at all costs and hazards,
but to educate the national conscience, to keep
alive the memory of sin, and lay deep the founda-
tions of faith and repentance. When this was ac-
complished, all outward works would proceed of
themselves. And there was at least a part of the
people, who needed to be stimulated by the pre-
sentation of the sterner side of the divine charac-
ter. There was a golden future in store for Israel,
but not absoluteljr, not for all simply by virtue of
their national origin. The day of the Lord was
darkness as well as light (Amos v. 18), and sin-
ners in Zion would find the messenger of the Lord
like refiner's fire and fuller's soap (Mai. iii. 1, 2).
Our Lord indicated this very plainly throughout
his personal ministry. The remarkable Sermon
on the Mount (Matt, v.-vii.) begins with a sooth-
ing strain of beatitudes pronounced upon the low-
ly, and meek, and sorrowful, etc., but very soon
corrects any false impressions as to the object of
the Messiah by setting forth the perpetuity of the
law and his purpose to confirm and establish rather
than abrogate its authority. While, therefore, he
sweeps away the wretched evasions and glosses
accumulated by men's perverse ingenuity, he re-
affirms all its particulars as the unchangeable stat-
ute of his kingdom, — both as regards precept and
penalty. His ends are gained, and his grace is
manifested, not by erasing the sanctions of Law,
but by meeting and discharging them. He soothes
conscience not by enervating or deluding it, but
by satisfying its anxious cravings. The mawkish
sentimentalism which denies hell, and refuses to
hear of endless retributions, finds no precedent in
his words or course.
2. But what was needful for Israel after the ex-
ile is equally needful in all ages of the Church.
The moral law requires to be continually set forth
in its sanction as well as in its precept, and it is
an emasculated theology which dispenses with
either. The Gospel loses its meaning if there be
no such thing as Eectoral Justice. Calvary pre-
supposes Sinai, just as ransom presupposes bond-
age. What need is there of forgiveness, if there
is nothing to forgive ? Hence the visions of Satan
overthrown and of the luminous golden candela-
brum have for their background this wide-spread
roll of curses. God will visit for sin, for all sin,
whether committed against himself directly or
against his creatures. The two tables of the law
stand on the same basis, and no man dare pick
and choose to which he will render obedience.
The anathemas of Scripture are not a mere brutum
fidmen, but a solid and terrible reality. The light-
ning of heaven is not more certain and irresistible.
Where the curse once enters, it takes up its abode
and consumes all. The standing historical illn»
tration of this truth is seen in that gloomy and
death-like sea which is all that now remaias of g
region once bright with verdant plains and full of
populous cities.
3. The strokes of punitive wrath do not fall
capriciously or at random. There is ample rea-
son in every case, so that one may always say,
This [the ephah] is their object in all the land.
Men go on ceaselessly adding sin to sin, and be-
cause judgment is not suddenly executed, think
that there is impunity ; whereas they are only fill
ing the measure. God waits. There is an ap
pointed time with Him, and He will not anticipate,
He announced a general principle when he told
Abraham that his seed could not take possession
of the land of promise, " for the iniquity of the
Amorites was not yet full." The wicked are treas-
uring up wrath against the day of wrath. When
the end comes, the symbolism of Zechariah is real-
ized. Sinners are shut up with their sins in the
measure, the weight of a talent shuts down the lid,
and then they are carried where the retribution be-
gins and does not end. Just like that deportation
to the figurative Shinar. Its solitary example
among the nations testifies of a permanent retri-
bution.
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,
How shall ye flee away and be at rest ?
The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave,
Mankind their country, — Isra«l but the grave.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
MooEE : It is needful to tell the lore of God, to
unfold his precious promises, and to utter words of
cheer and encouragement. But it is also needful
to declare the other aspect of God's character.
There is a constant tendency in the human heart
to abuse the goodness of God to an encouragement
of sin. Hence ministers of the Gospel must de
clare this portion of God's counsel as well as the
other The finally impenitent shall be driven
from God into gloomy exile, and left to hiiuself,
" to rest on his own base," to be subject to fhe
thrall of his own lawless lusts that he has so long
pampered into strength, and to reap as he has
sowed through a long and limitless banishment.
Wordsworth : Kone who enter the porch of
the visible Church may flatter themselves that they
can escape God's wrath and malediction, if they
commit any of the sins condemned by the compre
hensive coramination of this Flying Roll, which
may be compared to a net coerttensive with the
world and drawn throughout the whole from side
to side.
VISION Vin. THE FOUR CHAEIOTS.
Chapter VI. 1-8.
A. Four Chariots drawn hy Horses of different Colors (vers. 1-4). B. Explanation
of their Meaning (vers. 5-8).
1 And I lifted up my eyes again,^ and saw, and behold, four chark ts came from be-
2 tween the two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of b:ass. In the first
50
ZECHARIAH.
3 chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, And in the third
4 chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot speckled bay ^ horses. And I an-
5 swered and said to the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord ? And
the angel answered and said to me. These are the four winds ^ of the heavens, coming
6 forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. That in which are the black
horses goes * forth into the land of the north, and the white go behind them, and the
7 speckled go forth to the land of the south. And the bay went forth, and desired to
go — to pass to and fro ' through the earth ; and he said. Go, pass to and fro through
8 the earth ; and they went through the earth. And he called me and spake to me,
saying, Behold, these that go forth into the land of the north have caused mj
Spirit to rest ^ upon the land of the north.
TEXTUiL AND GRAMMATICAL.
Ver. 1. — Dps") = again. Ct oh. t. 1.
2 Ver. 3. — " Speckled bay,'' that is, speckled upon a bay ground. The word here rendered spechUd ia not the same
W the one so rendered in the E. V. of ch. i. 8. Noyes rranelates in this plare, spotttd-red.
8 Ver. 5. ■ — niri-l"). The margin of E. V., winds, is better than the text, spirits. Of. Jer. xlix. 36. I can find n«]
Instance in which the plural is used to denote angeUc beings. Certainly Ps. ciT. 4 is not one.
4' Ver. 6. — The first clause contains a singular anacoluthon, D^W^**, referring by its number to the horses, instea4
of the implied nnlD'^O, to which it grammatically belongs.
6 Ver. 7. — " Pass to and fro," ?*. e., in every direction.
6 Ver. 8. — Noyes renders ^ri-l"! -IPI'^DrT, execute my wrath, which is an excellent interpretation, but hardly a tranfr.
lation. The E. V. quieted cannot be sustained by usage, and is at best ambiguous, although it is copied in Dr. Van
Dyck's New Arabic version. The invariable use of the hiphil verb requires the rendering given in the text.
KXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
This vision completes the cycle of the series by
returning to the point of departure, using imagery
much like that of the first vision, and indicating
the complete fulfillment of what had there been
pledged. Here it is not horses and riders who
serve only as exploring scouts, but chariots of war
who actually execute what they are conmiandcd.
They go forth not from a grove of myrtles in an
open bottom, but from between lofty brazen moun-
tains, an adequate symbol of the strength and per-
manence of the divinely guarded theocracy. They
act in all directions, but especially in those regions
whence in the past the most formidable enemies of
the kingdom of God proceeded. They put in ex-
ercise the various destructive agencies indicated by
the colors of the horses, — war, pestilence, mourn-
ing, famine, — until the Spirit of God is satisfied
with the overthrow. But the destruction of the
lord's enemies is the triumph of his friends, and
in this view the eighth vision appropriately termi-
nates the first series of revelations granted to Zech-
ariah, with a cheering prospect, of which a fuller
development is given in the closing chapters of the
book.
u. 77*^ Si/inhot of the Four Chariots (vers. 1-4).
Ver. 1. Four chariots. . . . mountains. The
prophet in the usual way indicates that another
vision is disclosed to him. The four chariots which
ho sees can scarcely be other than war chariots, and
are therefore a symbol of authority and judgment.
The article prefixed to two mountains does not
necessarily refer to them as already known (so
Hengstenberg, who supposes a reference to Ps.
cxxv. 2, which is certainly far-fetched), but simply
defines them as forming the back-ground of the
scene presented to the prophet. Their ideal char-
acter is confirmed by the statement that they are
" of brass/ a manifest symbol of impregnable
strength. There ia no need, therefore, of referring
to Zion and Moriah (Maurer, Urabreit, etc.), or to
Zion and the Mount of Olives (Keil, Moore), al-
though the latter may have suggested the symbol.
A valley guarded by two brazen hills is not an un-
worthy image of the resistless might of Him who
from such a place sends forth the executioners of
his will. The number oi' the chariots, according
to the analogies of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation,
indicates, like the four points of the compass, uni-
versality, a judgment that goes in every direction.
Vers. 2, 3. In the first chariot .... bay
horses. The number of the horses is not men-
tioned, although the rabbins say there were four
to each chariot. The colors are specified, and
must be significant. The usual interpretation
makes red denote war and bloodshed, black, sorrow
and death, white, victory. The fourth color, spec-
kled, commonly derived from a root=hail, and
hence rendered, " having hail-like spots," is ex-
plained by Hengstenberg as denoting judgments
falling like hail (Rev. viii. 7, xvi. 21), but by Keil
as indicating famine and pestilence, which is better
than to regard it with Henderson, as indicating a
mixed dispensation of joy and sorrow, or with T.
V. Moore as combining all the others. A more
difficult question arises concerning the next word,
D''^pN. It is strange to find an epithet of quality
in immediate connection with a series referring to
color, yet this must bo admitted if the word is
taken in its usual sense, given in the margin of E.
v., Vulgate, and by most expositors, i. e., strong.
To escape the difficulty, some represent the first
consonant, H, as softened from n, and so get
^^?90= bright red (Kimchi, Calvin, Cocceins,
Ewald, Kohler). Others suppose an error of the
triinscriber (Hitzig, Maurer, Pressel). But it is
better with Fiirst (in Lex.}, to derive the word in
the text from an Arabic root = to shine, whence
he obtains the signification, dazzling red. Dr. Van
CHAPTEK VI. 1-8.
51
Dyck, in the modern Arabic Bible, renders it by
» 0 >
>JUm, = shining red. In any event, the colors
of the horses denote the character of the mission
on which they are sent. But an elaborate effort has
been made by Hoffman, followed by Kliefoth,
Wordsworth, and others, to represent the colors as
indicating the four great empires of Daniel as in-
struments of God's judgments. But this is forbid-
den by the contemporaneousness of the going forth
of the several chariots, by their destination as stated
in the text, by tlie lack of historical verification,
and other considerations. See Keil and Kohler in
loc. for a full refutation of this apparently plausible
view.
b. The Explanation (vers. 5-8). Ver. 5. These
are the four winds. Not four spirits, as the text
of theE. V. has it, and Henderson and Neumann,
for angels are rarely if ever so described in the Old
Testament, nor in that case would the appended
words, " of the heavens," have any suitable mean-
ing, nor does the Scripture know anything of ibur
angels pur eminence. These winds, the angel said,
came forth from standing before the universal
Lord, in wliose service they were. Ps. cxlviii. 8.
" Stormy wind fulfilling his word." The agency of
the four winds in the work of destructive judgment
is seen in Jer. xlix. 36, Dan. vii, 2, Rev. vii. 1.
Vers. 6, 7. That in which are, etc. These
verses describe the particular regions visited by
these divinely appointed messengers. The black
went toward the land of the north, which all
agree denotes the territory washed by the Tigris
and Euphrates. See on ch. ii. 6, 7. The white
go after them, not to the West, as Ewald translates,
for then we should expect the East also, which does
not occur; and besides, the west to the Hebrews
represented only the sea. Better is the ingenious
view of Pressel, who, insisting on the force of the
preposition, renders " to the land fiirther behind
them." This is grammatically tenable, and favored
by the fact that it brings into view the farther East,
the Medes and Persians, as one of the distinct ob-
jects of the divine visitation. The land of the
south is of course Egypt and Arabia.
Ver. 7. And the bay went, etc. So far, the
prophet seems to have omitted the first chariot, the
one with red horses, and in order to make up the
number four, to have divided the third team into
two, taking its second designation of color, bay,
as the fourth. How are we to understand this ?
Keil, who, however, renders Q'^'272i^„strong, regards
the problem as insoluble. Hengstenberg affirms
that the class mentioned in the seventh verse is in
reality the first, and they are called strong, because
they really were the strongest of all ; but this as-
sumes what is certainly not stated, and cannot be
proved. Hitzig and Maurer assume that Q''^Z257
was omitted from ver. 6 by mistake, and afterwards
erroneously substituted in ver. 7 for Q"*iaii<. It is
better to interpret the term as Fiirst does in ver.
3, although even then it remains inexplicable why
the prophet should have described the first class
not by its own name but by one already appropri-
ated as part of that of the third. It may, how-
ever, be safely inferred that while the various colors
of the horses had some significance, yet that this
was no' a matter of very great importance, else
the distmctions stated would have been more ac-
curately observed. Certainly the general sense of
the vision is plain, whatever view one adopts as to
'he variations in the description. One point all
agree in, namely, that the seventli verse sets forth
what was done by the horses of the first chariot.
These appear to have been not content like the
others with one particular territory, but asked per-
mission to go through the whole earth. And ho
said, i. e., the Lord of the whole earth, who (ver
5) causes the chariots to go forth.
Ver. 8. And he called me. The interpreting
angel calls aloud to the prophet, arousing his atten-
tion to the purport of the vision. Have caused
my Spirit to rest upon. This has often been ex-
plained as analogous to the phrase "to cause fury
to rest," in Ezek. v. 1.3, xvi. 42, but wrath is not
the same as spirit. Nor is such a violent assump-
tion at all necessary. The Lord's Spirit is some-
times a Spirit of judgment and of burning (Is. iv.
4), and it is in this sense that the chariots let down
his manifestations on the nations. This verse
specifies only the land of the north as the scene
of these operations. But it could easily be inferred
from this what was the result in the other directions.
The north country was mentioned because, as the
inveterate foe of the covenant people, it was the
principal mark of the judgments of God, and
should in the first instance feel the consuming en-
ergies of the Holy Spirit.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. The same law obtains in the punishment of
the heathen as in that of God's ])rofessed people.
The harvest is not cut until it is ripe. The meas-
ure of iniquity must be full before judgment falls.
This doctrine was shown in the last vision in its
application to the Jews. In the present as com-
pared with the first, of which it is the complement,
the same principle is illustrated in relation to the
world at large. At the beginning of this night of
disclosures, the prophet learned that there was no
indication in the state of the heathen world of any
such convulsion as his predecessor Haggai had
predicted ; but, on the contrary, actual inspection
by horsemen commissioned for the purpose brought
back information that all the earth was quiet and
at rest, thus furnishing a painful contrast to the
weak and suffering condition of the people of God.
Now he learns that this prosperity and peace of the
heathen was not a permanent thing. The time
had not come, and nothing could be done until it
did come. But it was sure to arrive. The wrath
of God is not a caprice or an impulse, but the
steady, uniform, eternal opposition of his holy na-
ture against all sin. It can no more cease than
He can. It is the very element of his being. He
is necessarily " of purer eyes than to behold evil."
Not more certainly is He infinite in power or wis-
dom than He is in justice and truth. And these
perfections must find expression in his administra-
tion of the affairs of the world. Delay is no evi-
dence to the contrary. The accumulation of sins
thus produced, only makes more evident the desert
of wrath, and causes a deeper destruction when the
blow falls.
2. The resting of God's Spirit upon a land is
generally the cause of life, holiness, and peace, but
sometimes it is the reverse. In visitations of judg-
ment, the Spirit is a consuming fire. It overwhelms,
scatters, destroys. It removes out of the way ob-
stacles otherwise insuperable. It turns mountains
into plains. It lays low hoary despotisms, and pre-
pares means and access for the gentler forms of
diffusing the truth. Pacem petit ense. The ut-
ter destruction of a godless power is sometimes a
necessary preliminary to the spread of the Gospel,
52
ZECHAEIAH.
THE CROWN UPON JOSHUAS HEAD.
Chapter VI. 9-15.
A. The Symbolic Action; Growns on Joshua (vers. 9-11). B.
Branch a Priest and King (vers. 12-15).
Its Meaning ; The
9-10 And the word of Jehovah came to me saying, Take'^ from the exiles,^ from
Cheldai, from Tobiah, and from Jedaiah, and go thou on that day, go ^ into the
11 house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah wliither they have come from Babylon; And
take silver and gold and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the
12 son of Josedech, the high priest ;* And speak to him saying. Thus speaketh Jeho-
vah of Hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is Branch, and from his place he
13 shall grow up,^ and build the temple of Jehovah. Even He^ shall build the tem-
ple of Jehovah, and He shall bear majesty, and shall sit and rule upon his throne,
and shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between
14 them both. And the crowns shall be to Chelem, and to Tobiah, and to Jedaiah,
15 and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And
they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah ; and ye shall
know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to you ; and it wiU come to pass, if ye
will hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God — '
1 Ver.
10.
resumed
ID
Pressel says,
2 Vor.
10.
8 Ver.
10.
being heavy
4 Ver
11.
the Hebrew
K Ver.
12.
6 Ver
13.
r Ver
15.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
— The infin. absol. Plip^, used for the imperative, has no object, and is therefore to be considered a»
tbe ^T^p^ of ver. 11. This requires us to view the latter half of ver. 10 as a parenthesis, which, as
, " is somewliat harsh but not harsher than we often find even in German " or in English.
— rT7*12, abstract for concrete = the exiles.
— The repetition of nH^ is one of the cases which have subjected Zechariah's style to the chaise of
and dragging.
. — This is noted by the Masorites as one of the twenty-six verses, each of which contains all the letters of
alphabet.
— npti** — n^^. Observe tbs paronomasia : " a sprout will sprout up."
. — The first word is very emphatic, Even He and not another. So in the next clause, and He.
• — The aposiopesis is striking (cf. Luke xiii. 9), " And if it bear fruit ; and if not, then," etc.
EXBGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Some interpreters consider what is here related
as another vision, but m.anifestlj' without reason,
since it has none of the peculiarities of the visions,
is historical in its nature, and is introduced with
the customary formula which denotes an ordinary
communication from God, " the word of Jehovah
cams to mc." But while it is not one of the night
visions, it is closely connected with them, as ap-
pears from the fact that it was given at the same
time ; that it resumes the principal feature of the
most striking of the whole, namely, the fourth, by
describing yet further the Branch ; and that it
stands in a close relation of contrast to the vision
immediately preceding. That one set forth the
severe judgments in store for all the foes of the
theocracy. This symbolic action develops the
other side of the great subject. The outlying
ieathen are not all to be destroyed or extermin-
ated. On the contrary, they will one day cease
their hostility to the covenant people, and even
entei into cordial cooperation with them in build-
ng up and adorning the kingdom of God. This
is simply a different form of the same thought
given in the second chapter of Haggai, where we
arc told (ver. 7) that the desire (= desirable things)
of all nations, shall come, and the Lord will fill
the house with glory. We have then here an his-
torical appendix to the night visions, which brings
out more clearly their main theme, and especially
emphasizes the view that the heathen nations are
not simply to be disanned of their opposition, but
made active helpers in the advancement of God's
kingdom and glory.
a. The, Symbolic Action (vers. 9-11). — Ver.
9. And the word, etc. Therefore this ia not a
vision.
Ver. 10. Take from tlie exiles .... from
Babylon. The exiles is a term applied by Ezra
(iv. 1 ; vi. 19) to the rettirned captives (iv. 1 ; vi.
19), but here evidently means those who were still
in exile, and of whom the persons named as hav-
ing come from Babylon, were representatives. Of
these three persons and their host Josiah, we know
nothing more than what the passage itself relates.
Several interpreters (Jerome, Hengstenberg, Baum-
garten), following the LXX., consider their names
as significant, but there is nothing to require tbi»
CHAPTER VI. 9-15.
53
here more than elsewhere, nor do the results thus
obtained contribute anything to the proper under-
standing of the section. The E. V. makes "'K'H
the subject of ^1^3 (Targum, Peshito, Vulgate,
Luther, Henderson), but it is better to take it as
an accusative of place, referring to the house of
Josiah (Nordheimer, //. G., 902, 1 b.). So Heng-
stcnberg, Kohler, Keil, etc. According to this
view the three men are deputies from the .Jews in
Babylon, and the fourth was the host with whom
they lodged in Jerusalem. On. tliat day, the day
mentioned (ch. i. 7).
Ver. 11. Crowna. The plural which is re-
peated in ver. 14 must be significant, and repre-
sents, if not two distinct diadems, at least one
composite crown of two or more parts. The
former is the more natural (cf. Rev. xi.x. 12) and
better suited to the connection which treats of the
combination of two distinct offices in one person.
Ewald, Hitzig, and Bunsen interpolate " and upon
the head of Zerubbabel" after the words "high
priest ; " but for this there is no authority what-
ever, critical or exegetical.
b. The Explanation and Promise (vers. 12-15).
— Vers. 12 and 1.3 explain the meaning of the
Bymbolica! action just commanded.
Ver. 12. And speak to him. Joshua of course
would know that the regal function, so firmly fixed
in the family of David, could not possibly be con-
ferred upon him as an individual, and that there-
fore its insignia were placed upon his head typi-
cally. This is put beyond doubt by the address
here made to liim. Behold points to the Messiah
as if he were present. He is called Branch as if
it were a proper name, as appears not only by the
lack of the article, but by the established usage of
the earlier Prophets. See on ch. iii. 8. Of this
branch or sprout from the fallen trunk of David,
it is said, from his place he will grow up. Some
(LXX., Luther, Hitzig, Presael, etc.) render this
clause impersonally, " there will be sprouting or
growth ; " but this overlooks the 7^ in Vril^JTIp,
and besides, changes the subject without reason-
Better is the view ( Cocceius, Hengstenberg, Baum-
garten, Keil, etc), that the Branch will grow up
from his place (cf Ex. x. 23), «. e., from his own
land and nation, not an e.xotie, but a genuine root-
shoot from the native stock to which the prom-
ises had been made. BuUd the temple — not the
earthly temple then in progress, for this was to be
completed by Zerubbabel (iv. 9); not a new and
more glorious one of the same kind, for Zerub-
babel's temple was to be glorified in the Messianic
times (Hag. ii. 7-9; Mai. iii. 1) ; but (Hengsten-
berg, Tholuck, Kohler) the spiritual temple of
which the tabernacle and Solomon's splendid edi-
fice were only types, the holy house composed of
living stones (Eph. ii. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5). Not a
temple, but the temple, — one still in existence and
always the same, but destined to an unprecedented
exaltation by the Messiah. " The temple of God
is one, namely, the Church of the saved, origin-
ating in the promise given in Paradise, and last-
ing to the end of the world " (Cocceius).
Ver. 13. Even He shall buUd. The repetition
is not useless, but emphatic, as the expressed pro-
noun shows. Even he, notwithstanding his lowli-
ness of origin, shall accomplish this great work.
Bear majesty, i. c, kingly glory and honor, for
which nn seems to be the proper and normal
term (1 Chron. xxix. 25 ; Dan. xi. 21 ; Ps. xxi.
5). "WiO sit and rule upon his throne. " The
former denotes the possession of the honor and
dignity of a king, the latter the actual exercise of
royal authority (Hengstenberg). The suffix in
"his throne" refers not to Jehovah (Vitringa),
which is too remote, but to the Branch himself, as
is shown by the recurrence of the word in the next
clause. And will be a priest. Ewald and Hitzig
render, " there will be a priest upon," etc., which
is both arbitrary and unmeaning. Nearly all in-
terpreters, ancient and modern, render as in the
text, and understand the clause to mean, that the
Branch would be both king and high priest on one
and the same throne. Between them both. Not
the Branch and Jehovah (Cocceius, Vitringa), nor
the Branch and an ideal priest (Ewald, Bunsen),
nor the royal and the priestly offices (Rosenmiiller,
Hengstenberg, etc.) ; but the king and the priest
who sit upon the throne, united in one person, the
Branch (Hengstenberg, Umbreit, Kohler). Upon
this view, the counsel of peace cannot mean per-
fect harmony, for that would be a matter of course
— yet Jerome, Michaelis, Maurer, and Hengsten-
berg favor this view, — but is a counsel which
aims at or results in peace, like " the chastisement
of our peace " in Is. liii. 5, i. e., which has for its ob-
ject our peace. The sense, then, is that the Branch,
uniting in himself royalty and priesthood, will
take such counsel as shall result in peace and sal-
vation for the covenant people.
Vers. 14, 15. The Prophet having explained
the meaning of Joshua's coronation, now proceeds
to give the reason why the silver and gold of which
the crowns were composed, were to be obtained
from the messengers of the Jews who lived at a
distance from their native land.
Ver. 14. And the crowns shall be. The
crowns, after having been placed upon the head of
Joshua, were not to become his personal property,
but to be preserved in the temple as a memorial
of the deputies from Babylon. The names of
these persons are the same as those given in ver.
10, except the first and last; Helem standing for
Heldiah, and Hen for Josiah. In the former case
the two names are so nearly alike that there is a
general agreement in the view which refers them
to the same person, and considers the variation as
a copyist's error. In the latter, Keil and Kohler
render the second name as an appellative noun
with the sense of favor, and consider it a record
of the gracious hospitality which the son of Zeph-
aniah had shown to the deputies from Babylon.
But this is certainly artificial, and it is better to
assume that Josiah had this additional name. The
object of depositing the crowns in the temple was
not simply to do honor to the liberality of the con-
tributors from Babylon, but also to extend the
typical significance of the whole proceeding. These
men, sending from afar their gifts for the house
of God, were types of many who would one day
come from heathen lands and help to build the
temple of the Lord.
Ver. 15. And they that are afar off. A mani-
fest prediction that distant strangers should active-
ly participate in setting up the kingdom of God.
And ye shall know, etc. The occurrence of this
result would be a proof of the divine origin of
what is here predicted in word and deed. The
last clause, and it wUl .... your God, is con-
sidered by Hengstenberg and Henderson as an
aposiopesis. If ye will hearken, then . This
certainly gives an emphatic and spirited close to
the prophecy, and grammatically agrees bettor
with the form of the original than the supposition
54
ZECHARIAH.
that a pronoun has been omitted as the subject of
i!7"''7']' '^^^ suppressed apodosis of course is, ye
shall participate in all the blessings which the
Branch is to secure. For other instances of aposi-
}pesis, see Gen. xxxi. 42 and I. 15 (in Hebrew),
and the very striking instance (Ps. xxvii. 1.3). The
question, whether Zechariah really performed the
Bymbolical action here enjoined, is left undecided
by some (Hengstenberg, Keil), but there seems lit-
tle reason to doubt that he did, since the crown
was to be hung up in the temple as a memorial.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. The favorite designation of the Messiah,
Branch, reappears, with a considerable amplifi-
cation of its meaning. An elaborate and costly
double crown is placed upon the head of Joshua
as the type of one who is merely a slender sprout
or root-slioot, which grows up out of its own place.
This was exactly true of the historical Christ. He
did not descend from heaven in visible glory and
greatness. He was not born in the purple, nor
waited upon by princes and nobles. He did not
enter onr world with any show or pomp such as
his deluded countrymen expected ; but, although
a lineal heir of David and able to trace his ances-
try back to Abraham, he sprang from a decayed
family and had a manger for his hrst resting-place.
The Davidic trunk had fallen, and this was a mere
sucker growing out of one of the upturned roots.
Heaven indeed took notice of the event by the Star
in the east, the visit of the Magi, and tne songs of
the Angels; but the world at large knew little
and cared less about the birth at Bethlehem. Af-
ter the same pattern was his further development.
He grew up out of his place in lowly humiliation.
For thirty years his home was in Galilee, in the
house of a bumble carpenter, and during all that
time he was known simply as a reputable youth
in a country village. An apocryphal Gospel tells
marvelous stories of his infancy, but these are
pure inventions. The man Christ Jesus grew up
as a root out of a dry ground. And even after
He commenced his ministry, and did such works
as no other man did, and spoke as no othe^ man
spake. He was still but a Branch. Crowds at
times gathered around Him, but in all cases they
soon fell away. In general He was despised and
rejected of men. This continued during his life,
was especially marked in the circumstances of his
death, and even long afterwards characterized his
enemory, since one of the best Procurators of
Sndsna, could speak of Him as "one ,Jesus" (Acts
«xv. 19) ; and a century later the most illustrious ^
of Roman historians knew of him only as the
auithor of a pertiicious superstition who himself
had deservedly died a felon's death. Yet this
negrkjcted and forgotten Branch was to accomplish
some wonderful things.
2. One of these was to build the Temple of the
Lord. His type, Joshua, was busily engaged in
forwarding the erection of the new structure on
MoriiA, and that edifice, by successive additions in
a long course of years, became a most stately and
magnificent pile. But it was a far nobler build-
ing to which the Branch applied himself, one which
was triuly a habitation of God through the Spirit,
one composed of living stones. The glory of the
Temple at Jerusalem was that there the Most
High manifested his presence ; and all beauty of
1 lacitna.
form and grate of ornamentation was valued only
in so far as it rendered the house fit for the resi-
dence of God. Now the true temple, the spirit-
ual house, is the actual dwelling-place of Jehovah,
where He displays the fact, not by signs or sym-
bols, not by a material Shekinah, but by the graces
of his Spirit inwrought in the hearts and mani-
fested in the lives of his people. He dwells not
merely among them as a whole, but in each par-
ticular member. Ubi Spiritns, ibi ecdesia. These
members vary widely in other respects, but they
are all alike characterized by the indwelling of the
Spirit, the source of their life and the bond of
their connection with Christ, the head. Now it id
this living temple which the Branch builds. He
is, according to the common Scripture metaphor,
the foundation, the corner-stone ; but here he ap-
pears as builder. Sending forth his servants he
began and still continues the work, collecting,
shaping, and laying the materials, until already
an innumerable multitude have been framed into
such a structure as earth never saw before. The
Church on earth has many imperfections, yet after
allowing for all these, it is still a coetus Sanctorum,
a civitas Dei, a holy temple in the Lord ; and it
bears witness in every part to the grace and skill
of its great Founder. He, only He, did build,
could build such a glorious edifice.
3. The source of his power and success is indi-
cated in the very peculiar functions assigned to Him
in the text. He is a priest upon bis throne, —
a combination wholly strange to the experience of
the covenant people, and heretofore known to them
only in the dim tradition from patriarchal days,
of the mysterious Melchisedek who was at once
king of Salem and a priest of the most high God.
In the Branch, the Aaronic line and the Davidic
line should both culminate. He should fulfill the
highest ideal of each. As the one, real, atoning
priest, he was to attain all 4^ovalav for the forgive-
ness of sins and the removal of guilt; and as the
one, real, reigning king, he was to exercise all Si-
vafxiv for the inward support and outward protec-
tion of his people. The two functions coincided
in extent and object. Those for whom the priest
offered and interceded, were the very parties over
whom the king extended his beneficent reign. This
counsel between the two offices, this harmony of
aim and purpose, cannot but insure peace = the
highest good, temporal and spiritual, of his peo-
ple. The combination of right and power is irre-
sistible. So it has been in all the past; so it will
be in all the future. This man hath an unchange-
able priesthood, and his dominion is an everlast-
ing dominion, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed (Heb. vii. 24 ; Dan. vii. 14). We
can see the value of this combination more clearly
by considering the consequences, if either function
stood alone. Of what avail would be the pardon
of sin, if there were no security against its recur-
rence and dominion in the future? The wiping
out of the old score would simply make room for
a new one. On the other hand, of what use would
be the mastery of all concupiscence for the present
and all time to come, so long as no provision was
made for the arrearages of former transgression
and guilt ? The burden of the past would only be
the more intolerable as its enormity would be the
more clearly discerned and felt. We need a Priest
and a King, and, blessed be God, we have them,
with a resulting counsel of peace.
4. The calling of the Gentiles belongs to the
building of the ideal temple. This is set forth
typically by taking materials from Babylon for the
CHAPTER VII. 1-14.
55
double crown to be placed upon Joshua, and di-
rectly by the declaration that they that are far off
shall come and build in the temple of the Lord.
This very expression the Apostle raal uses to des-
ignate the Gentile Ephesians (ii. 17), "you that
are far off." Zechariah faithfully echoes the words
of all his predecessors as to the extent of the final
dispensation of grace. The universality indicated
in the first promise, and clearly expressed in the
oft-repeated covenant vifith Abraham, was never
lost sight of. Even amid the narrow restrictions
and close lines of Judaism there were significant
intimations that the barriers of race were only in-
cidental and temporary (see on ii. U), and that
one day the light and life of Zion should extend
to the ends of the earth. Just as Isaiah (Ix. 2, 6,
9) sets forth the future triumph of the Gospel by
representing huge caravans as journeying toward
Zion, and the ships of Tarshish as engaged in
transporting the sons of strangers thither with
their silver and their gold, so our Prophet ex-
presses the same truth by depicting the far-off na-
tions as builders in the temple. As living stones
they come, and insert themselves in the sacred edi-
fice, being built upon "Jesus Christ Himself, in
whom the whole building groweth into an holy
temple in the Lord." And not only that, but un-
der the master-builder, they are the means of gath-
ering others, and so lifting yet higher the walls
of that spiritual house which is the temple of the
living God. The chief upholders to-day of heathen
evangelization are nations farthest off from the old
seat of the theocracy.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
MooKE : The history of the world is arranged
in reference to the destinies of the Church ; and
the agencies that control that history go forth
from the scat of the Church's great head, the un-
seen temple. Political changes are after all only
tile moving of the shadow on the earthly dial-plate
that marks the mightier revolutions going forward
in the heavens.
Bradley : The temple of Jehovah. If God so
loves his Church as to call it his house, to dwell
in it and delight in it ; if He deems it so sacred as
to call it his temple ; if He sees so much grandeur
and beauty in it as to speak of its glory ; surely,
we may find in it something to love, something to
delight in, something to revere and admire. . . .
He shall build. Christ is the builder. (1.) He
forms the plan. (2.) He prepares the materials.
(3.) He joins the materials together.
Jay : The temple is the Church of God. His
people, therefore, should remember that all they
have and all they are is the Lord's; and that to
take anything pertaining to a temple is not only
robbery but sacrilege Christ is the sole
real builder. All others build only as instru-
ments. Even Paul and ApoUos were only minis-
ters by whom men believed, even as the Lord gave
to every man. Too often men are insensible of
this, and begin like Melancthon, who supposed in
his fervor that he should convert all who heard
him.
Peessel : Every contribution toward the build-
ing up of the Church, coming from a true heart,
has its memorial before God, and as a testimony
before the world of the divinity of the Gospel. . . .
The slowness of the far-off nations to enter into
the kingdom of Christ, is due not so much to tha
hardness of their hearts as to the feeble attention
of Christians to the voice of their God and Sav-
in. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION CONCERNING THE FAST.
Chapters VII. and VIII.
1. THE QUESTION PROPOSED: THE PROPHET'S REBUKE.
Chaptek VII.
A. The Question (vers. 1-4).
B. Present Rebuke (vers. 5-7).
Past (vers. 8-14).
C. Appeal to th*
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king that the word of
2 Jehovah came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, in Kislev, when
3 BetheP sent Sharezer and Eegeni-melech and his men, to entreat Jehovah,* to
speak to the priests who were at the house of Jehovah of Hosts, and to the proph-
ets, saying. Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have now ^ done
4, 5 so many years ? And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me, saying. Speak
to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying. When ye fasted and mourned
in the fifth (month) and in the seventh, and that for seventy years, did ye fast at
6 all to me, to me ? And when ye eat * and when ye drink, is it not ^ ye who eat
7 and ye who drink ? ^ [Know ye] not the words which Jehovah proclaimed hy tha
former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, and her cities round
about her, and the South, and the Lowland were inhabited ?
8 And the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, saying,
56
ZECHARIAH.
9 Thus spake ' Jehovah of Hosts, saying,
Judge the judgment of truth,'
And show kindness and pity ' one to another.
10 And widow and orphan,
And stranger and poor man,^" do not oppress ;
And evil against a brother
Conceive ye not in your heart.
11 But they refused to attend.
And offered a rebellious shoulder.
And made their ears too lieavy to hear."
12 And their heart they made an adamant,
That they might not hear the law
And the words which Jehovah of Hosts sent by his Spirit,
By means of the former prophets ;
Aid there was great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.
13 And it came to pass,
That as he cried and they did not hear,
" So they call and 1 hear not,^
Saith Jehovah of Hosts ;
14 And I whirl '^ them over all the nations whom they knew not :
And the land was made desolate behind them,
So that no one goes out or comes in.
And [so] they made the pleasant land a desert."
TEXTUAL AND GKAMMATIOAL.
i Ver. 2. — ^S'rT^D is a proper name here, as it is in Judges xx. 18, 26, 31.
2 Ver. 2 '*3Q"nW m^rT/. Henderaon renders this (here and in viii. 21) in rather superfine English, — to torn
nliate the regard. It is not = pray be/ore (E. V.), but simply, to entreat or beseech. Of. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12.
8 Ver. 8. nT here is equivalent to our now. Gen. xxxi. 38. See Text, and Oram, on i. 12.
4 Ver. 6. — The tenses in the first clause cannot grammatically be rendered as preterites, as E. V.
6 Ver. 6. — The marginal rendering (E V. ) of the question is better than that of the text, as leaving less to be sup-
pUed.
6 Ver. 6. — The question, " Is it not ye," etc., impUes, " Have I anything at all to do with it ? Is it not your own
fcffair entirely ?
7 Ver. 9. — The first verb must be rendered in the preterit; spake, not speaketh.
8 Ver. 9. — Judgment of truth. The margin of E. V. is better than the text.
9 Ver. 9. — ipn, kindness. D'^Dn'l, pity. See for the latter on i. 16.
10 Ver, 10. — As the first four nouns are anarthrous in the original, it is more literal as well as more spirited to ren-
der them so in the version.
11 Ver. 11. — In 3?l72t£?^, the preposition has its not unusual privative force.
12 Ver. 13. — The change of tense in the latter half of this verse is obliterated in the E. V. The writer passes from
narration, and cites the ipshsima verba of Jehovah. This is a better explanation than that which makes the future ex-
press a past action still contiuuing (Moore). Kohler and Pressel extend the citation as far as ^ti?Q, but it is better with
Ewald and TJmbreit to make it terminate with D^i^T^, since the next verb is clearly a preterite.
13 Ver. 14. — Dn^DK^ is not au Aramaic form, but results from the gutturul attracting to itself the vowel of the
preceding vav. (Green, Heb. Gram., 60, 3 c. and 92 e.)
H Ver. 14. — To render the last clause impersonally (Maurer), is enfeebling as well as needless.
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
This prophecy is separated from what precedes
by an interval of nearly two years, during all
which time the work upon the Temple had been
steadily prosecuted. As the building rose before
the eyes of the people and gave promise of a speedy
restoration of the ancient worship in its integrity,
they became doubtful about the propriety of con-
tinuing to observe the solemn fasts by which they
commemorated calamitous epochs in their former
history, especially the anniversary of the burning
rf the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar on the
tenth day of the fifth month. Accordingly a mes-
sage of inquiry was sent to the priests and the
prophets, to which the Lord' vouchsafed a direct
and abundant answer by the hand of Zechariah.
The first part of this answer is contained in the
chapter before us. After reciting the occasion of
the oracle (vers. 1-3) the prophet rebukes them
for the formalism of their services (vers. 4-7), and
then reminds them of the disobedience of their
fathers and the sad doom which followed (vers. 8-
14).
Vers. 1-3. The Question. Ver. 1. And it cama
. . . . Kislev. The original here is peculiar, in
that the note of time is torn apart, the year being
CHAPTER VII. 1-14.
57
first mentioned, and then after the insertion of a
clause on another topic, the day and month are
stated. Moreover, the latter notation, in the
fourth .... Klslev, must belong both to the
clause which precedes it and to the one which fol-
lows it in ver. 2, — of which Kohler justly says,
that although not impossible, it is certainly harsh.
The sense, however, is plain. Kislev corresponds
to part of November and part of December. The
origin and meaning of the name are quite uncer-
tain.
Ver. 2. ■When Bethel sent, etc. The LXX.,
Vulgate, Cocceius, et at, make Bethel the object
or accusative of place, but in that case it would
have been preceded by vH, or at least HM, or made
to follow the subject ; and besides there seems to
be no reason why after the Captivity the Lord
should have been sought at Bethel, since neither
the altar nor the prophet was there at that time.
It must then be the subject, as most expositors
hold, but not in the sense of Hengstenberg, as =
the congregation of the Lord, the whole people,
since there is no usage to sustain this view, but
simply ^ the people of Bethel, many of whom, we
know, had returned with Zenibbabel (Ez. ii. 28,
Neh. vii. 32), and soon rebuilt their city (Neh. xi.
31). Some make the two following names to be
iu apposition with Bethel (Ewald, Hitzig), but
this IS harsh as well as needless. The Bethelites
sent two of their number, one of whom has an
Assyrian name (Sharezcr), and was probably born
in exile. Their object was to stroke the face, i. e.,
to conciliate by caresses, or to entreat, Jehovah.
It is farther stated in the next verse.
Ver. 3. To speak to the priests, etc. The
priests as well as the prophets were regarded as
organs of divine communications. See Hag. ii.
U, Mai. ii. 7. '^.'[5'7 is not adequately translated
by abslaining, i. e., from food, for it means a separ-
ation from all the ordinary occupations of life. It
is not, therefore, ( as Furst and Keil say ) ^ Q^lS'
The question is put in the name of the population
of Bethel, but they represented what was a general
feeling, and hence the Lord's answer is addressed
to the people at large.
Vers. 4-7 contain a reproof of their manner of
observing a fast.
_ Ver. 5. Speak to aU, etc. The added specifica-
tion, to the priests, indicates that they particu-
larly needed the information thus given, the sub-
stance of which is that the fasting was a matter of
no consequence to the Lord. He had not com-
manded it, nor was it observed out of regard to
Him. When the people fasted, and when they ate
and drank, it was in either case simply with a view
to their own interest. It Avas therefore a matter of
supreme indifference to Him, whether they kept
this formal observance or not. The text refers not
only to the fast in the fifth month, but also to one
in the seventh. This was observed on the anni-
versary of the murder of Gedaliah and his friends
(Jer. xli. 1 if.). The emphatic repetition, to me,
to me, in the end of the verse, is the key to its
meaning.
Ver. 6. And when ye eat, etc. That is, your
feasting as well as your fasting, is conducted with-
out regard to me, simply for .your own gratifica-
tion.
Ver. 7. Know ye not, etc. The sentence being
manifestly incomplete, some supply HJ after the
Srst word, and render, " Are not these the words,"
etc. (LXX., Vulgate, EosenmuUer, E. V. margin) ,
but this would require a noun with H^ to be taken
as a nominative, and besides, there is no record
elsewhere of any such utterance of God as this
view requires. It is better (Mark, Ewald, Pressel,
et al, ) to supply " know ye," and explain the words
in question by what follows in vers. 9, 10. nntB'^.
Some critics contend for an intransitive rendering
as alone proper for this word (cf. i. 2), but here the
sense can scarcely be expressed in English e.xccpt
by a passive form. Certainly it would be an undue
liberty to supply H^rjiB^ from i. 11, as Kliefoth
and Kohler do. The South and the Lowland
(Shefela), were well defined geographical divisions
of Palestine from the time of the Conquest (cf. in
Hebrew, Josh. a. 40, xv. 21, 31 ; Smith, Diet. Bib.,
2291,2296).
Vers. 8-14. Here the prophet reminds his people
that the Lord required something else than formal
fastings, and that the disobedience of the fathers
was the cause of their ruin.
Ver. 9. Thus spake Jehovah, etc. The con-
nection requires that the first verb should be ren-
dered strictly in the preterite, and not as the E. V.
in the present. Judgment of truth is that which
is founded upon the actual facts in the case without
regard to personal considerations (Ezek. xviii. 8).
Kindness and pity are related as genus and spe-
cies, the latter being kindness shown to the unfor-
tunate.
Ver. 10. And widow and orphan, etc. This
verse specifies some of the chief ways of violating
the preceding requisition, and shows that it covers
the thoughts of the heart as well as the acts of the
members. The singular occurrence of I^HK t^S,
after a noun in the construct, is explained by Gen.
ix. 5, where it stands appositionally, = the maa
who is his brother. Henderson violates all gram-
mar by rendering (after the LXX.), " think not in
your heart of the injury which one hath done to
another." The Vulgate would have been a better
guide, malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo.
Ver. 11. But they refused . . . to hear. The
figure offered a rebeUious shoulder (Neh. ix. 29),
is taken from the conduct of an ox or heifer, refus-
ing the yoke. Cf. Hos. iv. 16.
Ver. 12. And they made, etc. Adamant is a
better translation for ~l''Qtf than diamond (Pres^
sel, Kohler, etc.), because it suggests only that
point for which the term is introduced, namely, its
impenetrable hardness. The relative refers to both
the preceding nouns, but there is no warrant for
giving to the law any but its strict and usual
sense. This clause well expresses the two factors
in all divine revelation, the guiding Spirit and the
inspired instruments. The last clause expresses
the result of the disobedience and obduracy of the
people.
Ver. 13. And it came to pass, etc. This verse
contains a sudden change in the form of the ad
dress. The protasis is in the words of the prophet,
but the apodosis, so they call, etc., introduces Je-
hovah as the speaker, and He continues to be such
until the second clause of the concluding verse.
The sentiment echoes the last words of the firs!
chapter of Proverbs.
Ver. 14. And I will whirl them, etc. I prefer
the rendering, whom they knew not, of the E. V.,
following the LXX., to the other, " who knew not
them," adopted by most critics after the Vulgate.
In either case the sense is clear, namely, that thej
58
ZECHARIAH.
would fall into the hands of those who being total
strangers were the less likely to show compassion.
Groes out or comes in, literally, goes away and
returns again, is an idiomatic phrase, first found in
Ex. xxxii. 27, for passing to and fro. Its nega-
tive presents a sad picture of entire desolation.
The pleasant land is a familiar designation of
Canaan in its agreeable aspect (Ps. cvi. 24 ; Jer.
iii. 19). Tills final clause states the result, and to
give it its full effect, requires the parenthetic inser-
tion of so in the version. Thus it is made plain
that all the calamity which is bewailed on the fast
days was brought on by the sinful obduracy of
those to whom " the former prophets " spoke by
the Spirit, but alas, spoke in vain.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. The question of the Bethelites indicates very
clearly the wretched formalism into which the peo-
ple had degenerated. The fasts about which they
inquired were not of divine appointment, and had
no hold upon the conscience. The same author-
ity which originated them could of course discon-
tinue them. The question itself, as well as the
motive from which it sprang, betrayed entire ignor-
ance of the nature and design of Scriptural fast-
ing. It is not an ascetic exercise, and has no in-
trinsic value whatever. Hence even in the com-
plicated and extensive ritual of the Old Testament,
there is mention of only one stated fast — the day
of atonement (Lev. xvi. 29), — and that, only by
the indirect expression " afllict your souls." In
all other cases, and there are very many of them,
the seiTice is set forth as strictly pro re nata, some-
thing springing out of the circumstances at the
time, and intended to cease as soon as they ceased.
It would seem as if the design was to guard
against the very error of the Jews mentioned here,
— one that long continued to prevail among them
and which centuries afterward was distinctly re-
buked by our Lord. At one time the objection
was made to him by the disciples of John the Bap-
tist, " Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but
thy disciples fast nof? And Jesus said unto them.
Can the children of the bride-charabcr mourn, as
long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days
will come when the bridegroom shall be taken
fi-om them, and then shall they fast" (Matt. ix.
14, 15). That is, while I am present with my dis-
ciples, there is no occasion for any such observ-
ance, and if I instituted one, its design would sure-
ly be mistaken. Hereafter, circumstances will arise
when they will instinctively feel that observances
of this kind are called for, and then they will ap-
point them, and retain them so long as may be
necessary. Our Lord does not deny the lawful-
ness or the expediency of fasting ; but He does
deny its intrinsic excellence or usefulness. It is
an expression of sorrow and humiliation proper
to be used on the occasions which call for such
feelings ; then it is fitted to help the discipline of
the soul and to lead to benefits quite beyond itself.
Indeed, on such occasions it is a suggestion of na-
ture itself, — nothing being more common than for
extreme grief or other mental excitement to take
away the appetite for food. But whenever the ex-
ercise is made to recur statedly at regular inter-
vals without regard to circumstances, its inevitable
tendency is to degenerate into a barren form and
1 mischievous self-deception.
2. This error is a serious one. Overstrained
devotion to ceremonial observances is sure to react
disastrously upon morals. Men lose the sense of
proportion, and lay more stress upon mint, anise,
and cummin than upon judgment and mercy; and
they compensate for rigidity in forms by great
looseness in substance. Hence in this chapter,
Zechariah, before answering the question proposed,
exposes the hollowness of mere outward fastings
(vers. 5, 6), and then reminds them of the causes
of their fathers' ruin (vers. 11,12). It was not
due to any inattention to ritual, but to the disre-
gard of the plainest duties of justice and human-
ity. They had not only the law written on the
heart, and tlie law engraved on the two tables of
stone, but the express and reiterated injunctions
of the Prophets against all injustice and oppres-
sion ; and yet they utterly refused to hear. Their
children now were in danger of falling into just
the same error. It was true then, as it is now,
that no religion is worth anything which does not
regulate the life and secure the discharge of social
and relative duties. Morality is certainly not piety,
but the piety which does not include morality is a
mere delusion. It mocks God and insults man.
3. God is represented in Scripture as the guard-
ian of the weak. Widows and orphans, the
strangers and the poor, they who are especially
exposed to ill treatment, are placed under his
powerful protection. To them He makes the most
precious promises, while upon their oppressors He
denounces tlie heaviest woes. This feature char-
acterizes the Mosaic legislation, so often thought-
lessly denounced as harsh ; it is renewed in the
older Prophets before the Captivity, and now reap-
pears again in the closing accents of Old Testa-
ment inspiration (cf also Mai. iii. 5). In respect
to these classes, the later dispensation is no ad-
vance upon the older, except in the higher sanc-
tion contained in the words and works of God
manifest in the flesh. One of the surest tests of
an intelligent Christianity as well as of a high
civilization, is found in the provision made and
maintained for those who so often are the victims
either of cruel neglect, or, alas, willful oppression !
Men need to be continually reminded that such
provision is a dictate not merely of reason and hu-
manity, but of Him who has proclaimed Himself
the judge of the widow and the helper of the fa-
therless, who preserveth the stranger, and who
hath chosen the poor of this world to be the heirs
of his kingdom (Ps. a. 14 ; Ixviii. 5 ; cxlvi. 9 ; Jas.
ii. .5).
4. The most terrible penalties are penalties in
kind. Such as the drunkard pays when at last he
feels himself the slave of a vicious habit which he
knows is ruining body and soul, and yet he is un-
able to throw off'; or the licentious man when de-
sire survives the power of gratification, and he is
tortured by appetites for which exhausted nature
has no provision. Similar is it in matters of relig-
ion. God calls and men refuse to hear. Prom
the days of Enoch down this has been a common
experience. Sometimes a judgment falls or wrath
is executed speedily. But ordinarily the retribu-
tion comes in the line of the sin . Men awake at
last to their true situation, and become alarmed.
Then the same process begins as before, with the
parties reversed. Men call, but they are not heard.
They seek, but do not find. They knock, but no
door is opened. There is a painful reminder of
the words of the wise man : " They shall eat of
the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices" (Prov. i. 31).
CHAPTER Vm. 1-23.
5t
« Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet,
Oh, let us in, though late, to ItisB bis feet ! "
" No, no, too late ! ye cannot enter now." •
HOMILETICAIi AND PRACTICAL.
Wordsworth : Zechariah's typical and pro-
phetical visions are succeeded by jjractical instruc-
tions. All theological mysteries are consummated
in holiness and love. The Jews did well to fast,
but not to boast of their fasting and self-mortifi-
cation. Here is a symptom of that Pharisaical
reliance upon outward works of religion, which
reached its height in our Lord's age (Matt. vi. 16),
and became almost as detrimental to vital piety as
idolatry had been in the age before the Captivity.
Your fasting was not produced by a deep sense of
shame and remorse for sin, as hateful to me and
as the cause of your punishment from me. It was
not a fast of sorrow for my offended majesty, but
for your own punishment. It was not a God-ward
sorrow, but a world-ward sorrow (2 Cor. vii. 10).
TiLLOTSON : A truly religious fast consists in
(1.) The afflicting of oar bodies by a strict absti-
nence that so they may be fit instruments to pro-
mote the grief of our minds. (2.) In the humble
confession of our sins to God. (3.) In an earnest
deprecation of God's disjjleasure. (4.) In inter-
cession for such spiritual and temporal blessings
upon ourselves and others as are needful. (5.) lu
alms and charity to the poor. (6.) In the actua",
reformation of our lives.
MooKE : All stated fasts tend to degenerate into
superstition, unless there is some strong counter-
acting agency. The original reference to God is
lost in the mere outward act. This is the case
with Popish observances of the present day. Self-
ishness is the bane of all true piety, as godliness
is its essence. Warnings of punishment when no
signs of it are seen, are often disregarded. They
who cherish hard hearts must expect hard treat-
ment. The harder the stone, the harder will be
the blow of the hammer to break it. They who
will not bear the burden of obedience, must bear
the burden of punishment.
Hengstenberg : The Jews' estimate of the
value of fasting. A custom which had no mean-
ing, except as the outward manifestation of a peni-
tent state of heart, was regarded as having worth
in itself, as an opus opei-atum. It was supposed
that merit was thereby acquired ; and surprise and
discontent were expressed that God had not yet
acknowledged and rewarded the service of so many
years.
2. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE. THE QUESTION ANSWERED.
&. Gmeral Promises and Precepts (vers. 1-17). B. Fasts shall iecome Festivals, and
whole Nations be added to the Jews (vers. 18-23).
Chaptek VIII.
1 And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me/ saying,
2 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
I am jealous ^ for Zion with great jealousy,
And with great fury I am jealous for her.
3 Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned to Zion,
And wUl dwell in the midst of Jerusalem ;
And Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth,'
And the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Yet shall there sit * old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem,
Each having his staff in his hand for very age ; *
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls.
Playing in the streets.
6 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Because it will be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this nation in those'
days.
Shall it be marvelous in my eyes also ? saith Jehovah of Hosts.
7 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Behold, I save my people from the land of the rising, ^
And from the land of the setting of the sun ;
8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,
And they shall be my people and I will be their God,
In truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts
Let your hands be strong.
Ye who hear in these days these words,
60 ZECHARIAH.
From the moutli of the prophets who spake'
On the day the house of Jehovah of Hosts, the, temple,*
Was founded, that it might be built.
10 For before those days tliere was no wages for a man
And no wages for a beast,^
And no peace to him that went out or came in, because of the oppressor ;
And I set '" all men, each against his neighbor.
11 But now not as in the former days am I
To the remnant of this people, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
12 For" there shall be a seed of peace.
The vine shall yield its fruit,
And the earth shall yield its produce,
And the heavens shall give their dew.
And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these.
13 And it shall be, that as ye were a curse among the nations,
0 house of Judah and house of Israel,
So will I save you and ye shall be a blessing ;
Fear not, let your hands be strong.
14 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
As I thought to do evU^^ to you when your fathers provoked me,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I repented not ;
15 So have I thought again " in these days
To do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah,
Fear ye not.
16 These are the words which ye are to do ;
Speak truth, each to his neighbor ;
Truth and judgment of peace judge ye" in your gates.
17 And let none of you devise the evil of his neighbor in your hearts,
And love not an oath of falsehood ;
For all these " are what I hate, saith Jehovah.
18-19 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
The fast of the fourth (month), and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh,
and the fast of the tenth, shall become pleasure and joy to the house of Judah,
and cheerful feasts ; but love ye truth '^ and peace.
20 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
It shall yet " be that peoples ^* wiU come,
And the inhabitants of many cities ;
21 And the inhabitants of one (city) shall go to another, saying,
Let us go speedily to entreat Jehovah ^'
And to seek Jehovah of Hosts.
1 will go also.
22 And many peoples and strong nations shall come
To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem,
And to entreat .Jehovah.
23 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
In those days it shall come to pass
That ten men of all languages of the nations shall take hold ;
Even shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew,
Saying, we will go with you.
For we have heard that God is with you.
TBXTDAL AND ORAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 1. — The word "^7^ wantJug la the Masoretio text, ia found in numerous MSS. ftnd seTeral editions, audi!
lupported by the Syriac and Targum.
a Ver. 2. — " I am jealous," not aa E. V. '■ 1 was.' The Hebrew tense here seems to be = the Greek perfect, in tlu
lense " I have been and still am."
8 Ver. 8. — The city of truth, not a city as E. V., but one preeminent in this respect
CHAPTER Vm. 1-23.
61
4 Ver. 4. — ^t^tt?^*^. The literal meaning sit is both more accurate and more expressive than the derived sense dietll
adopted in the £. V, i^om the Vulgate-
6 Ver. 4. — " Very age." This archaism is better than the literal " abundance of days " in margin of E. V.
6 Ver. 6. — Dnn, according to upage, must be rendered tkose. So Dr. Riggs {Suggested Emendations), who how-
ever is not happy in suggesting the marginal rendering of the E. V. as preferable to the textual, in the case of the vert
in this clause. The literal sense of H /Q^ is to be singled out, distinguisked, wonderful, and the word here expressel
romething not only difficult, but so difficult as to be marvelous or incredible.
7 Ver. 9. — "^K'S, requires a verb to be supplied. Some suggest ^S2, but ^"^ST seems better.
8 Ver. 9. — The grammatical construction here is awkward, yet better than E. V., which seems to imply a differenca
Between the house of Jehovah and the temple.
9 Ver. 10. — The feminine suf&x in n33^M refers to the nearer preceding noun.
10 Ver. 10 — In Hvli^SI the vav convers. takes Pattach in conformity to the compound Sheva which follows
(Green H. G., 99 «).
U Ver. 12. — Keil renders "^D i^ut, but the usual signification for is as suitable and idiomatic.
12 Ver. 14. — ^*in7 is in contrast with D'^tO'^H/ in ver. 15, and they shoxild be so rendered — to do evil and to
io good ; whereas E. V. gives the former as punish, and Henderson afflict
18 Ver. 15. — TlDt? = "gs'in. See on v. 1, vi. 1.
14 Ver. 16.— ^l3QtD — t22E7J3. To render this "Execute judgment" (E. V., Henderson), is misleading, for the
words express the pronouncing, not the executing of judgment. Noyes renders, "Judge according to truth, and for
peace," etc.
15 Ver. 17. — rTvS" v3"nW is to be taken as an accus. absol.
... ■• T
16 Ver. 19. — The E. V. renders the last clause, " love the truth ; " and so the Genevan. But both omit the article
before " peace," although the Hebrew has it before each noun.
17 Ver. 20. — After "XS we must supply n)'n\
18 Ver. 20. — Q^ffil? = peoples. This plural, found twice in E. V. (ilev. x. 11, xvii. 15), should have been used here,
and in x. 9, xii. 2, 3, 4 ,6, xiv. 12, and often elsewhere, to avoid ambiguity.
19 Ver. 21. — 'ni bnb. See on vii. 2.
BXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
In the preceding chapter the Prophet had re-
buked the people for their formalism, and set forth
the dreadful consequences of disobedience. Now
he turns to the other side of the subject and paints
an exquisite picture of the results of conformity
to the Divine will. Vers. 1-3. The restoration
of purity. — Vers. 4-6. Wonderful peace and pros-
perity. — Vers. 7, 8. Rescue of all captives from
every quarter. — Vers. 9-13. General fertility in
place of the previous drought and want. — Vers.
14, 15. Future execution of promises as sure as
past execution of threats. — Vers. 16, 17. Moral
conditions of prosperity. — Vers. 18, 19. Fasts
shall become festivals. — Vers. 20-23. Lively state-
ment of the extension of God's kingdom.
The chapter is divided into two parts by the
phrase, " And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came
tome" (ver. 1 and ver. 18). Each of these parts
is again divided into separate utterances by the re-
curring formula, " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts."
The first contains seven of these segments (vers.
2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14) ; the second has but three (vers.
19,20,23). Jerome justly explains these reiter-
ated references to the Almighty as meaning, " Do
not consider these words to be my own, and there-
fore disbelieve them as coming from a man ; they
are the promises of God."
(a.) General Promises and Precepts,{veTS. 1-17).
—Ver. 1 . And the word of Jehovah, etc. See
the same formula, ante i. 7, iv. 8.
Ver. 2. I am jealous .... for her. For the
usage and the sense, see on i. 14. Both passages
Bpeak of wrath, hut there the object of the wrath
is stated (the nations), here, the cause (Zion). This
tehement affection manifests itself in the ways de-
Scribed in the next verse.
Ver. 3. I am returned to Zion. He had for-
saken his dwelling-place when Jerusalem was given
up to her foes, and Ezekiel had seen in vision the
glory of Jehovah departing (xi. 23). Now he
would return, and in consequence, the city would
be called the city of truth, i. e-, where truth is
found, and Moriah the holy mountain; which
does not mean that they would actually bear these
names, but that they would deserve them as ex-
pressing their real character. The strict fulfill-
ment of this promise must be referred to the Mes-
sianic pei'iod.
Vers. 4, 5. Tet shall there sit, etc. This beau-
tiful picture represents the extremes of life as dwell-
ing in all security and happiness in the midst of
Jerusalem. Long life and a multitude of children
were ordinary theocratic blessings (Ex. xx. 12;
Ueut. vii. 13, 14; Ps. exxviii. 3-5), and this prom-
ise must in part at least relate to the period between
Zerubbabel and Christ. There is a curious verbal
coincidence in the words of the author of 1 Mac-
cabees (xiv. 9), describing the peaceful prosperity
which prevailed in Judasa under the rule of Simon :
" The ancient men sat all in the streets, commun-
ing together of good things, and the young men
put on glorious and warlike apparel." But the
full realization has been seen only under a later
economy.
Ver. 6. Because it will be marvelous, etc.
The Lord confirms their faith in his words by re-
minding them that what seemed incredible to them
was not therefore incredible to Jehovah. The com-
mon explanation of the second clause, supposes
C3 to stand for Q2n, as in 1 Sam. xxii. 8, and
the question to imply a negative answer. This ia
simple and pertinent, especially if we, like the E.
v., render C^'Q these, instead of those, which is
62
ZECHAEIAH.
its customary sense as denoting the farther demon-
Btrative. But eyen according to the rendering, in
those days, i. e., when this shall come to pass,
the sense is hetter than with Kijhler to make the
second clause an affirmation, and explain the pas-
sage as saying that it would be right for the peo-
ple to regard it as marvelous, for it would appear
such even to Jehovali himself. Bemnant of this
nation. See Haggai i. 12-14.
Vers. 7, 8. Behold I save my people ....
righteousness. Jehovah will rescue his people
from all lands as far as the sun shines, install them
again in Jerusalem and renew the old covenant re-
lation,— He their God and they his people (xiii.
9) ; and this, in the exercise on both sides of
truth and righteousness (Hos. ii. 21, 22). Hen-
derson, Kohler, Pressel, et ah, refer this to the res-
toration of the Jews still scattered abroad, but the
words are too large to admit of so narrow a re-
striction, nor is there any historical evidence of
any such general return of the diaspora to Pales-
tine. Jerusalem must stand here as elsewhere for
the Messianic kingdom. On the basis of these
promises, Zechariah proceeds to encourage the peo-
ple.
Ver. 9. Let your hands, etc. To have the
hands strong = to be of good courage (Judg. vii.
11 ; 2 Sam. xvi. 21). A reason for this courage
is shown in the description of those to whom it is
addressed. They are those who hear what the
later Prophets say, e. g., in vers. 2-8 of this chap-
ter. These later Prophets (Haggai and Zechariah)
had appeared at the time when the foundation of
the temple was laid, and the good eifeets of their
activity already to be seen were a pledge of what
should follow. It is unnecessary with Hitzig to
conceive DVB as put for DI^J?, but he is happy
in the suggestion that the last words of the verse
that it might be built, are intended to emphasize
the thought that this second founding of the tem-
ple (Hag. ii. 15-18), unlike the first (Ezra iii. 10),
should issue in the completion of the building.
Vers. 10-12 present the contrast between the
present and the former times.
Ver. 10. Before those days, namely, in which
work on the temple was resumed. No wages.
The labor of man and beast yielded so little result
that it might be said to be none. There was also
an entire absence of internal quiet to him that
went out or came in, i. e., men engaged in their
ordinary occupations. "l^Ui rendered by the an-
cient versions as an abstract noun, is made con-
crete by nearly all the moderns. That this does
not refer wholly to a heathen oppressor is made
plain by the following clause.
Ver. 11. But now makes vivid the contrast
with the opening words of the preceding verse.
Ver. 12. For there shall be ... . peace,
This clause is variously construed. Some say;
" the seed shall be secure " (Targum, Peshito), oi
"prosperous" (E. V., Henderson), which is un-
grammatical. Others, " the seed of peace, name-
ly, the vine, shall," etc. (Keil, Kohler), and they
say that the vine is thus called because it can be
produced only in peaceful times ; but is not war
just as destructive to any other fruit of the earth f
1 prefer the view of the Vulgate and Pressel given
above, a general statement of productiveness of
which the following clauses give the details. " Fu-
ture abundance will compensate for the drought
Rnd scarcity of the past" (Jerome).
Ver. 13 sums up all the blessings in a single
Itterance. As ye were a curse, etc. This does
not mean that they wc aid become a source of bless-
ing to the nations"(a view which Pressel urges with
great zeal, but manifestly without ground), hut an
example of blessedness, and therefore they would
be employed in a formula of benediction, just as
they had been used for an imprecatory formula
(cf. Gen. xlviii. 20 ; Jer. xxix. 22). — Israel. Sea
on p. 30 a the remark on a similar occurrence of
this name in i. 19. It is very significant. "The
idea that the ten tribes still exist somewhere in the
world, and are still to be restored in their tribal
state, has arisen from a misconstruction of those
Ijrophecies which refer to the return from Baby-
lon " (Henderson).
Vers. 14-17. The two former of these verses
confirm the foregoing promise, and the two latter
indicate a condition of its performance.
Ver. 14. And I repented not. Just as the
threatening did not fail of its execution, so yoa
may be sure the promise will not.
Vers. 16, 17. These are the words. There is
no need of giving to D'^^^'^n the doubtful mean-
ing things (E. V., Henderson), since the ordinary
sense words is entirely suilable. These " words
are, j\ist as above in vii. 9, 10, first positive (ver.
16), then negative (ver. 17). Judgment of peaoa
is such judgment as promotes peace, but this is al-
ways founded upon truth. Your gates, as the
places where justice was usually administered.
The first clause of ver. 17 is curiously reversed
in meaning by Henderson : " think not in your
hearts of the injui'y which one hath done to an-
other," — a sense which the Hebrew cannot have.
The last clause is very emphatic in the original,
lit., " For as to all these things, they are what I
hate."
h. Fasts shall become Festivals, and the Nations
attracted (vers. 18-23). — Ver. 18. Here begins the
second word of Jehovah. See ver. 1.
Ver. 19. The fast of the fourth month, etc.
For the fasts of the fifth month and the seventh,
see on vii. 3-5. The fast of the fourth month was
on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer. xxxix.
2) ; that of the tenth was in commemoration of
the commencement of the siege (Jer. Iii. 4). All
these fasts were to be turned into festivals of joy.
Not, as Grotius says, that the observance should
be retained only with a change of feeling and pur-
pose ; but that the general condition should be so
happy and prosperous as to render fasting unsuit-
able. The last clause reminds them of the condi-
tion upon which these promises were suspended.
Ver. 20. Yet shall it be that, etc. The posi-
tion of yet renders it very emphatic, as if to say,
Notwithstanding all past desolations, this shall
surely come to pass. Peoples, that is to say, not
individuals merely, but entire nations. The con-
nection, apparently dropped at the end of this
verse, to allow the mention of the reciprocal sum-
mons in the next verse, is resumed with the same
(^Sa^) in ver. 22.
Ver. 21 . And the Inhabitants of one city, etc.
The mutual appeal stated here greatly enlivens
the representation. The emphatic infinitive is very
well expressed in the E. V. Let us go speedUy,
althougli Prof. Cowles prefers earnestli/. The last
clause, I will go also, is the prompt response ot
each of the parties addressed.
Ver. 22. And many peoples, etc. This versa
takes up and completes the statement begun in
verse 20, by reciting the object of the journey
namely, the worship of Jehovah.
Ver. 23. Thus ssdth. Jehovah of Hosts, etc
CHAPTER VIII. 1-23.
63
An important addition. Not only will the heathen
go in streams to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah,
bttt they will seek a close and intimate union with
the Jews as a nation. "It^'N, which Henderson
says is redundant, is rather emphatic, and the
clause is to be construed as the similar one at the
commencement of Ter. 20. Ten men, a definite
numher for an indefinite (Gen. xxxi. 7). Each of
these ten representative men stands for a distinct
nation, since they each speak a different language,
as appears from the added clause, of all languages
of the nations, where the singularity of the ex-
pression seems designed to emphasize this diver-
sity. 'lp"'?nU^ is simply a resumption of the same
verb in the former clause. We will go with you,
not merely to th<! house of God (Hitzig), but in
all other ways ( .luth i. 16). On God is with
you, cf 2 Chron xv. 9. Henderson explains all
this as fulfilled in the number of proselytes made to
Judaism after the restoration. Bat surely neither
" many peoples " nor " strong nations " ever in a
body joined themselves to the covenant people.
He says that " Jerusalem " cannot be understood
otherwise than literally. But most persons will
think it cannot be understood in that way at all,
for how could such a city contain nations ? " That
these are said to come to Jerusalem is due to
the necessary modes of Jewish thought. That
was the only way in which the Jews before Christ
could conceive of real conversions, — the only lan-
guage descriptive of conversion which they could
understand. They had not yet reached the idea
that God can be worshipped acceptably and spiiit-
ually just as well anywhere else as at Jerusalem.
Hence those glorious conversions of Gentile na-
tions which are to take place far down in the ages
of the Gospel dispensation, if foretold at all by
Jewish prophets and for Jewish readers, must be
presented in thoroughly Jewish language and in
harmony with Jewish conceptions. So we ought
to expect to find it throughout the Old Testament
Prophets, and so we do find it " (Cowles).
THEOLOeiCAL AND MORAL.
_ 1. The beginning and the indispensable condi-
tion of all true prosperity is the presence of God.
Hence the very first article in the prophet's state-
ment of the happy prospects of his countrymen is
Jehovah's assurance, " I am returned to Zion."
His absence, strikingly depicted in the vision in
which Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart
from the threshold of the sanctuary, had caused
all the woes of Israel, — invasion, conquest, exile,
bondage. His return was the only sure pledge of
permanent restoration. This, according to the 46th
Psalm, is the river the streams whereof make glad
the city of God ; "God is in the midst of her, she
shall not be moved." God's presence in heaven
makes all its bliss, and his presence on earth makes
the nearest approach to that bliss. But as He is a
God of truth and holiness, they who enjoy his pres-
ence must partake of both. Wickedness cannot
dwell with Him. As Calvin says, " He is never
idle while He dwells in his people, for He cleanses
away every kind of impurity that the place where
He is may be holy." The proof of his presence,
therefore, is not any partial, outward, or transient
reform, but the growth and prevalence of holiness
founded on truth, do-KfrriTi Tijs iXriSeias, Eph. iv. 24.
2. " Longevity and a numerous offspring were
ipocially promised under the old dispensation," but
in the scene which Zechariah calls up, — the olij
man leaning upon his staff, and groups of happj
children playing in the streets. No pestilence stalkj
over the land, no war decimates the population, no
famine wastes flesh and strength. The extremes
of human life are happy, each in its appropriate
way, and all that lie between are in the same peace-
ful condition. The classes which are most exposed
and most defenseless being in complete and con-
scious security, the others in the prime and vigor
of their days must needs be exempt from fear and
anxiety. All this was the more impressive to the
prophet's contemporaries because of its contrast
with the days when death came up into the win-
dows and cut off the children from the streets, —
when the husband was taken with the wife, the
aged with him that was full of days (Jer. ix. 21,
vi. U). There is no need of spiritualizing the de-
scription. It serves well in its literal sense to ex-
press what is realized already under the beneficent
reign of the Prince of Peace, and will become uni-
versal and abiding when his kingdom is estab-
lished over the earth.
3. The chronic sin of human nature is unbelief.
Men stagger at the greatness of the divine prom-
ises. This is shown not only by the worldly, of
whom the standing pattern is that lord in the
court of Jehoram, who, when Elisha predicted ia
the midst of famine a speedy abundance of sup
plies, exclaimed, If the Lord would make windows
in heaven, might this thing be 1 (2 Kings vii. 2) ;
but even by the godly, as illustrated in the case of
Moses, who, when God engaged to sate Israel with
flesh for a whole month in the wilderness, incred-
ulously reminded Him that there were 600,000
footmen, plainly implying that the thing was im-
possible. And yet Moses had seen all the wonders
wrought in Egypt. In like manner the restored
exiles regarded the glowing statements of Zech
ariah. 'They refused to accept them, and so lost
the comfort and stimulus they would otherwise
have enjoyed. The prophet puts his finger upon
the cause of this irrational unbelief, when he sug-
gests that they judged God by themselves, that
they measured his power by their own understand-
ing. It is absolutely necessary to raise our thoughts
above the world, to bid adieu to human standards
of probability, and to keep in mind the infinite
excellence of the Most High. There are very
many things of which one can only repeat what
the Master said to his disciples, — " With men this
is impossible, but with God all things are possi-
ble " (Matt. xix. 26). Faith in the divine omnip-
otence is easy so long as only hypothetical cases
are concerned ; but when a question of practical
duty is involved, and our faith requires us to run
counter to all the maxims of worldly wisdom, it is
another matter. It is this feature which gave such
a heroic aspect to the course of Abraham when
" against hope he believed in hope," and fcr scores
of years persevered in the expectation of an event
which was naturally quite impossible, just because
he was " fully persuaded that what God had prom-
ised He was also able to perform " (Rom. iv. 21).
It is needful always to remember that God's
thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as
our ways, but as high above them as the heavens
are high above the earth. Faith, therefore, always
has abundant warrant. The trouble is that so
many, like Thomas, want to see first, and then be-
lieve. But the special, peculiar blessing is for
those who, without seeing, believe what God says,
just because He says it.
4. Theargumenta^rft'orz is proverbially strong,
»owhere is that promise so beautifully set forth as I and as it is here presented by the prophet, oflers
54
ZECHAKIAH.
ereiit encouragement to weak faith. God reminds
Israel that the wrath incurred by their fathers had
been actually visited npon them, no repentance on
God's part interposing to avert the blow. Even so
should it be with his purposes of mercy ; and thus,
the very sorrows of the past became pledges for flie
hopes of the future. The Most High does not will-
ingly afflict, He has no pleasure in the death of
him that dieth ; yet when the limit of forbearance
is readied, He executes the fierceness of his anger,
and his threatenings are verified to the letter.
Every Jew saw this in the deep furrows the Chal-
da3an conquest had imprinted on his native land.
But if Jehovah carried out his purposes so effec-
tively in tlie strange work of judgment, how much
more would He in the kind, congenial work of
beneficence and blessing? If the word of justice
had such a complete and ample verification, would
not the word oi mercy be still more signally illus-
trated and confirmed ? In this view even the
gloomy desolation of the Dead Sea and the ruins
of Nineveh and Tyre confirm the fiiith and hofie
which expect the world-wide blessings of the latter
day. The illustrations of God's severity will be
surpassed by those of his goodness.
5. The truest test of religious character is found
in the degree of our sympathy with God. If we
love what He loves and hate what He hates, then
are we his children, and bear his image. Now
what God hates particularly is not neglect of out-
ward observances, but all departures from the law
of love, — evil acting, evil speaking, evil thinking
toward our neighbor. And if we are right-minded
we shall shun these things, not for policy's sake,
nor even from abstract considerations of propriety,
but because they are so offensive to God. This
was what underlay the continence of Joseph under
a fierce temptation, — How shall 1 do this great
wickedness and sin against God 1 And this is the
only trustworthy support against the assaults of
the adversary. We must have a resolute loyalty
to the divine administration ; and say with David,
"I know, 0 Lord, that all thy judgments arc
right," or with Paul, " Yea, let Goil be true, but
every man a liar." We may, we must have sym-
pathy with our fellows, but first and before all we
are to cultivate the same moral affections as our
Maker exercises. The farther this culture pro-
ceeds, the more acceptable we become to Hira and
the truer to the best interests of men. It is the
more important to emphasize this truth because
in our own day there is a persistent attempt
in various quarters to introduce in a disguised
form the dreadful error which Paul represents
(Rom. i. 25), as lying at the root of the gross
idolatry and depravity of the heathen world — the
worshipping and serving the creature more than
the Creator. Men reverse the order laid down by
our Saviour, and m.ike regard for man the first
and great commandment. The "enthusiasm of
humanity" is substituted for obedience to God
and love to the Lord Jesus, and the sanctions of
religion, properly so called, are quietly ignored.
Comte's pro])Osed worship of Le grand Etre, col-
lective humanity, only put in a concrete form the
theoretical principles actuating many wlio ridiculed
this new philosopliical religion. He pushed things
to their logical result. Yet every page of Scrip-
ture teaches that integrity and philanthropy are not
piety, and every fresh leaf that is turned in human
experience shows that the true love of man is
rooted in the love of God, and that no sympathy
can be permanently relied upon which is not fed
!'rom supernal sources.
6. The lively, dramatic form in which Zechariah
predicts the conversion of the Gentiles, ia note
worthy. A general movement among the nations
the inhabitants of one city running to another witl
the eager summons to seek Jehovah, " let us go
speedily," lest we be too late ; the instant answer,
" I will go also ; " different nationalities crowding
around one Jew and seizing even the hem of his
garment ; all coveting fellowship with the obscure
child of Israel, simply because they had heard that
God was with him. Nothing could have seemed
more unlikely to the contemporaries of the proph-
et, yet how exactly it has been fulfilled ! The
whole Roman Empire with the vast multitude of
peoples it contained, and very many more who never
saw the imperial eagles, have submitted to the au-
thority of a Saviour who was a Jew ; all rested
their hopes for eternity upon a Jew. Other na-
tions have been centres and sources for philosophy,
science, art, literature, law, and government ; but
in the matter of the knowledge of God, the writ-
ings of Jews are the only and universal standard.
For centuries past the mightiest intellects and
largest hearts of the race have breathed the spirit
and studied the words of these living oracles. The
Jewish outward polity has disappeared, the nation
has been scattered as no nation ever was before or
since, a bitter and iiTational prejudice against them
characterizes a large part of Chi'istendom ; and yet
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is recog-
nized as the one supreme Creator and Lord of the
universe, in the best thought of the civilized world.
And at this day literally men of all nations and
kindreds and tribes and tongues are, almost with-
out a figure, laying hold of the skirt of him that is
a Jew. They cast in their lot with those whom
God chose to be a people for Himself, and are rest-
ing their hopes upon that crucified Jew who is the
Saviour of the world. All other gods are idols. All
other faiths are decrepit. All other religions are
forms. The hope of Israel alone has survived the
vicissitudes of time and the revolutions of earth,
and flourishes in immortal youth, making fresh
conquests every day, constantly entering new fields,
breaking up the apathy of ages, undermining su-
perstitions hoar with the rime of a thousand years,
and calling forth from the ends of the earth the old
cry. Come, let us go speedily to seek Jehovah of
Hosts.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Moore : ver. 2. Men judge God by themselves
in interpreting his promises, much oftener than
in interpreting his threatenings Ver. 17. When
God covenants with his people. He also covenants
with their children. — Ver. 20-23. All true piety
is instinct with the missionary spirit, — desire for
the salvation of others.
Pkessisl : ver. 23. Shall we delay our mission-
ary efforts until Heathens, Mohammedans, and
Jews seize us by the skirt 1 No, for if that had
been the rule, where would we ourselves have
been ? No, but on the contrary, let us like brothers
seize them by the hand and lead tliem to the Lord.
Again : No one can be another's leader to the
Lord, unle-3s it be perceived that God is with him ;
but wherever that is plainly seen, men gladly seek
such guidance.
Jerome. Shall it he marvelous. Who would
have supposed that the same imperial power which
destroyed our churches and burnt our Bibles,
should now rebuild the former at public expense,
in splendor of gold and various marbles, and re-
store the latter in golden purple and jeweled bind-
ings?
CHAPTERS IX.-XIV. 65
PART SECOND.
FUTURE DESTINY OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE.
Chapters IX.-XIV.
The genuineness of these chapters as a constituent part of the prophecies uttered by the Zechariah
who flourished after the Captivity, has been contested since the middle of the serenteenth century.
The arguments pro and con have been considered in the Introduction. According to the traditional
and correct view, they contain such further disclosures of God's purposes respecting his kingdom as
He was pleased to communicate to his servant Zechariah after what is contained in the previous por-
tion of the book had been recorded. Whether these six chapters were delivered all at once, or were
set forth in parts which afterwards were collected by the author into one whole, cannot now be deter-
mined. The only apparent mark of division they contain is found in the title prefixed to ch. ix., and
afterwards repeated at the beginning of ch. xii. This is used by some to justify a distribution of the
contents into two burdens or oracles — a distribution which may be admitted as a matter of con-
venience and as indicating in general a progress in the order of thought and revelation, but which
must not be pressed too closely, since at times the prophet, just as is the case with his predecessors
before the exile (Is., etc.), turns upon his steps and resumes matters which have been already treated
of The transitions of the writer are often rapid, and the connection is consequently obscure, but the
general drift of this outlook upon the future is plain. Great blessings are in store for the covenant
people, sometimes in the shape of victories achieved by them, at others in that of conquests wrought
for them. A great deliverer is to appear who unites in himself the seemingly contradictory features
found in the earlier Messianic representations ; on one hand suffering, rejected, despised, slain ; on
the other, a mighty king, ruling, however, not by force but by spiritual power, attracting multitudes
in penitence and love to his side, and establishing a universal dominion. This, however, is not accom-
plished without suffering on the part of his people. They make their Shepherd suffer, and in turn
themselves are brought under the harrow. They are visited by terrible calamities which purge away
the unworthy members of the kingdom. But even the select body, they who are faithful, have fierce
conflicts with the outside world. But they are delivered by the wonderful interposition of Jehovah.
Then the Gentiles, instead of being destroyed, are converted, and press into the kingdom of God, the
limits of which are made coextensive with those of the whole earth.
Such are the leading points of this interesting portion of prophetic Scripture. The particulars 'will
be elucidated, as far as may be, in the detailed exposition.
A. THE FIRST BURDEN.
Chapters IX.-XI.
This stretches over the period between the fall of the Persian Empire and the appearance of our
iord. Ch. ix. discloses a series of deliverances for God's people, one of which (vers. 1-8) is wrought
by a most destructive visitation upon their present heathen ruler, which falls in desolating strokes upon
many of their neighbors, but is effectually warded off from themselves, so that Jerusalem stands like
an oasis in the desert. The other describes an actual conflict with an enemy who is named, Javan
(= Greece), and who is subdued through the intervention of the Lord going forth with whirlwind and
lightning. In consequence, his people shine like the flashing gems of a diadem. Between these two
martial scenes, the prophet hails the vision of a lowly, peaceful king, who without arts or arms achieves
a bloodless victory, and inaugurates an empire which reaches to the ends of the earth. It would seem
as if after the account of the first deliverance, the prophet wished to suggest that this was only an
installment of what was to come, and therefore he held up for brief view the glowing picture of
the mighty yet peaceful monarch and his world-wide dominion, and then at onc« turns to remind his
readers that there was much to be done on a lower scale before the advent of this peculiar ruler. Ch.
X. continues and enlarges the promises with which the previous chapter closed ; especially emphasizing
the possession of native rulers. In the latter part the speaker passes insensibly to a similar and yet
more glorious achievement of God in behalf of his earthly kingdom, one which looks to a far more
distant future. Ch. xi. opens a new disclosure, symbolical and mysterious in its form, yet plainly indi-
cating a rejection of the ancient Church because of her rejection of the Good Shepherd, which is de-
scribed at length, with wonderful vividness of detail and no small degree of dramatic power.
These three chapters will well reward the most patient study, because if their mutual relations and
general import be satisfactorily ascertained, great aid is gained for solving the yet more serious diffi-
culties contained in the closing portion of the book. Prophecy, while by its very nature it is lofty and
mysterious, is neither arbitrary nor disjointed. It proceeded from one Spirit and has a settled schema
and purpose to the consummation of which all its parts directly tend. Notwithstanding the existence
of many variations of form, style, and outward appearance, there is an underlying coherence worthy
of the divine inspiration. A single step firmly gained anywhere, therefore, furnishes good hope foi
what is to follow. The " analogy of faith " is a principle of vast use in doctrinal theology ; it is of
aone the less application in the field of exegesis and especially in that of the prophetic Scriptures.
Bfi ' ZECHAEIAH.
1. Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach (ch. ix., vers. 1-8). 2. Zion's King of Peact
(vers. 9, 10). 3. Victory over the Sons of Javan (vers. 11-17). 4. Further Bless-
ings of God's People (ch. x.). 6. Israel's Rejection of the Good Shepherd (ch. xi.)
1. JUDGMENT UPON THE LAND OF HADEACH.
Chapter IX. 1-8.
A. A destructive Visitation befalls Hadroi^h and Damascus (ver. 1 ). B. It destroys also Hamath, Tyrt,
and Sidon (vers. 2-4). C. The Philistine Cities suffer likewise, but a Remnant is saved (vers. 5-7)
D. The Covenant People are protected from all Harm (ver. 8).
1 The burden of the word of Jehovah upon the land of Hadrach,
And Damascus is its resting place ; '
For Jehovah has an eye^ upon man,
And upon all the tribes of Israel —
2 And Hamath also [which] ' borders thereon,
Tyre and Sidon, because ■• it is very wise.
3 And Tyre built for herself a stronghold,''
And heaped up silver as dust,
And gold as the mire of the streets.
4 Behold the Lord will seize ^ her.
And smite her bulwark in ' the sea.
And she herself shall be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon sees it and is afraid,
Gaza also, and trembles exceedingly,
And Ekron, for her hope is put to shame,'
And the king perishes from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 And a mongrel ^ dwells in Ashdod,
And I cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 And I take away his blood out of his mouth
And his abominations from between his teeth ;
And even he '" remains to our God,
And he becomes like a prince " in Judah,
And Ekron like the Jebusite,
8 And I encamp for my house against ^^ an army,^'
Against him that goeth hither and thither,"
And no oppressor shall come over them any more,
For now I see with mine eyes.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
\ Ver. 1. — innpD = resting-place, permanent abode.
2 Ver. 1. — D^^5 1^"^,, g'"' "''J-i *■" «y« ipon man. So LXX. and most critics.
» Ver. 2. — Before 73?n we must supply Htl'S . Tlie latter half of ver. 1 is parenthetioal. " Hamath alio," 1. 1,
ts well as Damascus, is a resting-place of the burden.
4 Ver. 2. — ^'p takes its usual sense, because. To render allhou^h is enfeebling as well as needless,
fi Ver. 3. — The paronomasia in m^Q "liH cannot be reproduced in English.
6 Ver. 4.— n3£D"Ti" is not will dispoisess (Burg., Hend.), nor impoverish. (Hitzig, Ewald), nor deliver up (Heng.,
Kliefoth), but seize, conquer, as in exactly similar connection, Josh. viii. 7, xvU. 12 (Maurer, Kohler).
7 Ver. 4. — D^D. ■'"i ^"^^ into, as Henderson and Noyes render.
8 Ver. 5. — tB^Din. Here, as elsewhere (Jer. ii. 26), the Hiphll takes a passive sense : the subject of the verb li
not Ekron (as some editions of the B. V. punctuate the clausel, but nlilStS
T T r '
0 Ver. 6. — 1TJ20. Mongrel is a better, because more siguiflcant rendering than alien (Oenevan, ttranger), tdolM
by most critics, after the LXX. iiAAoycv^c. Dr. Van Dyck, In the Arabic Bible, gives 1*^^ = baslard.
CHAPTER IX. 1-8
C7
10 Ver. 7. — S^n"35 '^y?''^. The E. V., ke that remameth, is not warranted by grammar nor by the connectioa,
11 Ver. 7. — " Prince/' li'erally, tribe-prince or head of a thousand, a Pentateuch word.
12 Ver. 8. — 772, lit., hecaicse q/*, here is = against,
13 Ver. 8. — nDSKl. The keri undoubtedly gives the true text, SH^tt, nor is there any need of adopting the
Towel changes proposed by Ortenberg and Ewald.
14 Yer. 8. — ^m?ttll I^^Q, the same phrase that occurs in vli. 14, where, however, the connection requires a va
riation in the reudenng.
EXEGETIOAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 1 . The burden of the word. The ancient
interpretation of HtSp, = divine declaration, ora-
cle, or vision (LXX., Vnlgate), has been adopted
by most modern interpreters (Cocceius, Vitringa,
Gcsenins, Ewald, Fiirst) ; but the other, = mina-
tory prophecy (Targnm, Aquila, Pesliito), has
been accepted by Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Umbreit,
Kliefoth, Pressel, and has especially been vindi-
cated by Hengstcnberg ( Christology). Burden is the
admitted meaning of the word in other connec-
tions ; it is never joined with the name of God, or
of any other person but the subject of the proph-
ecy ; and undeniably is in most instances prefixed
to a threatening prediction. See Isaiah xxii. 1,
xiv. 28, XV. 1, etc., and especially Jeremiah xxiii.
33 ff. The phrase, " burden of the word of Jehovah,"
is peculiar to the post-exile prophets (xii. 1, Mai.
i. 1). The land of Hadraeh is a very obscure
fiirof Keyoixfvov. Pressel recounts no less than sev-
enteen different explanations of it. They may be
thus classified : (1.) It is the name of an ancient
city or land (Theodoret Mops., Michaelis, Ro.sen-
muller, Pressel), but this has arisen from a confu-
sion of the word with Edrei. (2.) An appellative
noun denoting the South (Targum), or the sur-
rounding region (Jun. and Tremellius), or the in-
terior (Hitzig), or the depres,sed region = Ccele-
Syria (Maurer). (3.) A corruption of the text is
assumed, T|"inn for tj^in ^Aupot-ms (Orten-
berg, Olshausen). (4.) The name of a Syrian
king (Gesenius, Bleek, Vaihinger, Fiirst). (5.)
The name of a Syrian god (Movers, Van Alphen).
(6.) It is a symbolical name, like Ariel (Is. xxi.^L.
1), Rahab (Ps. Ixxxvii. 4). This, the oldest inter-
pretation (Jerome, Raschi, Kimchi), is sustained
by the fact that the others are all purely conjec-
tural. No such name as Hadraeh is now or ever
has been known. The translators of the LXX.
and Vulgate were ignorant of it. All the other
proper names in the passage are well understood ;
this one, the first, has resisted the efforts of the
acutest scholars to give it any historical identifica-
tion. We must, therefore, either say that it denotes
a region now unknown, near Damascus, which is
surely most unlikely in a country so long and
thoroughly known as northern Syria ; or else give
it a figurative meaning. Assuming the latter,
Hengstenberg, Kliefoih, Keil, after Calvin, ex-
plain it as a compound term denoting strong-weak
or harsh-gentle} which the prophet employs as a
mystical designation of the Persian Empire, which
for prudential reasons he was unwilling to specify
more distinctly, the epithet meaning, that the land
now strong and mighty shall hereafter be humbled
and laid low. The subsetjuent statements are then
only enlargements or specifications of the general
risitation directed against the great empire under
1 Pressel derides this view, saying, Diese elymologischen
ferauclie sind in der That audi Eeides^ gar zu scharf wnd
which the Jews were now in subjection. Its rest-
ing-place. This clause commences the detail of the
several parts of the whole designated as Hadraeh.
The burden is to abide ))ermanently upon Damas
cus. Its native rule, which ceased on the Great
Conquest, was never afterwards recovered. Has
an eye, etc. Man, here, as in Jer. xxxii. 20, sig-
nifies the rest of mankind as contrasted with Israel,
The latter half of the verse gives the reason of the
former, namely, that God's providence extends
over the whole earth, and He therefore cannot al-
low the existing disproportion between his people
and the heathen to continue permanently. Some
(Kimchi, Calvin, Henderson) render "the eye of
man," gen. subj., as E. V., but this requires an
unusual rendering of ''3, and besides, does not
suit the context.
Ver. 2. And Hamath also. Haraath, the
Greek Epiphania on the Orontes, shall also be a
resting-place of the burden. Nearly all expos-
itors concur in construing the last two words as a
relative clause. Hamath and Damascus are closely
connected as together representing Syria. Con-
tiguous in territory, they were alike in doom.
From them the prophet turns to Phoenicia. Tyre
and Sidon is= Tyre with Sidon, as the following
verb in the singular shows. Tyre was a colony
of Sidon, but the daughter soon outstripped the
mother, and as early as Isaiah's time the elder
city was viewed as an appendage of the younger.
Because it is. There is no need of giving to the
conjunction, the rare and doubtful meaning, al-
though (Calvin, Henderson, E. V.), since its nor-
mal sense suits perfectly. Tyre was very wise,
as the world counts wisdom, multiplying wealth
and strength, and trusting in them ; but this very
pride of earthly wisdom brought the divine retri-
bution (Ezek. xxviii. 2-6. Cf 1 Cor. i. 19, 27).
Ver. 3. Describes the resources of the insular
city. The stronghold doubtless refers to the im-
mense double sea-wall which made the place ap-
parently impregnable. For her vast accumulations
of wealth, see Is. xxiii , Ezek. xxvii. y-inn —
shining, is simply a poetical name of gold.
Ver. 4. Jehovah will seize. An earthly con
queror may perform the work, but the ultimate
agency is the Lord, who beholds and controls all
things. Her bulwark. It is of little consequence
whether H^'n be rendered rampart, or might, so
long as in is not converted into into. The point of
the clause is that the insular position, which appar-
ently rendered the city invincible, should feel the
weight of Jehovah's hand, and prove no protec-
tion. The prodigious power and wealth of the
Tyrians, and their utter overthrow, are among the
most familiar of historical truths.
Ver. 5. The prophet turns to Philistia. Ash-
kelon sees, etc. A vivid description of the effect
of the fall of Tyre upon the cities on the coast
gar zu zaTt,gar zu stark undgar zu -schwach. But where aU
are groping in the dark, ridicule is scarcely in plaoe.
68
ZECHARIAH.
Bonthward (cf. Is. xxiii. 5). Only four of the Phil-
istine capitals are mentioned, Gath being omitted,
as in Amos, i. 6-8, Jer. xxv. 20, Zeph. ii. 4. The
omission seems due to the fact that Gath, after
being dismantled by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxri. 6),
sank into political insignificance. " Sees " is to be
supplied after Gaza, and both " sees " and " fears "
after Ekron. The king, in Hebrew, lacks the arti-
cle, and the sense is not simply that the reigning
king perishes, but that Gaza henceforth has no
king. Of course, such monarchs as it had at this
time, were only vassal kings. 3t/. H. Hcngsten-
berg strenuously contends agamst the common
passive rendering, but apparently without reason.
He (with Ewald and Kohler) renders, it shall sit
or remain, in opposition to passing on or passing
away. But compare Isaiah xiii. 20, where the
verb is used as exactly parallel with l'^^- (J- A.
Alexander in he.)
Ver. 6. And a mongrel dwells. ^TPP- A
word of uncertain origin, which occurs in only
one other place in Scripture, namely, Dent, xxiii. 3,
where it means bastard. The rendering in the ver-
sion is fi*OTn Fiirst [Dietionary], who deduces the
verb from an assumed root, signifying to mix the
sexes. It is used in the text to denote a person of
blemished birth. Ashdod should lose its native
population, and have their place supplied by a
mongrel brood. The pride of the Philistines,
!. e., all that constitutes their pride. This clause
resumes what precedes in relation to the several
cities, and applies it to the nation as a whole. In
the next verse a further advance is made, and the
conversion of the people is set forth.
Ver. 7. And I take . . . blood. The singular
suffixes refer to the ideal unity in which the Pliil-
istines are conceived of as a single ]3erson. See a
similar case in ch. vii. 2, 3. The blood mentioned
is that of sacrifices, which the heathen sometimes
drank, and the abominations = not idols, as if he
were going to hold on to thcni mordicus (Hengsten-
bei'g), but idolatrous ofl'erings. The whole clause
strikingly depicts the abolition of idolatry. The
rest of the verse sets forth what conies in its place.
And even he, i. c, the nation of the Philistines
regarded as a person. To our God = the God
of Israel. They bhall become his worshippers.
Like a prince, a tribe prince, m':^ is a denom-
inative from ^I^S, and denotes the head of a thou-
sand (cf Micah, V. 2). In the earlier books it is
applied only to the tribe-princes of Edom, but is
transferred by Zcchariah to the tribal heads of Ju-
dah. The remnant of the Philistines is to become
like a chiliarch in Judah. The statement is com-
pleted by the final clause. And Ekron. This is
mentioned not in and for itself, but simply to indi-
vidualize the declaration ; any other city would
have answered as well. Like the Jebusite, i. e.,
like the ancient inhabitants of Jebus, wbo became
incorporated with the covenant people and shared
all their privileges. See the case of Araunah, 2
Sam. xxiv. 18.
Ver. 8. Not only shall a judgment fall on the
neighboring heathen and the remnant of them be
converted, but the Lord will carefully protect his
own people.. And I encamp for my house.
House, dal. oomm., stands for people or family of
God (Hos. viii. 1). An army is more precisely
defined in the next clause as passing through and
•eturning, i. e., marching to and fro. No oppres-
sor, such as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. For now
I see ^ am exercising my providential control.
" In the estimation of men'of little faith, God seei
only when He is actually interfering" (Hengsten-
berg). But in fact He sees all the time.
" There can be no doubt that we have here as
graphic an account of the expedition of Alexander
the Great as is consistent mth the permanent dis-
tinction between prophecy and history " (Hengsten-
herg). The capture of Damascus, of Tyre, and
of Gaza, are well-known historical facts ; and these
carry with them assurance that there was also a
fulfillment of the prediction in reference to Hamath
and the other cities of Philistia, of the fate of which
we have no express account. This fulfillment,
however, was manifestly only incipient, inasmuch
as the incorporation of the Philistines with Israel
did not take place until a later period. On the
other hand, the attempt of the so-called later crit-
icism to refer the passage to the conquests of TJz-
ziah mentioned in 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7, completely
fails ; because Uzziah did not attack Damascus
and ilaraath nor Tyre, which are here mentioned,
while he did subdue other neighboring heathen,
Edomitcs, Arabians, Maonites, who are not men-
tioned. The rapid celerity of these conquests is
most appropriate to the agency of the "he-goat"
whom Daniel saw (viii. .^) coming from the west
" on the face of the whole earth, and he touched
not the ground." All the great captains from Ses-
ostris down yield to Alexander in the swiftness and
extent of his conquests. Even Tyre, with all its
immense advantages and resources, stayed his
march for only what was comparatively a short
period.
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL.
1. The word of the Lord endureth foreyer.
Here is a prediction of a heavy calamity, which
falls in succession upon Damascus, Hamath, Tyre,
Zidoii, and the sea-coast cities of Philistia ; yet the
people of God are safe, guarded not by any human
power, but by the unseen presence of their God.
Even so it came to pass. The Syrian conquests of
Alexander the Great fulfilled the prophecy to the
letter. After the battle of Issus, he captured Da-
mascus, which Darius had chosen as the strong
depository of his wealth, and this opened to him
all Ccele-Syria. Zidon soon surrendered. Tyre,
strong in its position, its defenses, its wealth, and
its wisdom, made a stubborn resistance, yet after
a seven months' siege was taken and " devoured
by fire." Gaza, too, although it was, as its name
imports, the strong, was conquered after five months'
effort, and destroyed. The whole region fell a prey
to the imperious conqueror, hnt the armies passed
and repassed by Jerusalem without doing the least
injury. Joscphus accounts for this remarkable fact
by tlie statement that when the conqueror drew
near the city the bigli priest went forth to meet
him, in his official robes, followed by a train of
priests and citizens arrayed in white ; and that
Alexander was so impressed by the spectacle that
he did reverence to the holy name on the high
priest's mitre ; and when Parmcnio expi'csscd sur-
prise at the act, he answered that he had seen in a
vision at Dium in Macedon, the god whom Jaddua
represented, who encouraged him to cross over into
Asia and promised him success. Afterwards he
entered the city, offered sacrifice, and heard a re-
cital of the prophecies of Daniel which foretold his
victory, in conseauence of which he bestowed im
CHAPTER IX. 9, 10.
69
portant privileges upon the Jews. ( See Hengsten-
berg, Genuineness of Daniel, 224-233 ; Smith's Dic-
tionari/ of the Bible, p. 60.) The trnth of this nar-
rative, although much questioned by Prideaux and
othei-s, has of late come to be considered extremely-
probable, on the ground of both its external evi-
dence and its consistency with the character and
policy of Alexander. But there is no doubt what-
ever of the main fact, that amid the storm of con-
quest which swept over the entire coterminous re-
gion, Jerusalem escaped unharmed. The holy city
experienced what David said (Ps. xxxiv. 7), " The
angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear
Him and delivereth them." This " captain of the
Lord's host" (Josh. v. 15) kept at bay the other-
wise irresistible foe.
2. Bloodshed and carnage prepare the way for
the Prince of Peace. The conquest of Alexander
had aims and results far beyond any contemplated
by himself even in the most extensive of his far-
reaching views. He tore down that others might
build up. The humiliation of the Syrian powers
and provinces was preliminary to their conversion
to the true faith. Their cruel and debasing wor-
ship disappeared, and the remnant became incor-
porated with the Christian Church. They exhib-
ited on a small scale what the entire career of Alex-
ander exhibited on the world's broad stage, — a
secular preparation for the new and final form of
the kingdom of God on earth. Well says Words-
worth, " We speak of the connection of sacred and
profane history ; but what history can rightly be
called profane ■? What history is there, rightly
studied, which is not sacred ? What history is
there in which we may not trace the footsteps of
Christ?" A heathen historian (Arrian) said that
Alexander, who was like no other man, could not
bave been given to the world without the special
design of Providence. But what to Arrian waJ
an inference from a narrow induction is to us a
broad fact stamped upon the face of the world's
history, and confirmed by the concurrent testimo-
nies of two divine seers, Daniel and Zechariah.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
WoRDSwOETH : Ver. 1 . Hadrach is the desig-
nation of the powers of this world generally (of
which Persia was a specimen), strong for a while
and proudly exulting in their strength, and oppos-
ing God and persecuting his Church, and in due
time to be laid low and broken in pieces by Him.
How many Hadrachs are now vaunting themselves
as if they were all-powerful ! how many are raging
against Him, and how terrible will be their down-
fall !
Moore : Never has sin more proudly entrenched
herself than in godless but magnificent Tyre. Yet
all was swept like chaff before the whirlwind of
the wrath of God, when the time for the fulfillment
of his threatenings had come. Two hundred years
passed away after these threatenings were uttered,
and Tyre seemed stronger than ever ; yet when
the day of doom dawned, the galleys that had left
her the queen of seas, when they returned found
her but a bare and blackened rock, a lonely mon-
ument of the truth that our God is a consuming
fire. . . . God will not make Himself a liar to
save man in his sins.
Jay : Ehron as the Jehusite. 1 . It is ;t great
thing to be a Jebusite. 2. Jebusites may he de-
rived from Ekronites. Hence lot none despair,
either for themselves or for their fellows. God il
able of these stones to raise up children to Abra-
ham.
2. ZION'S KING OF PEACE.
Chapter IX. 9, 10.
A. The Character of the King (ver. 9). B. The Nature and Extent of his Kingdom (ver. 10).
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion,
Shout,^ daughter of Jerusalem,
Behold, thy king cometh to ^ thee,
Just and saved is He,
Afflicted and riding upon an ass.
Even upon a colt, the she-asses' ^ foal,
10 And I vpill cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem,
And the battle-bow shall be cut off;
And he shall speak peace to the nations,
And his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 9. — " Shout," B. V., is the exact rendering of "'^^"in, wUch means, to make a .ond noise ; wUethei of Joj
n sorrow depends upon the context.
2 Ver. 9.— "Jib. Not only to thee, but /or thee, for thy good. Of. Is. i%. 6.
« Ver. 9. — The' E. V. foal of an ass, by making the last noun a singular instead of a plural, misses the emphasH
*id upon the youth of the animal as one not yet old enough to go by itself.
70
ZECHARIAH.
EXEGBTICAL AND CRITICAL.
From the description of delirerance wrought
and blessings conferred by means of destructive
judgments upon the heathen, the Prophet turns
abruptly to a royal personage who is 'to appear
■without armies or weapons, and yet will establish
general peace and set up a kingdom of unlimited
extent.
Ver. 9. Rejoice. The value of this blessing is
expressed by a summons to joy in view of it. Coc-
ceius justly says, that the summons itself contains
a propliecv. Daughter of Zion, sec on ii. 7-10.
The Prophet says, Behold ! as if he saw the ani-
mating spectacle, thy king — not any ruler, but
thine, i. e., the one long promised and expected
(Pss. xlv.,lxxxii.), he who alone is thy king, in the
highest sense of the word.
This king is described by four features of char-
acter and condition : (1.) just. The leading vir-
tue in a king, and hence emphasized in the Mes-
sianic utterances (Is. xi. 3-h ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Ps.
xlv. 6, 7). (2.) Saved. 'S'W'\2 is rendered active-
ly by all the ancient versions (Luther, Grotius,
Marckius, Henderson); but the participle is Niphal
which, although it may be reflexive, is never ac-
tive save in verbs which have no Kal form. Cal-
vin, Cocccius, and most of the moderns, give the
passive rendering. A fertmm quid has been sought
by Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, in the sense
endued with salvation, but for this I can see no au-
thority in the passages quoted (Dent, xxxiii. 29 ;
Ps. xxxiii. 16). Pressel follows Fiirst in rendering
victorious, which is arbitrary. Nor is there here an
erigentia loci, as Henderson claims ; for the king is
saved not tor his own sake only, but for his peo-
ple's, and the blessing, therefore, is not a personal
one, but extends to all his subjects. Thus the
passive suits the connection. (.3.) Afflicted, "'357.
The root ^31? = to be bowed down, in its primary
sense of lx>wed by outward circumstances ^ af-
flicted, gives the adjective found here, but in the
secondary sense of inwardly bowed, gives the ad-
jective 13^ :^meek, patient, lowly. While there
is a constant tendency of the two significations to
pass into each other, yet the distinction is gener-
ally maintained, and "'33? is found coupled with
P'^nW, bl, 2S'3. The E. V. is sustained by the
LXX. (irpaiSs), Targum, Kimchi, and most of the
■moderns, who cannot see the relevancy of this
feature to tlie character of a triumphant king. But
©ur king triumphs through sutfering. His crown
springs out of his cross. Hence we agree with
ffce Vulgate [pauper), Aben Esra, Calvin, Cocceius,
H&ngstenberg, Tholuck, Keil, in considering this
one word as summing up the elaborate picture of
suSering contained in Is. liii. It is true, Matthew
(xxi. 5) apparently sustains the other view, but he
mciely quotes the LXX. as he found it, without
endorsing its absolute accuracy in all particulars.
Besi<Scs, ho omits two of the traits mentioned, and
dwells only on the last one, for the sake of which
his qiuol.ition was manifestly made. (4.) Biding
upon an asa. Lit., " upon an ass, even upon a
young ass, a foal of she-asses." The 1. is epexe-
g;etical, just as it is in 1 Sam. xvii. 40, " in a shep-
lierd's bag, even in a scrip." ni3nW jg simply
tlio plural of species. Gen. xxi. 7 : " who would
have said that Sarah should give children suck f "
Yet Sarah had but one child. In this case the
youthfulness of the animal is emphasized, sines
the expression implies that it was one not yet rid-
den, but still running behind the she-asses. Bui
what does this trait mean ? Many affirm that it
points to the peaceful character of the king, as set
forth in the next verse. But this does not account
for the marked emphasis given to the youth of the
animal. It is better therefore (Hengstenberg, Keil,
etc.) to regard it as a token of poverty and mean-
ness. The ass was indeed ridden by distinguished
persons in the early days of Israel when horses
were not used at all ; but after the time of Solo-
mon no instance occurs of its being employed on
state occasions. That this king should ride not
upon a horse but upon an ass, and that an un-
trained foal, indicated how far he should be from
possessing any worldly splendor. The close cor-
respondence between this account and our Lord's
entry into Jerusalem is well known ; and Matthew
(xxi. 4) and John (xii. 15) speak of the latter as
a fulfillment of the former. And while it is true,
as Vitringa says, that the prophecy would have
been fulfilled in Christ, even if He had not made
his entry into Jerusalem in this manner ; still it is
apparent that our Lord designedly iramed the cor-
respondence which we observe, and that he in-
tended thus to embody the thought which lies at
the basis of the whole passage, namely, that the
king Messiah would rise through lowliness and
suffering, to might and glory, and would conquer
the world not by arms but by suffering and dying.
Ver. 10. This verse describes the character and
extent of the Messiah's kingdom. And I will
out off, etc. Not only will this king extend his
reign by peaceful methods, but all the inslramenta
of war will be effectually removed from his peo-
ple. The chariot, the horse, and the battle-
bow are merely specifications, standing for the
whole class of offensive weapons, which are to be
cut ofif. This last word is the one used above
(ver. 6) in reference to the pride of the Philistines,
and denotes extermination. Both passages rest
upon Micah v. 10, 11. The Lord Avill take away
all the outward defenses upon which a carnal reli-
ance is placed. The occurrence of the word Eph-
raim here does not prove that this prophecy was
written before the exile, but only that Zechariah
uses the familiar designation of the different parts
of the country which still survived after the sep-
aration of the tAvo kingdoms had ceased. See
mention of Israel in viii. 13, t]\Q post exilium origin
of which is admitted by all. Speak peace, not
that He will teach peace, nor command peace, nor
speak peacefully, but that He will speak peace, and
that effectually, accomplishing by a single word
what worldly kings bring about only by force of
arms (cf Ps'. Ixxii. 6, 7 ; Micah v. 5). He will do
so not merely to the covenant people, but to the
nations at large. This point is farther expanded
in the boundaries assigned to his sway. From
sea to sea, etc. The expressions are borrowed
from the statement of Israel's " bounds " in Ex.
xxiii. .31, whence some (Eichhorn, Hitzig) have in-
ferred that they mean simply the restoration of the
earthly Israel to its widest geographical limits.
But there are changes in the phraseology which
compel a different view. Instead of saying, from
one particular sea to another, Zechariah leaves out
all qualilying e])ithets and even the articles, so that
the first clause must mean, from any one sea to
any other, even the most distant, or from any sea
around to the same point again. The other clause
CHAPTER IX. 9, 10.
71
will mean, from the Euphrates, or from any other
river as a terminus a quo, to the ends of the
earth, "li^^ with the article always means the
Eui)hrates, and probably does so here, but an
equivalent sense may be gained by the alternative
rendering given above. Whnt is meant is that
the kingdom should be strictly universal. Our
passage is a reproduction of Ps. Ixxii. 8.
The History of the Interpretation. The early Jew-
ish authorities held that the Messiah is the subject.
Thus the Book of Zohar, " On this account it is
Baid of Messiah, Lowly and riding upon an ass."
The same view is given by Joshua ben Levi, Sa-
artias-Gaon, and others. The testimonies may be
found in Wetstein on Matt. xxi. 4. Jarchi, known
among the Jews as the prince of Commentators,
declares that " it is impossible to interpret it of
any other than the Messiah." In the twelfth cen-
tury other opinions prevailed. One found in the
Bab. Talmud evaded the difficulty by saying, "If
the Israelites are worthy, the Messiah will come
with the clouds of heaven (Dan. vii. LS) ; if thev are
unworthy, he will come poor and riding upon an
ass (Zech. ix. 9)." Another resorted to the device
of two Messiahs, one of whom should be suffer-
ing, and the other, triumphant. Yet manifestly it
is one and the same person who is described by "the
Prophet as uniting in himself the extremes of maj-
esty and humiliation, — a combination which on
the New Testament view of the case is intelligible
and self-consistent, but on any other quite impos-
sible. Aben-Ezva refuted the opinion of Rabbi
Moses, the priest who referred the prophecy to Ne-
hemiah, but himself went as far astray by inter-
preting it of Judas Maccabseus. There were those,
however, who adhered to the Messianic interpreta-
tion, and resorted to strange expedients to get rid
of the implication of weakness and lowliness. One
of these was the fable that the ass created at the
end of the six days of creation was the same which
Abraham saddled when he went to otfer Isaac, and
which Moses set his wife and sons upon when he
came out of Egypt; and that this distinguished
animal was to bear the Messiah. Another was
that the ass of King Messiah should be of an hun-
dred colors. The more intelligent expositors (Kiin-
chi, Abarbanel, et al.) explained the reference to
the ass as a sign of humility. It is supposed that
this prophecy in some way gave rise to the foolish
statement of Tacitus, that the Jews consecrated
the image of an ass in the inmost shrine of their
temple, and hence probably arose the calumny
upon the early Christians, who were often con-
founded with the Jews, that they worshipped an
ass's head, — a fable which TertuUian takes the
trouble to confute (Ad Nationes, i. U).
Among Christians the reference to Christ was
uniform until the time of Grotius, who asserted
that its first and literal application was to Zerub-
babel, but that in a higher sense it referred to our
Saviour. This view " excited i^niversal displea-
sure, and called forth a host of replies, the first of
which was written by Bochart." Such a view re-
futes itself Later, the rationalists felt themselves
pressed by the same difficulty as the Jews. They
could easily account on natural principles for the
anticipation of a Messiah in glory, but were quite
unable in this way to explain the prophecy of a
Buffering Messiah. They therefore resorted to the
Jewish evasions, and sought for somebody else
than Christ as the subject. Bauer chose Simon
Maccabseus ; Paulus, John Hyrcanus ; Forberg,
King TJzziah. But the most (Eichhorn, Gesenius,
Ewald, etc. ) devised the theory of an ideal Mes-
siah, maintaining that this and all other similar
prophecies arose simply from the vague expecta-
tion that there would appear in the future some
groat deliverer springing from the Davidic line,
who after enduring great personal trials would in-
stitute a righteous government, restore the nation
to its old prosperity, and overcome its unjust op-
pressors. So that what the New Testament con-
siders a distinct prediction of the Messiah is mere-
ly a patriotic dream. For a thorough refutation
of this preposterous theory, see Hongstenberg's
Christology, Appendix v. Eor a brief outline, see
Theological and Moral, 3.
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL.
1. Here is an unequivocal prediction of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is so declared, as we have
seen, by the New Testament. It is confirmed by
a very peculiar proceeding on the part of our Lord,
— his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, — which
was simply exhibiting in symbol what is here ex-
pressed in words. It contains striking parallels
with other passages unquestionably Messianic ;
such as the boundaries of the kingdom compared
with Psalm Ixxii, 8, and the destruction of foes
compared with Micah v. 9. But the strongest evi-
dence is found in the contents of the prophecy it-
self It presents a person in whom the greatest
grandeur, magnificence, power, and influence are
associated, without confusion or contradiction, with
the greatest humility, gentleness, poverty, suffer-
ing, and weakness. No judge, king, or ruler of
any sort in all Jewish history ever united in his
character or experience these two extremes. None
was so lowly, none so exalted. None without
arms spoke peace even to his own people, much less
to the heathen, and least of all to the entire known
world. It is true of only one being in all human
history that he had not where to lay his head and
rode upon an ass, and yet acquired a limitless do-
minion over land and sea.
2. What other kings accomplish by force, Zion's
king efiTccts without weapons or armies. Our Lord
told Pilate, " My kingdom is not of this world."
Pilate in surprise said to Him, " Thou art a king
then ? " Jesus answered, " Thou sayest [the truth],
for I am a king. To this end was I born and for
this cause came I into the world, that I might bear
witness to the truth ; every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice " (John xviii. 37). Truth, the
revealed truth of God, is the only weapon this great
conqueror employs, and yet with it He has built
up the mightiest kingdom the earth has ever seen.
It was an unconscious prophecy when the inscrip-
tion over his cross. This is the King of the Jews^
was recorded in three languages, indicating the
comprehensive and far-reaching extent of the spir-
itual monarchy thus founded. Christ's followers
in different ages have been slow to learn the lesson,
and have often invoked the secular arm, but al-
ways to their own damage. They that take the
sword shall perish by the sword. But the weap.
ons which are not carnal are mighty through God
They have pulled down many a stronghold, have
dismantled many an intellectual fortress, and time
and again have brought the world's best thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
3. The "later criticism" altogether denies the
existence of Messianic prophecies in the sense in
whict the historical Church has from the begin-
72
ZECHARIAH.
ning held that they were contained in tlie Scrip-
tures. This school maintains that what is called
the Messianic idea arises out of the dissatisfaction
which men in every age have had with the exist-
ing condition of things. Deeming the continu-
ance of this inconsistent with the benevolence of
God, they instinctively longed and looked for a re-
generation of humanity, when all things would be
restored to the state originally designed by the
Creator. Hence the classic expectation of a golden
age. Moreover, every man is dissatisfied with his
own moral condition as well as with that of the
race. He is weak and imperfect. He does not
live in harmony with what he knows to be true
and right. Thence arises the ideal of a perfect
man, of one whose whole mode of thought, feel-
ing, and action is in accordance with the highest i
and purest truth. This is the idea of the Messiah \
of God. But as no such Messiah is to be found
within or around us, it is n.-^tural to look for Him
in the same future in which we expect the regen-
eration of society. And the more so as we know
by observation how much the advancement of the
race has depended upon the appearance from time
to time of single persons distinguished by lofty en-
dowments. Now this Messianic idea was developed
in a very high degree among the Jews, because they
had more of the general spirit of prophecy than other
nations. The Hebrew Prophet ivas a man of genius,
enthusiasm, and intense moral energy. His pure
reason, illumined of God, enabled him to under-
stand the character of the divine government and
foresee events hidden from common eyes. His
exalted imagination and sensitive conscience pre-
sented to him the visions of God. Thus he fore-
saw not only the general triumph of truth and the
exaltation of Israel, but also the means by which
these were to be obtained, namely, the Messiah,
which term sometimes means a Jewish King, at
others the Jewish people, and in a third class of
instances, the better portion of that people. But
these predictions were always in their nature sub-
jective ; their authors neither had nor thought
fhey had any objective revelation made to them of
actions or events in the life of any future historical
person. They were great and excellent men, but
not directly inspired nor infallible. And all their
sayings can be easily explained by the actings of
their own minds according to the time and the cir-
cumstances in which they were pjaced.
A detailed refutation of this ingenious argument
would be beyond the limits of a Commentary. It
is enough to say that the parallel instituted be-
tween Ethnic and Hebrew views on the subject
does not hold. The former were mere scattered,
vague, and individual suggestions respecting the
futui-e, and even these, there is good reason for
supposing, were mere echoes of the voice of the
Old Testament or traditions from the primeval
revelation which filtered down through the ages.
Among the Hebrews, on the contrary, the idea of
the Messiah was the central thought of tlieir Scrip-
tures and the organizing basis of their national
existence. The statement of it begins with the
protevangclinm in Genesis, and passes with a closer
definition and a greater development through Noah,
Abraham, Jacob. Moses, Da\id, Solomon, Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Dan-
iel, Haggai, and Zechariah, and at last terminates
with Malachi, who closed the Hebrew Canon.
What was at first a promise to the race, limits it-
self in succession to a nation, to a tribe, to a fam-
ily. The person set forth is described in turn as a
Jirophet, as a priest, as a king, or as a combina-
tion of any two, or of all three, of these charac-
ters ; and sometimes as in a state of great humili-
ation and suffering, and again, as in a position of
the greatest power and glory. And the writers all
with one consent speak of the conception not as a
suggestion of their own minds, but as a disclosure
from without or rather from above. Their com-
mon formula is. Thus saith the Lord. And it is
not possible to reconcile their honesty with the
view that they were uttering merely subjective no-
tions. Moreover, the origin and continuance of
the nation are traced to the divine purpose of send-
ing a Messiah. For this Abraham was called from
Ur of the Chaldees, the line of his posterity care-
fully preserved, Israel kept in Egypt, afterwards
put in possession of the promised land, the Mosaic
economy instituted, priests and kings and proph-
ets raised up, the nation long maintained, then ex-
iled, and then restored. Tlieir theocratic consti-
tution was not owing to a blind and odious par-
ticularism, but was the result of God's wisdom in
choosing one race to be the depository of the truth
and blessing destined one day to be coextensive
with the race. The Jews were trustees for the
whole human family. It pleased God to make a
gradual and thorough preparation through a long
tract of ages for the full and final revelation of
his grace. The seed of Abraham was simply the
means by which this preparation was accomplished.
On this view of their history, all its parts and feat-
ures are easily understood, and are seen to consti-
tute merely successive stages in the development
of God's purpose to bring many sons unto glory
through a captain of salvation. On any other
view it is a mystery which baffles all thought and
comprehension. But what was a mystery before
the coming of Christ is an " open secret " under
the Gospel, and the key which fits all the wards
of the lock must be the right one. " The testi-
mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The re-
markable correspondence between his life, words,
and works, and the hints and promises and types
and predictions of the Old Testament, indicate be-
yond question to any unprejudiced person, 'a pre-
siding mind which coordinated the two Testa-
ments, and brought about that wondrous harmony
of theme and tone which is wholly unexampled in
all human literature. And this Messiah objectively
revealed is not only the link between the Hebrew
Scriptures and the Greek, but the one great thought
which gives pui-pose, symmetry, and consistency to
the entire scheme of the Old 'Testament.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Moore : Ver. 9. Christians should be happy.
No people have a better right or a better reason to
rejoice. A suffering people can find great comfort
in the fact that they have a suffering Saviour (Heb.
iv. 15). — Ver. 10. War will cease on the earth
only when wickedness ceases, and wickedness will
cease only when Christ's universal empire begins.
Wordsworth : It is remarkable that St. John's
narrative of the triumphal entry of Christ, riding
into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, is immediate-
ly followed by the mention of an incident in the
history : " Certain Greeks wished to see Jesus."
The entry itself was like a vision of the coming of
the Gentile world to Jesus ; these Greeks were its
first fruits.
Jno. Newton : Messiah is king of Zion,
Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow.
He rules them not with the rod of iron by which
CHAPTER IX. 11-17. 73
He bruises and breaks the power of his enemies,
but with his golden sceptre of love. He reigns by
his own right, and by their full and free consent,
in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace
to which they at all times have access, and from
whence they receive the pardon of all their sins,
grace to help in time of need, and a renewed sup.
ply answerable to all 'heir wants, cares, services,
and conflicts.
3. VICTORY OVER THE SONS OF JAVAN.
Chaptkb IX. 11-17.
A. Deliverance promised (vers. 11, 12). B. Name of the Foe (ver. 13). 0. Jehovah fighU for Am
Peopfe (vers. 14, 15). I). /So/raa'on (ver. 16). E. General Prosperity {v&r 17).
11 As for thee also, — for the sake of thy covenant-blood,^
I send forth ^ thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water.
12 Return to the strong hold,' 0 prisoners of hope,
Even to-day I declare, I will repay double * to you.
13 For ° I bend for me Judah, fill the bow " with Ephraim,
And stir up thy sons, 0 Zion, against thy sons, O Javan,
And make thee like the sword of a hero.
14 And Jehovah shall appear above them,
And like lightning shall his arrow go forth.
And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet
And go forth in the storms of the South.
15 Jehovah of Hosts shall protect ' them.
And they devour, and tread down sling-stones,'
And they drink and make a noise as from" wine,
And become full as the sacrificial bowl,^" as the corners of the altar,
16 And Jehovah their God saves them in that day,
(Saves) like a flock " his people,
For jewels of a crown shall they be.
Sparkling over his land,
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty !
Corn makes the young men thrive,^ and new wine the maidens.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 11. — /DT^, being in thy covenant-blood = being sprinkled with it. The covenant of Jehovah with hJjB peo-
ple was sealed with sprinkled blood. Ex. xxir. 8. The compound term covenant-ilooU best representa the form and
fo/ce of the original phrase.
2 Ver. 11. — ^i"iri vt27 is the common prophetic preterite.
8 Ver. 12. — ^in5S3, a cut o^ place, h. inaccessible, fortified, oxvpufia (LXX.), munitio (Vulg.).
4 Ver. 12. — rT3tt7Q, Pressel seems to be alone in giving to this word the sense, the second plctce. The rendering of
the B. V. is sustained both by usage and the connection.
6 Ver 13. — The E. V. needlessly continues here the sentence of the previous verse, and renders ''^ when. A hteraj
rendering is at once more forcible and more accurate.
0 Ver. 13. — nt£7J7. Some connect this with what precedes, but nothing is gained by departing &om the Ma^oretio
interpunctiou.
7 Ver. 15.— ^J^ = covers protectingly. Of. xii. 8.
8 Ver, 15. — " With sUng-stones," in the text of E. V., introduces a needless preposition. The marginal rendering Ifl
to be preferred.
9 Ver. 15. — ^^^'ittp is an abbreviated comparison. Of. x. 7.
10 Ver. 15. — " Sacrificial bowl." The quali/ying epithet must be introduced in order to give the full force of plTD,
3f xiv. 20.
11 Ver. 16. — The E. V. " flock of his people," is grammatically impossible.
12 Ver. 17. — 33i3\ The first marginal rendering of the E. V., make grow, Is better Uian Its text, make dxtcrftii.
^e word is derived from the sprouting of plants, and evidently refers to a prolific increase. Fiirst gives to make eU
juent, which is coi^ectuial and Inept.
u
ZECHARIAH.
CRITICAL AND EXEQBTICAL.
A new scene opens. The prophet turns away
from the beautifiJ picture of a peaceful king ex-
tending his beneficent sway over all the earth, to
describe a period of distress and weakness, to
which, however, he gives a promise of full deliver-
ance, to be gained by actual conflict. This war-
like period evidently belongs to a nearer future than
the one just described, and the prevalent opinion
justly refers it to the Maccabean age. The pas-
sage begins with a general assurance of deliver-
ance (vers. II, 12) ; the foe is mentioned by name
(ver. 13) ; the Lord fights for his chosen (vers. 14,
15); the result is salvation (ver. 16); this is fol-
lowed by general prosperity (ver. 17).
Vers. 11, 12 contain a promise of deliverance.
As for thee also. The person addressed is the
whole nation, as is apparent from the mention of
Ephraira and Jerusalem in ver. 10, and of Zion in
ver. 1.3, and also from the phrase " blood of the
covenant," which belonged to the twelve tribes ;
see Ex. xxiv. 8. .f^^*"^!, even thou, stands abso-
lutely at the head of the sentence for the sake of
emphasis (cf Gen. xlix. 8), and the sense is, Even
though j'ou are in such a forlorn condition, seem-
ingly lost, yet I have mercy in store for you. The
ground of^ this promise is stated before the prom-
ise itself, in the peculiar Mosaic expression cove-
nant blood, the force of which is well expressed
by Hengstenberg. " The covenant-blood, which
still separates the Church from the world, was a
sure pledge to the covenant nation of deliverance
out of all trouble, provided, that is, that the nation
did not make the promises of God nugatory by
wickedly violating the conditions He had imposed."
Thy prisoners resumes and explains the thou at
the opening of the verse. It does not mean " such
of the Jews as were still captives in foreign lands "
(Henderson, Kdhler), but the entire people. The
pit without water, an allusion to the history of
Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 24), denotes not so much a
condition of captivity as of general distress. The
escape from this condition to one of security and
prosperity is predicted under the form of a com-
mand, E^turn to the strong hold. See the same
figure in Ps. xl. 2, where the rock and the pit are
put in sharp contrast. Since the peojjle had this
prospect, they were justly entitled prisoners of hope,
a beautiful expression which explains itself. Even
to-day, I. e., in spite of all threatening circum-
stances (Ewald, Hengstenberg). Kepay double,
namely, double the prosperity you formerly en-
joyed. Cf Is. xl. 2, xli. 7.
Ver. 1.3. The prophet proceeds to show more
particularly how the deliverance just promised is
to be effected. It is to be by a glorious victory over
their oppressors. The method of this victory is
represented by a hold and beautiful figure. Judah
is the extended bow ; Ephraiin the arrow which
the Lord shoots at the foe. IsrE.el therefore is to
carry on the conflict, and Jehovah to give them
success. For I bend for me Judah, i. e., as a bow.
The word rendered bend, literally means tread; be-
cause a bow was often stretched by setting the foot
uponit, this term came into use. FUlthebow. As
only one arrow can be shot at a time from a bow,
it is full when this is placed upon it. The complete
I " Tlie beauty of tlie Lord," in Pa. xc. 17, represents &
lifferent word (CIV-), wlilch, however, is beflt explained
sense of both clauses is, Judah and Ei)hraim ara
bow and arrow in the hand of Jehovah. I stir up,
not brandish as a lance (Hitzig, Kohler), which
would require the object to be expressed. Javan,
the name of the fourth son of Japhet (Gen. x. 2),
is the Hebrew word for Greece, usually identified
with Ion or Ionia. Some suppose the persons
meant by the sons of Zion are the Hebrews held aa
slaves in Greece (Ewald, Hitzig), who are now in-
cited to insurrection. It is enough to say in reply
that the contest here spoken of is manifestly carried
on in the Lord's own land. A comparison with
Dan. viii. 21 shows that we must regard Greeca
here as a formidable secular power, the Graico-
Macedonian monarchy, especially in its successor
in Syria, the Seleucidae. To refer the passage to
the days of Uzziah on account of the mention of
Greece in Joel iv. 6 (cf. Amos i. 6, 9), is wholly
unreasonable ; since that passage does not allude
to any conflict with the Greeks, but simply speaks
of them as the parties to whom the Tyrians had
sold certain Jewish captives. And it is the Tyr-
ians, not the Greeks, who are there censured.
Ver. 1 4. Will appear above them, because He
fights from heaven on their behalf The remainder
of the verse is a poetical description of a battle in
the imagery of a tempest. The lightnings are Je-
hovah's arrows, the thunderblast is the signal of
his trumpet, and He Himself marches in a furious
storm sweeping up from the great southern desert.
Storms of the South (cf. Is. xxi. 1 ; Hos. xiii. 15)
were always the most violent.
Ver. 15. Jehovah shall protect, etc. The Lord
not only fights for his people, but is also their
shield, covering their heads in the day of battle.
And they devour, etc. The image is that of a
lion who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of his
victim. Cf. Num. xxiii. 24. The figure is vigorous,
but need not be called " a heathenish abomination "
(Prcssel). Tread down shng stones ^ subdue the
enemy, contemptuously styled sling-stones or mere
])ebbles from the brook. Fiesh is to be supplied as
the object of devour, and blood as that of drink.
The vessel mentioned in the last clause denotes, not
any bowl, but one in which the priests catch the
blood of a sacrifice. Corners, of course, include
the horns which stood upon them. 'These figures
are priestly, and intimate a holy war and victory.
Ver. 16 gives the result of this victory, — salva-
tion. By an exquisite change of figure this is rep-
resented as bestowed upon them in the character
of the Lord's flock, which at once suggests the
peaceful blessings recounted in the 23d Psalm,
in the next clause, with a designed antithesis to
the sling stones in the previous verse, the prophet
compares Zion's sous to jewels of a crown, which
sparkle over his land, i. e., Jehovah's. Hengsten-
berg takes the participle here in the same way as
in Ps. Ix. 6 = rising up. But, as Keil says, crown
stones do not liCt themselves up. It is better to take
the word in the sense of shining, glittering (Ewald,
Maurer, Kohler, Fiirst). The reference is to pre-
cious gems set in a crown and flashing from the
brow of a conqueror as he stalks over the land.
Ver. 1 7. For how great, etc. The passage closes
with an exulting exclamation. The pronouns in the
first clause refer to Jehovah (Hengstenberg, Ewald,
Presscl), but mean the goodness and the beauty
which He bestows (Henderson). This avoids the
difficulty of ascribing beauty to the Lord,i and
thus : May the loveliness of Jehovah — all that rendon
llim an object of affection and desire — be made known to
, us in our experience. Of. Ps. xxvii. 4.
CHArrER IX. u-i;
75
jret retains the full force of the apostrophe. Corn
mid new wine are the customary expressions of
abundance (Deut. xxxiii. 28 ; Ps. iv. 8), and are
here rhetorically divided between the youths and
the maidens. Copious supplies of food lead to a
rapid increase of population. Ps. Ixxii. 16. " The
drinking of must by young females is peculiar to
this passage ; but its being here expi-essly sanc-
tioned by divine authority, furnishes an unanswer-
able argument against those who would interdict
all use of the fruit of the vine" (Henderson).
" We know that when there is but a small supply
of urine, it ought by right of age to be reserved for
the old, but when wine so overflows that young
men and young women may freely drink of it, it
is a proof of great abundance " (Calvin).
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. Few words are so precious to a devout be-
liever as covenant. It suggests thoughts of grace,
privilege, and security which are not easily attained
in any other way. Our trust for this world and
the next rests not upon voices of nature or con-
clusions of reason, but upon the promise of God,
— a promise which He has chosen to presen t in the
form of a compact with stipulations (and some-
times even when the stipulations were all on one
side, Gen. ix. 9), and not only so, but to confirm
it by sacrifice. This was vividly set before Israel
when the law was given on Sinai. Moses sprinkled
the blood of the offerings both upon the altar and
upon the people, saying, " Behold the blood of the
covenant which Jehovah has made with you con-
cerning all these words." Now it is true that the
Mosaic dispensation was a national compact with
the Hebrew people, and that it also contained a
complete and absolute rule of human dutj', but be-
sides these aspects it was a covenant of grace, rep-
resenting the merciful provision God had made for
the salvation of his people, and in this sense its re-
lation to the Gospel economy was that of sunrise to
the blaze of noon. It confirmed the promise made
to Abraham, and rendered the believer's hope still
more firm and clear, as resting upon an immutable
bond. The force of that bond continued unim-
paired down through the generations. " The Lord
made not this covenant with our fathers [only],
but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive
this day " (Deut. v. 3). Again and again, in times
of emergency or doubt, did the Old Testament
saints reassure their souls and reanimate their
hopes by recurring to that old covenant, " the
word which He commanded for a thousand gener-
ations" (Ps. cv. 8). They might be involved in
gloom and perplexity, and the eye of sense could
see no way out ; but they knew that God had made
with them a covenant ordered in all things and
sure, and this was all their salvation, and all their
desire. The same blessed assurance continues to
believers under the Gospel. Nay, it is stronger
aow, for we have the blood of a new covenant
(Mark xiv. 24), i. e., of a new administration of
the old covenant, to confirm our faith. The cove-
mnt blood, on which the faith of Christians lays
nold, is not that of bulls and goats, but of a
iamb without spot, not the crimson stream of a
typical sacrifice, hut that which poured from the
gaping wounds of the incarnate Son of God. The
tompact which has been ratified by such an obla-
tion as was made at Golgotha, is necessarily im-
perisliable. It can never fail. The blood of the
cross is the blood of an everlasting covenant (Heb.
xiii. 20). Here the devout soul rests in peace and
security. The malice of the world, the roar of
Satan, the clamor of conscience, all are still before
the thought of the pledged and ratified word of
Jehovah. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
but the Word of our God abideth forever. The
Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for Ho
is not a man that He should repent.
2. This portion of the chapter presents a re-
markable contrast to the two verses which precede
it. There we read of an eminently peacefiil king
under whom all weapons of war are destroyed.
Without noise or conflict he quietly extends his
dominion till it becomes universal. Here, on the
contrary, Judah is the Lord's bow and Ephraim
his arrow, and there is a terrible struggle set forth
by images taken from the storm, the lightning, and
the whirlwind. The language is not an exagger
ation of what occurred in the heroic struggle for
Judssan independence under the sons of the aged
priest Mattathias. That struggle was essentially
a religious one. It began in a determined resist-
ance to the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to ex-
terminate the faith of the Jews and impose the im-
pure and idolatrous wor.^hip of the Greeks ; and
although other elements were developed in the
course of time, this always was the chief consider-
ation. During the course of it, the " good report
through faith " of which the I?pistle to the He-
brews speaks (xi. 36-39), was obtained by many
who " were tortured, not accepting deliverance
that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were
slain with the sword." The atrocities of heathen
persecution roused a flame which was irresistible.
Neither Antiochus nor any of his successors on
the Syrian throne was able to subdue the zeal of
the Jews for their ancestral faith. Again and
again the armies of the alien were put to rout in
pitched battles, and veterans of many a well-fought
Held were no match for men who fought for God
as well as their native land. The Maccabees really
earned the name (il/accaficews ^ hammerer) by
which they are now generally known, and al-
though disregarded by the haughty heathen, still
they shine as jewels of a crown among all disin-
terested observers. " None have surpassed them in
accomplishing a great end with inadequate means;
none ever united more generous valor with a bet-
ter cause " (Milman). They began with a few per-
sonal followers, and they ended with a strong and
well-organized nation. The struggle lasted for a
quarter of a century (b. c. 168-143), and notwith-
standing the unequal resources of the parties, Jeho-
vah of Hosts made feeble Jews like the sword of a
hero, while the mailed warriors of Syria were trod-
den down like the small stones of a sling.
3. For more than one half of the four centuries
which elapsed between the close of the Old Testa-
ment and the opening of the New, the history of
the Jews is almost a total blank, and of the other
half there is much less information to be drawn
from Ethnic sources than might have been antici-
pated. But it is very apparent from many scat-
tered indications that Israel had often occasion to
say. How great is his goodness and how great his
beauty ! The population multiplied with a rapid-
ity like that of their forefathers in Egypt. The few
feeble struggling colonists gradually emerged into
a strong, energetic, and well-organized common-
wealth. Their land resumed its ancient fertility.
Just as in the palmy days of old, its rocks wer«
76
ZECHAEIAH.
crowned with mould and its sands covered with
verdure, and a wide-spread commerce on both seas
furnished the conditions of growing wealth. At
the same time a spirit of enterprise, or a love of
adventure, led many to distribute themselves all
over the Roman world, so that there was scarcely
a province either in the east or the west, where
they were not found in numbers. Still in every
quarter, under every form of government, and in
the midst of every social system, they retained
their national faith and usafjes with unconquer-
able tenacity. This was manifested not only by a
persistent refusal to amalgamate with the various
peoples among whom they lived, but by their reg-
ular and liberal contributions to the temple. A
cuiious illustration of the latter is seen in the fact
mentioned by Cicero, that Flaccus was compelled
to forbid such offerings from the province of Asia,
because the enormous e-xport of gold affected the
markets of the world. Thus even the emigrating
Jews contributed to the prosperity of those who
remained at home. It is evident then that the
statements of increase contained in this chapter
and the one that follows were verified to the letter.
Parts of the land vv2re as thickly settled as any
portions of modern P^urope. And notwithstand-
ing all the outward conflicts in which they were
engaged, or the suffering they may have experi-
enced from the contentions of rival kingdoms
around, "corn made the young men thrive, and
new wine the maidens," and the covenant people
were preserved in their integrity and distinctness,
until He came, for whose appearing they had been
appointed and preserved for more than twenty cen-
turies.
HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL.
MooKE : Ver. 11. The covenant love of God
and his faithful promises that are sealed with blood
are the hope of the Church in time of trouble. —
Ver. 12. Let sinners who are also prisoners of
hope, turn to the stronghold Christ, ere it be for-
ever too late, and God will give thera a double
blessing.
Pbessel : Vers. 11, 12. How wide is the range
of God's covenant with man ! It extends so far
that it forms, as our Lord said to the Sadducees
the immovable basis of our hope of eternal life.
But if the salvation of this covenant, whether in
its older or newer form, is ever to become ours,
the first condition and the last is — Turn to the
strong hold, t^e prisoners of hope. Again: (1) There
is no imprisonment without hope, for the cove-
nant-blood speaks louder than our sins, and the
Lord can break every fetter; but (2) There is no
hope without conversion, for without conversion
we are still in the pit without water, and fall short
of the strong-hold which alone secures return to
fellowship with God.
CowLES : Ver. 12. It is altogether the way of
the Lord to send grief and affliction only in single
measure, but joy and blessing in double, weighing
out the retributions of justice carefully, and the
inflictions of his rod very tenderly ; but pouring
forth the bounties of his mercy as if He could not
think of measuring them by any rule less than the
impulses of infinite love !
Wordsworth. [This learned man spiritual-
izes the entire passage, but is not quoted here, be-
cause, as Hengstenberg says, " While the outward
conflict was undoubtedly the prelude of a still
grander conflict between Israel and Greece, to be
fought with spiritual weapons, it is opposed to ail
the principles of sound interpretation to refer the
words immediately to the latter."]
Jay; Ver. 16. Here we see the dignity of the
Lord's people. They are " stones," precious stones,
set in the " crown " of the King of kings. Here
is also their exhibition ; these stones of a crown
are "lifted up." They are not to be concealed.
Here is also their utility ; these stones are to be
lifted up " as an ensign upon the land." An ori-
flamme suspended over the royal tent ; designed
to attract followers to the cause in which he is en-
4. FUBTHEK BLESSINGS OF GOD'S PEOPLE.
Chapteb X.
A. God sends Blessing, but the Idols Sorrow (vers. 1, 2). B. Blessings upon native Rulers (vers. 3-5),
C. Former Mercies restored to Judah and Ephraim {vers. 6-9). D. Messianic Mercies (vers, \0-l2).
1 Ask of Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain ;
Jehovah creates lightnings,
And showers of rain ' will He give them,
To every one grass in the field.
2 For the teraphim ^ have spoken vanity,
And the diviners have seen a lie.
And speak dreams of deceit,
They comfort in vain ;
Therefore they have wandered ' like a flock.
They are oppressed^ because there is no shepherd.
8 Against the shepherds my anger is kindled,
And the he-goats will I punish ; °
For Jehovah of Hosts visits his flock, the house of Judah,
CHAPTER X. 1-12. 77
And makes them like his goodly horse in war.
4 From him the corner-stone, from him the nail,
From him the war-bow, from him will every ruler' come forth together
5 And they shall be like heroes treading down [i- »., foes]
Into the mire of the streets in the battle ;
And they fight, for Jehovah is with them,
And the riders on horses are put to shame.'
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And the house of Joseph will save,
And will make them dwell,* because I pity them,
And they shall be as if I had not cast them off.
For I am Jehovah their God, and will hear them.
7 And Ephraim " shall become like a hero.
And their heart shall rejoice as with wine.
And their sons shall see and rejoice,
Their heart shall exult in Jehovah.
8 I will hiss to them and gather them.
For I have redeemed them.
And they shall increase as they did increase [before]
9 And I will sow ^'' them among the peoples "^
And in far countries they shall remember me.
And with their children they shall live and return.
tO And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
And from Assyria will I gather them.
And to the land of Gilead and Lebanon will I bring them,
And room shall not be found for them.^^
■" 1 And He passes through the sea, the afiliction,^'
And He smites the waves in the sea,
An.d all the depths of the Nile are put to shame ;
And the pride of Assyria is brought down.
And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart.
'2 And I will strengthen them in Jehovah,
And in his name shall they walk," saith Jehovah.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMllATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — Dty!3"'n^tt lit., rain of rain = copious rains. See Job xxxvii. 6, wtiere tlie words are transposed. — Tht
text of tlie E. V. giyes a singularly inappropriate rendering of the previous noun D^T'^TH for what consistency is them
between " bright clouds " and heavy showers ?
2 Ver 2. — D^D~lin« As this word denotes a peculiar species of idolatrous image, it is best to transfer it
8 Ver. 2. — ^VD3, lit., break wp, as an encampment, h. to wander They, i. e., the people.
4 Ver. 2. — -^SV^ oppressed, sorely abided. The troubled of the E. V. is too feeble. The tense is future, implying
that the condition 'still exists.
6 Ver. 3. — There is a play here upon the two meanings of the word *TpD, the one to care for, the other to punish ;
or in general to visit, for good or for ill. Jehovah visits for evil, i. e.. punishes, the goats ; but visits for good, i. «., cares
for, his flock. Keil, Henderson, and Oowles err in saying that the meaning to punish requires to be followed by vV
per*. See Job xxxi. 14 ; Is. XKvi 14. Henderson (following the E, V.) malces the extraordinary mistake of rendering
TlppH as a preterite, and claiming the vav before ^^ as a vav convers. He also renders "^3 = nevertheless^ a mean-
bg which it never has.
5 Ver. 4. — t^^M^ =ruler, as in Is. iii. 12, Ix. 17. Hengstenberg insists upon the original meaning, oppressor^ but
thinks the harshness implied is directed against foes.
7 Ver. 6. — "Iti^^^ri. The Hiphil takes a passive sense, just as in ix. 6.
8 Ver, 6. — □"'ni^ttJin. This anomalous form is best explained as the Hiphil of DtD"' for CriatSln. (Ges-
enius, Hengstenberg, Maurer). Ewald derives it from D-ltl?, and Kimchi explains it as a compound of both words unit-
ing the senses of both, as in the E. V., "I will bring ^hem again to place them." But it is far better to Interpret it like
Uie similar form in Ezek. xxxvi. 11, than to adopt this Rabbinical refinement, which has no precedent elsewhere.
fl Ver. 7. — ^^ni. As Ephraim is a collective noun, there seems to be no reason for the periphrasis of the E. V.,
tkty q/" Ephraim."
10 Ver. 9. — Henderson's rendering, "Though I have scattered them, . . yet they shall," etc., is grammatically
78
ZECHARIAH.
Impossible, is opposed to tlio true sense of 17^Tj and iB not required by the context. His " dif-ant regions " iB no im
provement upon tlie E. V.'s "far countries."
11 Ver. 9. — D'^a^'. Peoples. See on Tui. 20.
12 Ver, 10.— NHS"" Nb. Cf. Josli. xvii. 16. (Tlie necessary room) shall not be found for them.
•• T •
18 Ver. 11. — n"1^ is best taken as in apposition to the preceding noun. To make it a verb meaning to cleave^ aftel
Ul Aramaic analogy {Maurer, Henderson, et «^.), is far-fetched and needless. As a noun, it serves to show that the pre-
rious noun does not mean a literal sea, but afQiction represented under that figure.
14 Ver. 12. — ^D' nnn. The force of the Hithpae) conjugation here is to express more distinctly than the Kal,
the idea of continuous habitual action. Eor the sentiment, cf. Micah iv. 6, where, however, Kal forms are nsed.
EXEGEIICAL AND CRITICAL.
This cliapter does not commence a fresh train
of thought, but is rather an expansion of the fore-
going prophecy. First, there is a promise of rain
and fruitful seasons (ver. 1) ; a reference to idol-
atry as cause of their afflictions (vers. 2, 3 a) ; de-
liverance by God's blessing upon native rulers (vers.
3 b, 4, 5) ; restoration of ancient mercies (ver. 6) ;
special mention of Ephraim as participating in the '
growth and enlargement promised to the whole
people (vers. 7-9) ; farther promises to the nation
couched in historic allusions to their former experi-
ence, and fulfilled only in the Messiah's kingdom
(vers. 10-12). Some ncaintain that ver. 1 belongs to
the preceding chapter, and ought not to have been
separated from it (Hengstenberg), while others
affirm the same of ver. 2 also (Hofmann, Kiihler) ;
but ver. 2 is plainly as closely connected with ver.
3 as it is with ver. 1. The question is of no impor-
tance to the interpretation.
Ver. 1. Ask of Jehovah.. This summons to
prayer is not a mere expression of God's readiness
to give (Hengstenberg), but, both from the force
of the words and the connection, is to be literally
understood. Rain stands as a representative for
all blessings, temporal and spiritual. In the time
of the latter rain, is merely a rhetorical amplifica-
tion, for it cannot be shown that the latter rain
was more necessary than the early rain for matur-
ing the harvest. Cf Deut. xi. 13-15, from which
the expressions here are taken. Lightnings are
mentioned as precursors of rain. Cf Jer. x. 13;
Ps. cxxxv. 7, where, however, a different word
(D^i7'^3) is used. Give them, i. e., every one who
asks.
Ver. 2. The call to prayer is sustained by a ref
erenee to the misery caused by their former depend-
ence upon idols and soothsayers. Teraphim, a
kind of household gods := Penates, who appear
also to have been looked upon as oracles (Hos. iii.
4), in which latter light they are regarded here.
The etymology (^ the word is still unsettled. The
prevalence of impostors, of the kinds here men-
tioned, just before the overthrow of Judah, is abun-
dantly established. Jer. xxvii. 9 ; xxix. 8 ; xxiii.
9, 14, 32 ; Ezek, xxi. 34, xxii. 28. Therefore, the
consequence was that they were compelled to wan-
der away, and were without a ruler, {. e., one of
their own Davidic line, — a state of things still in
existence when Zechariah wrote.
Ver. 3. Against the shepherds. Israel having
lostitsnative rulers, fell under the power of heathen
governors, here styled shepherds and he-goats,
(Is. xiv. 9, Heb.). These are to he punished, be-
cause Jehovah regards those whom they oppress as
his flock, whom He visits and protects. House of
Judah is mentioned not in distinction from Eph-
raim (see vers. 6, 7), but as the central point and
representative of the covenant people. A striking
comparison indicates that the deliverance is effected
by an actual military struggle. Just as in ch. ix.
13, Jehovah called Judah and Ephraim his bow
and arrow, so here He calls the former his goodly
horse, such a horse as for his extraordinary qual-
ities is chosen, and splendidly equipped as the war-
hoi'se of the general. The House of Judah, there-
fore will be well prepared to meet its enemies.
Ver. 4. !From him the corner-stone. -IB^^
refers not to Jehovah (Hitzig, Kohler, Pressel), but
to Judah, as appears from the connection and from
the passage in Jer. (xxx. 21) on which this one
leans. From themselves was to come forth every
one of their rulers, which is expressed in the for-
mer part of the verse by figures, namely, the cor-
ner-stone, cf Ps. cx^^ii. 22 ; the nail, the large
ornamental pin, built into the wall of oriental
houses for the purpose of suspending household
utensils (Is. xxii. 23) ; the war-bow, which de-
notes military forces and weapons in general (ix.
10).
Ver. 5. The consequence will be the annihila-
tion of foes. And . . like heroes. Some
explain the allusion as = they trample the mire of
the streets, i. e., their foes considered as such (like
the sliug-stones in ix. 15) ; so Hengstenberg, Keil,
etc. But the verb in Kal is always elsewhere tran-
sitive, and the 3 ought not to be overlooked. We
should render, therefore, treading down (foes) in
or into the mire (Fiirst, Kohler). Hiders on
horses. Cavalry, the arm in which Israel was al-
ways weak, is mentioned in Dan. xi. 40 as the
principal strength of the Asiatic rulers (comp. also
1 Mace. iii. 39, iv. 1 ) . Hence the force of the prom-
ise here.
Ver. 6. And I will strengthen, etc. Judah
and Joseph comprehend the entire people as a
whole. Make them dwell, /. e., securely and
happily as in the olden time, which is suggested
also in the next clause but one (cf Ezek. xxxvi.
11). And I will hear them, is a very comprehen-
sive promise.
Ver. 7. And Ephraim .... wine. In this
verse and the following, the prophet refers "partic-
ularly to Ephraim (but not to the exclusion of
Judah), for the reason that heretofore the ten
tribes had not participated as largely as it was in-
tended they should, in the return from exile. They
and their sons shall share in the coming conflict,
and equally with Judah prove tiiemselves to be like
a hero. Their exultation in Jehovah is expressed
by a comparison which is applied by the Psalmist
to the Lord Himself. Ps. Ixxviii. 65.
Ver. 8. I will hiss .... increase. The hiss-
ing or whistling is mentioned as a signal (cf Is.
v. 26, vii. 18). It alludes to the ancient method of
swarming bees. This verse explains how Israel,
so large a part of whom were still in exile, should
take part in the victorious strU|C;gle. The Lord
CHAPTER X. 1-12.
79
Iroald bring them back. The utter downfall of the
northern kingdom, so long before that of Jiidah,
had removed nearly every political reason for main-
taining the old disruption, and all the circum-
stances of the time inclined the various tribes to
coalesce again into one people. I have redeemed,
pret. proph. to express Jehovah's unalterable pur-
pose. The last clause, like ver. 6 b, refers to Ezek.
xxxvi. 11. The extraordinary multiplication of the
Jews at and after this period is one of the most
familiar facts of history. See Merivale, History of
the Romans, ch. xxix. " Josephus informs us that
two hundred years after the time here referred to,
Galilee was peopled to an amazing extent, studded
with cities, towns, and villages ; and adds that the
villages were not what are usually called by that
name, but contained, some of them, fifteen thou
sand inhabitants." Henderson, in loc.
Ver. 9. And I will sow return. The
word ^r*! never means scatter in the sense of ban-
ishing or destroying (Fiirst, Henderson, Hitzig),
but always has the sense oi sowing (ainpSi, LXX. ;
seminabo, Vulg. ), and when applied to men, denotes
increase (Hos. ii. 24; Jer. xxxi. 27). The passage
means, then, that Israel while among the nations
will repeat the experience of their ancestors in
Egypt, " the more they afflicted them, th,^ more
they multiplied and grew" (Ex. i. 12). They
shall live, is explained in Ezek. xxxvii. 14. The
mention of the children with them implies that
the blessing would not be transient, but abiding.
Ver. 10. And I wiU bring . . . Egypt. Some
expositors suppose that by Egypt and Assyria are
meant the lands so named, and vainly attempt to
show that many of the ten tribes were carried or
escaped to Egypt. It is far better to adopt the
opinion of Gesenius, that " Egypt and Assyria are
mentioned here in place of the different countries
into which the Jews were scattered." Such a typ-
ical use of names is neither unnatural nor unusual.
Egypt was the first oppressor of the covenant peo-
ple, and Assyria was the final instrument of over-
throwing the ten tribes, and the two terms might
well be combined as a general statement of the
lands of the dispersion. See this combination in
a similar case in Is. xxvii. 13, and cf. Is. x. 24,
xi. 11, 16, xix. 23, lii. 4; Hos. xi. 11. Kohler's
objection that in this case Assyria must be taken in
its most literal sense, is surely groundless, for the
prophet could not have meant that the Ephraim-
ites should be restored from certain regions and
not from others. The general terms of the preced-
ing verses forbid such a narrow view. Nor can
Pressel claim the mention of Assyria as favoring the
theory which dates the prophecy before the Captiv-
ity, because the subject of it is not Judah alone,
but the whole nation, with special reference to
Ephraim, and therefore Assyria was just the coun-
try which it suited the prophet to mention. The
land of Gilead and Lebanon:^ northern Pales
tine on both sides of the Jordan, the former home
of the ten tribes. Boom . . . found, because of
their increase. Merivale, in the place above cited,
accounts for the manner in which the Jews
'n the centuries just before Christ, swarmed over
the whole Roman world, " from the Tiber to the
Euphrates, from the pines of the Caucasus to the
ipice groves of Arabia Felix," by the insufficiency
tf their native land to support the immense popu-
lation.
Ver. 11. And he passes. The subject, of
course, is Jehovah, the discourse passing from di-
rect to indirect address, in accordance with the He-
brew usage allowing such rapid transitions. To
make n~l!J the subject (Calvin, Cocceius, Syr.),
is^ unnatui-al and frigid, besides connecting a femi-
nine noun with a verb having a masculine suffix.
This verse continues the figurative allusions of the
preceding. Just as of old God gloriously vindi-
cated his people in the passage over the Red Sea,
so now He marches through the deep at the head
of his chosen and smites down the roaring waves.
The article in the sea points to the particular body
of water through which Israel had once before
been led, — the Arabian Gulf ~I1H"! almost al-
ways = Nile. Here the term depths or floods is
properly applied to its vast and regular inunda-
tions. In the last clause the characteristic feature
of Assyria is well expressed by pride (Is. x. 7),
and that of Egypt by the sceptre or rod of the
taskmasters.
Ver. 12. And I strengthen. The whole sec-
tion is appropriately wound up with this emphatic
promise. The entire strength, conduct, hope, and
destiny of Israel lay in Jehovah. " The name of
Jehovah is a comprehensive expression denoting
his glory as manifested in hislory" (Hengsten-
berg). Trusting and serving the God thus re-
vealed, they would find the past a pledge of the
future, and see the divine perfections as gloriously
illustrated in their behalf as at anj' former period.
This chapter, as has been said, continues and
enlarges the promises of the preceding. After
tracing the distresses of the people to their apos-
tasy, it sets forth their deliverance as effected
through actual conflicts, in which the might of
Jehovah gives to the native leaders a force and
courage which suffice to subdue foes otherwise far
superior. This victory is followed by a large in-
crease of population, not confined to Judah but
also including Israel. Nor is there reason to doubt
that the independence achieved by the Maccabees
attracted very many of the exiles from the north-
ern kingdom, who forgot the old causes of dissen-
sion, and united heartily in maintaining the rees-
tablished national centre in Jerusalem. This fu-
sion at home led to a similar fusion abroad ; and
wherever Jews were found who preserved their
hereditary faith at all, they still remembered Jeho-
vah as the one who had chosen Zion, and consid-
ered themselves as constituent parts of one cove-
nant people. So far the predictions of the chap-
ter were fulfilled historically in the period extend-
ing from the establishment of Jewish independ-
ence to the time of the advent. In the last three
verses the Prophet describes a far greater because
spiritual blessing in terms borrowed from the old
experience of the people. The drying up of the
sea, the humiliation of Assyria, the overthrow of
Egypt simply set forth the removal of all possible
obstacles in the way of a spiritual return to God.
Th6 Lord will reclaim and bless them by proced-
ures as marvelous as any that ever occurred in
their former history.
But before this great event takes place, before
the Church of the Old Testament passes into the
form and character of the Church of the New
Testament, a sad and peculiar experience is to be
gone through. This is set forth in the striking
imagery of the next chapter.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. In the opening verse of this chapter th«
Prophet comes into direct opposition to many of
the so-called Scientists of our day. They atfirm
so
ZECHARIAH.
that " without a disturbance of natural law quite
as serious as the stoppage of an eclipse or the roll-
ing the St. Lawrence up the Falls of Niagara, no
act of humiliation, individual or national, could
call one shower from heaven " (Tvndall). It fol-
lows, of course, that only those who believe that
the miraculous is still active in nature can consist-
ently join in prayers for fair weather and for rain.
The Prophet, on the contrary, directs the people
whenever the heavens withhold their moisture, to
ask from the Lord what they need, and assures
thern that asking they shall obtain ; and yet neither
he nor his hearers supposed that this process in-
volved a miracle in any proper sense of that term.
It certainly implies the attainment of an end which
without this means would not be accomplished. It
is the combining and directing of natural forces
so as to secure a certain result. This is what men
are doing all the time, without dreaming that they
are miracle-workers. Much more may God do it,
who is not, like us, limited by second causes. In
this very matter of rain, a scientific man announced
some years ago a certain process by which an
adequate rain-fall could at any time be secured.
Whether his theory was valid or not, no one
scouted it as impossible, or preposterous. Yet
learned men deny to God what the}'' allow to them-
selves. Creatures may compel the clouds, but the
Creator may not. They may employ one and an-
other natural law so as to achieve novel effects,
but the Maker of the whole,
" "Who sets the bright procession oq its way,
And marshals all the order of the year,"
PS shut up in the workmanship of his hands, and
cannot possibly escape from the regular sequence
of cause and effect. But this is simply the re-
jection, not merely of Christianity or of the Old
Testament, but of all religion whatever. A God
who has no control over nature is to all in-
tents and purposes no God. Sentiments of rever-
ence, gratitude, obligation, love, and dependence
toward such a Being, are impossible. The doc-
trine of prayer, therefore, is a vital one. There
never has been, there never can be a religion with-
out communion with the object of worship. To
deny the efficacy of prayer, even in such matters
as the giving or withholding of rain, is to remand
the human race into a state of practical atheism.
2. The question with man never is whether he
will have a religion or not, but always whether he
will have that which is true, or one that is false.
Not only his intuitions, his moral convictions, but
his dependent condition, his exposure to change,
want, sorrow, and death, all compel him to look
up to some superior invisible power, something
nobler and better than himself If this craving be
not met by the truth, it surely will be by false-
hood. A permanent state of atheistic unbelief is
impossible. Such a state has never been seen in
all the world's history. In ancient Israel there was
a constant oscillation between the worship of Jeho-
vah and the service of idols, but never the abnega-
tion of all worship. And this is the alternative
which confi-onts every man and every age. They
rjay reject the true God and the revealed religion ;
but the inevitable result is superstition in some
form, more or less refined. Just as among the
lews whenever they apostatized, " diviners " came
to the front. When Saul could get no answer from
:he Lord, either by dreams, or by Urira, or by
Prophets, he went to the Witch of Endor.
Intelligence and culture are no guard against
inch a result. If men will not believe the rational
and true, they will believe the absurd and the false
Our own land at this day furnishes conspicuous
examples. Table-turnings and spirit-rappings
hi ve led captive many who turned away in scorn
from the teachings of Christ and his Apostles.
The voice of God, uttered with every kind and de-
gree of evidence in his Word, has been given up
for the sake of the pretended disclosures of the
spirits of the dead ; and the necromancy of the
nineteenth century before Christ has been revived
in the nineteenth century after Christ. And the
results have been what was to be expected. On
one hand a degree of unnatural excitement of the
feelings and the imagination which terminated in
an eclipse of reason, and on the other, a lowering
of the tone of morals which undermined the fam-
ily constitution, and swept away the surest safe-
guards of human society. It is as criminal and
as dangerous to consult diviners now as it ever was
in the days of ancient Israel. " Should not a peo-
ple seek unto their God 1 [Should they seek] for
the living to the dead ? To the law and to the
testimony ; if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them " (Is.
viii. 19, 20).
3. The prediction of the return of Ephraim in
this chapter (ver. 6) has been sometimes cited as
evidence that the ten tribes are still somewhere ex-
isting as a separate community, and as such are
yet to be restored to their own land. But this is
an error. The words of the Prophet were fulfilled
in the period to which he refers. Many of the
transplanted Ephraimites fell away from the faith
and became absorbed in the heathen by whom they
were surrounded, but many who remained true to
Jehovah, joined their fortunes with those of their
brethren of Judah. Their common calamities soft-
ened and at last obliterated the old feelings of en-
mity toward each other. Jerusalem became again
the central point of the whole nation, and while
not a few actually shared in the restoration, others
who remained in exile, yet adhered to the second
temple, aided it by their gifts, and often attended
the yearly festivals. Hence all the latter were
comprehended under the term, the Diaspora (Jas
i. 1). In the New Testament there are repeated
allusions to the twelve tribes, conveying the dis-
tinct impression that the inhabitants of Palestine
in our Lord's day represented both parts of the
nation. There is no reason, therefore, for the
pains which have been taken to discover them in
some remote or obscure part of the globe. And
indeed the hopeless disagreement of those who
seek a historical identification of these exiles shows
the vanity of the attempt. The foot of the Him-
alayas, the coast of Malabar, the interior of China,
the Nestorians of Persia, and the Indians of North
America, have all been claimed as containing the
veritable descendants of the Hebrews whom Sar-
gon carried away. This whole subject is treated
with ability and learning in an article in the
Princeton Review for April, 1873, by the Rev. John
H. Shedd. The conclusions to which Mr. Shedd
comes are thus stated : —
1. That the apostate Israelites were lost among
the idolaters of the Assyrian Empire at the time
of their apostasy.
2. That the true Israelites under Persian rule
became identified with the captivity of Judah, and
the nationality of the Ten Tribes was extinct.
3. That these Jews, embracing, since the time
of Cyrus, the faithful of both Judah and Israel
greatly increased in numbers, were reinforced by
emigrants from Palestine, and have sent off col
CHAPTER XI. 1-17.
81
onies to all the East, throughout I'ersia, Tartary,
and Thibet; but there is no Scriptural or histor-
ical basis for the idea that the " Ten Tribes " are
living as a body in some obscure region or are
found in any one nation.
4. That some at least of the communities of
Jews still living in the land of their original exile,
are lineal descendants of the Ten Tribes ; and
considering the history of those Jews, their pres-
ent numbers of fifty or sixty thousand souls in
Persia and Assyria, and several thousand more in
Babylonia, they sufficiently solve the problem.
HOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
Melvill : Ask ye rain. Men seem practically
to have but little remembrance that the main-
spring of all the mechanism of second causes is in
the hands of an invisible Creator ; that it is not
from what goes on in the hidden laboratories of
what they call nature that season succeeds season,
and shower and sunshine alternate with so much
of beautiful and beneficent order, but that the
whole arrangement is momentarily dependent
upon the will and energy of that supreme Being
who " sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers."
Calvin : Grass in the field. The Prophet no
doubt includes here under one kind all things ne-
cessary for a happy life ; for it is not the will of
God to fill his faithful people in this world as
though they were swine, but his design is to give
them by means of earthly things, a taste of the
spiritual life. 1 am Jehovah their God. He means
by this that although he had for a time rejected
the Jews, their adoption would not be void ; for by
calling Himself their God He reminds them of his
covenant, as if He said that He had not in vain
made a covenant with Abraham, and promised
that his seed should be blessed. And I will sow
them. This was an instance of the wonderful grace
of God ; for hence it happened that the knowledge
of celestial truth shone everywhere ; and at length
when the Gospel was proclaimed, a freer access
was had to the Gentiles, because Jews were dis-
persed through all lands. The first receptacles
[hospitia] of the Gospel were the Synagogues.
God thus scattered his seed here and there that it
might in due time produce fruit beyond the ex-
pectation of all.
Peessel : Diviners have seen a lie. Unbelief
has recourse to a crowd of superstitious devices,
and by their folly and impotence is put to shame :
Faith on the contrary turns to prayer and through
it works wonders. Passes through the sea. For
how many has Israel's wonderful passage through
the Red Sea been a pattern of a wonderful escape
through straits and sorrows of every kind ! The
text is one of the oldest examples of this use of
the deliverance, but new ones are constantly oc-
curring.
Jat : / will strengthen them in the Lord. The
very assurance our hearts want. Its fulfillment
will keep us in our work, not cause us to cease.
It will be seasonable and proportioned to our needs.
" As thy days," etc. It will come in God's own
way, that is, in the use of the means He has ap-
pointed. These we are to employ, especially when
we are.not in a proper or lively frame ; as fire ii
most needful when we are cold.
6. ISRAEL'S REJECTION OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Ohaptee XI.
A. Poetical Introduction (vers. 1-3). B. The Flock of Slaughter (vers. 4-6). C. The Prophet tries ta
be their Shepherd {vers. 7, S). D. i/c i^a* (vers. 9-U). E. He is contemptuously Rejected (vera.
12, 13). F. The Result {ver.U). G. A wortliless Shepherd takes Charge {vera. \5, 16). H. Thu
Shepherd Punished (ver. 17).
1 Open, 0 Lebanon, thy doors,
AJad let fire devour thy cedars.^
2 Howl, cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
For the lofty are laid waste ;
Howl, ye oaks of Bashan,
For the high^ forest has gone down.
3 A sound of the howling of the shepherds !
For their glory is laid waste ;
A sound of the roaring of young lions !
For the pride of Jordan is laid waste.
4 Thus saith Jehovah, my God,
Feed ^ the flock of slaughter ; ■*
5 Whose buyers slaughter them and are not guilty,
And their sellers say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am getting rich,'
And their own shepherds spare them not.
6 For I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah,
And behold I give up the men,
Each into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king,
82 ZECHARIAH.
And they lay waste " the land,
And I will not deliver out of their hand.
7 And I fed ' the flock of slaughter, therefore ' the most miserable sheep,° and 1
took to myself two staves ; the one '" I called Beauty, the other I called Bands,
8 and I fed the flock. And I cut off the three " shepherds in one month, and my
9 soul became impatient with them, and their soul also abhorred me. And I said,
I will not feed you.
The dying, let it die,
And the cut off, let it be cut off.
And the remaining, let them devour each the flesh of the other.
10 And I took my staff Beauty and broke it asunder in order to destroy my cove-
1 1 nant with all peoples.'^ And it was destroyed in that day, and thus " the wretched
12 of the flock, who gave heed to me, knew that this was the word of Jehovah. And
I said to them, If it seem good to you, give me my wages ; " and if not, forbear.
13 And they weighed as my wages thirty '* pieces of silver. And Jehovah said to me,
Throw it to the potter, the noble price at which I am valued by them ; and I took
the thirty pieces of silver, and threw it into the house of Jehovah, to the potter.
14 And I broke my second staff. Bands, to destroy the brotherhood '" between Judah
and Israel.
15 And Jehovah said to me. Take again the implements " of a foolish shepherd,
16 For, behold, I raise up a shepherd in the land,
The perishing ^' he will not visit.
The straying '' will he not seek for,
And the wounded he will not heal,
The strong ^'' will he not feed ;
But the flesh of the fat one he will eat,
And their hoofs he will break off.
Wo to the worthless '^ shepherd who forsakes ^ the flock 1
A sword upon his arm !
And upon his right eye !
His arm shall be utterly withered,
And his right eye utterly blinded.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — Perhaps it would be more exact to render, " devour among thy cedars." Cf. 2 Sam. rviii. 8 for the lue of
7SH with the preposition 3.
2 Ver 2. — For ~li^^ many MSS. and two early editions read T^^D, which is also found in the Keri; but it ij
generally considered to be a needle.sa attempt at correction. The Ketbib is lit., cut off^ h. inaccessible, which Dr. Riggfl
gives in his emendations.
8 Ver. 4. — nV"^. Fe^d is a miserably inadequate version of this word. It mean" to perform the whole work of a
shepherd, of which feeding is but one part. Guiding, defending, and ruling are also included. The same is true of the
Greek equivalent Trot^aivco, but not of the Latin pasco.
4 Ver. 4. — " Flock of Slaughter " Keil renders of strangling, and says that the cognate verb " does not mean to slay
but to strangle " If it has this meaning in the cognate Arabic form, which I doubt, it is certainly lost in the Hebrew.
See any of the Lexicons or Concordances. H^nnn ^S^J = nnilt2 I^Sli (Ps. xliv. 23). The flock destined or
■ccustomed to be slauglitered.
5 Ver. 5. — Tt£?2?M^ is merely a syncopated form of 'n*^E£?3?S^. The vav expresses consequence, and is translated
accordingly. The ten.«es are futures expressing continued action. The plural verbs are employed in a distributive
Bense ; they, /. e., each of them, will say, etc.
6 Ver. 6. — ^nn3, lit., smite in pieces = lay waste.
7 Ver. 7. — The E. V "and I will feed," although it follows the LXX. and Vulgate, is opposed alike to grammar and
to sense. The full force of the vav conv. is, " And so I fed." Exactly the same form is found in the last clause of th«
verse.
8 Ver. 7. — 1^ ' b^ heeu very variously rendered. The LXX. read it and the following word, as one, and 80 made
Canaanile of it, which Blayney adopts. The Vulgate, propter hoc = therefore, is the usual sense of the word but confess-
edly h.ard here. Some (Kimcbi, Ewald, Henderson) make it a noun with a preposition = in respect to truth, i. e., truly,
>)ut there is no other instance of the kind. Others (Hitzig) render on account of you, which also lacks authority. la
ihis conflict of opinion, it is better to adhere to \isage and render ther^ore ; but then this cannot give the Hsason for the
Shepherd's assumption of bis office as Hengstenberg claims, for it is too ftir from the verb ; but must assign the conse-
quence of the flock's description, thus, And so I fed the flock of slaughter, therefore (i. e., because so named), a most
miserable flock.
CHAPTER XI. 1-17.
83
9 Ver. 7. — IV^n ^^pV is an emphatic positive = superlative, tke most miserable shtep.
10 Ver. 7. — "THM. Koliler insists that this must be regarded as a true construct, depending upon GHQ under.
Itood, but it is better to take it as construct used for the absolute, as elsewhere (Green, H. G., § 223 a.).
11 Ver. 8. — " The three shepherds." Pressel shows that Kohler has quite failed to overthrow Ilitzig's assertion, that
D''^""in ntl?7EJ"nb^ vm.U be thus translated (of vers. 12, 18 ; Gen. xl. 10, 12, 18).
12 Ver. 10. — D''By. Peoples. Cf. Text, and Gram, on viii. 20.
18 Ver. 11. — ]3, Not tnilij, nor t/ierefore, but thus.
U Ver. 12. — ^"ISJI?. Not price (E. V.), but reward or wages. The word in the next verse, similarly but torreotly
rendered price in the B. V., is a totally different one, "Hp^TT,
15 Ver. 12. — ^J)^ 8.S usual is omitted before HDID.
16 Ver. 14. — ninS — atr. Key, Found in cognate languages and the Mishna. A token of post-exile composition,
17 Ver. 15. — "^ .'3 is a collective singular.
18 Ver. 16 — 3?U' '^^^ connection requires us to render the participle in the present, instead of the past, as E. V
« cut off."
19 Ver. 16. — "1573 is with LXX., Vulg., and Syr. to be taken as formed from "1573, to shake, Fid, to disperse
Arab. \L«j = '" fi^gom vertere (Gesenius, Furst, et al.). Heugstenberg makes it the ordinary Hebrew word of the
same radicals, but this is never applied to animals, and if it were, could not have the meaning which he claims, namely,
tender.
20 Ver, 16. — n3S3, what stands upon its feet, i. e., ia strong and healthy. Henderson derives it from an Arabio
root i_; .vTJi = to be wearied, feeble, which he thinks required by the connection. But the picture is the more vivid
when it shows all classes and conditions of the flock to be equally neglected. Dr. Riggs renders " the well {or sound)."
21 Ver. 17.— ^■'yS, not idol, but worthkss, or, as Kohler says, mock-shephera. Dr. Eiggs gives "Shepherd ol
vanity," which itself needs interpretation.
22 Ver. 17. — ""^T^, '•V~l paragogio vowel (Green, H. G., § 61, 6 a.), found chiefly in poetical passages.
EXEGEIICAL AND CRITICAL.
This chapter, on any view of its meaning, pre-
sents a marked contrast to the tenor of chaps, ix.
and X. The latter are full of encouragement.
They speak much of conflict, but uniformly repre-
sent the covenant people as victorious, and paint a
bright picture of increase, prosperity, and happi-
ness. Here, on the contrary, is a sad scene of gen-
eral overthrow caused by deliberate and persistent
wickedness. The explanation is well given by
Calvin : " These predictions appear to contradict
one another. But it was necessary that the bless-
ings of God should first of all be announced to
the Jews in order that they might engage with
greater alacrity in the work of bnilding the tem-
ple, and feel assured that they were not wasting
their time. It was now desirable to address them
in a different style, lest, as was too genei'.Tlly the
case, hypocrites should be hardened by their vain
confidence in these promises. It was also requis-
ite, in order that the faithful should take alarm in
time, and earnestly draw near to God ; since noth-
ing is more destructive than false security ; and
whenever sin is committed without restraint, the
judgment of God is close at hand." Just then, as
in the former part of the book, there is interjected,
in the midst of a series of encouraging symbolical
risions, a pair of representations (ch. vi.) setting
forth the certainty and severity of the punishment
3f wickedness, so here, after exhibiting Judcea's
protection from Alexander, and also (with a pass-
ing glance at Zion's future king, Messiah) the tri-
umph of the Maccabees and the recovery of former
strength and influence, the Prophet passes on to
lift the veil from the final outcome of Jewish ob-
luracy, and its terrible results.
The first three verses describe the ruin of the
entire land, in words arranged with great rhetor-
ical power, full of poetic imagery and lively dra-
matic movement. Jhen the cause of this" wide-
spread desolation is set forth, not by vision as in
the earlier portion, but by symbolical action or
process subjectively wrought. Israel is a flock
doomed to perish by the divine judgment. The
Prophet personating his Lord makes an effort to
avert the threatened infliction. He therefore as
sumes the office of shepherd, equipped with staves
fitted to secure success. He seeks to rid them of
false leaders, and win them to ways of truth and
right. But the attempt is vain, because of their
obdurate wickedness, and the issue is a mutual re-
coil. He loathes them ; they abhor him. Accord-
ingly he significantly breaks his staves in token
that all is over. But after breaking one, and be-
fore doing the same to the other, the shepherd asks
a reward for his unavailing effort. He receives
one, but it is so trifling that he had better have re-
ceived none. They in.5ult him with the oflfer of
the price of a slave (vers. 4-14). Then the scene
changes. Instead of a wise, kind shepherd, the
Prophet personates one of an opposite character.
The gentle crooks, Beauty and Bands, are replaced
by knives and battle-axes. The flock, so far from
being fed and guided and guarded, is torn and de-
voured, and then at last its misguided rulers are
smitten and palsied, and so the curtain falls (vers.
15-17).
Vers. 1-3 are a vivid poetical apostrophe, intro-
ductory to what follows in the rest of the chapter.
A fierce conflagration sweeps over the land, devour-
ing alike mountain forests, and lowland pastures;
and a cry of despair is heard from man and beast.
Ver. 1. Open, O Lebanon, etc. Instead of
simply declaring that Lebanon shall be devastated.
B4
ZECHARIAH.
the Prophet summons the lofty mountain to open
its doors for the consuming fire.
Ver. 2. Howl, cypress, for the cedar, etc.
Continuing his apostrophe, he calls on the less im-
portant trees to hew ail the fall of the stately cedars
as foreshadowing their own impending doom, for
if the steep inaccessible forest on the mountain
side is prostrated, much more must the cypresses
and oaks be consumed. But the crashing ruin
extends yet further.
Ver. 3. A sound of the howhng of the shep-
herds ! The flames spread over the low grounds
and pastures of the wilderness, and the Prophet
hears the outcry of the shepherds over the destruc-
tion of what is their hope and dependence. With
this is mingled the roaring of young lions, driven
by the fiery blast from their favorite lair, the thick-
ets on the river banks, known as the pride of the
Jordan (Jer. xii. 5 ; xlix. 19 ; 1. 44), so called be-
cause the luxuriant bushes and reeds inclose the
stream with a garland of fresh and beautiful ver-
dure.
To what does this vivid and startling represen-
tation refer? (1.) Avery old Jewish interpreta-
tion makes it descriptive of the overthrow of the
temple, which is here called Lebanon, because so
much of the wood of that goodly mountain was
used in its construction. So Eusebius, Jerome,
Grotius, and Henderson. But this, as Calvin says,
is frigid. Indeed, it gives no explanation of Ba-
fihan, or of ver. 3. (2.) Others applied it to Jeru-
salem, which is liable to the same objection. (3.)
Most of the moderns refer it to the holy land, some
supposing that the cedars, cypresses, etc., denote
heathen rulers who are swept away by a general
judgment (Hoffman, Umbrcit, Kliefoth) ; others
holding tha't these terms denote the chief men of
Israel (Hitzig, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Ewald).
But any such close pressing of a passage like this,
the most vigorous and poetical in all the book, is
both needless and unwise. Standing as a prelude
to the fearful doom of the flock of slaughter, it is
simply a highly figurative representation of the
overthrow of all that is lofty and glorious and
powerful in the nation and kingdom of the Jews.
The choice of the local terms used (Lebanon, Ba-
shan, etc.) may have been suggested by ch. x. 10 ;
but even if not so, they may very well stand for
the whole kingdom. A poet is not to be bound
by the rules of a historiographer. Pressel, quite
consistently witli his general view of the second
part of Zeehariah, sees in this prelude only a lit-
eral description of the march of Tiglath Pilescr,
when he invaded Israel in the days of Pekah (2
Kings XV. 29). But surely the Assyrian king did
not set fire to the cedars of Lebanon or the reeds
of the Jordan.
Vers. 4-14. A justly celebrated section, of which
Pressel says it ** exhibits Isaiah's power and beauty
of language, as well as his fullness of Messianic
thought." By command of Jehovah the prophet
assumes the office of a shepherd over his flock, and
feeds it until he is compelled by its ingratitude to
break his staves of ofiice and give up the sheep to
destruction.
Ver. 4. Thus saith Jehovah. To whom does
He speak? The earlier interpreters said, to the
Angel of the Lord or Messiah. But this is dis-
proved by the commission in ver. 15 given to the
same person ; fakeaijain the implements of a fool-
ish shepherd, ser/., — language which, as all admit,
iTould not be addressed to the Messiah. Others say
Shat the prophet in his individual capacity is ad-
■iressed (Hitzig, Ewald, et al.), but the whole stf lin
of the passage, the illustrative parallels in other
prophets, the destroying of other shepherds (ver.
8), and the thirty pieces of silver, all show that
Zeehariah in person could not have been intended.
It remains then to view him as addressed in his
typical or representative capacity, not, however, as
standing either for the prophetic order (Hofl^man),
or the mediatorial office (Kohler), for no human
agency could possibly perform the works here re-
counted ; but as personating the great Being who
was predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
under the form of the Good Shepherd. Flock of
slaughter. Not the whole human race (Hoffman),
but, as nearly all agree, the nation of Israel. Their
condition is farther described in the next verse.
Ver. 5. Whose buyers, etc. Not " possessors,''
as E. v., but " buyers," both because this is the
primaiy signification of the word, and because the
antithesis of " sellers " in the next clause requires
it. These buyers and sellers are those who do
just as they please with the covenant people, con-
sulting only their own interests. The one class
slaughter them and are not guilty, ;'. e., do not
incur blame, so far, at least, as the mere act is con-
cerned, since they only execute what is a righteous
punishment from God. This statement is just the
reverse of the one in Jer. ii. 3, " Israel is holy to
Jehovah ... all who devour him become guilty,
evil will come upon them," where it appears that
while Israel was holy, none could injure him with-
out incurring guilt. Now, however, the case is dif-
ferent. Cf. Jer. li. 6 (in Hebrew), where the same
word, Cti?!!j, is used. The other class say, Blessed
be Jehovah, etc., i. e., they make merchandise of
the people, and yet consider the gains thus made
perfectly honest, such as they can properly thank
God for bestowing. These buyers and sellers are
heathen rulers and oppressors. The last clause
completes the picture by setting forth their own
shepherds, i. e., their domestic rulers, civil and
ecclesiastical, as those who do not spare them, — a
pregnant negative.
Ver. 6. For I will no more . . . saith Jeho-
vah. This verse assigns the reason for the direc-
tion given in ver. 4. Jehovah, being about to visit
upon his people the just desert of their sins, will
yet m.ake one more effort to save them. If this
fails, they will be given up to the worst evils, name-
ly, inward discord and subjugation to a stranger.
Thus apprehended, the land is the land of Israel,
and its inhabitants = the flock of slaughter (Cal-
vin, Hengstenberg). Others (Keil, Kohler) take
the phrase as = the nations of the world, and sup-
pose the sense to be that Jehovah will no longer
suffer them to oppress his people with impunity.
This is grammatically possible, but needlessly di-
verts the current of thought in the passage, which
is the sins and sufferings of the chosen people.
His king, i. e., foreign oppressor. Cf. Hos. xi. 5.
The last clause fitly completes the sad picture.
Ver. 7. And I fed, etc. The prophet assumes
the duty enjoined upon him. He undertakes to
discharge the functions of a shepherd to a flock
which is in a very sad condition, -^ so much so a>
to be already devoted to destruction. That is,
dropping the figure, he proposes to guide and feed
and defend a people so wicked and hardened that
they are on the point of being given over to the
just retribution of their sinful w.ays. He begins
by assuming the implements of office. I took
. . . two staves, such as shepherds use. One of
these he named OV2, which most expositoM
CHAPTER XI. 1-17
85
(Ewald, TJmbreit, Keil, Henderson) render, Grace
or Favor, but it is better to adhere to the primary
signification of the word. Beauty or Loveliness
(Hitzig, Hengstcnberg, Maurer, Kohler), as in Ps.
xxvii. 4, xc. 17, beautij of Jehooah =: all that makes
Him an object of affection or desire. Of course,
the staff denotes the loveliness, not of the people
(Bleek), but of God. The other staff he named
C?.Iin. This word the LXX. (irxofi'io-jua) and the
Vulgate {funiculi} seem to have read as if pointed,
C^y^Qi for which there is no authority. As it
stands, the word is masc. plural of Kal participle.
Luther, and many others after him, render " de-
stroyers," but the verb never has this meaning in
the Kal. Another class render it " the bound or
" the allied " ( Hitzig, Hengstcnberg, Maurer,
Kliefoth), but this would require a passive partici-
ple. It only remains to adopt the legitimate, natural
sense — "binders, or binding ones" (Marckius,
Gesenius, Fiirsi, Keil). The plural may he ex-
plained as a plural of excellence, and the general
sense is well enough expressed by the E. V., bands.
(Gesenius says, Constnngens poetice pro fane) . And
I fed the flock, i. e., with these two staves, one in-
dicating God's favor and protection from outward
foes ; the other, an internal union and fellowship.
The next verse shows what he did in the discharge
of this office.
Ver. 8. And I cut off. . . . one day. Who are
the three shepherds ? Forty different answers
have been given, which may thus be classified :
(1.) Those who referred them to individuals, from
Jerome's Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, to Calmet's
Roman emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. The
impossibility of any agreement upon the point
shows that three distinct persons cannot be in-
tended. (2.) The " later criticism" maintains that
the three shepherds are the three kings of Israel,
Zechariah, Shallum, and Menahem ; but these
were not cut off in one month, and even if that
designation of time were referred (as it cannot be)
to the duration of their reigns, it would apply only
to one of them, Shallum; 2 Kings xv. 10-13.
Nor was their cutting off an act of mercy even to
Israel, which the cutting off in the text is evidently
meant to be. (3.) Others suppose that the phrase
points to the three imperial rulers who became
liege-lords of the covenant nation, i. e., the Baby-
lonian, Medo-Persian, and Macedonian dynasties
(Ebrard, Kliefoth, Kohler, Keil). Butit is not con-
sistent with usage to call these shepherds ; in no
conceivable sense were they cut off in one month ;
when cut off they were succeeded by another, a
fourth, quite as much an oppressor of God's people
as they were; and besides, Babylon was j,l ready
destroyed at the time Zechariah wrote. (4.) It is
better to fall back on the old opinion (Theodoret,
Cyril), that the three shepherds are the three orders
by which Israel was ruled, — the civil authorities,
the priests, and the prophets. These three classes
are mentioned together in Jer. ii. 8, 18 as pervert-
ers of the nation and causers of its destruction.
And although in the future to which the passage
refers, there were no longer prophets, yet there was
a class, the Scribes or teachers of the law, who
stood in the same relation to the people, and part-
ly, at least, discharged the same functions. See
the three classes mentioned by our Lord in Matt.
xvi. 21 . In one month ^ in a period which is long
when compared with one day, but brief as con-
trasted with other periods of time. " It shows that
the extermination of the three shepherds is not to
be regarded as a single act like the expiation (Hi,
ix.), but as a continuous act which occupies some
time" (Hengstcnberg). The plural suffix, CH?.
in the next clause. My soul became impatient
. . . abhorred me, by the earlier interpreters and
by Hengstcnberg, Kliefoth, et ai, is referred to the
shepherds, but it is certainly more natural to refer
it to " the flock " in ver. 7, and consider the clause
as furnishing the reason of the rejection stated in
the next verse, which is evidently aimed at the
Jewish nation as a whole. The Good Shepherd
lost patience with their perverse impenitence, and
they, on the other hand, loathed him for his spirit-
uality and holiness.
Ver. 9. And I said. . . . flesh of the other.
The shepherd renounces his flock. I will not feed
you, i. e., I will no longer be your shepherd. The
futures in the second half of the verse are by some
taken strictly as predictions, but it is more vivid
and more natural, like the older versions, to render
them optatively in the sense of surrender. All
kindly control is withdrawn, and the flock is left
to receive the appropriate consequences of its fatal
rejection of the means of deliverance. Tlie three
forms of calamity mentioned are death by natural
causes, plague or famine ; violence at the hand
of foreign foe; and intestine discord. On the last
clause, compare Is. ix. 20, 21, The fulfillment of
these words in the history of Jerusalem is well
known.
Ver. 10. And I took my staff. . . . nations.
What is predicted in the foregoing verse is here
exhibited in a symbolical action — the breaking of
the staff. Beauty, — the explanation of which is
immediately added. The Lord will remove tha
restraint which He had hitherto laid upon the en-
mity of foreign nations. See this restraint from
violence expressed in the form of a. covenant in
Job V. 23; Hos. ii. 18; Ezek. xxxiv. 25. O^'Ip'S
has here its usual sense of peoples or nations, and
not that of the tribes of Israel, as Calvin and soma
of the moderns affirm (cf. xii. 6 ; Micah iv. 5).
Ver. 1 1 . And it was destroyed . . . word of
Jehovah. The covenant was annulled, just as the
staff had been broken; the thiTig signified an-
swered to the sign. This was not observed by the
flock at large, but the wretched portion of it, tha
small company who gave heed to the Lord (cf.
John X. 4, 5, 14, 15), recognized the fulfillment of
a divine word (cf Jer. xxxii. 8). " In that day,"
i. e., that in which the staff was broken.
Ver. 12. And I said to them. . . . pieces of
silver. To them would at first sight refer to the
wretched among the sheep just mentioned, but the
connection, and the form of the inquiry, which
aims simply to ascertain whether they are willingr
to acknowledge and appreciate his pastoral care,
show that it must be addressed to the whole flock.
His leaving the matter to their pleasure — " if it
seem good," — indicates that he served them not
for wages, but in obedience to the Divine will
(Kohler), The wages, however, were due. They
are usually explained to mean repentance and
faith or heartfelt piety. What they offered was
thirty pieces of silver, the compensation for a slive
who had been killed (Ex. xxi. 32), the price for
which a female slave could be purchased ( Hos, iii.
2 ). Such an offer was " more offensive than a direct
refusal" (Hengstcnberg). Accordinglyit was con-
temptuously rejected, as the next verse .shows.
Ver. 13, And Jehovah said. . . to the pot-
ter. As the prophet acted in the name of the
86
ZECHAEIAH.
Lord, the Lord regards the wages of the shepherd
as offered to Himself, and therefore tells his repre-
Bentative what to do with the miserable sum. " The
noble price at which I am valued" is, of course,
an ironical expression, — one of the few instances
in Scripture in which that form of speech occurs.
This renders it exceedingly improbable that the
Lord would direct such a sum to be put into the
treasury, as many interpret his words, " Throw to
the potter," to mean, either taking "'?1"' to be a
copyist's error for "I^IK = treasnry or treasurer
(Syr., Kimchi, et al.) ; or altering the last vowel
of the former, and making it synonymous with the
latter (Jahn, Hitzig) ; or deriving the word from
the intransitive ~IH^, to be narrow, and rendering
it " cleft in the treasure chest," which Pressel
claims as a well-grounded and simple explanation !
There is no authority for altering the text, and
"^^'i"' always means an image-maker or potter. It
seems clear that the phrase is a sort of proverh, and
is used contemptuously, like our common saying,
Throw it to the dogs. So much is evident, even if
we reject the account which Hengstenberg gives of
its origin. He argues from Jer. xviii. 2, xix. 2,
that there was a potter employed about the Tem-
ple, that his workshop was in the Valley of Hin-
nom, which from the time of Josiah had been fear-
fully polluted in every possible way, and that hence
his pottery became an unclean spot. He insists
that our passage contains an allusion to the act of
Jeremiah (ch. xix.) when, with several of the elders
and priests he went to the Valley of Hinnom, and
there broke a potter's earthen vessel, and said,
" Even so will I do unto this place, saith the Lord,
as one brcaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be
made whole again, and they shall bury them in To-
phet because there is no more room and I will
make this city like Tophet." Hengstenberg claims
that the casting of the thirty pieces to the ])otter
was simply a renewal of the old symbol and a fresh
pledge of God's purpose to punish. It is objected
to this view with much force that the potter did
not certainly dwell in Hinnom, and that if he did,
this fact would not make him personally unclean.
Kohler explains the phrase as meaning, " The sum
is just large enough to pay a potter for the pitch-
ers and pots wliich he furnishes, and which are
thought of so little value that men are easily com-
.forted for the breaking of any by the thought that
mothers can readily be obtained in their stead."
'This, however, does not account for the word
•" Throw," which is emphatic. It is best to rest in
tthe general conception of a contemptuous rejection
of the offered wages. In the execution of the com-
mand the prophet threw the money in the house
of-ilehovah, which Hengstenberg explains as mean-
ing that it was to be carried thence to the potter,
in ireply to which it is justly said that if that
were the prophet's meaning, he expresses himself
very obscurely. The circumstance is, no doubt,
eignVficant, and may express either that the rejec-
tion, tsf the wages was done in Jehovah's name and
by his authority, or that being done in the sanc-
tuary where the people assembled for worship, it
indicaitied that they would be held accountable for
their <osurse. This shameful payment by the peo-
ple leatle to another token of Jehovah's displeasure.
Ver. 14. And I broke . . . and Israel. The
evil threatened here is worse than the former. It
is tiie loss of all fraternal unity, represented under
the figure of the old disruption of the naticn in
the time of Jeroboam. Tliis verse is a sad iifB-
culty in the way of tho.se who refer the compo-
sition of the Second Part of Zechariah to a period
prior to the Captivity, for to account for this verse
they must put the period back to the days of Sol-
omon, which is quite inconceivable. The breaking
up of the nation into parties bitterly hostile to each
other, was one of the most marked peculiarities of
the later Jewish history, and greatly accelerated
the ruin of the popular cause in the Roman war.
Vers. 15-17. Since Israel rejected the good
shepherd, they should be tended by shepherds of a
very different class. This truth is represented by
a fresh symbolical action.
Ver. 1 5. And Jehovah said .... shepherd.
Again points back to ver. 7, and shows that the
present action is of the same symbolic character
as the one there recorded. A crook, a bag, a pipe,
a knife, etc., were the articles usually carried by
shepherds. The nature of these other implements
is not specified, but they were doubtless of a char-
acter fitted rather to injure than to benefit the
flock. Foolish, with the usual Scriptural impli-
cation of wickedness. " The term directs atten-
tion to the fact that the rulers of the nation are so
blinded by the judicial punishment inflicted by-
God, as to be unable to see that whilst their fury }s
directed against the nation they are undermining
their own welfare" (Hengstenberg). Who is
meant by this evil shepherd 1 The " later critics "
s.ay, Pekah, or Hosea, or Menahem. Others say,
Herod (Henderson), the Romans (Hoffinan, Koh-
ler, Keil), or the whole body of native rulers
(Hengstenberg). I prefer to combine the last two
and understand the shepherd to represent the rul-
ing power in whomsoever vested. The point of
the prediction is that just they who ought to pro-
tect and aid the people would oppress'and destroy
them. They are presented in the form of an ideal
unity in order to complete the antithesis to the one
good shepherd. The next verse describes the con-
duct of this evil ruler.
Ver. 16. For behold I raise .... break off.
He does the very opposite of what Christ is repre-
sented as doing in Is. xlii. 3. He not merely neg-
lects, but destroys (cf Ezek. xxxiv. 3, 4). The
perishing. The present rendering in the text is
equally grammatical with the past adopted in E.
v., and more consistent with the verb visit. The
whole verse is striking in its complete enumeration
of particulars, showing how far this evil ruler falls
short of what is involved in the oriental concep-
tion of a shepherd. The history of Israel after
the flesh furnishes for centuries one continuous
commentary upon the fidelity of this delineation.
The breaking off of hoofs expresses the ferocious
greed of the shepherds who will rend even these
extremities rather than lose a shred of the flesh
This is better than the view (Ewald, Hitzig) which
makes it refer to injuries caused by driving the
flock over rough and stony roads. But these
merciless masters are to meet due retribution.
Ver. 17. Woe to the worthless . . . bUnded.
The arm is the organ of strength, the right eye
of vigilance. As these are the members which in-
stead of guarding the flock as they should have
done, .shamefully abused it, they are specified as
the objects of punishment. The appatent jumble
of metaphorical expressions in threatening a sword
upon the arm and the eye, and then declaring that
the former shall be withered and the other blinded,
has led some (Jahn, Bunsen, Pressel) to give to
^Tiri the pointing S'T!!"! = dryness (as Vulgate,
Arab, and Sam. have done in Deut. xxviii. 22)
CHAPTER XI. 1-17.
87
But it is better to allow that the Prophet connects
several punishmenta together in order to render
prominent the greatness of the retribution. The
sacred writers are not concerned about the require-
ments of an artificial rlietoric where the sense is
abundantly plain (cf. Is. Ixii. .5). A similar rea-
son may have led Rosenmiiller to follow the Chal-
dec in changing the verse from the liveliest poetry
into the jejunest prose by rendering, " Woe to the
shepherd who is like a butcher, wliose knife is in
his hand and whose eye is upon the sheep to slay
them."
TlLEOIiOGIOAL AND MOKAL.
1. The rejection of Israel after the flesh is the
one sad subject of this chapter. The picture is
wholly dark, unrelieved by a single ray of light.
The impression made by the opening verses, the
vivid startling prelude, is deepened all the way
through to the end. A whirlwind of flame sweeps
through the entire land, laying waste mountain
and plain, forests and meadows, and drying up
even streams and rivers. Men and beasts are over-
taken together, and their cries of terror and de-
spair indicate the completeness of the fiery ruin.
It seems as if the Prophet, rismg with the awful
grandeur of his theme, had condensed into a few
poetic lines the substance of the long chapters in
which Moses of old had predicted the divine judg-
ment upon an unfaithful people. The national Is-
rael had enjoyed peculiar privileges, but such priv-
ileges always draw with them increased responsi-
bility. As Jehovah said by the mouth of Amos
(iii. 2), " You only have I known of all the fami-
ilies of the earth ; therefore will I punish you for
all your iniquities." Repeatedly in the course of
their previous history had God visited them with
his rod, but there had always been a recovery.
War, pestilence, or famine had executed his wrath ;
or they were sold into the hand of their enemies
for a longer or shorter period ; and once they had
actually been transplanted into a foreign land
where they remained for more than two genera-
tions. But in the end the rod was lifted off, and
they resumed their former condition. Now, how-
ever, there was to be a final act of judgment, one
snmming up in itself all that had gone before, and
expressing once for all the wrath of God upon
obdurate impenitence. The unfaithful trustees
should be dispossessed of their trust, their precious
inheritance given to others, and themselves cast
out to become a hissing and a byword. Foreign
foes and civil discords would concur to work their
destruction, and they who should be their protec-
tors would become their oppressors. So without
friends or helpers in heaven or on earth, they would
pass away as an organized nation, and live only
to perpetuate the' memory of their past history,
and teach more vividly its great lessons of sin and
retribution.
2. But prior to the consummation of this great
act of judgment, before the fire was yet kindled,
the Lord determined to make one last effort to
save the wretched people. This is set forth in the
striking symbolism of the chapter, by a shepherd
who offers to take charge of the flock notwith-
standing its miserable condition. Instead of bear-
ing a single crook, he is furnished with two staves.
These have names, expressing in one case the di-
vine favor which wards off all external foes ; in the
other, union or concord, which when it exists ex-
cludes the evils sure to be engendered by mutual
distrust and alienation. But the diligence and
affection of the shepherd produced no effect. The
fore-doomed flock turned away from him with
loathing. The kindly effort miserably failed. The
passage bears a striking analogy to the parable of
the wicked husbandmen (Matt. xxi. 33, 34; Mark
xii. 1-12). The lord of the vineyard had repeat
ediy sent messengers to receive of its fruits, but
these were abused and injured as often as they
were sent. " At last he sent his Son, saying, They
will reverence my Son." But even this means
failed. The Son was no more regarded than the
servants had been. On the contrary, he was cast
out of the vineyard and slain. The contemporary
Jews, when asked by our Lord what would be the
fate of these wicked husbandmen, answered prompt-
ly that they would be miserably destroyed, and the
vineyard let out to others who would render the
fruits in their season. They thus pronounced their
own sentence. For the Saviour, after reminding
them of the stone which the builders rejected and
which yet became the head of the corner, declared
with great solemnity, " Therefore say I unto you,
the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and
given to a nation bringing forth the fr\uts thereof."
Nothing more was to be done. The last and
crowning manifestation of the divine mercy had
been made, and yet, so far from awakening and
reclaiming the infatuated people, it only incensed
them, and brought wrath and ill-doing upon the
bearer of the message. Just so with the flock
Zechariah describes. They had the services of
Him who justly calls himself the Good Shepherd,
under whom all may find protection and repose,
green pastures, and running streams. But they
would none of Him. He came unto his own, and
his own received Him not. There was a deliber-
ate and peremptory rejection of God's unspeak-
able gift. When the furious crowd, gathered be-
fore the tribunal of Pilate, rent the air with shouts,
" Away with Him, crucify Him," the Roman gov-
ernor asked in wonder, Shall I crucify your king }
Instantly came the startling answer from the heads
of the nation, " We have no king but Cassar "
(John xix. 15). These decisive words terminated
the case. Pilate ceased to remonstrate, and gave
sentence that it should be as they required. Then
was filled the measure of Israel's iniquity. " If I
had not come and spoken unto them, they had not
had sin ; but now have they no cloke for their sin.
. . . . If I had not done among them the works
which none other man did, they had not had sin ;
but now have they both seen and hated both me
and my Father" (.John xv. 22-24). Israel rejected
the good shepherd, and was itself in turn rejected.
The two staves were broken, and he who held
them relinquished his office. Neither Beauty nor
Bands any longer performed their grateful func-
tion. To break a shepherd's crook is a very sim-
ple act, but as performed by one who represented
the Good Shepherd, it expressed a most fearful
truth — the final abandonment of the flock by the
only being who could feed, guide, or defend it.
Ever since, the miserable sheep have experienced
the weight of Jehovah's words : Woe unto them
when I depart from them !
3. The consideration of the interesting critical
and exegetical questions suggested by the quotas
tion of vers. 12, 13, in Mattliew xxvii. 9, 10, prop-
erly belongs to the interpretation of that Gospel.
See Lange in loc. Although the Evangelist attrib-
utes the language he cites to Jeremiah, there can
scarcely be a doubt that he does in fact quote from
Zechariah. The case then is one which illustrates
very well tl e principle upon which such applica
88
ZECHARIAH.
tions of the Old Testament are made. The sab-
stance of the tliought contained in vers. 12, 1.3, is
that the services of the good shepherd were con-
temptuously undervalued and rejected by the ilock,
ani?. that this scornful rejection was indignantly
rebuked by the Lord. Now this would have been
fulfilled even had there been no sale by Judas for
a precise sum of money, and no application of that
money to a specific purpose. Just as in the cor-
responding case in ix. 9, 10, the prediction respect-
ing our Lord's lowly and peaceful position and
character would have been accomplished, had He
not made his formal entry into Jerusalem riding
upon an ass. But it pleased the Lord in that case
and in this, not only to fulfill the general purport
of the prediction, but even to bring about an e.xiict
correspondence in minor and unessential details.
Thus in the prophecy, Israel depreciates the worth
of the shepherd's services, estimating them at
thirty pieces of silver; in the narrative of the gos-
pels it ap]rears that this is the precise sum for
which the Saviour was betrayed. In the prophecy,
the sum paid for the possession of the shepherd
vas indignantly cast away by him; in the history
it was so ordered by the Lord that the priests and
ciders did not dare to put in the treasury the price
of the Saviour's blood, for they said, " it is not
lawful." In the prophecy the thirty pieces of
silver are thrown to the potter, i. e., contemptu-
ously spurned, yet this is done in the temple ; in
the history the money which the wretched traitor
had received was brought back by him to those
who had given it, and when they declined to take
it, " he cast down the pieces of silver in the tem-
ple;" but the ecclesiastical authorities, unwilling
to apply the coin to any sacred use, devoted it to
the purchase of ground to be used as a burying
place for strangers, and the land which they pur-
chased was " the potter's field," a field which doubt-
less was selected because it was so broken and
marred as to be unfit for agricultural purposes,
but which yet in its very name contained a pecu-
liar Buggestiveness. Thus did divine providence
bring about a striking correspondence between
the symbolical treatment and action of the prophet
and the actual coui-se of events in the betrayal and
rejection of our Saviour.
4. The choice of men never lies between a good
shepherd and none at all, but between a good
shepherd and a bad one. Israel of old rejected
the gracious provision offered by the Lord Jesus,
and the alternative was ruin. The language of
the prophet is vigorous and incisive. He describes
a shepherd who not only fails in every duty of his
office, but does the exact oppo.site, wounding where
he should heal, and dcvoni'ing whom he should
feed, imtil the flock is miserably destroyed. But
even more forcible are the words of the Saviour
(Luke xix. 41), when he wept over Jerusalem,
saying, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least
in this thy day, the things which belong to thy
peace ! hut now they are hid from thine eyes. For
the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies
shall cast a trench about thee and compa-ss thee
round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall
lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee ; and they shall not leave one stone
upon another, because thou knowest not the time
of thy visitation." The fulfillment of these fearful
words is well known. The ruin of the place and
peojjle was overwhelming. Scarce any siege in
the history of the world was attended with such
cruelties and horrors as preceded and followed the
Sail of Jerusalem. There was a deliberate and
energetic effort to exterminate the race. The
whole power of the Roman Empire was brought
to bear upon this one province, as Merivale says,
" with a barbarity of which no other example
occurs in the records of civilization." And the
subsequent history of the Jews for many centuries
illustrated in the same manner the symbol of
Zechariah. Their rulers were evil shepherds,
mock shepherds. Giving nothing, they exacted
everything. They taxed, they pillaged, they op-
pressed, they insulted, habitually and on principle.
The Jeiv was an outcast without any rights, and
when tolerated it was only as a sponge to be
squeezed when it was full. The furious crowd
in the judgment hall of Pilate said, " His blood
be on us and on our children." They were taken
at their word, and the self-imposed malediction
followed thenr from age to age and from country
to country, and does not seem even yet to have
been exhausted.
5. God often uses instruments which He after-
wards destroys, scourging with a rod and then
breaking the rod and casting it into the fire. The
worthless shepherds who battened like vultures
on the wi-etched flock of Judcea, the haughty Ro-
mans who inflicted the divine judgments upon the
apostate and incorrigible nation, were themselves
in turn exposed to a righteous retribution. The
time came when there was a sword upon their
arms and their eyes. She who had spoiled so
many lands and peoples was herself spoiled, and
the city which had gathered into her walls the
precious things of all the earth became the prey of
the barbarian. Her former inhabitants have dis-
appeared from the face of the earth, and new races
occupy their seats, while the Jew still lives, the
lineal and indubitable descendant of the men
among whom our Lord was born and by whom He
was rejected. The arch of Titus commemorates
in pictured stone the overthrow of Judosa and the
plunder of its sacred vessels, but it likewise com-
memorates the overthrow of the conqueror and the
utter ruin of that vast empire which survives only
in these mute relies of its ancient grandeur.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Moore . vcr. 6. Wicked rulers are a curse of
God on a wicked nation. Now as religion tends
to prevent such rulers, or at least prevent theit
choice, there is an obvious connection between
politics and religion. Church and State may and
ought to be separated ; politics and religion ought
not, for thus the State becomes exposed to the
curse of God, and political evil follows in the train
of moral evil. — Vcr. 7. Bands. Union of feeling
in a people is a mark of the favor of God, and dis-
union a token of his wrath, and usually the begin-
ning of a downfall. — Ver. 8. Christ cannot be
rejected with impunity. Even the Jews who " did
it ignorantly in unbelief," paid a terrible penalty
for their crime ; how much more terrible will be
the punishment of those who have all their unbe-
lief without any of their ignorance. — Ver. 12. Men
now sometimes reject Christ for a far less reward
than thirty pieces of silver, and of course with far
more guilt than Judas.
Wordsworth : Ver. 10. Break my cmenant
with all peoples. " When the Most High divided
to the nations their inheritance, when he separated
the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the children of Israel,
for the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is tha
CHAPTERS Xn.-XIV.
89
lot of his inheritnnce" (Deut. xxxii. 8, 9). This
was God's com]iact with all nations and with
Israel. He assigned a special inheritance to Ju-
dah ; and no people could deprive them of it as
long as they were true to Him. But now that they
have rejected Christ, He has broken that compact ;
Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles, and
the Jews are wanderers and outcasts in all lands.
— Ver. 15. A foolish Shepherd. Good shepherds,
says Cyril, have a light pastoral staff by which
they guide the sheep ; but the evil shepherd mal-
treats and belabors the sheep with rude handling.
So in spiritual things, the good Christian pastor
deals gently, tenderly, and lovingly with his flock;
but the bad pastor is impatient and rules them
with roughness and violence ; and does not bring
back the sheep when astray, nor guard them
against the wolf and the robber, nor heal those
which are sick ; and does not feed them with the
wholesome food of sound doctrine, but with poison-
ous heresies. — Ver. 17. The Idol Shepherd. It
would not be easy to point out any other shepherd
who makes himself to be an idol, except the Bishop
of Kome. That he does make himself into an idol
is certain. The first act that he performs after his
election is to go into the Church of St. Peter, and
there taking his seat upon the high altar to claim
and receive adoration from the cardinals who kiss
hia feet. Among the medals struck in the Roman
mmt IS one representing the cardinals kneeling
before the Pope, with this inscrijition, Qnem creant,
adorant. Count Montalembert, in a letter written
froin his death-bed, February 28, 1870, protested
against those votaries of the papacy who, as he
says, " trample under foot all our liberties and
principles, in order to immolate justice and truth,
reason and history, as a sacrifice to the idol which
they have set up for themselves in the Vatican."
Calvin. A Prayer: Grant, Almighty God,
that since thou hast hitherto so patiently endured,
not only our sloth and folly but also our ingrati-
tude and perverseness, — 0 grant, that we may
hereafter render ourselves submissive and obedient
to Thee ; and as thou hast been pleased to set over
us the best of Shepherds, even thine only begotten
Son, cause us willingly to attend to Him, and to
sufl^er ourselves to be gently ruled by Him ; and
though thou mayest find in us what may justly
provoke thy wrath, yet restrain extreme severity,
and so correct what is sinful in us, as to continue
our Shepherd until we shall at length under thy
guidance reach thy heavenly kingdom ; and thug
keep us in thy fold and under thy pastoral staff,
that at last, being separated from the goats, we
may enjoy that blessed inheritance which has been
ordained for us by the blood of thy beloved Son
— Amen.
B. THE SECOND BURDEN.
Chapters XH.-XIV.
The fresh title here prefixed sufficiently indicates that a new joencope begins with chapter xii. Its
leading themes are the victory of God's kingdom over the heathen world (xii. 1-9), the repentance
and conversion of the children of the kingdom (xii. 10; xiii. 1), their purification from all ungodli-
ness (xiii. 2-6), a severe sifting of the flock consequent upon the smiting of the shepherd (xiii. 7-9),
and the final tremendous conflict of the Church and the world, ending in the assured victory of the
former (xiv.).
If our view of the Pirst Burden be correct, it would seem to follow that the second begins where
the first leaves oflf, and treats of events to follow the coming and rejection of Christ. There are in-
deed many particulars which suggest the struggle of the Maccabees as the subject of the former part
of the twelfth chapter ; but that has already been treated of in the ninth chapter with specific men-
tion of Javan or Greece as the antagonist, and why should we have it renewed here ? Why should
the Prophet halt in his progress and go back over trodden ground's Moreover, the twelfth chapter
expressly speaks in several places of the conflict as carried on not against one nation, but against all
the peoples of the earth (see ver. 3). There is an aspect of universality of which no sign at all ap-
pears in the portion ix. 11 -x. 7. It is the heathen world against the covenant people. Where now
are we to look for the outward reality corresponding to this inward vision of the Prophet ? Mani-
festly there is nothing in the history of the literal, national Israel which approaches conformity to this
vivid outline. Never did they not only resist their foes, but inflict such damage upon them as could
be compared to the ravages of fire among wheat sheaves. The covenant people maintained their in-
ternal constitution and religious usages until the days of Titus, but in no case did they devour all
nations roundabout on the right hand and the left. It only remains then to hold that the Prophet
here passes from the old to the new form of the Church, that he refers to the kingdom of God on
earth after the appearance of the Messiah, and describes its trials and triumphs, its inward and out-
ward development.
But does he refer to events yet future, or may we trace a fulfillment of his words in the past ? The
latter seems the more probable. As there was a chronological advance in the previous oracle, it is
natural to look for one here, and to consider that the Prophet refers to different stages in the progress
of the Christian Israel. In this view the struggle and victory in xii. 1-9 can hardly have any other
reference than to the persecutions of the heathen world. Judah invaded, Jerusalem besieged by the
nations, and yet the attempt at overthrow not only foiled but recoiling in the ruin of those who made
it, — what else can this be than the fierce and bloody onslaught of pagan power on the infant Church'!
Or if Zechariah intended to set it forth, in what other way could he in his liistorical relations conceive
the issue and its result than the -n-ay in which it is given here 1 Nor is it of use to object that this is
3piritualizing arbitrarily. The Christian Church is the legitimate continuation of the Old Testament
Israel. There is but one Israel, one pe«ple of God from the beginning to the end. According to the
90 ZECHAEIAH.
Apostle's figure, old branches were broken off and new ones grafted on, but there was only the one
olive tree throughout. Gentiles when they come to Christ, are incorporated into the coramonwealtli
of Israel, so as to become fellow-citizens with the saints, i. e., those *ho are already such (Eph. ii.
12-19). It is one and the same body, differing in outward and unessential characteristics, but main-
taining an unbroken identity in all that belongs to substance and life.
1. ISRAEL'S CONFLICT AND VICTORY.
Chapter XII. 1-9.
A. Jehovah's continuous Agency in Nature (ver. 1). B. Jerusalem ruinous to her Besiegers (vers. 2-4)
C. Energy of the Chiefs of Judah (vers. 5-7). D. Promise of growing Strength to the Feeble {ret
8). B. 'Final Result (ver. 9).
1 The burden of the word of Jehoyah upon Israel,
Saith Jehovah who stretches^ forth the heavens,
And lays the foundation of the earth,
And forms the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold I make Jerusalem a bowl ^ of reeling
To all the peoples ^ round about,
And upon Judah also shall it be *
In the siesfe against Jerusalem.
3 And it shall be in that day, I will make Jerusalem
A burdensome stone for all peoples.
All who lift it shall tear themselves ;
And ^ all nations of the earth shall gather against it.
4 In that day, saith Jehovah,
I will smite every horse with terror,'
And his rider with madness,
And upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes.
And every horse of the peoples will I smite with blindness.
5 And the chiefs ' of Judah shall say in their heart,
The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength'
In Jehovah of Hosts, their God.
6 In that day I will make the chiefs of Judah
As a pan' of Are among sticks of wood,^"
And as a torch of fire in a sheaf,
And they shall devour on the right hand and on the left
All the peoples around.
And Jerusalem shall yet sit in her own place in Jerusalem.
7 And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first,^
That the glory of the house of David,
And the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
May not exalt itself over Judah.
8 In that day will Jehovah defend ^^ the inhabitant of Jerusalem,
And the stumbling " among them in that day shall be as David,
And the house of David as God,'*
As the angel of Jehovah before them.
9 And it shall be in that day,
I will seek to destroy all the nations
That come against Jerusalem.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — Who stretches^ lays, forms. The substitution of the preterite for the. participle by some translators not
only is gratuitous and inaccurate, but hides the allusion to the creative power of God as constantly exhibited in the con-
tinued existence of his works.
2 Ver. 2. — r|D. This word Hengstenljerg, in the first edition of his Christology (followed by Moort), rendend thruk
4-»W, but in the flecoiiii, he returns to the old and better version cup or bowl.
I Ver. 2. — C^fflp. Here and in vets. 8, 4, 6, peoples. Bee on vili. 20.
CHAPTEK XII. 1-9.
91
4 Ver. 2. — The rendering of the eecond clause in the E. V. is impossible grammatically, and is suBtained by no an
tliority that I have seen.
6 Ver. 8. — W31. It is possible but not necessary to render, as E. V., " though all," etc.
6 Ver. i. — pniSri. Astoniskment hardly eiprcsses the force of this word, which denotes a sort of wondering coi»
Bternation.
7 Ver. 5. — J^^ vM head of a family or tribe, is not well rendered as in E. V., by prince^ which necos.s.arily implies
something of kingly rank or power. As a title of authority it is elsewhere in Scripture used only of the heads of the
Idumean tribes (Gen. xxxvi. 15 ; E.K. xv. 16 ; 1 Chron. i. 51 ff.), whence Hengstenberg deduces an ingenious argument
jn fiivor of the genuineness of the second part of Zechariah ( Cfirisiologif, iv. 67), cf. on ix. 7.
8 Ver. 6. — nQ^M, OTT. Xsy, = D^S. ^7 is the dative of advantage, and the singular is used collectively &s id
tU. 8.
9 Ver. 6 — *1T3, usually a basin for washing (the laver of the tabernacle, Ex. xxx. 18), here is a pot or pan for
coals.
JO Ver. 6; — C'^V is not " woods " = forest, but sticks of wood or faggots.
11 Ver. 7 — The reading n^CI^Sn^^, adopted by LXX., Vulgate, and Peshito, and found In five MSS., is manifestly
due to an attempt at correction.
12 Ver. 8. — ^3*^ used with another preposition in the same sense, in ix, 15.
18 Ver. 8. — 7t&!53,_/ceJ^e (E. v.), is not so expressive as the literal, atuniblet ; cf. Ps. cv. 37, " And not a stumblet
In his tribes". (Is. v. 27.)
14 Ver. 8. — D'^n^N may here be used as an abstract plural, denoting what is divine and heavenly, or in general
superhuman (cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 13 ; Ps. viii. 6), — a view which seems to render more obvious the contrast between the
.wo latter clauses of the verse. LXX. renders " house of God," which Luther follows, and which accounts for the Vul-
gate, " tti domits David quasi Dei.^^
EXESETICAL AND CRITICAL.
This chapter begins the second half of the last
division of Zechariah's prophecies. It commences
with the same word as does the portion chaps, ix.-
xi., hut in a different application. Both utterances
are burdens, i. e., threatening predictions. The
former sets forth calamity as the portion of God's
enemies, whether within or without the ranks of
his covenant people. The latter represents the
same as involving temporarily and partially his
own chosen followers, but in the end these attain
complete deliverance.
Ver. 1. Burden. See on ix. 1. ^V^upon
or cmca'ning, not against. The calamity involves
Israel, but its full scope takes in the general body
of the ungodly. Israel = the covenant nation,
either in itself or as found in its true successor,
the Christian Church. The Jewish interpreters,
say the former, and with them many Christian
critics agree (Theodoret, Calvin, a Lapide, Gro-
tius, Vitringa, Bleek, etc.J, while an equal number
adopt the latter (Jerome, Cyril, Luther, Albertus
Magnils, Cocceitis, Marckius, Calmet, Hengsten-
berg). "Wlio stretches forth the heavens, if.
Kor the purpose of allaying any possible doubt as
to the fulfillment of the prophecy, there are added
to Jehovah's name several striking expressions of
his Almighty poWer (cf. Is. xlii. 5; Am. iv. 13;
Ps. civ. 2-4). The Scriptures know nothing of
the mechanical view of the universe as something
from which God, after having created it, stands al-
together aloof. "Every day He spreads out the
heavens, every day He lays the foundation of the
earth, which if it were not upheld by his power
Sfould wander from its orbit and fall into ruin"
{Heugstenberg). The reference to God's forma-
tion of the human spirit is intended to suggest
that unrestrained and continuous agency by which
He controls the thoughts and purposes of men,
lind is able therefore to accomplish his own pur-
jjOses through them, or in spite of them (cf. Num.
kvi. 22; xxvii. 16; Ps. xxxiii. 15; Prov. xxi. 1.
Vet. 2. Behold, I maJce .... round about.
A lively exhibition of the failure of the nations iu
their attack upon Jerusalem. Zechariah employs
the figure common in the older Prophets, of repre-
senting Jehovah's wrath as a wine-cup which mad-
dens and infatuates nations doomed to ruin. God
will administer such a potion a.s will make them
reel and fall in hopeless weakness and misery (cf.
Ps. Ixxv. 9, and Is. li. 17-22; Jer. xxv. 15-17).
What elsewhere is DID = cup, here is pD = basin
or bowl, the latter being used, perhaps, because
many were to drink of it at the same time. And
upon Judah also .... Jerusalem. What is to
be " upon Judah ? " An old and wide-spread opin-
ion says that it is a forced participation in the
siege of the capital (Targum, Vulgate, Grotius,
Marckius, and many later critics) ; but this is not
required by the text, nor consistent with the con-
text, which indicates union rather than opposition
between the country and the capital. Others say,
the bowl of reeling (Kimchi, Hitzig, Maurer, ^
al.), but this would require the preposition 7 in-
stead of 737. Kohler proposes to supply "II^JQ
as the subject, but this is forbidden by the awk-
ward sentence it would make, and by the fact that
only a city and not a land can be besieged. It is
better to assume as the subject the substance of
the previous clause, — what takes place at Jeru-
salem ; and the meaning is that the country and
the capital shall be involved in the same trial.
Ver. 3. And it shall be .... a burdensome
stone. The Prophet employs another figure bor-
rowed, according to the general opinion, from one
of the sports of the young men in Palestine de
scribed by Jerome as still subsisting in his day.
They who, overrating their strength, try to lift a
stone too heavy for tiiem, not only fail, bat suffer
sprains and dislocations. Such a fate will befall
the foes of Jerusalem, ('. c, all peoples, all the
nations of the earth, for so extensive is the com-
bination against the holy city.
Ver. 4. In that day .... blindness. Horseg
and riders represent the warlike forces of the en-
emy. The terrifying and blinding of these makea
them injurious only to themselves. Dpom Judahi
y2
ZECHAEIAH.
on the contrary, which stands here for the whole
nation, Jehovah says, I will open my eyes, i. e.,
for protection (Ps. xxxii. 8 (Ileb.), 1 Kings viii. 29 ;
Neh. i. 6). Cowles justly calls attention to the
beautiful antithesis. "God smites with blindness
the warrins; powers of his foes, but opens his own
eyes wide on his people, to see and provide for
their wants. ' The three plagues mentioned are
precisely thoso with which Moses threatened rebel-
lious Israel in Deut. xxviii. 28 ; " The Lord shall
smite thee with madness, and blindness, and aston-
ishment of heart." A fine historical illustration
of tlie effect of sudden blindness is seen in the his-
tory of Elisha (2 Kings vi. 18).
Ver. 5. And the oMefs of Judah .... my
strength. Tliat the leaders find their strength in
the inhabitants of Jerusalem can mean only that
the holy city, made such by the election of the
Most High who dwells there, insures his protec-
tion for all who seek Him in the appointed way,
and that even the most dignified and powerful
have no other resource. A parallel sentiment is
found in Ps. Ixxxvii. 2 : " The Lord loveth the
gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob."
Ver. 6. In that day .... in a sheaf. In
consequence of this trust in the divine election,
the leaders consume their foes on every hand as a
basin of fire devours faggots, or a torch burns up
a ripe sheaf. The resulting preservation of the
city is stated in the last clause, in which the
first Jerusalem :^ the population personified as a
woman, and the second = the material city as
such. For the reverse condition, seels, xlvii. 1.
Ver. 7. And Jehovah shall save . . . Judah.
The word tents stands in contrast with fortified
cities. These spread over the open country Jeho-
vah will save Jirst, in order that the well-defended
capital may not lift itself above the defenseless
land, but that both may acknowledge that "in
either case the victory is the Lord's" (Jerome).
Ver. 8. Will Jehovah defend .... angel of
Jehovah. The L<ird will exalt his people to a
degree of strength and glory far transcending any-
thing in their past experience. This is expressed
by saying that even the stumbler, one who can
scarce hold himself up, much less attack a foe,
shall become a hero like David ; and even David's
house shall exceed its highest fame of old, shall
become like God, na}', like the angel of Jeho-
vah, that peculiar manifestation of Deity which
once marched at the head of the armies of Israel.
This very striking and beautiful climax is of itself
an answer to those who depreciate the literary
merit of Zechariah. But the rhetorical excellence
of the passage falls far below its consolatory and
stimulating power as a promise. Before them
(cf Ex. xxxii. .34; xxiii. 20).
Ver. 9. I will seek to destroy .... Jeru-
salem. This does not mean to seek out in order
to desti'oy, but is spoken, more humano, to express
the energetic purpose of the speaker.
This prophecy is supposed by Vitringa, C. B.
Michaelis, l)athe, and others, to refer to the deal-
ings of God with the national Israel in the end of
the world, in the last great struggle of ungodliness.
It is manifestly easier to interpret the passage in
its details upon this literal view of its application.
And yet there is great improbability in such a view.
Why should the prophet, after depicting so vividly
the rejection of the Good Shepherd, and the conse-
quent overthrow of the flock, pass at once to the final
Kene, overlooking all the splendid triumphs of the
truth during the intervening period ? Would we
not naturally, from the case itself and from the
usage of the other prophets, expect some allusion
to the great changes in the developmer.t of the
kingdom of God, and to its progressive increase
among the nations of the earth 1 Moreover, if the
national Israel are hereafter to be restored to theii
own land and to resume the old relations of capital
and country, on what ground can we look for a
consentaneous attack of all nations upon this one
small people and territory ? Can any imagination
conceive the recurrence of a general movement,
like that of the Crusades, precipitating the men
and means of a continent, not to say a world, upon
the sacred soil of Palestine 1 Of course, such a
thing is possible, but in view of the vast changes
in the current of human thought, in the economy
of states and empires, in the ways in which racea
and dynasties seek to increase or perpetuate their
influence, and in the distribution of political and
social power, it is the most unlikely of all conceiv-
able events. Were the Jews to-day in the posses-
sion of the Holy Land, and that whether converted
or unconverted, what motive could there be for any
existing nation or combination of nations to assail
the seed of Abraham with fire and sword t If it be
claimed that there will be a revival of the bloody
propagandisra of infidelity or atheism, as at one
period of the French Revolution, why should such
an outburst be directed against Jerusalem or Jew-
ish believers rather than against the strongholds of
the Gos])cl found among Gentile believers ? Such
an attack, if successful, would hardh' affect more
than an outpost of the Christian Church. The
great body of the means and resources of evangel-
ical Christendom would remain unimpaired. It is,
therefore, more natural to consider this pericope as a
general statement not only of the Christian Israel's
victory over the first ten persecutions, but of the
result of all its conflicts with the world's power as
they are renewed from age to age.
THEOLOGICAL AND MOfiAL.
1 . The ftindamental thought in the conception
of God is that of Power. Alike in the Scriptures
and in human experience we begin our view of the
Most High with the fact of creation. In looking at
the world around us we have an intuitive and irre-
sistible conviction that this visible effect must have
had an invisible cause, a cause adequate to its pro-
duction. The universality of this conviction in all
ages and lands, — rendered only the more striking
by the occasional exceptions which history dis-
closes, — entitles us to rest in it with absolute cer-
titude. But the power which created the world
must be unlimited. He who without an effort and
by a simple volition called the universe into being,
can do all things. To Him great and small, high
and low, difficult and easy, are practically the same.
All things are possible with God. But if He be
infinite in this direction. He must be equally so in
all others. What is there, what can there be, to
limit any other aspect of his nature ? Boundless
power implies necessarily boundless wisdom and
boundless goodness. A truncated Deity, perfect on
one side, but imperfect on others, is inconceivable
by us, or if the vain attempt be made to hold such
an inconsequent view, the result is either Dualism
or Polytheism.
Hence the perpetual recurrence in the Scriptures
to this attribute of Jehovah. It is as udcessary to
our practice as to our theories. In all the course
of the individual believer and of the Church at
CHAPTER XII. 1-9.
93
large, there occur seasons when there is no other
support for faith and hope than tlie divine omnip-
atence. We must look up to Him who stretcheth
abroad the heavens and layeth the foundation of
the earth and formeth the spirit of man within
him. To feel that all things material and imma-
terial lie at his control as clay in the hands of the
potter is a buttress of the believing soul. It sus-
tains in the darkest hours of trial ; it encourages
in the endeavor after the most difficult enterprises.
ii It is a thought which ever maltes
Life's sweetest smiles from tears ;
It is a daybrealc to our hopes,
A sunset to our^fears.*'
2. It is said that on one occasion when at a con-
ference of Andrew Rivet with the king of France,
the latter threatened some severe measures against
the cause of truth, the sturdy reformer answered,
" May it please your Majesty, the Church of God
is an anvil which hath broken a great many ham-
mers." It is even so. Zion is a burdensome stone,
and always has been, to her assailants. They have
harmed not her, but themselves. Pharaoh pursued
the children of Israel and caught them " entan-
gled in the land, shut in by the wilderness," but
when he sought to spring the trap, they escaped in
safety, while he and his host sank like lead in the
mighty waters. The Philistines captured the Ark
of the Covenant, but no defeat was ever so dam
aging to Dagon or his worshippers as this seeming
triumph. Babylon rioted in the plunder of Jeru-
salem, and the impious king turned the sacred ves-
sels of the sanctuary into the drinking cups of an
idolatrous revel, but the tingers of doom wrote upon
the wall a sentence which numbered and finished
his days the same night. Herod sought to slay the
infant Redeemer, but while the child was safe in
Egypt, the cruel king perished by a painful and
loathsome disease. So in the bloody persecutions
which attended the introduction of Christianity,
one and another took up the Church as a stone to
toss hither and thither, but in vain. The stone
was unharmed, but the lifters were torn and lacer-
ated. All were made to feel what the dying Julian
uttered in his despair, " O Galilean, thou hast con-
quered ! " Here, more than anywhere else, is ful-
filled the saying of the devout Psalmist, " The
Lord is known by the judgment which He exe-
cuteth; the wicked is snared in the work of his
own hands" (ix. 16). Every assault upon Zion
recoils upon the heads of its authors, and that not
simply by virtue of " the elastic nature of right
according to which every infliction calls forth a
counter infliction ; " but in consequence of the de-
terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God who
taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Times
without number has his providence justified the
earnest counsel which Pilate's wife gave to the
Roman governor in the great crisis of his life, —
Have thou nothing to do with that just man.
3. Yet when Zion prevails, over her foes, this
result is not owing to any human or inherent
strength, but to the presence and power of Jeho-
vah. / make Jerusalem a bowl of reeling ; /
make her a burdensome stone; /smite every horse
with blindness ; / make the chiefs of Judali a pan
of fire ; Jehovah saves, Jehovah defends. Thus,
throughout, the stress is laid upon the divine arm.
This is the essential factor in the case. On human
principles, or according to the ordinary operation
of cause and eflFect, the world would prevail. Often
every advantage is on its side; arms, wealth, in-
flnence, state-craft, learning, prestige, and numbers. ,
Yet the few, the weak, the unlettered, the lowly,
the things that are not, bring to nought the things
that are. The reason is that the excellency of th<
power may be, and may be seen to be, not of man
but of God. In all efforts of evangelization this
truth is to be distinctly recognized and made prom-
inent. For the Lord will not give his glory to an-
other. The seer said to Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 8),
" Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge
host, with very many chariots and horsemen ? yet
because thou didst rely upon the Lord, He delivered
them into thy hand.
i. There is something stimulating in the rich
promise of growth contained in Jehovah's assur-
ance to the inliabitants of Jerusalem (ver. 8). The
stumbler, the man who can scarce hold himself up,
much less make .an assault upon the foe, shall be
made a mighty 5ian of valor like David. His
feebleness and incapacity shall merge into the
strength and skill of a hero, for the Lord shall
teach the hands to war and the fingers to fight.
Nor is this the end. Even a great captain like
David shall surpass himself, shall reach a super-
human courage and decision. He shall resemble the
manifested Jehovah as he marched at the head of hig
conquering host in the days of old. In the sphere
of spiritual things this illustrious promise verifies
itself The righteous shall hold on his way, and he
that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and strong-
er. Faith gains by experience. Grace increases by
exercise. The sapling which once bent with every
blast and had but a precarious chance of life, ripens
into a gnarled oak which spreads its branches far
and wide and defies the storm. It is literally true
that no degree of grace is impossible to him that
believeth, for the Apostle's declaration, " I can do
all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,"
did not apply only to himself. The same provis-
ions and promises are open to all Christians. He
who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all
that we ask or think, perfects his strength in hu-
man weakness, and the trembling believer, follow-
ing on to know the Lord, is lifted to a pitch of de-
votion or endurance or activity which once seemed
as far away as the fixed stars.
HOMILETICAL AJSID PRACTICAL.
Moore : / will open mine eye, etc. The prom-
ise of God is the best protection of his Church in
the time of peril. He may seem to forget his peo-
ple in their trouble, but it will be only a seeming ob-
livion, for at the proper time He will open his eyes
upon them, and show them that He slumbers not
nor sleeps. That the glory . ... do not magnify,
etc. The whole plan of God's dealings with man
is to humble that pride, the root of which is self-
ishness, and the fruit of which is every form of sin.
Pressel ; The affliction of the Church serves
first for a chastisement of God's people, but then
falls back in terror and shame upon the heads of
their foes.
Calvin : Though the Church may be griev
ously tried and exposed even to death, let us learn
from this passage that they are miserable indeed
who through fear or cowardice separate themselvea
from her, and that they who cast on God the care
of their safety, shall be made blessed, though the
whole world were mad against them, though the
weapons of all nations were prepared for their
ruin, and horses and riders assembled to overthrow
them, for the defense of God is a sufficient proteo.
tion.
94 ZECHARIAH.
2. REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION.
Chapters XII. lO.-XIII. 1.
A. A plentiful Effusion of the Spirit causes Men to look upon the Jehovah they have pierced, and Sfoum
Utterly (ver. 10). B. Greatness of the Mournimj (ver. U). C. Each Family mourns separatdg
(vers. 12-14). D. A Provision for the Penitents (ch. xiii. 1).
10- And I will pour out upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The Spirit ^ of grace and supplication,^
And they shall look upon me ^ whom they pierced,
And they shall mourn for him* as the mourning over an only one,
And be in bitterness ' for him as one is in bitterness for the first-bom.
11 In that day the mourning shall be great in Jerusalem,
Like the mourning of Hadadrimmon ^ in the valley of Megiddo.
12 And the land shall mourn, family by family apart.
The family of the house of David apart and their wives apart,
The family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart.
13 The family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart,
The family of the Shimeite ' apart and their wives apart.
14 All the remaining families,
Family by family apart and their wives apart.
Ch. xiii. 1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened
To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
For sin and for uncleanness.
TEXTUAL AND GKAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 10. — n-1'^, Noyes and Henderson render "a spirit," but the absence of the article is compensated by tiu
oonatruct case (Green, H. G., 246, 3).
2 Ver. 10. — D^D^'.nn is rendered in E. V. "supplications," but as the word occurs only in the plural, It is doubt-
less to be regarded &s singular in sense. The Genevan renders compassion, but usage is altogether in favor of the other
meaning.
8 Ver. 10. — ^^W is to be preferred to 1**^^, because grammatically it is the more dilflcult reading ; It is opposed
to the favorite opinions of the Jews ; it is found in all the ancient MSS., and found not only in the best of the later
ones but in by far the larg^t number of them ; and it is sustained by LXX., Aq., Symm., Theod., Syr., Targ., Vulg.
and Arab.
" Ver. 10. — T^^^ cannot be rendered " on account of r^," because 7^ after "T50 always denotes the person
(br whom mourning is made, and in all the following instances in this verse in which it occurs, the reference is undoubt-
edly to a person.
6 Ver. 10. — "'^r? is best understood intransitively with its cognate finite verb. The E. V. is at once more Uteral
and more emphatic thaT attempted emendations.
6 Ver. 11. — ]iSTTin. A an-. Aey. on which etymology throws no light.
7 Ver. 13. — "^^^fl^n = The Shimeite — a patronymic here just as in the corresponding case (Num. iii, 21).
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL.
This passage presents a complete contrast to the
one immediately preceding. The change is every
way startling. There is not a word of war, or con-
flict, or victory, no reeling-cup for the nations, no
torch among sheaves, no march of a hero at the
one feeling pervades all hearts. The experience
of their great ancestor recorded in the 51st Psalm
is renewed on a broad scale, and a great sorrow
spreads over the communitj', the intensity of which
is likened on one hand to that occasioned by the
sorest domestic affliction, and on the other to that
of a great public calamity felt to be at once uni-
versal and irreparable. Each tribe and family goes
head of conquering hosts. On the contrary, all is ' apart to weep in silence and solitudeover the griev-
subjective, subdued, spiritual. It is a picture of
penitence as vivid and accurate as any found any-
where in the Sciiptures. The people are seen
etanding alone in their relation to Him whom tliey
have rejected, and meditating upon the character of
liieir great crime. One thought occupies all minds,
ous infliction. What now is the nexus between
this passage and that which precedes 1 It seems to
be this. As the former portion of the chapter set
forth the outward protection of Providence stown
toward the New Testament Israel, by meat s of
which it emerged victor from all trials and con
CHAPTERS XII. lO-Xm. 1.
95
flicts, and saw its enemies utterly discorafitted,
this portion turns to the other side of Israel's ex-
perience and deals with its inward character, bh ow-
ing how the covenant people become such, how
the Church in its new form commences the Chris-
tian life, and obtains a title to the divine protec-
tion. It is by the bitter herbs of repentance, lead-
ing to pardon and renovation through a believing
sight of the pierced Saviour, — the whole preceded
and induced by a copious shower of spiritual in-
fluences of the same kind as those predicted by
Joel (ii. 28), Isaiah (xliv. 3; xxxii. 15). In this
view the two parts of the chapter correspond to
each other and make one complete whole. The
result of the failure of the shepherd in cli. xi. is
shown to be not final and absolute, but a link in
the chain of events which works out the fulfill-
ment of the old covenant promises, and the ingath-
ering of all the Israel of (jod.
A vast spiritual blessing is promised. It begins
in the outpouring of a gracious Spirit, which pro-
duces an intense and wide-spread penitential sor-
row, and this again is followed by purification and
forgiveness.
Ver. 10. And I pour out .... supplication.
The house of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
here and in xiii. 1, stand for the whole covenant
people, according to a usage by which the capital
represents the nation (ii. 2; viii. 8). The men-
tion of the royal house indicates that all ranks
from the highest to the lowest need and shall re-
ceive the promised girt. The " pouring out " rests
upon the earlier passage (Joel ii. 28), and differs
from it in defining more minutely the character of
the effusion. It is a spirit of grace and suppli-
cation, which is abundantly bestowed. TQ is not
= prayer (Gesenius, Noyes), nor love (Ewald), but
grace or favor. The Spirit of grace then is the
Spirit which brings grace (cf. Heb. x. 29). It pro-
duces in the mind of man the experience of the
grace of God, and this experience rousing the
sense of sin atid guilt, naturally leads to "suppli-
cation ; " and this in turn suggests the looking
spoken of. ^^^I'T' 's applied both to bodily and
mental vision, and not unfrequently with the idea
of confidence in the object beheld (Num. xxi. 9 ;
Is. xxdi. 11 ; Ii. 1). The phrase, upon me, must
refer to Jehovah, for according to ver. 1 He is the
speaker throughout. The i"1i^ before "^®Hi as
usual defines more clearly the accusative, and thus
renders impossible the rendering of Kiinchi, be-
cause. Ewald and Bunsen prefer the reading of
a number of MSS., upon him instead of upon me ;
but the authority for the received text is over-
whelming, and on every critical ground it is to be
adopted (see Text, and Gram.). The other read-
ing seems to have arisen from an attempt to cor-
rect the Hebrew on the ground that it was impos-
sible that God could actually be pierced, — an ob-
jection which of course falls away at once when
the doctrine of the Incarnation is received. "Whom
they pierced. ^"'i^'J was rendered by the LXX.
laTwpX^"''""'''') ^™il^d.! or insulted, probably because
they thought the literal meaning of the word un-
suitable, since they similarly avoided it in render-
ing xiii. 3, where the E. V. has, " His father and
liis mother shall thrust him through." Several Chris-
tian critics have adopted this as the figurative
'meaning of the verb, and translated or expounded
accordingly (Theodore of JMopsuestia, Calvin, Gro-
fius, Bosenmuller, Gesenius, Maurec) ; bat entirely
without reason, for in every other case the word i»
confessedly used in its literal sense ( Judg. ix. 45 ; 1
Sam. xxxi. 4 ; Zech. xiii. 3) ; and the j,s ♦digioue
mourning subsequently mentioned, with the com-
parisons by which it is set forth, the loss of an
only son or a first-born, and the wail over the
good king Josiah, presupposes the occurrence of a,
literal death. But the point is put beyond ques-
tion by the Apostle John, who after recounting tha
act of the soldier who pierced the Saviour's side,
adds (xix. 37), "Another Scripture sailh, They
shall look on Him whom they pierced ; " of course
not meaning that this one act of the soldier ex-
hausted the meaning of the prophecy, but that it
was a fulfillment of it. The change of person in
the quotation — him whom for me whom, — is due
simply to the fact that in the Prophet it is Messiah
Himself who is speaking, while in the Gospel John
speaks of Him. Matthew makes a similar change
of person in his quotation (xxvii. 9). The remain-
der of the verse describes the result which is to fol-
low from this looking to the pierced One. And
they shaU mourn. The object of this verb is put
not in the first person, as we should expect, but in
the third, for him ; but such an enallage of per-
son is not uncommon in Hebrew. See any of the
grammars for examples. That the pronoun is to
be in the masculine and not in the neuter (Gous-
set, Schultcns, etc.), see in Text, and Gramm.
Mourning over an only son, is of course a sign
of the deepest son-ow (ef. Amos viii. 10). Similar
is the death-wail over a flrst-bom, of which the
great instance is found in the last of Egypt's ten
plagues (Ex. xi. 6). There was an incipient ful-
fillment of this prophecy in the fact mentioned by
Luke (xxiii. 48), that at Christ's crucifixion, "all
the people .... smote their breasts." (The prim-
ary meaning of TSD is to strike, especially on the
breast). But the true fulfillment began when the
multitudes at Pentecost were pricked to the heart
(Acts ii. 37).
Ver. 11. The mourning shall be great, fF.
The Prophet furnishes an historical illustration of
the greatness of the mourning. The reference is
generally supposed to be to the lamentation ovef
Josiah, who was mortally wounded " in the valley
of Megiddo" (2 Chron. xxxv. 22). Hadadrim-
mon appears to have been a city in this valley,
and Jerome speaks of such a city as still existing
in his day, although he says that its name had
been altered to Maximinopolis. Josiah was a king
of Judah, a pious king, and one whose death was
lamented in an extraordinary manner (2 Chron.
xxxv. 25). There is no need to seek for other ap-
plications of the text, such as the absurd reference
of the Targum to the death of Ahab, who could
not have been mourned at all, much legs, gener-
ally or bitterly ; or the impious suggestion of the
heathen weeping for Thammuz or Adonis (Movers,
Hitzig) ; or the frivolous notion of Pressel, that the
allusion is to Sisera's mother (Judg. v. 28), as men-
tioned in the Song of Deborah ! Equally frivolous
are Pressel's objections to the common view, name-
ly, (1) That Josiah did not die in Megiddo but
on the way to Jerusalem, where he was buried and
lamented; (2) that he, being now a man of nearly
forty years of age, could not properly be spoken
of as a first-born or only son ! Hengstenberg, on
the contrary, states well the reasons why just he
should be introduced here as a type of the Mes-
siah. " He was slain on account of the sins of the
people; his reign ivas the closing manifestation
of mercy on the part of the Lord ; unspoakabl*
96
ZECHARIAH.
misery followed immediately afterwards ; the lam-
entation for his death rested upon the mingled
feelings of love, and of sorrow for their own sins
as the cause of his death."
A still more elaborate description of the mourn-
ing is given in the next three verses.
Vers. 12-14. And the land shall mourn, ff.
Not only the capital, but the whole land shall
mourn, and this not only in gross but in detail,
every family and every subdivision of a family
apart. The mention of the "wives apart is not to
be explained from the habit of the women in all
lands " to go into mourning " (Pressel), but sim-
ply as a further specification of the intensity and
universality of the mourning. The mention of
David and Levi is easily understood, as these
were heads respectively of Ihe royal and priestly
lines. The other two names are not so clear.
The old Jewish view supposed Nathan to refer to
the prophetic order, and Shimeite to the teachers,
who were said to have sprung from the tribe of
Simeon; but Shimeite is not the patronymic of
Simeon, but Shimeonite; nor is there any evidence
that that tribe furnished teachers for the nation,
and Nathan the prophet was not the head of any
order. It is better to adopt the view ( Hengsten-
berg, Henderson, Keil, Kohler) first stated by
Luther : " Four families are enumerated, two
from the royal line under the names of David and
Nathan (son of David), and two from the priestly
line, Levi and his grandson Shimei ; after which
he embraces all together." Thus he mentions one
leading family and one subordinate branch, to
show that the grief pervades all, from the highest
to the lowest. All the remaining families. Not
those that are left after the judgment (Neumann),
nor the less renowned (Kohler), nor as implying
that some families shall have become extinct (Hen-
derson) ; but simply the remainder after those
which liave just been specified by wny of example.
This penitential grief will not be in vain.
Ch. xiii. 1. There shall be a fountain opened,
ff. This verse resumes and completes the process
begun in verse 10 of the preceding chapter. It
treats of the same parties, — the house of David
and the inhabitant of Jerusalem, standing here
as there for the whole nation. He who poured out
the spirit of supplication will also ])rovide tlie
means of purification from sin. A fountain is
shut up as long as it remains under ground, or is
sealed from access (Cant. iv. 12) ; it is opened
when it breaks forth and flows freely. The refer-
ence appears to be to a twofold usage in the
Mosaic ritual ; one, the sprinkling of the Levites
at their consecration with " water of purifying,"
lit., sin-water, {. e., for purification from sin (Num.
viii. 7), and the other the sprinkling of persons
contaminated by contact with death, with the
water prepared from the ashes of the red heifer,
called the water of uncleanness, i. e., which re-
moved uncleanness. In both these cases the im-
purity denoted the defilement of sin, and the out-
ward purification was a symbol of the inward. So
the water which flows from the fountain in the
text, is a water of sprinkling by which sin and
uncleanness are removed. It does not need to be
"enswed from time to time, as was the case with
the Levitical waters, but issues from a living well-
spring. The ii*aning cannot he a new water sup-
ply for the metropolis (Pressel), nor even grace in
general (Kchler), nor the grace of baptism, as the
older critics said ; but is the blood which cleanseth
from all sin (1 John i. 7), the blood of that sacri-
fice which was typified in the sin-offering of the red
heifer, the blood which removes alike the guilt and
the dominion of sin.
Excursus on xii. 10. The history of the intei*
pretation is interesting.
I. Among the Jews the early opinion was in
favor of the Messianic interpretation. Thus in
the Gemara of Jerusalem, it is said, " there are
two different opinions as to the meaning of this
passage. Some refer it to the lamentation for the
Messiah ; others to the mourning for sin." Both
concurred in thinking of a dying Messiah, but one
thought directly of Him and his suffering, the
other of the sin which caused his death, directly
or indirectly. The former took 1''/^ as a mas-
culine suffix, the latter as neuter. In contrast to
this the Gemara of Babylon maintains the per-
sonal application of the passage, but says that it re-
fers to Messiah ben .Joseph who is to suffer and die,
while Messiah ben Judah is always to live. And
this convenient fiction of two Messiahs was sub-
sequently adopted by Ahen Ezra and Abarbanel,
the latter of whom confessed that his chief object
was to remove the stumbling-block interposed by
Christians when they interpreted the prophecy, as
relating to the crucified One. Kimchi and Jarchi
denied any Messianic reference. They said that
there was a change of subject, and either adopted
the false reading upon him instead of upon me, or
translated the following word because instead of
whom, so that they interpreted, " the pierced One"
= every one who had been slain in the war with
Gog and Magog, and said, " they will all lament
for the death of one as if the whole army had been
slain." But this view is its own refutation. The
translators of the LXX. had the same text as we
have, but gave tiie sense vex instead of pierce^ be-
cause they could not see the relevancy of the lit-
eral meaning. Some consideration of the same
kind operated upon the Chaldee paraphase, which
renders '* they shall pray before me because they
have been carried away (or have wandered about).
The modern Jews, however, generally adhere to
the literal sense of the verb ~l"^, and explain it
in the method proposed by Kimchi, rejecting either
expressly or tacitly the notion of a double Mes-
siah.
II. Among Christians the reference to Christ
was adopted without dissent by the early ex<posi-
tors and most of the Reformers. Strange to say,
the first exception is found in Calvin, who under-
stood the passage as referring to God, who is fig-
uratively said to have been pierced, i. e., irritated
and provoked by the Jews. He, however, held
that as Christ is God, manifest in the flesh, what
happened to Him was a visible symbol of the sub-
stance of the prophecy, and therefore was justly
cited by John as its fulfillment. This view was
warmly repudiated by Calvin's contemporaries,
and followed only by Grotius, and some bocinian
writers. Later writers a])plied the words to some
distinguished Jewish leader or martyr. Jahn sug-
gested Judas Maccabffius, and rendered, " they
will look upon Him (Jehovah) on account of Him
whom they have pierced." Baur thought it was
impossible to determine which of the leaders it
was, but it was one of those who had lost their
lives in the service of the true God. Bleek adopted
the same view, and to get rid of the reference to
Jehovah, substituted for ''yS, \yi^ the p:)etic form
;f vS, and rendered " thev look to Him whom
CHAPTERS XII. 10-XIII. 1.
97
they pierced." This is simply desperate, for ''!?.W
occurs only four times in the Old Testament, and
these are all in the Book of Job, and immediately
beforea noun, and as it is here in the construct
state, it cannot possibly be joined to the accusative
nW. Besides, this view fails to account for the
universal mourning or the opened fountain. —
Ewald, for one martyr substitutes a plurality of
such as had fallen in the war with the heathen.
He renders " they look to Him whom men have
pierced," thus changing the text and assuming an-
other subject for the verb, and explains thus, " the
intention is to show that no martyr falls in vain,
but will one day be mourned with universal love."
But this is opposed to the religious tone of the
first clause, grace and supplication, and to the fact
that in both the preceding chapter and the follow-
ing, only one person is spoken of as an object of
persecution. Hofmann, after giving up his first
view of a plural object, adopted another according
to which he rendered, " My heroes look at Him
whom men have pierced." But 78 never means
hero (see Fiirst, sub voce), and besides, t2''2n is
usually construed with the preposition vM. Nor
does the sense he thus obtains at all suit the con-
nection. An altogether diiferent view has been
adopted by Vogel and Hitzig, whom Pressel for
substance follows, namely, that the Prophet speaks
of himself whom he identifies with Jehovah. " The
murder of a Prophet is regarded as an attack upon
Jehovah himself" The statement of this view is
enough to show its untenableness. Por although
the sender and the sent are often identified, yet no
instance can be found in Scripture, among all its
records of martyrdom, of a case in which the
death of a prophet is represented or mourned for
as if it were the death of Jehovah. Noyes, in his
Translation of the Hebrew Prophets (ii.'387), first
mentions Calvin's explanation, ^ and then adds,
" Or the meaning may be that the people pierced
Jehovah, when they recently put to death some
one of his messengers or prophets who is not
named." But the violent death of a prophet was
not such a rare thing in Jewish history; and why
should it in any case lead to such a great and uni-
versal mourning as is here described ? Or, if there
had been some murder of a prophet so exceptional
in its atrocity as to convulse the whole nation in
an agony of grief, would there not be some trace
of the fact in the books of Kings or Chronicles ?
Yet none such is found.
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
I. When our Lord was about to ascend to heaven
He commanded the Apostles (Acts i. 4) not to al-
low themselves to be drawn or driven from Jeru-
salem, but to " wait for the promise of the Father."
There can scarcely be a doubt that the passage be-
fore us contains one form or instance of the prom-
ise to which the Saviour referred. The first great
gift of heaven, for which men were taught to look
in the latter days, was a divine person incarnate to
make reconciliation for iniquity and bring in ever-
lasting righteousness ; the next one was that of
another divine person whose influences should ap-
ply the redemption effected, and thus complete the
1 So far as I have observed, every writer of whatever
ichool is glad to get the sanction of this great name for
his opinion.
work of the Father's sovereign love. The latter
the Holy Spirit — had of course been present and
active in the previous stages of the Church's his-
tory ; otherwise there could have been no Church,
for the Spirit is the indispensable bond of union
between God and his people. But during the old
economy, owiug to its very nature as an introduc-
tory, preparatory, and restricted dispensation, the
gifts of the Spirit were far less rich and poweiful
and general and constant, than they were ulti-
mately designed and required to be in order to
effect the purposes of grace. Hence the promise
of an effusion which should not be intermittent
or partial, either in its nature or its subjects, but
every w.ay adequate to the necessities of the case.
This promise was g-iven by the older Prophets,
Joel (ii. 28, 29), Isaiah (lix. 21), Jeremiah (xxxi.
3.3, 34), Ezekiel (xxxvi. 27), and is now resumed
after the exile by Zechariah, who uses the very
term (IStf = pour out) employed by Joel three
centuries Ijefore. (Isaiah uses a different word,
p2^, but of the same signification.) The effusion
is not to be fitful or scanty, but generous and
abundant, a pouring rain from the skies, overcom-
ing all obstacles, reaching all classes and effecting
the most blessed and durable results. Its precise
influence as conceived by Zechariah, is in the way
of overcoming depraved natural characteristics by
imparting grace and developing this grace in the
exercise of supplication. All true and successful
prayer is "in the Spirit" (Eph. vi. 18, Jude20).
Paul had often gone through the forms of suppli-
cation in his unconverted career, but it was only
when spiritually enlightened that it could be truly
said of him, as it was, "Behold, he prayeth"
(Acts ix. 11). In the view of a thoughtful mind,
prayer itself is hardly so great a blessing as the
promise of a divine Spirit to help our infirmity
and make intercession within us. (Rom. viii. 26.)
2. This passage is singularly happy in pointing
out what all experience has shown to be the chief
means of kindling evangelical repentance, — tha
apprehension of a crucified Saviour. . Men are in-
deed convinced of sin in various ways. Natural
conscience sometimes inflames remorse to a fearful
pitch. Sudden judgments, or what are thought to
be such, stimulate fear until reason is eclipsed. A
keen sense of shame proves to be a sorrow of the
world which workcth death. But the true, healthy
conviction of sin, the repentance which needeth
not to be repented of, is born at the cross. There
the sinful soul sees its sin as it sees it nowhere else
in the world, sees all the vilencss, malignity, and
inexcusableness of its past life, and is thoroughly
humbled and prostrated in contrition. It becomes
conscious of its own share in the dark and bloody
crime of Calv.ary. As one of those for whom
Christ died, it had part in driving the nails and
pushing the spear, and is justly liable to the ag-
gravated doom of those who with wicked hands
crucified the Lord of glory. Hence all pleas iia
extenuation are given up, all excuses are felt to be
frivolous. Nothing is left but a fearful looking for
of judgment, so far as the soul's own merits and
claims are considered. But this very conviction
of total unworthiness is accompanied with a con-
viction of Christ's wondrous love in bearing the
cross, and an inspiration of hope in the efficacy
of his atoning death. Thus the arrow that kills
bears with it the balm that makes alive. The true
penitent says, " I am lost, for my sins h.ave slain
my Lord ; nay, I am saved, for my Lord died that
those very sins should be blotted out." So the ra
ZECHARIAH.
pentance is real, deep, and hearty, but it is not sul-
len, angry, or despairing. It grows keener ami
more comprehensive by experience, but faith and
hope are growing in like measure, and thus the
equipoise in which tlie spiritual life began is main-
tained even to the end. Even at the height of
his usefulness Paul felt that he was not worthy to
be called an Apostle, and at the close of life called
himself chief of sinners ; yet he knew whom he
had believed, and expected a crown of righteous-
ness which the Lord, the righteous judge, would
give him "in that day."
3. There are two striking peculiarities of peni-
tential sorrow, — its depth and its solitariness.
The Prophet uses the strongest metaphors known
to human experience. No pang which death can
inflict is so severe as that which wrings the heart
of parents following to the tomb the remains of a
first-born or an only son. It seems as if all hope
and joy were interred in the same grave. So
again a great national calamity is intensified by
the reciprocal influence upon one another of all
who are affected by it. When President Lincoln
was assassinated in 186.5, a shuddering horror
seized every heart throughout the land, and multi-
tudes who had never seen the kindly leader were
as deeply moved as if the blow had fallen on their
own kindred. A gloomy pall settled down over
all hearts and all households. But penitential
grief which is awakened by the sight of a pierced
Saviour is as real and pervading as that which
proceeds from any outward affliction, personal, do-
mestic, or national. Its theatre is within. There
are Jio outward manifestations, but the feeling for
that reason is the more concentrated and intense.
The soul renews the experience of the royal pen-
itent, — my sin is ever before me. But the stricken
soul mourns apart. As there is a joy, so there is
a sorrow, with which a stranger intermeddleth not.
The relations of the soul to God are so delicate
that all shrink instinctively from exposing them
to the view of others. Deep grief is necessarily
solitary. In its acme', neither sympathy nor fel-
lowship is sought or allowed. iVIuch more must
this be the case when the grief is spiritual, for the
hand of God which causes the pain alone can cure
it, and the soul nauseates all other comforters.
David Brainerd mentions that on one occasion
when he was preaching to his Indians, the power
of God came down among them like a mighty
rushing wind • " Their concern was so great, each
for himself, that none seemed to take any notice
of tho.^e about him. They were, to their own ap-
prehension, as much retired as if they had been
alone in the thickest desert. Every one was pray-
ing apart, and yet all together." Cowper is not
the only penitent who could say in truth, —
u I was a stricken deer that left the herd."
The immediate prompting of all who become con-
•^inced of sin is to fly to some solitary place and
be alone with God, unless indeed, as in the case
of Brainerd's Indians, the absorption of mind is so
complete that they are insensible to the presence
of others. " The heart knoweth its own bitter-
ness," and a godly sorrow shuns companions until
it has wrought " a repentance unto salvation not
to be repented of " (2 Cor. vii. 10).
4. Repentance of itself, however deep and
thorough, is of no avail toward justification. It
does not repair the evils of wrong-doing even in
common life, any more than in the sphere of re-
ligion. The spendthrift may bitterly mourn the
extravagance which ate up his estate, or the deb-
auchee the excesses which ruined his constitution,
but in neither case does the penitence bring back
what has been lost. It is the same with the sin-
ner. Tears and penances are no compensation for
sin. Sin is a debt (Matt. vi. 12), and a debt is
satisfied only by payment. The payment may ba
made by one person or by another, but it must ho
made, or sin remains with its legal and endlesj
consequences. Hence the fullness of this passage
of the Prophet, which to a most elaborate paint-
ing of the distress for sin caused by a believing ap-
prehension of the cross, appends the true and only
source of relief for that distress, — the fountain
set flowing on Calvary. There must be aid from
without. A continuous baptism of tears is of it-
self impotent. Nothing avails but a provision by
the Being whom sin has offended, and just this is
furnished in that blood of sprinkling which was
symbolized in so many ways in the Old Covenant.
Apart from this, nothing is left for a conscious sin-
ner but despair.
5. A striking expression of this is given in two
passages in the New Testament, evidently founded
upon the words of Zechariah. In Matt. xxiv. 30,
our Lord says, " Then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and
great glory." In Rev. i. 7 the beloved disciple re-
sumes these words with an additional particular,
"Behold, He comcth with clouds, and every eye
shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him;
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of
Him." All men are to see Christ, not merely in
his glory but as bearing the scars by which that
glory was won. Some see Hira so as to be sub-
dued into a salutary contrition; they are drawa
to Him by irresistible attraction, and while they
mourn over sin rejoice lit the ample and gracious
pardon He bestows. Others, alas, are to spe Him,
not voluntarily but by a necessity whrch they
would fain escape ! They see Hira a lamb as it
had been slain, but no more within their reach
anil for their advantage. He is to them a lost
Saviour, one whose pierced side and mangled limbs
express only the fearful wages and terrible iniquity
of sin, but offer no hope of forgiveness and accept-
ance.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Moore : All true repentance arises from a sight
of a dying Saviour, one who has died for us. True
repentance is only love weeping at the foot of the
cross, the soul sorrowing for sins that have been so
freely forgiven. True religion is a personal thing,
and when it takes strong" hold of the heart, will
lead the soul apart to solitary wrestling with God
and acts of personal humbling before Him.
Bradley : Holy mourning for sin is a bitter
thing ; there comes along with it many a tear and
pang ; but yet there is mingled with it a comfort
and a blessedness which must be felt to be known.
The very look which makes the heart bleed, is a
look at One who can do more than heal it. . . .
Pray for this sorrow. When would you mourn
and weep for your sins, if not now ? Somewhere
you must weep for them ; would you keep back
this weeping till you come to that world where
tears are never dried up ; where you must weep, if
you weep at all, forever '! And somewhere you
must look upon this pierced Jesus ? Will you look
on Him for the first time when He opens the hear-
ons and calls voa ov"; of vour graves to his judg"
CHAPTER XIII. 2-6.
99
ment-seat'! It is a blessed though a mournful
thing to see Him now, but it is a dreadful thing
to see Him for the first time in the very moment
when his work of mercy is forever ended, when the
fountain He has opened for sin and uncleanness is
forever closed.
MoChetne : 1. The Great Spring. I will pour.
2. The Great Agent. The spirit of grace and sup-
plication. 3. The Effect. They look ; they mourn ;
khey see the fountain opened.
Jat : There were provisions for ceremonial pol-
lution under the Mosaic Economy, the brazen sea
for the priests and the ten lavc'rs for the things
offered in sacrifice. There were also fountains for
bodily diseases : the pool of Siloam to which 3ur
Saviour sent the man born blind ; and the pool of
Bethesda, where lay a number of sufferers waiting
for the troubhng of the waters. Christ differed
from all these, as a fountain for moral and spirit-
ual defilemen t, " for sin and uncleanness."
*. FRUITS OF PENITENCE.
Chapter XIII. 2-6.
A. The Extinction of Idols and False Prophets (ver. 2). B. The Latter to be slain by their own Par-
ents (ver. 3). C. Other such Prophets shall be ashamed of their Calling (ver. 4). D. And evat
deny it when charged upon them (vers. 5, 6.)
2 And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
I will cut off the names of the idols from the land,^
And they shall be remembered no more ;
AnS also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness,
"WiU I cause to pass out of the land.
3 And it shall be, if a man still prophesy,
His father and his mother, who begat him, shall say to him,
Thou shalt not live,
For thou hast spoken a lie in the name of Jehovah ;
And his father and his mother, who begat him,
Shall pierce ^ him through in his prophesying.
4 And it shall be in that day the prophets shall be ashamed'
Each of his vision in his prophesying ;
And shall no more put on a hairy mantle to lie ;
5 And [one] shall say,* I am not a prophet, I am a husbandman,
For a man has sold ^ me from my youth.
6 And [the other] shall say ' to him.
What then are these wounds between thy hands ?
And he shall say, Those with which I was wounded
In the house of my lovers.'
TBXTOAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 2. — V*nMrT. Henderson in toth cases renders earthy but needleasly. The statement is a general one, bol
with a local coloring.
2 Ver, 8. — "^pT is rendered pierce, in order to show that it is the same word which la used in the famous passaga
Til. 10.
8 Ver. 4. — Heng. renders Vt^ tTiD, to desist with shame, but the established meaning of the phrase is simply, to
tie ashamed of. The fern, suffix in inMDSn is a peculiarity of this class of verbs (Green, Hr.b. Gr., 166, 2).
i Ver. 5. — The singular verb here, following the previous plurals, indicates that one case is selected as an example.
Noyea renders, " each shall say," but the prophet can scarcely mean that every one of the false prophets is to make the
same form of denial.
6 Ver. 5. — "^JDpn bas been strangely misconceived. LXX. make it eyewrjaev ; Vulg., Adam meum exemplum ;
Pesch. renders as if it came from M3p. The E. V. followed Kimclii in deriving the verba) form from n3pQ —
t't '. : •
imall cattle.
6 Ver. 6. — The implied subject of " shall say " is, of course, the other interlocutor in the dialogue.
7 Ver. 6. -^ "^nnSD should be rendered lovers, just lU it is in all the other places where It occurs : lam. i Iff
Hoaw U. 7, 0, 12, etc'. ; friends is too weak.
100
ZECHARIAH.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
This portion announces the complete extirpa-
tion of idolatry and false prophecy, which are here
taken to represent all forms of ungodliness and
immorality, which they could very properly do,
since they had been the chief and most dangerous
sins of the covenant people in all their previous
history. We have then a vivid presentation of the
fruits of the penitence mentioned in the previous
chapter, and of the conversion and renovation an-
nounced in the opening verse of this chapter. The
passage is not to be restricted to any particular pe-
riod, but describes under local and temporary forms
the removal of whatever is offensive to a God of
holiness and truth. It will therefore apply to every
instance in which the Gospel in its leading elements,
repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, is ti'uly received.
Ver. 2. I will cut off the names of the idols.
The expressions, " to cut oft' the names," and " that
they be remembered no more," denote the total
extinction of idolatry (ef. Hos. ii. 17). Of the
latter Calvin says, " his meaning is that the hatred
of superstition will be so great that the peojjie will
shudder at the very name." Inasmuch as the Jews
notoriously after the Captivity shrank from any
approach to idol-worship, it has been claimed that
this passage shows that the portion of the book to
which it belongs was composed prior to the Exile.
But the conclusion is not legitimate. Zechariah
simply nses the forms of the past in which to de-
pict the future. Idolatry was the common expres-
sion of ungodliness in the earlier days of the na-
tion ; how could even a post'exilium prophet better
set forth the overthrow of false religion in the fu-
ture than by predicting the oblivion of idols and
their names "? Kohler indeed deems it possible, on
the basis of Rev. ix. 20, xiii. 4, 15, that gross act-
ual idol-worship may again return, but this would
be to interpret an obscure book by one yet obscurer.
Possibly the reference may be to that refined idol-
atry which consists in regarding and serving the
creature more than the Creator, and which the New
Testament has in view when it declares covetous-
ness to be idolatry (Col. iii. 5). The prophets
must of course be false prophets who spoke with-
out authority, as appears from their association not
only with idols but also with the spirit of unoleau-
ness. This latter phrase denotes not merely a
pervading principle, but an active, conscious agen-
cy, standing in direct contrast with the Spirit of
grace (xii. 10), which works in its human instru-
ments and leads them to their lying utterances.
The false prophets as well as the true were subject
to an influence from without (cf 1 Kings xxii. 21
-2.3, Rev. xvi. 14 with 2 Thcss. ii. 9, 10 and 1 Tim.
iv. 2). The completeness of the removal of this
form of ungodliness is expressed very energetically
in the following verses.
Ver. 3. If a man still prophesy. . . . pierce
him through. Some infer from the opening words
that the mere fact of prophesj'ing will be proof that
the man attempting it is a deceiver, since there will
be no more prophets (Keil, Kohler), and they refer
to Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, Is. liv. 13 ; but this is an ex-
ti-avagant and needless assumption, for the connec-
tion shows plainly enough that Zechariah has in
view sim])ly false pretenders to divine inspiration,
and the passages quoted by no means imply the
final cessation of the spirit of prophecy either in
Its broad or its narrow sense, as the New Testa-
ment plainly shows. The statement in the text
rests on Deut. xviii. 20, compared with xiii. 6-10.
The offender shall die, and the first to inflict the
sentence shall be his father and his mother, here
made more emphatic by the addition, who begat
him. Cf. 2 Sara. xvi. 11. Several expositors mod-
fy the meaning of "^Ul so as to make it = to bind
or scourge (LXX., Peshito, Calmet), but there is no
ground whatever for this in the origin or usage of
the word, nor does it suit the context.
Ver. 4. Prophets shall be ashamed .... to
lie. The revolution will be so great that these pre-
tenders shall become ashamed of their claims, and
strip off the outward token of their occupation.
The hairy mantle w^orn by the prophets (2 Kings
i. 8) was not a form of ascetic discipline, but a
serrno ]iroj)hiticus realis, a symbol of the prophet's
grief for the sins which he was commissioned to
reprove. It was an acted parable of repentance.
The same remark is true of John the Baptist's
"raiment of camel's hair and leathern girdle"
(Matt. iii. 4). To lie, i. e., to give themselves the
appearance of prophets, and thus impose upon the
people. Thus far Zechariah has spoken of these
Avho spoke falsely in the name of the Lord, and
Hengstenberg supposes that he now turns to an-
other class of pretenders who spoke in the name
of strange gods, — a view which seems required
by his interpretation of the last word of ver. 6.
But no break or transition is apparent in the pas-
sage, and there is no necessity for violently intro-
ducing a new subject.
Vers. 5, 6. I am not a prophet .... lovers.
A dramatic representation of the means by which
one of these deceivers endeavors to escape detec-
tion. Charged with his crime, he denies it,'and
claims to have been nothing more than a common
tiller of the soil. In support of this claim he as-
serts that this is no recent circumstance, but that
he has been sold fropi his j-outh. H^p = to ac-
quire, h. buy (Is. xxiv. 2), in Hiphil would nat-
urally^ to cause to buy, i. e., to sell. Fiirst and
others make Hiphil the same as Kal. The sense
is the same according to either rendering. There
seems to be no reason for considering the verb a
denominative from njjp^i servvm facere (Maurer,
Kohler). To this denial is opposed the question as
to the origin of the scars the accused person bears,
— wounds between thy hands, i. e., upon the
breast. Cf. 2 Kings ix. 24, where " between the
arms " evidently has this meaning. (In Arabic the
cognate phrase, 2L5 Jo (jvxi, occurs frequently,
in the sense coram eo.) The questioner considers
these gashes upon the person as palpable evidences
that the man has wounded himself in connection
with idolatrous worshij) (1 Kings xviii. 28 ; Tibul-
lus, I. i. 43, respecting the worship of Cybele), and
asks an explanation. The reply is that he received
them in the house of his lovers, which some ex-
plain as = impure, sinful lovers, i. e., idols (Heng-
stenberg), in which sense they say that the Piel of
3inS is always used (which, however, cannot be
affirmed of Jer. xxii. 20, 22, Lam. i. 19); but as
the form necessarily signifies only intense affection
without regard to quality, I prefer the opinion of
those who explain it as ^ loving friends, and un-
derstand the accused person as maintaining that
the scars are simply the result of chastisements
which he had formerly received when in the house of
his relatives. It seems more likely that such a man
would resort to an evasion of this kind than that
CHAPTER Xin. 2-6
101
he would make the frank confession inyolved in
the former view.
" This verse is commonly applied to the suffer-
ings of Christ, but without any further ground
than its mere proximity to that which follows, in
which He and his sufferings are clearly predicted "
(Henderson). It is quite impossible on any crit-
ical ground to vindicate such an application* al-
though Henderson is far astray when he assigns as
a reason that " in no tolerable sense could the Jews
be called Christ's lovers or friends," for it is writ-
ten (John i. 11), " He came unto his own, and his
own (oi iSiOi) received Him not," and the Apostle
(Rom. ix. 5) speaks of his kinsmen as those "of
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came."
TUEOLOaiCAL AND MORAL.
1. Idolatry and divination are mentioned by
Zechariah, as has been said, only as typical forms
of error and sin. But it is singular how well they
express the prevailing evils with which the Church
is called to contend in modern times. The gross
idolatry of the heathen has disappeared from Chris-
tendom never to return ; but its place is taken by
a more refined and more dangerous error of the
same sort. There is a devotion rendered to wealth,
to pleasure, to position, to genius, which js wholly
inconsistent with the just claims of our Maker.
There is a materialism which, although glozed
over with high-sounding names, is as repulsive to
the true honor of God as the worship of Baal or
Astarte. It dwells on great physical achieve-
ments, discoveries in nature or inventions in art,
scientific triumphs, or even the multiplication of
social conveniences, as if these were the all in all
of life and of man. The next world is ignored.
God is turned into a mere name. He is not
enough thought of to be actively opposed ; and
men say in Gibbon's famous formula, all religions
are equally true in the eyes of the people, equally
false in the eyes of the philosopher, and equally
useful in the eyes of the statesman. Now this
cool indifference, this pervading earthliness of
character and pursuit, is not simply the rejection
of God, but the enthronement of something else
in his place, i. e., idolatry. And it needs all the
energy of a true spiritual faith to overcome it. If
the Church is ever to fulfill her function, she must
insist that the life is more than meat and the body
than raiment; that means are not ends; that man
is not merely an animal of the better class, more
highly organized and of larger intelligence; but
that he is a spiritual being, allied to the infinite
Spirit and able to reach the true goal of his exist-
ence only in willing obedience to that supreme
Spirit. Anything else than this, whether it be the
worship of wealth, or the worship of science, is
treason to God. It puts the creature in the place
of the Creator, and so prepares the way for all un-
godliness and unrighteousness. A religious basis
is essential to a permanent morality, and although
the late Mr. John Stuart Mill held that there could
be a religion without a personal God, all experi-
ence is against his crude notion. Men who begin
by denying the rights of their Maker will sooner
or later end by denying the rights of their fellow-
men.
2. The world has often flattered itself that " the
false prophet and the unclean spirit " have complete-
ly passed away, that science has effectually disposed
of superstition, that the progress of education and
intelligence has put an end to soothsaying and nec-
romancy. Yet our own generation has complete-
ly exploded this flattering dream. The heart of
our own enlightened land where the schoolmaster
has been abroad for generations, has witnessed the
resurrection and diffusion of errors which are usu-
ally considered as belonging only to the twilight
of civilization. The miserable first king of Israel
resorted to the witch of Endor, only after every
other door of knowledge had been hopelessly
closed against him ; but now under the blaze of a
completed revelation, with Christ at the right hand
of God, and the Holy Spirit promised to all who
seek aright, men revive an antiquated delusion
and seek for the living to the dead. Nay, many
who reject and scoff at the Scriptures, receive with
implicit faith what purport to be communications
from the ghosts of the departed. It is a fulfill-
ment of the Apostolic declaration (2 Tim. iv. 4),
" They who turn away their ears from the truth
shall be turned unto fables." Man stands too close
to the unseen world to deny or ignore its exist-
ence ; his own condition here with its dependence
and exposure makes him look wistfully for some-
thing higher and better. If that craving is not
satisfied legitimately, it will be illegitimately. The
alternative to Faith is not unbelief but misbelief.
Men must believe something. If they obey the
laws of evidence, they will receive the only proven
revelation from the invisible world ; if not, then
all that remains is belief without evidence, that
is, superstition. Nor will this be altered if there
be a common school, and a printing-press, and a
scientific association in every hamlet of the land.
No culture of the intellect can destroy or smother
man's moral and spiritual nature. The heart, the
conscience, the sense of responsibility, will still
survive and demand some appropriate nutriment.
To offer to these the latest discoveries in physics,
is to offer stones instead of bread, or a scorpion in-
stead of a fish. If they do not receive the living
oracles of the Spirit of holiness, they fall into the
hands of " the spirit of uncleanness," whose work-
ing is with lying wonders and all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they received not the love of the truth that they
might be saved (2 Thes. ii. 9, 10).
3. The energy of moral rebuke in a healthy
state of Zion, is well shown in the pictorial repre-
sentation of the Prophet. In the fifth Book of
Moses provision is made for the prompt and seven
punishment of any one who should introduce the
worship of a false god (Deut. xiii. 6-9). The Jev
ish commonwealth, being an actual theocracy, idoi
atry was simply and literally high treason, a blo»
at the life of the state, and as such a capital crima
Hence no degree of kindred or affection was al
lowed to exempt any one from denouncing such i
criminal. Even a man's nearest relatives were t'r
be the first to put their hands to his executioi;
when he was found judicially obnoxious to th'j
penalty. Even so, declares Zechariah, ia (Uys to
come will the parents who naturally cling to a
prodigal boy, even when he may be hated ? ad de-
spised by all the world, yet oveK.onie their affec-
tion, and themselves thrust through the child who
is a lying prophet. The reprtrfeotation is strong,
but not exaggerated. Literally understood it in
of course impossible. TJvid%=r the Gospel civil pun«
ishments tor religious' trr^rs have and can have no
place. But the underlying thought — intense and!
absolute loyalty ttj God — is as appropriate nor
as it ever was The religious element in man'y
nature is to become dominant, nay supreme. Lo-^f
to God, like Aaron's rod, is to swallow up all oth9(
102
ZECHAEIAH.
affections. Nothing is to come into competition
with allegiance to truth and holiness. Our Lord
presented the duty with all plainness : " He that
loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daugh-
ter more than me is not worthy of me " (Matt. x.
37). It often happens that the claims of relatives
and the claims of Christ come into collision ; and
when they do, the former must give way. We
must choose to displease those whom we most love
on earth rather than displease Him who died for
ns on the cross. This doctrine is quite repulsive
to the sentimentalists who exalt the domestic af-
fections to the highest place in human esteem, but
it is none the less true, being indeed a simple co-
rollary from the first principle of all religion, that
the object of worship is to be loved supremely, and
all other beings, however near or dear, subordi-
nately.
4. But this is a very different thing from the
self-inflicted tortures of the heathen and of all false
religionists. The man in the text with " wounds
between his hands," represents a class found in
al] ages and lands. Clear references to these are
found in the Scripture (Deut. xiv. 1 ; Jer. xvi. 6 ;
xli. 5), and an actual instance is seen in the priests
of Baal in their contest with Elijah ( 1 Kings xviii.
28). The custom originated in the uneasy con-
sciousness of guilt and of the necessity for expi-
ation. Men in their blindness conceived that by
the merciless punishment of their own bodies they
would render a species of satisfaction, and so re-
gain the favor of the offended deities. The folly
of this form of worship is well exposed by Seneca
(quoted by Augustine, Civ. Dei, vi. 10), and yet it
is not so absurd as it would seem. For if a man
believes that the gods will exact some suffering for
sins, and that by inflicting it upon himself he may
forestall their action and get off on cheaper terms,
it is not easy to refute him on rationalistic grounds.
The difficulty in his case is that conscience is
aroused, and yet there is no knowledge of the doc-
trine of substitution or atonement. Hence even
in Christian lands, whenever that doctrine is not
understood in its simplicity and fullness, the same
thing occurs in a less aggravated form. Fastings
and mortifications and penances of various kinds
are cheerfully endured as compensations for guilt.
It is hard for poor human nature to learn that
" the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."
Yet nothing is clearer in the Scripture than that
the will-worship which consists in pains and priy*
tions, inflicted and endured for their own sake,
is most offensive to the Most High. He Himself
never sends afflictions unless there is a needs be,
and He does not ask us to be other than Himself.
Self-denial is indeed a large part of the Christian
lifg, but it is self-denial for an object beyond itself
— not as satisfaction for sin or a price paid for
heaven, but out of love for Christ, as a means of
cultivating holiness or of winning souls for the
kingdom. Privation borne with such views is in-
deed an honor and a blessing ; but if inflicted for
its own sake, it puts even such a transcendent gen-
ius as Pascal with his hair shirt and iron-pointed
girdle, on the same level with the self-gashed devo-
tees of Baal, or the forsworn diviner whom Zech-
ariah describes.
HOMlLEinOAL AND PRAOTICAl.
Moore : Ver. 3. Love to God must be para-
mount to all other affections, even the most ten-
der. It is in our present imperfect sanctification
inconceivable how we could acquiesce in the per-
dition of our children without a pang that would
poison all the bliss of heaven, and yet it shall be
so. Much as we love them, we shall love God and
his law immeasurably more. — Vers. 4-6 : Sinners
shall at last be made to confess their sins and the
justice of their punishment ; and the bitterest drop
in the cup of their agony will be that they have
wrung it out for themselves, and that it is all just.
Calvik : Falsehood hast thou spoken in the name
of Jehovah. If we rightly consider what this is,
it will certainly appear to us more detestable than
to kill an innocent man, or to destroy a guest with
poison, or to lay violent hands upon one's own
father. The greatest of all crimes does not come
up to this horrible and monstrous wickedness.
Jay : Wounded in the house of my friends. There
are four kinds of such wounds. (1.) Those aris-
ing from their just reprehensions. (2.) Those that
result from their sufferings. (3.) Those produced
by our being bereaved of them. (4.) Those in-
flicted by their improper conduct. Again. If the
Lord Jesus be the sufferer. He is wounded in the
house of his friends, by their negligent conduct —
by their selfishness — by their distrust — by their
timidity — by their gloomy conduct — by their un-
holiness. His question is. Is this thy kindness to
thy friend 1
4. THE SWORD AWAKING AGAINST THE SHEPHEED AND THE FLOCK.
Chapteb Xin. 7-9.
A. The Shepherd is smitten at Jehovah's Command, and the Sheep scattered, yet not hopelessly (ver. 7).
B. The Excision of Two Thirds of the Flock (ver. 8). C. A further R^nement by Sorrow uiith d
joyful Issue (ver. 9).
7 Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd,
And against a man, my fellow,' saith Jehovah of Hosts ;
Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered,
And I will bring back my hand ^ upon the little ones.
8 And it shall be in all the land, saith Jehovah,
Two parts therein shall be cut off,' shall die,
And the third shall be left therein.
CHAPTEK XIII. 7-9.
103
And I will bring the third part into the fire,*
And will refine them as silver is refined,
And will try them as gold is tried ;
He ' shall call upon my name and I will answer ; •
I will say,' It is my people,
And he shall say, Jehovah is my God.
TEXTUAL AND GBAMMATIOAL.
1 Ver. 7. — ''H'^OP "'5v' "^^^^ '"" """OS are in apposition, just aa in tha analogous phrase yJ^'^Dn tlJ^M,
in Deut. xxxiii. 8. ■. • -:
a Ver. 7. — ''T^ Tl3t£7rT = return my liand, stretcli it out again. Cf. 2 Sam. Tiii. 3.
8 Ver. 8. — ^n^S^ = shall be out off. In xiy. 2 this Torb denotes cutting oaf by transportation, but here Ita aeilM
1b determined by the following verb.
^ Ver. 9. — t£7M3. Into the fire, is more literal and espressive than the E. V. througk.
t Ver. 9. — S^n . iie shall call. It is better to preserye the singular in the rendering, as more idiomatic and more
ViTld.
6 Ver. 9. — n3^N = not simply will hear, as in B. V. (although that necessarily includes a reply), but distinctly, an-
rteeT. Of. Is. Ixv. 24, xli. 17. So Dr. Riggs (Emendations).
7 Ver. 9. — '"n~J2S. Before this preterite, the English translator of Calrin says that a vav conversive is dropped,
which he undertakes to supply from the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic versions. But the addition is as unauthorized as it is
tasteless.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Here again there is evidently a very sudden
change of subject. The propliet passes at once
from recounting the evasions of a pretender to
prophecy to a dramatic representation of the good
shepherd suffering under a divine infliction. No
transition could well be more abrupt. Moreover,
he seems to turn back on his course, quite forsak-
ing the chronological order he has heretofore pur-
sued in developing the Messianic revelation. In
the ninth chapter he set forth the lowly king, indi-
vidualizing his peculiar entrance into the holy city ;
in the eleventh he gave a symbolical representation
of his rejection by the covenant people, with a dis-
tiact allnsion to the wages of his betrayer ; in the
twelfth he stated the wonderful efiBcacy of the sight
of his pierced form in awakening the deepest pen-
itence and securing pardon and renewal. Yet here
instead of advancing farther, a return is made to
the fact of the Messiah's death. How are we to
account for this startling transition and seemingly
retrograde movement ? Of the former, Professor
Cowles (M. P., p. 367) suggests an ingenious expla-
nation founded upon the law of association of
ideas. " The close analogy between the false
prophet, whose hands had been gashed and pierced
'in the house of his friends,' and the Messiah,
whose hands were pierced in a death by crucifixion
among those who ought to have'been his friends,
suggested the latter case and led the prophet to
speak of it here." The learned Professor has cer-
tainly given the clew to the connection, but I should
prefer to state it in a different way. The rela-
tion is one of contrast rather than of likeness.
Zechariah had been speaking of a miserable pre-
tender to prophecy, a man marked with the scars
of his reasonless wounds received in idol-worship,
and vainly attempting to falsify their origin. Now
he turns to the true prophet and teacher, the faith-
till shepherd whose scars are real and significant,
who was not only wounded but slain, and whose
death was the salvation of his flock. But in stat-
ing this fact, the prophet introduces a new and pe-
luliar element in the tragedy, — one which he at
least had not before emphasized or even adverted
to. This is the immediate agency of Jehovah in
bringing about the bloody result. It is God who
arouses the sword sleeping in its scabbard. He
points it at his own fellow. He gives the command
to thrust it home.
Here then is a sufficient reason for the seeming
reversion of an orderly progress. It was desirable
to suggest the divine agency in the atoning death
of the Good Shepherd, and that not simply for its
own sake as indicating the completeness and per-
petuity of the satisfaction rendered (Is. liii. 10), but
also in order to set forth the assimilation of char-
acter and course between the Shepherd and his
flock. Both are to suffer, although in different re-
lations and for different purposes. The smiting of
the leader involves in the first instance at least the
scattering of the sheep. And although Jehovah
will turn his hand for good upon the little ones
[the little flock, Luke xii. 32], yet afterwards there
will be severe and most destructive visitations, cut-
ting off two parts out of three, and even the third
part that remains is not to escape unscathed. It
shall be cast into a furnace, and there be subjected
to intense and protracted heat, until as in the case
of the precious metals the dross and alloy are con-
sumed and the pure gold and silver is left. Tha
head and the members of the spiritual body then
are to pass through a like experience. He suffered,
and they also shall suffer. And this statement
forms a necessary limitation of the glowing passages
in earlier predictions which seem to promise un-
broken prosperity and an endless train of outward
blessings (ix. 17, x. 7, 12, xii. 6, 9). On the con'
trary, while the flock will have " peace " in its
shepherd, peace in its largest and be'it sense, yet in
the world it shall have " tribulation " In the gen-
eral it is true, and always has I ten true, that
" through much tribulation we mus! enter the king-
dom of God " (Acts xiv. 22). The sphere of tha
prediction is not to be arbitrarily restricted. It
speaks of " the land," of course the land of Israel,
but only in so far as it represents the theatre upon
which the adherents, nominal or real, of the Mes-
siah are found, and whether they belong to Israel
after the flesh or not. It is the Church of the futm-e
104
ZECHAEIAH.
In ifs composite nature to which Zeehariah refers,
ind of which he affirms a characteristic feature,
which is not fortuitous or unmeaning, but an ex-
press appointment of Jehovah of Hosts ; intended
to bring the followers of the Saviour into a fellow-
ship of suiftring with Himself
The three verses of this passage are closely con-
nected. First, there is a clear statement of the
smiting of the shepherd by Jehovah Himself, and
then a representation of the effect of this procedure
upon the flock. Such effects are not transient but
abiding, or rather, the immediate result typifies
what is to be the general condition of the flock
while it is passing through the wilderness of this
world.
Ver. 1. Awake, O sword .... my fellow.
The object of address in this startling dramatic
outburst is not some unknown person (Hitzig), but
the sword itself, as in Jer. xlvii. 6. 0 sword of Je-
hovah, how long wilt Ihou not, etc. The sword here
is used representatively for any means of taking
life. Ex. V. 21; Rom. xiii 4. The Romans called
the right of the magistrates to inflict capital pun-
ishment, jus gladii. Uriah was pierced by the ar-
rows of the Ammonites, yet the Lord said to David
(2 Sam. xii. 9), " Thou hast slain him by the
sword of the children of Amnion." The person
against whom the sword is to execute its deadly
ntission is described as Jehovah's shepherd, tlie
natural reference of which is to one or the other of
the shepherds mentioned in ch. xi. Some suppose
that the foolish shepherd (xi. 15, 17) is intended
(Grotius, Ewald, Maurer, Hitzig), but this does
not follow necessarily from his being pierced by
the sword, since in Is. liii. Jehovah is represented
as bruising his righteous servant in whom He finds
no fault. It is, moreover, put out of the question
by the succeeding clause, the man my fellow,
which could not, on any reasonable view, be applied
to an unworthy person. "^n^Dp '^^S is very vari-
ously rendered in the versions, — LXX. , fellow-
citizen, Aqu., kinsman, Sym., of my people^ Syr.,
friend, Targ., associate who is like him, Vulg.,
who cleaves to me, Theod., neighbor. The word
rr^Q^? is found only hci'e and in Leviticus, where
it occurs eleven times (xix. II, 15, 17, etc.), and
always with a pronominal suffix, and as a concrete
noun. Its general force is shown in xxv. 15, where
it is used interchangeably with brothei-. It is cer-
tainly an abstract noun by its formation, and is so
rendered by many (Gesenius, Fiirst), but the uni-
form usage in Leviticus is decisive against this.
Moses employs the term evidently to denote a close
and intimate connection. Perhaps there is no nearer
English equivalent than that of the E. V., — fel-
low. "ISn is not the oi-dinary word for man, but
one derived from a root signifying to be strong,
yet it is doubtful if any stress is to be laid upon
this circumstance (Neumann), but it is scarcely
doubtful that the term calls attention to the fact
that he who is Jehovah's fellow is also a man (Job
xvi. 21). Who now is this peculiar being ? Not
Judas Maccabasus (Grotius), nor Pekah (Bunsen),
nor Jehoiakim (Maurer), nor Josiah as represent-
ing the Davidic line (Pressel), nor the whole body
of iTilers including Christ (Calvin), but the Mes-
siah (Fathers, Reformers, and most moderns). The
unity indicated by the term fellow is one not merely
of will or association, much less of function, but
1 Stier {Ritflni Jeau, in lor..) declares that Matthew did
not URe the LXX., which is true ill reppect to the common
text of the Seyeuty, but not in regard to the Codex Alex- 1
of nature or essence. It is common to object to
this view that it is foreign to the sphere of the Old
Testament, which knows nothing of the trinity of
persons in the Godhead, so clearly revealed in the
New. But this begs the question. And if it be
admitted that a plurality of persons is distinctly
taught in the later Scriptures, it is the most nat-
ural thing possible to find indications in the earlier
revelation pointing in this direction, — not proof-
texts, nor direct assertions, but statements like
those in Pss. ii., ex., etc., which, although they
may have been mysterious to those who first read
or heard tliem, are to us illuminated by rays re-
flected back from the Light of the world. Were
there any doubt it would be removed by the express
allusion of our Lord in Matt. xxvi. 31, 32, Mark
xiv. 27, where He applies the latter half of the
verse to Himself and his disciples. Yet this part
cannot be separated from what precedes. Both
must have a common subject. Smite the shep-
herd. The poetical apostrophe to the sword
is here continued. Michaelis and others suppose
the address to be indefinite, because the noun is
feminine while the verb is masculine, but such an
enallage of gender is not uncommon in Hebrew.
See an early example in Gen. iv. 7. For the met-
aphor in the scattering of the sheep, see 1 Kings
xxii. 17. In our Lord's quotation, he uses the
LXX.,1 with the exception of the initial word,
which he resolves into a future, / will smite. This
only brings out more clearly what is the obvious
thought of the whole passage, — the direct agency of
Jehovah in the smiting. As the Apostle Peter said
on the day of Pentecost, that while the Jews had by
wicked hands crucified the Saviour, yet this was
done by the determinate counsel and foreknowl-
edge of God. Our Lord Himself said to the man
who ordered the crucifixion, Thou conldest have
no power at all against me, except it were given
thee from above (John xix. 11). The sheep who
are scattered, are most naturally understood as
the flock which the shepherd had to feed (ch. xi. 4),
i. e., not the entire race of men on one hand, nor
merely the Christian Church on the other, but the
covenant nation, embracing both believing and un-
believing members. This is no hindrance to the
specific application of the words made by our Loi-d
in his quotation. The dispersion of the disciples
upon the occasion of Christ's arrest, was but one
fulfillment of this extensive statement, I will
bring back my hand. This phrase = to make a
person once more the object of one's active care, is
in itself indefinite, and may be used in a good
sense or a bad one. Here the former seems prefer-
able (as in Is. i. 25), as it indicates an exception
to the general rule, and this exception is made in
favor of the little ones, who are apparently " the
wretched of the flock," in xi. 7, 11, the poor and
pious portion of the nation. Hengstenberg in he.
denies this, but does not seem to be consistent with
himself. Indeed, the difference stated here between
the whole flock scattered and the little ones merci-
fully revisited, is simply what the two following
verses state in a more expanded form as a contrast
between a general devastation of the whole body
and the fate of a small portion which is preserved
through the trial, and by means of i t is refined, puri-
fied, and blessed.
Vers. 8, 9. These verses dilate the thought of
the previous verse in regard to the scattering of
andrious, from which he dlETers only in the unimportant
point meutioued in the text. The Vat. and Sinait. Cod4
lead, irard^aTe Tovs noifteva^ Kal cKoTrdcraTe ra irpdjSara
CHAPTER XIII. 7-9.
lOo
the flock and the return of God's hand in mercy
to the little ones.
Ver. 9. In all the land = not the earth (Mark.,
Kliefoth) but the land in which the Lord had un-
dertaken the office of a shepherd, and with which
the I'rophet throughout is chiefly concerned (xii.
12), the holy land (Hengstenbcrg, Ewald, Kohler) ;
yet not this in its literal sense, but as representing
the domain covered by the kingdom of God. The
prediction cannot be consistently interpreted as re-
ferring only to the national Israel.
The peculiar expression D~3tt7""'2 = a mouth of
two, is taken from the Pentateuch (Deut. xxi. 17),
where it indicates the double portion inherited by
the first-born. In the same sense it is used by
Elisha (2 Kings ii. 9), where the younger prophet
by no means asked to have twice as much of the
Spirit as Elijah had, but to receive a first-born's
share in what he possessed, so that he might thus
become his acknowledged heir and successor. Here
the phrase evidently means two-thirds, since what
remains is called the third. Shall be cut off, shall
die. The latter verb removes any ambiguity lurk-
ing in the former, and shows that not only exile
but a literal death is intended. This frightful
sweep of judgment is paralleled by the words of
Ezek. V. 2-12, where the Lord predicts that a third
part shall perish by pestilence and famine, another
third by the sword, and the remaining third be
scattered to the winds, which of course, although
it is not so stated, might be recovered again. (Cf.
also the preservation of a tenth amid a general
overthrow in Is. vi. 1.3).
Ver. 9. Bring the third part into the fire.
The third part, although it will escape destruction,
does not do so on the ground of inherent righte-
ousness, bnt rather of grace. Its constituent parts
need a sore discipline, and it is not withheld. They
are refined and purified by processes as severe as
those to which the precious metals are subjected.
The metaphor is common in Scripture (Ps. Ix. 10;
Is. xlviii. 10 ; Jer. ix. 7 ; Mai. iii. 3. The Apos-
tle Peter (1 Pet. i. 6, 7) wrote, "wherein ye great-
ly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations,
that the trial of your faith being much more pre-
cious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, may be found unto praise and honor
and glory." But who constitute this third part ^
Some say, the entire race of the Jews during the
whole period of the present dispersion (C. B.
Michaelis, Kohler, et at.), but, as Hengstenbcrg
justly urges, in that case unbelieving Judaism
would be regarded as the sole and legitimate con-
tinuation of Israel, which is simply impossible.
The true application is to the entire kingdom of
God on earth, whether composed of Jews or of
Gentiles. True believers are precious in the Lord's
eyes as silver and gold, and He sulgeets them to
an intense and lengthened trial, but the design and
result is not to destroy but to refine. ' The attain-
ment of this result is well expressed by the con-
cluding words, showing the mutual intercourse
and confidence of the people and their Lord. They
call and He answers. He claims them for his peo-
ple, and they claim Him for their God. Everything
IS included under these comprehensive phrases (cf.
viii. 8 ; Hosea ii. 25 ; Jer. xxiv. 7 ; xxx. 22).
Professor Cowles thus states the connection of
the verses : " The manifestation of Jesus Christ in
the flesh served to reveal the utter rottenness of
the visible Jewish Church. When the Shepherd
was smitten, the mass of that Church went to.
ruin ; only a few of the little ones were saved. So
in the advanced ages of the Christian Church, cor-
ruption became again fearfully prevalent, and an-
other great sifting process became indispensable
before the era of the final conquest and triumph
of Christ's kingdom could open " {M. P., 368).
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL.
1. The salient point of the entire passage is the
immediate agency of Jehovah of Hosts in the suf-
fering and death of the Good Shepherd. We lose
sight of an ungrateful people, of their scornful re-
jection of the unspeakable gift, and of the spear
by which human hands pierce a royal benefactor,
and are set face to face with a tragedy in which
one divine person gives over another to a violent
death. A man, a real, veritable man is the sub-
ject of the infliction, but that man is the fellow of
Jehovah. The wondrous constitution of his per-
sonality, a divine nature wrapping around itself
our humanity in an indissoluble union, rendered
this possible. Its actual occurrence is the most
significant truth in Christian theology. The atone-
ment of the Lord Jesus Christ was in no sense an
act of will-worship, a device from without to ap-
pease the wrath of a Moloch sitting upon the
throne of the universe. On the contrary, it was
the expression of God's infinite wisdom and love,
the result of his own self-moved grace and com-
passion. As the record runs in the fore-front of
the Gospel, God so loved the world as to give hia
only begotten Son. And that Son said in proph-
ecy, " Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God " (Ps. xl.
7, 8 ; Heb. x. 9, 10), and in his own person, " I lay
down my life ; this commandment have I received
of my Father" (John x. 17). It was then God
the supreme, God the judge, God whose law was
broken, who originated and carried through the
great sacrifice. And behind all the voluntary and
wicked actors in the scenes of the prsetorium and
the Mount of Calvary stood Jehovah of Hosts,
saying. Awake, 0 sword. The Lord laid on him
the iniquity of us all. It pleased the Lokd to
bruise Him. He put his soul to grief The Apos-
tle speaks of the love of Christ as that which pass-
eth knowledge ; but the same is equally true of
the eternal Father. " God only knows the love of
God." No human plummet is long enough to
sound the depths of that grace which led Jehovah
of Hosts to say of his only-begotten. Smite the
shepherd. The Lord Jesus was his o\vn Son, the
brightness of his glory and the very image of big
being, and therefore the object of infinite compla-
cency, dear to Him beyond all human expression
or conception, and yet He spared Him not, but
freely delivered Him up for us all.
2. The references of our Lord to this passage
bear mainly upon its statement concerning his fol-
lowers. In John (xvi. 32) we read, "Behold the
hour Cometh, yea is now come that ye shall be
scattered every man to his own, and shall leave
me alone." Matthew (xxvi. 31) gives a later and
fuller expression, " All ye shall be oHiinded because
of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the
shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scat-
tered abroad." The prophecy was fulfilled, but
very far from being exhausted, in the dispersion
of the disciples when our Lord was arrested. The
cause of the flight of the twelve was that their
faith was staggered and their confidence impaired
by such an untoward event So it has always
been. " The offense of the cross " shows itself io
106
ZECHARIAH.
every generation. The ignominious deatli of the
Shepherd is a stumbling-blocli to the flock. But
this docs not continue in " the little ones," the
faithful few. They are recovered by the Lord's
own hand, and made to rejoice in that which once
was most offensive. This is intimated by the
Saviour in the words which follow the quotation
in Matthew given above, " But after I am risen
again I will go before you into Galilee." This go-
ing before {wpoA^ai), is a pastoral act in which the
shepherd leads the way, and is followed by the
fl.ock. Just as the Saviour gathered again those
who fled in fear on the niglit of the betrayal, so
does He still gather those who at fiirst start back
from a near view of the cross.
They find that cross not only the conspicuous
badge of their profession but its characteristic feat-
ure. In a remarkable passage in the Gospel of
Matthew (xvi. 21-25), our Lord first foretells his
own sufferings at the hands of the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and then immediately proceeds
to set forth similar trials as the necessary result
of attachment to Him. His adherents must needs
take up their cross and follow Him even to Gol-
gotha. The motto of the Reformed in Holland —
(he Church under the Cross — is true of all believers.
" All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suf-
fer persecution." " The friendship of the world
is eumity with God." "If ye were of the world,
the world would love its own, but because ye are
not of the world but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you." " If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you."
Believers then are not to count it strange when a
fiery trial befalls them, as if it were a strange thing
(1 Pet. iv. 12). So far from being strange, it is a
normal procedure. God's people are to be " par-
takers of Christ's sulTerings." In their case, as in
his, the cross precedes the crown.
When great providential calamities, such as war,
pestilence, famine, occur, they are not exempt. But
the stroke which overwhelms and destroys others,
is to them overruled for good. Bad trees are merci-
lessly rooted out, but the good are only " purged "
or pruned. The spurious, reprobate metal is cast
away, but the genuine article comes out of the fur-
nace purified and ennobled. It was needful for
them to go through the process. The holiest of
mere men is improved by passing through the fire.
A high encomium was pronounced upon Job be-
fore his afflictions, yet the issue of his un])aralleled
Erobation taught him that he was vile, and laid
im in dnst and ashes (xl. 4 ; xlii. 6). Sorrows
are one of the tokens of sonship ; to forget this is
to faint in the day of adversity. " The fellowship
of his suff'erings" (Phil. iii. 10), the community of
shepherd and flock in trials, is one of the blessed
mysteries of the Christian life. Believers drink
of Christ's cup and are baptized with his baptism.
Companionship in sorrow links them by closer ties
and brings them into tenderer communion than is
possible in any other way. And so the assimila-
tion proceeds rapidly from glory to glory. The
Buflfering people are changed into the image of
their once suffering Lord, and they justly glory in
infirmities.
3. The summit of human felicity is described in
the mutual proprietorship which the Prophet, fol-
lowing his predecessors, ascribes to God and his
people. On the one hand, Jehovah says, It is my
people. The foundation passage on this point is
given in Ex. xiv. 5 : "Ye shall be a peculiar treas-
ure unto me above all peoples; for all the earth
is mine." The whole earth is the Lord's, and all
nations belong to Him as Creator and Preserver,
but He has been pleased to choose one to stand to
Him in a particular and most endearing relation.
Israel is his i^bap, set apart and distinguished
from all others as a possession of peculiar value.
Cf Deut. vii. 6 ; xiv. 2 ; xxvi. 18; Ps. cxxxv. 4 ;
Mai. iii. 17. Language of the same tenor is ap-
plied in the New Testament to the Christian Is-
rael ; "a purchased possession" (Eph. i. 14), "a
peculiar people " (Titus ii. 14 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9). From
the mass of fallen men, Jehovah chooses an in-
numerable multitude whom He condescends to call
his portion or inheritance. On them He lavishes
the riches of his gi-ace, and in them He reveals his
glory to the admiration of all holy intelligences.
And they are fitted to this high destiny, being con-
formed to the image of their Lord, and obedient
to his will. As such He spares them in times of
trial as a man spareth his pwn son that serveth
him (Mai. iii. 17), has " his delights" with them
(Prov. viii. 31), and rejoices over them with the
joy of a bridegroom over his bride (Is. Ixii. 5).
On the other hand, the people say, Jehovah is
my God. Not only do they acknowledge Him as
divine and profess his worship in distinction from
heathen or infidels, but they recognize Him as
their infinite portion. The knowledge of Him is
the best of all knowledges, and his service is the
highest form of enjoyment. His favor is life, his
loving-kindness better than life. His perfections
are a sure pledge of their safety, blessedness, and
glory. His gifts are many and precious, but He
himself is better than them all, and the intimate
and sacred communion his people are permitted to
hold with Him fills the measure of their happiness.
Even under the shadows of the Old Testament
they found their supreme delight here. O God,
thou art my God, my soul thirsteth for Thee, my
flesh longeth for Thee (Ps. Ixiii. 1). Whom have I
in heaven but Thee"? and there is none upon earth
that I desire besides Thee (Ps. Ixxiii. 25).
This thought is applied by Augustine ( Civ. Dei,
xxii. 20) to the future home of the spirits of the
just. " The reward of righteousness will be He
who Himself imparted righteousness, and who
promises Himself than whom there can be no gift
better or greater. Por what else has He said by
his Prophet, ' I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people ; ' what else but this : ' I
will be that wherein they shall be satisfied ; I will
be all things that men righteously desire ; life and
health, and food and abundance, glory and honor,
and peace and all things 1 ' For so do we rightly
understand also what the Apostle says. That God
mai/ be all in all. He will be the end of all our de-
.sires, who will Himself be seen without end, will
be loved without satiety, will be praised without
weariness. This aff'ection, this business, this func-
tion of our being will be common to us all, like
life everlasting itself."
aOMILETIOAL AND PRACTICAL.
MooRE : "Ver. 7. AioaJce, 0 sword, etc. How
fearful an evil is sin when it could call forth the
sword against God's own coequal and well-beloved
Son 1 The death of Christ was the judicial sen-
tence of God against sin, the endurance of the
penalty of the law, and therefore, strictly vicari-
ous and propitiatory. No human merit can min-
gle with the infinite merit of the work of Christ
for He trod the wine-press alone.
CHAPTER XIV.
107
Balph Erskine : Awake, 0 sword, etc. This
text, sirs, is a very wonderful one, as ever a poor,
mortal man preached upon. For in it there is a
cloud, a black cloud, a cloud of divine wrath and
vengeance, the cloud of Christ's bloody passion
which we are to celebrate the memorials of this
day ; but like the cloud that led Israel in the wil-
derness, though it had a black side toward Christ,
yet it has a bright and light side toward all the
Israel of God ; for this cloud of blood distills in a
sweet shower of blessings unto poor sinners ; there
is a light in this cloud wherein we may see God in
Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
Caltin : Will refine them, etc. The stubble
and the chaff are cast into the fire, but without
any benefit, for they are wholly consumed. But
when gold and silver are put in the fire, it is that
greater purity may be produced, and what is pre-
cious be made more apparent. Do any ask whether
God can by his Spirit alone draw the elect to re-
ligion, and if so, why this fire of affliction is neces-
sary ? The answer is, that the Prophet speaks not
of what God can do bat of what He will do, und
we ought not to dispute on the subject but be sat-
isfied with what He has appointed. Though chas-
tisement is hard while we are undergoing it, yet
we should estimate it by its result, the peaceable
fruits of righteousness (Heb. xii. 11).
6. FINAIt CONFLICT AND TRIUMPH OF GOD'S KINGDOM.
Chapter XIV.
A great and at first successful Assault is made upon the Holy City (vers. 1, 2). B. Then God miraca-
husly interposes, grants Escape, and after a mingled Condition of Things gives a Jinal and glorious Deliver-
ance (vers. 3-7). C. A Stream of Salvation pours over the whole Land (v&rs. 9,-11). D. TheEnemiet
are chastised (vers. 12-15). E. The Fttmnant of Them turn to the Lord (vers. 16-19). F. Jertt-
taiem becomes thoroughly Holy (vers. 20,%1).
1 Behold, a day cometh to JehovaV
And thy spoil is divided in the midst of thee.
2 And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to battle ;
And the city shall be taken and the houses^ rifled,
And the women shall be ravished ; ^
And half the city shall go forth into captivity,
And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city
3 And Jehovah shall go forth and fight against those nations,
As in * his day of battle, in the day of conflict.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives
Which is before Jerusalem on the east ;
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in the centre
Eastward and westward, a very great vaUey,"
And half of the mountain shall recede towards the north.
And its (other) half toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee ^ to the valley of my mountains,'
For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal,
And ye shall flee as ye fled before the earthquake,
In the days of Uzziah the king of Judah ;
And Jehovah my God shall come.
All the saints with thee ! '
6 And it shall come to pass in that day.
It will not be light, the glorious ' will withdraw themselves.
7 And the day shall be one.
It shall be known to Jehovah,
Not day and not night.
And at evening time there shall be light
8 And it shall be in that day,
Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem,
Half of them to the eastern ^^ sea.
And half of them to the western sea,
In summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And Jehovah shall be king over all the land ;
In that day Jehovah shall be one ^ and his name one.
108 ZECHARIAH.
10 All the land shall be changed like the plain
From Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem,
And she shall be high,'^ and dwell in her place
From Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate,
To the corner gate,
And from the tower of Hananeel to the king's wine-presses-
11 And they shall dwell in her.
And there shall be no more curse/'
And Jerusalem shall sit secure."
12 And this shall be the plague
With which Jehovah will smite all the peoples "
"Who have fought against Jerusalem ;
His ^^ flesh shall consume away while he stands upon his feet,
And his eyes shall consume away in their sockets,
And his tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall be in that day that
There shall be among them a great confusion '' from Jehovali,
And they shall seize each his neighbor's hand,
And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor ;
14 And Judali also shall fight at'* Jerusalem,
And the riches of all the nations around shall be gathered,
Gold and silver and apparel in great abundance.
15 And so '^ shall be the plague of the horse.
Of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass.
And of all the cattle that shall be in these camps.
Even as this plague.
16 And it shall be that
All that is left of the nations which came against Jerusalem
Shall ™ go up from "^ year to year
To worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts,
And to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be that whoso of the ^ families of the earth
Shall not go up to Jerusalem
To worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts,
Upon them there shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not,
Upon ^^ them there shall be none,
[Upon them] shall be the plague
With which Jehovah shall plague the nations
Which go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the sin^ of Egypt,
And the sin of all the nations
Which go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day there shall be on the bells ^ of the horses,
Holiness to Jehovah,
And the pots in the house of Jehovah
Shall be as the bowls before the altar.
21 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah
Shall be holiness to Jehovah of Hosts.
And all who sacrifice shall come
And take of them and sacrifice therein,
And there shall no more be a Canaanite *
In the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 V«r. 1 - nin^^ la to be connected with ^^^ = Jehovah's day. ' See Excg. and Orlt
t Yar. 3 - D^HSn. The Munach stands here Id place of Metheg, to show that the rowel ia loi^
CHAPTER XIV.
109
« Ver. 2. — rT373!i'ri. The Keri substitutes for this word, here as elsewhere (Deut. xxvUl. 30, etc.), the won!
D5^ — * ^^'y needless euphemism.
' Ver 8. — DT'S. The preposition is to be supplied from the next clause.
6 Ver. 4. — M^a is not a cas. construe, of S^3 (Bwald, Oreen), but an absolute form of the same noun (Tdist).
n Ver. 6. — In place of DriP5 several MS3. read Di^Pi, which is the reading followed by LXX. Aq., Sym.,
Targ., Arab., the first of which renders ifiif>paxeri(Ti7(u , shail 'be stopped up. This is adopted by Fliigge, Dathe, Blsyney,
and Boothroyd ; but the sense is so inept that some modern critics refuse even to notice it.
7 Ver. 5. — "''^n is not a simple plural, but has the 8uffl.t of the first person.
8 Ver. 6. — Instead of TJffil? many MSS. and all the old Tersions read llS^, but the former is to b« preferred, both
as the more difficult reading and as more vivid and expressive.
0 Ver. 6. —Henderson claims a preponderance of MSS. authority for the Keri 'SpT over the KetMb 'D31 and the
ancient versions all Javor it, yet exegetioal necessity compels one to adopt the latter. So Hengstenberg, Hoffmann, Klief-
oth, Kohler, Keil, Pr«ssel, Dr. Van Dyck in new Arab. Bible, Furst in his new German Version, etc.
10 Ver. 8. — ^SIQlj^n. The B. V. " former " is misleading. The Genevan gives " east " which is correct. The
Hebrews determined the points of the compass by looking to the east, and so what was before them was the east, and
what was "nnW = behind, was west.
11 Ver. 9. — Henderson objects to the rendering " Jehovah shall be one," that it makes " the passage tea«h either that
Jehovah was not one before, or that he will no longer be three or triune; " and he renders "Jehovah alone shall be."
But his scruples are idle. What is meant is the universal recognition of the divine unity and self-existence, and this iA
obtained just as well by the ordinary rendering as by the one he suggests (cf. Deut. vi. 4).
12 Ver. 10. — This is the only place where the form DNT occurs ; in all other cases CI"! is used. True, here
Piirst takes HSiNI for a proper noun, and renders, " like the plain of Jordan shall Jerusalem and Ramah be fruitful
and inhabited" (Lex. sub. voe.), but this wholly disregards the accents, and furnishes no equivalent, since the mention
of such an obscure place would be unmeaning. He himself in his new German Version returns to the old interpretation
18 Ver. 11. — Qlin. The B. V. " utter destruction," hardly expresses the force of this word, which means suoll
destmction caused by'a divine decree = curse (Mai. iv. 6).
14 Ver. 11. — n^Il W^. Here, the strict rendering sit secure^ is more vivid than the B. V., safely inhabited.
16 Ver. 12. — D'^ap = peoples, cf. on viii. 22.
16 Ver. 12. — His flesh, etc. The suffixes are all singular except in the case of the last noun, their mouth. Of course
the meaning is " each one's " flesh, etc.
17 Ver. 13. — " Tumult " does not express the full sense of nD^ntt = a panic terror or confusion (1 Sam. xiv. 20).
IB Ver. 14.' — "T'n. The text of the B. V. is right, and the marginal reading against to be rejected. See Exeg. and
Crit.
19 Ver. 15. — ]D here precedes its correlative 3 • elsewhere the order is just the reverse.
20 Ver. 16. — The construction is anacolouthio ; the subject standing absolutely at the beginning, while the predicate
Is appended with vav conver. ^^^"1.
21 Ver. 16. — '^^rS is literally "from the sufficieney of year to year," but expresses nothing more than the Simula
preposition (cf. Is. Ix. 23).
22 Ver. 17. — The " all " supplied by the B. V. is quite superflnons.
28 Ver. 18. — Dn^2P. " ''^ introduces the apodosis, and DE^JH is to be supplied from the preceding verse.
24 Ver. 19. — inS^n (LXX. : a/xaprtd, Vulg. : peccatnm) should surely be rendered sin, however it may be ex
plained. Dr. Van Dyck, in the new Arabic Bible, conforms to the B. V., as does Fiirst in his German Version. The
Dutch Bible has, de zonde ; Luther, SUnde.
25 Ver. 20. — j*1*iv^D. LXX.: xoAtrov ; \M}g., franum ', Luther, ROstung ; but the meaning in E. V., bells, is
now established. Dr. Riggs gives a wordy paraphrase, tinkling bridle ornaments.
HO Ver. 21. — "^^Vap, LXX. transfer the word- Vulg. translates, — mercator ; F'arst Erdmer.
CRITICAL AND BXBQBTICAL.
This concluding chapter of tlie Prophet has been
very variou.sly interpreted. Calvin, Grotius, and
others supposed it to refer to the times of the Mac-
cabees, which for a variety of reasons is scarcely
possible. Marckius, followii g Cyril and Theod-
oret, applied its opening verses to the conquest of
Jerusalem by Titus, and with him agree Lowth,
Adam Clarke, and Henderson ; but the circum-
stances here stated do not correspond with the
facts of history, nor if they did, could the former
Dart of the chapter be violently sundered from its
plain connection with the latter part. The " later
criticism " (Hitzig, Knobel, Mauver, Ewald, Ber-
tbeau, etc.), refer the passage to the period immedi-
ately preceding the Babylonish exile and the catas-
trophe then threatening Jerusalem ; and when re-
minded of the contrast between the prediction and
the facts, appeal to the ethical aim and conditional
nature of prophecy as fully accounting for this.
But even admitting their principle, it does not ap-
ply here, for this chapter has nothing to say of sm
and judgment, of repentance and conversion on
the part of the covenant people, but only of their
dreadful trials and glorious deliverance. Such a
prediction, addressed to Judah in the last decen-
110
ZECHAEIAH.
5;
nium before the exile, could have exerted no
healthful influence, and certainly the glowing
Btatements of the latter part of it hare no counter-
part in any experience of the restored people. It
only remains then either with Wordsworth, Blay-
ney, Newcome, Moore, Cowles, etc., to refer it to a
period yet future, or with Hengstenherg, Keil, etc.,
to suppose that it describes in general terms the
whole development of the Church of God from the
commencement of the Messianic era to its close.
In either case the chapter must be taken as figura-
tive and not literal. The cleaving of the Mount
of Olives in two for the purpose of affording escape
to fugitives from Jerusalem ; the flowing of two
perpetual streams from the holy city in opposite
directions ; the levelling of the whole land in order
to exalt the temple-mountain ; the yearly pilgrim-
age of all nations of the earth to Jerusalem ; and
the renewal of the old sacrifices of the Mosaic rit-
ual ; these are plainly symbolical statements, but
not therefore by any means unmeaning or useless.
The chapter does not stand alone in the Scriptures.
Parallels are to be found in Isaiah (Ixv., Ixvi.),
Ezekiel (xxxviii., xxxix.), and Daniel (xii.), as
well as in the closing book of the New Testament.
The Prophet begins with the account of an at-
tack made upon the holy city by all nations, who,
instead of being destroyed (like Gog and Magog
in Ezekiel) before getting possession of the holy
city, seize and plunder it and carry away half its
lopulation, and then are met and thwarted by
enovah, who provides escape for his people. This
feature of escape inclines one to regard the pas-
sage as an ideal picture of all the conflicts of the
Church with its foes.
(a.) Vers. 1,2. The Attack. Ver. 1. Behold, a
day Cometh, etc. A day to Jehovah = one belong-
ing to Him, appointed for the manifestation of his
power and glory (cf. Is. ii. 12). The final result
makes this abundantly plain. Thy spoil, etc.
The Prophet addresses the city and says that her
booty, not (as T. V. Moore, following the Tar-
gum, strangely imagines) that which she takes,
but that which is taken from her, is leisurely di-
vided among the conquerors in the midst of the
city. The details implied in this general announce-
ment are stated in the next verse.
Ver. 2. And I will gather .... ravished.
Jehovah collected these nations just as He roused
Pharaoh to ])nrsuo Israel (Ex. xiv. 4), in the same
way and with the same result. The divine pur-
pose presides over all human wrath and wicked-
ness, and gains its ends, not only in spite, but
often by means, of them. The rifling of the houses
and dishonoring of the women are expressions
taken from Is. xiii. 16, where they are used in ref-
erence to Babylon. And half of the city, etc.
Only a part of the inhabitants are to be driven
into exile, the rest remain. It was different at
the Chaldaian conquest of Jerusalem, for then the
greater portion were carried away, and afterwards
even "the remnant that was left" (2 Kings xxv.
11). The verse cannot therefore refer to that sub-
jugation. Nor can it be applied to the overthrow
of the holy city by Titus, who neither had all na-
tions under his banner, nor left a half of the pop-
ulation in possession of their homes.
(b.) Vers. .3-7. The Deliverance. Ver. 3. Jeho-
vah goeth forth .... battle. God Himself goes
forth against these foes, and fights for his people
[IS He is accustomed to do in a day of battle. The
latter clause does not seem to refer particularly to
the conflict at the Red Sea (Jerome, Hengsten-
berg), but rathei to the Lord's general course, as
shown in many former instances (Keil, Kohler),
Josh. X. 14-42 ; xxiii. 3 ; Judg. iv. 15 ; 2 Chron.
XX. 15.
Ver. 4. His feet stand .... south. The
situation of the Mount of Olives — which is be-
fore Jerusalem — is not added as a geographical
designation, which surely would be needless, but
to indicate its suitableness for the position of one
who intended to relieve the holy city. His feet
touch it, and the effect is that of an earthquake
(Ps. Ixviii. 8 ; Nah. i. 5). The mountain is split
through the middle latitudinally, so that the two
halves fall back from each other, one toward the
north, the other toward the south. The conse-
quence would be the formation of a very great
valley running east and west. To one fleeing
hastily from Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives pre-
sented an obstacle of no small importance, as it
did to David once (2 Sam. xv. 20) ; and hence the
provision here made for removing the difficulty.
Ver. 5. And ye shall ilee . . . Judah. The
people will flee into the valley of my mountains,
not the Tyropoeon (Jerome, etc.), but into the val-
ley produced by the two halves of Olivet, which
are properly called by Jehovah his, since He had
just given them their separate existence (so nearly
all critics). The reason why the fugitives should
flee thither is that this level opening extends to
Azal, which by almost all expositors, ancient and
modern, is considered a proper name denoting a
place near Jerusalem, but no trace of any such
place now exists. Hengstenherg identifies it with
the "Beth-Ezel" of Micah i. 11, and explains its
meaning as = " standing still," " ceasing," so that
what is promised is that the valley shall extend to
a place which in accordance with its name will
afford to the fugitives a cessation of danger. Koh-
ler follows Symm. and Jerome in rendering it ad
proximum, which he renders " to very near," i. e.,
to the point where the fugitives actually are. It
seems simpler to suppose that the term refers to a
place east of Olivet, well known in the Prophet's
day, which by its position would show the valley
to be long enough to furnish all needful shelter
and escape for the fleeing people. The swiftness
of the flight is expressed by comparison to that
occasioned by the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah, which is referred to in Amos i. 1, but of
which we have no other information. Some think
that the fleeing arises from fear of being swallowed
up with their foes by the earthquake (Hengsten-
ber, Keil) ; but it is more natural to refer it to
fear of their enemies. The added clause, and
Jehovah my God comes, etc., with the suffix of
the last word in the second person, indicates the
lively joy with which the Prophet hails the ap-
pearance of his God, so that as he sees in vision
the shining retinue of his saints, he passes from
indirect to direct address, and exclaims, all the
saints with thee ! The saints here, according to
the analogy of other passages (Dent, xxxiii. 2, 3 ;
Dan. vii. 9, 10 ; Matt. xxv. 31 ; Rev. xix. 14), are
the holy angels, and not (Vitringa) both holy an-
gels and holy men.
Ver. 6. And it shall be, etc. The former part
of this verse is very plain, but the last two words
are obscure. The Keri represents an early attempt
to escape the difficulty by altering the text, giving
^iSQi^l. instead of TiW5|'7\ This was adopted by
the old versions, which, besides, either assumed
that ninf?^ was synonymous with ni~lp, eM,
or maintained that the true reading was rii'lp'l.
CHAPTER XIV.
Ill
Then, rendering the former noun ice, they ^ot the
lense, "It will not be light, but (there will be)
cold and ice" (Targum, Peshito, Symm., Itala,
and so Luther). Some later critics adopting the
same text coordinate the three nouns, and bring
them all under the negation, thus, " There will not
be light and cold and ice," i. e., no alternation
of them (Ewald, Bunsen, Umbreit). But this is
a very poor sense, unsustained by any analogy in
Scripture, and without force in the connection. It
is far better to adhere to the Chethib, in which the
only grammatical difficulty is the combination of
a feminine noun with a verb having a masculine
entfix, which surely is not insuperable in Hebrew.
iTllfJ^ means here as elsewhere precious things,
with the additional idea of splendor or brilliancy,
as in Job xxxi. 26, where the moon is said to walk
"ipi = in brightness or raagnilicently. The men-
tion of light just before suggests the thought of
the stars or heavenly bodies in general, as what is
intended by the glorious things. The verb then
is taken in its primary sense, to be contracted (h.
to curdle, to congeal), here ^ withdraw them-
selves. The whole verse then indicates a day of
darkness. The lights of the earth will all disap-
pear. What the former clause states in plain
prose, the latter expresses more figuratively.
Ver. 7. And the day shall be one, etc. This
verse continues the description of the sorrowful
time just mentioned. The day shall be one in the
sense of solitary, unique, peculiar. See the Lexi-
cons. It is known to Jehovah, and by implica-
tion to no one else, in its true nature. Not day
and not night = not an admixture of both, but
neither, not a wx^Vfi-tpop at all, because the lights
of heaven being put out, there are no means of
determining what is day and what night. The
whole order of nature is miraculously reversed
The expression at evening time, etc., is the an-
tithesis of the declaration in Amos viii. 9, " I wiU
cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will bring
darkness upon the land in clear day." At the time
when according to the natural course of events
Jjtrkness should set in, a bright light dawns.
Some expositors compare with this verse Rev.
xxi. 23-25, but the two passages are radically dif-
ferent. It is true not only at the end of all things,
but at many a previous period in the history of
the Church, that at evening time it becomes light.
Some critics give the sense thus stated by Professor
Cowles, " There is a gradation through three dis-
tinct stages : first, utter darkness ; then, a dim
twilight. Tike that of an eclipse ; then, at the close,
when you might expect darkness soon to cover the
earth, lo, the effulgence of full and glorious day "
{M. P., 374).
(c.) Vei-s. 8-11. Blessings from Jerusalem dif-
fiise themselves over the whole land.
"Ver. 8. Living waters shall, etc. A lively
image of the abundance and preciousness of spir-
itual blessings, as is evident from analogous Scrip-
tures and from the fact that here the water flows
in two opposite directions at once, and that it ntns
not only in winter, but in summer, when usually
in Palestine the streams arc altogether dry. These
waters come not from occasional rainfalls, but are
living, i. e., proceed from perennial fountains, and
BO cover the whole land from the Dead Sea to the
Mediterranean with fertility and beauty. They
ssue from Jerusalem, the central point of the
kingdom of God under the Old Testament, and
here therefore appropriately standing for the Chris-
tian Church, which is that centre under the New
Testament.
Ver. 9. And Jehovah shall be king, etc. Most
expositors render " over all the earth," but the con-
nection before and after refers certainly to Pales-
tine, and there seems no reason for departing from
the usual rendering, and the less, inasmuch as be-
yond doubt Canaan here stands as a type of ihe
kingdom of God in its fullest extent in this world.
Of course the meaning is that He will be king not
only potentia or de jure, but actu et de facto. In
this sense He shall be one, i. e., recognized as
such, and the same as to his name = outward
manifestation of his nature. Not only will gross
polytheism come to an end, but also that more re-
fined system which regards all forms of worship
as different but equally legitimate modes of wor-
shipping the one Divine Being.
Ver. 10. All the land .... wine-presses.
The whole land is to be leveled to a plain in order
that Jerusalem may be elevated, and then the holy
city is to be restored to its former grandeur. The
article is emphatic in the plain, which in Hebrew
always denotes the Arabah or Ghor, the largest
and most celebrated of all the plains of Judaea,
the great valley extending from Lebanon to the
farther side of the Dead Sea. Geba was on the
northern frontier of Judah (cf. 2 Kings xxiii. 8).
Kimmon, distinguished from two other Eimmons
on the north {Josh. xix. 13 ; Judg. xx. 45), by the
added clause south of Jerusalem, was a city on
the border of Edom, given up by Judah to the
Simeonites (Josh. xv. 32; xix. 7). In conse-
quence of this depression of all the surrounding
country, Jerusalem becomes high. The capital
seated on her hills shines conspicuous as the only
elevation in a very wide region. Of course the
physical elevation thus miraculously caused is only
figurative of Jerusalem's spiritual exaltation. An
exact parallel is found in the repeated and remark-
able prediction of Isaiah (ii. 2) and Micah (iv. 1),
in which, however, no leveling takes place, but
the temple-mountain is so elevated that it over-
tops all the mountains of the earth. Professor
Cowles connects the plain closely with the two fol-
lowing words so as to get the sense " like the plain
from Geba to Rimmon ; " hut there was no such
plain, — the whole territory between these points
being hilly in the extreme. The exaltation of
Jerusalem is followed by a complete recovery from
the ruin brought upon it by the capture and plun-
der mentioned in vers. 1, 2. The city shall dwell
iT'^nO ^on its ancient site (cf xii. 6), and have
its old boundaries. These, as they are given here,
cannot be determined with certainty. The last
clause, From the tower .... wine-presses (IP
being supplied before ^'35J2), is generally under-
stood to give the extent north and south, the tower
of Hanameel being at the northeast corner of the
city (Neb. iii. 1 ; xii. 39), and the wine-presses
in the royal gardens at the south side (Neb. iii.
15). As to the former clauses, the starting-point
is Benjamin's gate, whence some suppose that the
line ran eastward lo the first gate, i. q., old gate,
(Neh. iii. 6), and westward to the corner gate (2
Kings xiv. 13), — the gate of Benjamin being on
this supposition in the middle of the northern wall
(Hengstenberg, Keil). Others with less probabil-
ity make the corner gate simply a more precise
definition of the place of the first gate (Hitzig,
Kliefoth). It is to be hoped tha t the toj ograph-
ical explorations at present in progress on the 3it«
112
ZECHAEIAH.
of Jerusa !em will shed such light upon the whole
subject as will make plain what now can be only
conjecturally determined. Still, whatever may be
the precise force of terms here used, the general
sense is clear. The city shall have its former lim-
its.
Ver. n . And they shall dwell .... secure.
Instead of going out either as captives or fugitives,
the inhabitants shall dwell securely and have no
reason to dread further hostile attacks (Is. Ixv.
19). The ground of this security is the exemption
from the curse, the dreadful ban which always fol-
lows sin (Josh. vi. 18) ; and the cessation of this
implies that the people are a holy nation. This
clause is used (Rev. xxii. 3) in the description of
the holy city, the new Jerusalem.
(d.) Vers. 12-15. The destruction of the hostile
nations. The Prophet here pauses in his account
of the blessings destined for the purified Church,
to set forth more fully the punishment of the un-
godly.
Ver. 12. This wlU be the plague .... month-
i^p?.^ according to usage always denotes an in-
fliction from the hand of God. The stroke here
is the most terrible that can be conceived, — the
whole frame rotting away even while the man
stands upon his feet, i. e., is alive. To empha-
size still more the condition of these living corpses,
the Prophet adds the rotting of the eyes which
had spied out the nakedness of the city of God,
and of the tongue which had blasphemed God and
his people. The singular suffixes arc of course to
be taken distributively.
Ver. 13. A great confusion from Jehovah.
Another means of destruction is civil discord.
The allusion appears to be to a panic terror caus-
ing such confusion that each turns his hand upon
the other. Instances occur in Israelitish history,
Judg. vii. 22; 1 Sam. xiv. 20 (and behold, every
man's sword against his neighbor, and there was a
very great HQ^nZ? = confusion), 2 Chron. xx.
23. Seize the hand denotes a hostile grasp, and
the next clause graphically depicts the eflibrt of the
assailant to give a home thrust.
Ver. 14. And Judah also shall fight at Jeru-
salem, etc. An old and widely accepted view trans-
lates the final words of the first clause, " against
Jerusalem " (Targum, Jerome, Kimchi, Luther,
Calvin, Cocceius, and most of the moderns). But
this is so flatly against the context, that it must be
rejected, even though it be admitted that ? after
t^n^D usually points out the object of attack. In
one case at least (Ex. xvii. 8), the preposition has
a local sense, and this is true also of Is. xxx. 32,
according to Piwald's explanation of the Kethib in
that passage. We therefore understand the clause
as teaching that Judah = the whole covenant peo-
Sle, will take part in the conflict and carry it on at
erusalem (LXX., Markius, Hengstenberg, Klci-
fotb, Keil, Kohler). The consequence of this will be
the overthrow of the foes and the capture of all
their costly possessions. AppareL As fashions in
the East did not and do not change as they do
with us, garments of all kinds were kept in great
number, and constituted a large part of oriental
wealth (Job xxvii. 16, Matt. vi. 19, Jas. v. 2).
Ver. 15. And so ... . the plague of the
borse, etc. This verse amplifies the crime and
punishment, since it shows th5 guilt of these foes
to be such that even their possessions are overtaken
by the divine curse. The case is illustrated by the
example of Achan, whose oxen and sheep and
asses were burned, along with himself and his chil.
dren (Josh. vii. 24).
(e.) Vers. 16-19. The remnant of the heathen
shall be converted.
Ver. 16. All that is left .... tabernacles.
The prophet states, with an evident allusion to Is
Ixvi. 23, that those of the heathen who are not
destroyed'will all go up yearly to the sanctuary of
Jehovah to observe one of the great feasts. This,
of course, is figurative, as the most intrepid liter-
alist will scarcely maintain that all nations could
by any possibility accomplish such a feat. Hen-
derson seeks to avoid the difficulty by supposing
that they will go up in the person of their repre-
sentatives. But even this ingenious device fails
to meet the terms used by Isaiah, /. c, where all
flesh is said to come every Sabbath and every new
moon. The verse is simply a striking method of
depicting the entrance of the heathen into the
kingdom of God. Why is the feast of taber-
nacles specified ? Not because it occurred in
autumn, which is the best season of the year for
travelling (Theodoret, Grotius, Rosenmiiller) ; nor
because this feast was the holiest and most joyful
(Koster, V. Ortenburg, Pressel) ; nor because of
its relation to the ingathering of the harvest (Koh-
ler) ; nor because such a festival could be observed
without any compromise of the principles of the New
Dispensation (Henderson) ; but rather in view of
its interesting historical relations (Dachs, C. B.
Michaelis, Hengstenberg). Itwasafeast of thanks-
giving for the gracious protection afforded by the
Lord during the pilgrimage of his people through
the desert, and for their introduction into the bless-
ings of the land of Canaan. In like manner the
nations will celebrate the goodness which has
brought them through their tedious and perilous
wanderings in this life to the true and everlasting
kingdom of peace and rest. Carrying out this fig-
urative representation, the prophet adds a penalty
to be inflicted upon all absentees.
Ver. 17. Whoso of the families .... no rain.
Rain seems to be mentioned as one of the principal
blessings of God, that by which the fruitfulness is
produced which occasions the joy of the harvest.
It therefore appropriately stands here to represent
the whole class of providential favors. Compare
the notes on x. 1. It shall be withheld from those
who fail to fulfill their duties to Him. See a sim-
ilar threat,upon Israel, in Ueut. xi. 16, 17. Pressel
calls attention to the fine use of the word family
in this verse in connection with Jehovah as king,
indicating that then the various nations of the
earth shall be considered as so many families of the
one people of God.
Ver. 18. And if the family of Egypt go not
up, etc. The menace of the preceding verse is re-
peated with especial application to Egypt. Many
have sought the reason of this particular specifica-
tion in the natural peculiarities of Egypt, which,
being indebted for its fertility not to rain but to the
NMle, might seem to be exempt from the threatened
drought. But surely, apart from other considera-
tions, this has no force nor application, when it is
remembered that even the Nile is dependent upon
rains at its source. It is far morenatuial to attrib-
ute the mention of Egypt to its historical relations
to Israel as their hereditary foe. The old enemy
of the Church shall either join the procession Zion-
ward, or else feel the retributive curse.
Ver. 19. This shall be the sin of Egypt,
" This,'"' namely, that no rain falls on them.
CHAPTER XIV.
113
Hence many adopt the version of nStSH in the
English 3ib\e, punishment (Targum, Calvin, Hen-
derson), and appeal to Lam. iii. 38, iv. 6, Is. xl. 2.
But it is at least doubtful if the word ever has this
sense (see on Lam. iv. 6), and accordingly the diffi-
culty is avoided by taking it = sin, including its
consequences (Hengstenberg, Keil, Kohler). The
inseparable connection between sin and punishment
is well expressed in Num. xxxii. 23. The foregoing
passage does not require us to believe that at the
period spoken of there will still be godless heathen
who refuse to acknowledge and worship Jehovah.
It may be simply a rhetorical enforcement of the
thought that all ungodliness will then entirely
ceaje.
(f.) Vers. 20, 21. Jerusalem becomes thoroughly
holy.
Ver. 20. There shall be on the bells . . . .
altar, ni^Vlp, variously rendered by ancient au-
thorities, is now acknowledged to mean bells, which
were suspended from horses and mules for the sake
of ornament. The phrase inscribed upon these,
Holiness to Jehovah, is that which was engraved
upon the diadem of the high priest (Ex. xxviii.
36). This does not mean that these bells should
be employed for religious worship, or used to make
sacred vessels (Jewish Critics, Cyril, Grotius) ; nor
that the horses and other means of warfare should
be consecrated to the Lord (C. B. Michaelis, Hit-
'ig, Ewald, Maurer) ; hut that the distinction be-
tween sacred and profane should cease (Calvin,
Hengstenberg, Keil, etc.). Even the smallest out-
ward things, such as have no connection with wor-
ship, will be as holy as those which formerly were
dedicated by a special consecration to Jehovah.
Of course this involves the cessation of the Levit-
ical Economy. An advance upon this thought is
contained in the second clause. Not only shall
everything profane become holy, but the different
degrees of holiness shall cease. The pots used for
boiling the sacrificial flesh shall be just as holy as
the sacred bowls which received the blood of the
jiiacular victims. The two kinds of utensils stood
at opposite points of the scale of sanctity ; to put
them on the same level was to say that all would
not only be holy, but alike holy. Calvin on this
passage cites with ridicule the opinion of Theod-
oret, that the former part of the verse was fulfilled
when Helena, the mother of Constantine, adorned
the trappings of a horse with a nail of the cross !
Such trifling was too much even for Jerome.
Ver. 21. And every pot .... in that day.
Here the thought is carried yet farther. Not only
shall the temple-pots be equal to sacrificial bowls,
but every common pot in the city and throughout
the land, will become as sacred as the utensils of
the temple, and be freely used by all for sacrificial
purposes. The substance of the thought is the
same, only more emphatic. This now is repeated
in the closing words, — no more a Canaanlte in
the house of Jehovah. "'352? does not mean a
ma-chant, as in Job xl. 6, Prov. kxxi. 24 (Targum,
Aquila, Jerome, Grotius, Bunsen, Hitzig), for there
are no indications that traders in Old Testament
times frequented the holy courts for traffic; nor
literal Canaanites hy birth, such as Gibeonites and
Ncthinim, who were" employed in the lower func-
tions of the temple service (Drusius, V. Hoffman,
Kliefoth), for these classes lost none of their former
esteem after the restoration ; but the term is used
as an emblematic designation of godless members
of the covenant nation. Canaan was cursed among
Noah's children, and his descendants were under
the ban (Deut. vii. 2, xx. 16, 17). To say that
these should no more be found in the Lord's house,
is simply to say that all its frequenters should be
righteous and holy. Professor Cowles says, " Ca-
naanite was the common Hebrew word for traffick-
er, merchant, — a business in bad repute among thj
Hebrews because so much associated with fraud
and deceit. See Hos. xii. 7, 8." I am quite un-
willing to believe that the voice of inspiration put
such a stigma upon a necessary and honorable oc-
cupation as this explanation implies. Besides, to
say that the love of filthy lucre shall no more pol-
lute the sanctuary, is far less than to say that no
form of sin of whatever kind shall be found there.
Further, such a view is excluded by the obvious
analogy between these two closing verses of Zcch-
ariah and the statements in the concluding pas-
sages of the Apocalypse, where it is plain that
universal holiness is promised as the characteristic
feature of the kingdom of God in its final consum-
mation.
IHEOLOQICAL AND MORAL.
1. As this chapter is by most sound interpreters
admitted to be either as yet wholly unfulfilled, or
else an ideal sketch of the experiences of centuries
extending from the beginning to the end of the
Christian dispensation, there is, of course, consid-
erable vagueness in the view taken of its details.
This, however, is no valid objection to its place iu
the canon. Prophecy was never intended to be
simply history written in advance. Had it been
such, its own ends would have been defeated. Its
obscurity prior to fulfillment is a sure evidence of
its genuineness. But the broad outlines which defy
literal explanation, yet serve to indicate great prin-
ciples, to disclose the springs of God's moral gov-
ernment, and to furnish useful hints for the guid-
ance of his people, warning them against undue
expectations and yet furnishing a sure basis for a
reasonable and holy hope. Pictures of siege, as-
sault, capture, plunder, and exile, as sure to occur
in the future, forbid the least intelligent reader from
forgetting that he belongs to the Church Militant,
or from expecting a calm, steady, peaceful, equable
advance of Zion to its destined prevalence over the
earth. On the contrary, they show that trials of
faith and patience must be encountered ; that at
times the whole outlook will be dark and discour-
aging ; that Satan, like his angels of old in the case
of the demoniacs, will fearfully convulse and rend
the body from which he is doomed to be driven out.
Such suggestions, therefore, however vaguely they
may be expressed, furnish to believers real support
in the season when the enemies of the truth seem
to triumph, by reminding them that just this en-
tered into God's providential purpose. On the
other hand, the same prophecy shows the silver
lining of the cloud, shows that the check of the true
cause is only temporary. The brilliant representa-
tions of future and final triumph console and up-
hold in the greatest " fight of afflictions." And be-
lievers fall back upon the assurance of the Psalm-
ist, " When the wicked spring as the grass and all
the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they
shall be destroyed forever" (xcii. 7).
2. At evening time there shall be light. This has
come to be a watchword of the Church. The cor-
responding proverb of the world, " the darkest
hour is just before day," has been questioned, both
in its literal and its figurative aspects, and perhaps
justly. But there is no question of the truth of
114
ZECHARLiH.
Zechaviah's assertion. It is God's way to test the
faith and patience of his people, to surround them
with difficulties, to hedge up their way on every
hand until they see and feel their own helplessness
and dependence, and then He interposes in a signal
manner. In the great trial of Abraham, when called
to offer Isaac for a burnt-offering, the preparations
had reached the last point, and the patriarch's arm
was uplifted to strike the fatal blow, when the voice
from heaven stayed his hand, and the believer
gratefully exclaimed, " Jehovah Jireh = The Lord
will provide." The experience of Abraham's de-
scendants in Egypt led to the proverbial saying
which the Rabbins have preserved for as " \'\^hen
the straw fails, then comes Moses," or as the mod-
ern phrase is, " Man's extremity is God's opportu-
nity." When Lazarus was sick our Lord was in-
formed of the fact in ample time to proceed to his
bedside and aiTest the disease, as He Bad often done
in other cases, but He deliberately remained away
on the other side of Jordan, and came to Bethany
only when the grave had held its victim for days.
This was not through coldness or carelessness, but,
as He said, for the glory of God (John xi. 4, 40),
in order that a miracle so transcendent might eon-
firm the faith of his disciples and intensify yet
more the love and joy of the sisters in their brother
whom they received back from the tomb. And so
in all cases, whether of individuals or communi-
ties, faith is sustained by the assurance that a day
of clouds and gloom cannot last forever, that a
change will occur just so soon as the purposes of
the visitation are accomplished, and that it will
come just when, according to the natural course
of things, a starless night is about to set in. Earn-
est prayer was made by the Church for the impris-
oned Peter (Acts xii. 5), but it was not until the
very night before the day appointed for his execu-
tion that the angel of the Lord delivered him from
his guards and fetters.
3. Water is a natural image of spiritual bless-
ings, and especially of the chiefest of them all,' —
the influences of the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist
speaks of a river whose streams make glad the' city
of God (xlvi. 4); Joel declares a fountain shall
come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water
the valley of Shittini (iii. 18) ; Isaiah promise.?, " I
will pour floods upon the dry ground : I will pour
my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon
thine offspring " (xliv. 3) ; but Ezekiel (xlvii. 1-12)
furnishes a most striking parallel to Zeehariah's
prediction. He saw water issuing from under the
sanctuary, an ever widening, deepening stream,
which swept through the desert bearing fertility in
its course, until it reached the Sea of Sodom, tlie
standing symbol of desolation and death, and
healed its stagnant waters, filling them with animal
life and covering its banks with trees whose fruit
was food and their leaves medicine. Our 'prophet
sees living streams which issue in diflfere'nt direc-
tions from Jerusalem, and reach to either sea, east
and west ; and as they flow without intermission,
winter and summer, they make the land a terres-
trial Paradise with undying verdure and perpetual
abundance. No one of these figurative descriptions,
however large and varied, is overwrought or ex-
travagant. They rather fall short of the reality.
The blessed Spirit is the author of all the holiness
in the world. He indeed uses means. The proph-
■jcies put Him in close connection with Jerusalem
and the Temple. But the means depend upon
Him,just as the bestappointed ship makes noprog-
ress without a breeze. The Apostles were not al-
owed to engage in their work until the Spirit was
poured out from on high, but when the effusion
was felt, the feeblest of them spake as with a
tongue of fire. The grand feature of the latter day
is copious and continuous eflFusions of such grace,
— no longer intermittent, or scanty, or of small
extent, but radiating in all directions at once, per-
manently filling every channel, and limited only by
the wants of the race. Wherever these living
streams reach, the barren soil of nature is fertil-
ized and the dead live again. Quickly but surely,
with the same noiseless energy with which the
great providential forces work, these spiritual agen
cies perform their office of reconstructing human
society and changing the face of the world
4. The consequence of such streams of blessing
is a degree of consecration never seen before. The
form in which the universal prevalence of holiness
is expressed, is noteworthy. Men are not to be-
come monks or anchorites, the ordinary conditions
of human life are not to be reversed ; but on the
contrary the infusion of grace will be so large and
general that every rank and class will feel it, and
its effects will be seen in all the relations of life,
purifying and elevating without upturning or de-
stroying. In business, in recreation, in politics,
in art, in literature, in social life, in the domestic
circle, there will be a distinct and cordial recog-
nition of the claims of God and of the supremacy
of his law. There will be no divorce anywhere
between religion and morality, no demand that
any department of human activity shall be deemed
beyond the domain of conscience. When even the
bells on the horses bear the same sacred inscription
which once flashed from the diadem of the High
Priest, nothing can be found too small or too fa-
miliar to be consecrated to the Lord. The religious
spirit will prevail everywhere, securing justice,
truth, kindness, and courtesy among men ; doing
away with wars, contentions, jealousies, and com-
petitions ; hallowing trades and handicrafts ; soft-
ening the inevitable contrasts of ranks, gifts, and
conditions; binding men to one another by their
devotion to a common master in heaven ; and thus
introducing the true city of God on earth for which
all saints long with an ever increasing desire. The
idea of such a commonwealth originated in the
Scriptures, and it can be realized only in the way
they point out. All schemes of political, social, or
even moral reform, apart from the principles of the
Word, are the merest chimeras. They are impos-
sible of accomplishment, and if accomplished,
would disappoint their projectors. True religion,
restoring the Lord to his rightful place in human
thought and action, alone furnishes the sanction,
the authority, and the power by which men become
what they ought to be to themselves, to each other,
and to the community. The last Canaanite will
perish from the earih, and the people shall be all
righteous, when the earth is filled with the knowl-
edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Bradley : Vers. 6, 7. I. Mixed condition of
the righteous in this world ; in respect to their
knowledge, their outward circumstances, their in-
ward comforts, their wavering holiness. II. God's
wisdom in allowing it ; to subdue their corrup-
tions, to exercise their graces, to bring them to de-
pendence on Himself. III. Our consolation under
it ; God notices it, the mixed events work together
for good, the scene is short. IV. The happy terrai
nation of all ; in a state of unmingled good, in an
CHAPTER XIV.
115
unexpected hour. Finally, Are we the people con-
cerned in it 1
Hengstenbesg : Vers. 11. Curse. All the
dreadful things that can possibly be thought of are
included in this one word,
Calvin : Ver. 12. The habitation of the godly
is secure, not because they dread no attacks of
foes, but because they firmly beliere that they will
be preserved by a power from above, even though
the devil excites the peoples on all sides to contrive
their rain.
Patson: Vers. 20, 21. I. All common duties
will be performed as seriously as solemn worship.
n. Every building will be a house of God. III.
Every day will be like a Sabbath. IV. Every
meal will be what the Lord's Supper is now. V.
Yet the distinctions which now prevail will be ob-
served. VI. There will be no insincere worship-
pers. Infer (1.) Howwretchedly we nowlive. (2.)
See whether we have any religion or not._ (3.)
Learn what pursuits and pleasures are pleasing to
God.
THE
BOOK OF MALACHI,
EXPOUITDED
JOSEPH PACKARD, D. D.
rBurEsaoa ov bibucal utAsmio ot the theolooicai, sehixabt of thb PBOTUTAar GPigoorAB
OBDBOH AT ALKXANDBIA, VIBaiaiA.
JSTEW TOEK:
CHARLES SCEIBISrEE'S SONS,
filtered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1874, by
SORIBNEK, Akmsteong, ahd Compamt,
Ib the Office of tlie Librarian of Congress, at WasbiiigtMk
MALACHL*
INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. The Prophet Malachi.
The Prophet Malachi is the last of the series of prophets, who, through successive geii«
erations, for a thousand years, " had showed before of the coming of the Just one." Not
only had this remarkable order of inspired men predicted the coming Messiah, but they
lifted up their voice, like a trumpet, to show God's people their transgression, and the house
of Jacob their sins. They were the teachers and preachers of the generations in which
they respectively lived, and were thus the prototypes of ministers of the Gospel.
It has been a subject of doubt, from a very early period, whether Malachi was the real
name of the Prophet, or an official title. The Septuagint translates Malachi " his angel."
The Targum regards Ezra as the author of the prophecy, and is followed in this opinion, with
more or less confidence, by Jerome, Calvin, Hengstenberg, and Umbreit. " I am disposed to
grant," says Calvin, " that the author was Ezra, and that Malachi was his surname, for God
had called him to do great and remarkable things." " We shall not succeed," says Ewald,
" in finding the real name of the writer." No one has so strenuously opposed the common
opinion, that Malachi was the real name of the Prophet, as Hengstenberg, in his Christology
of the 0. T. (2d edition Martin's translation), vol. iv. 156-161. He labors to establish a con-
nection between the name of the Prophet, and the same word as occurring in its official sig-
nification, " my messenger," in ch. iii. 1. He maintains, that the formation of the word, and
the absence of any reference to his father, or the place of his birth, go to show that it was
not a proper name. But, on the other hand, we have no account of the personal relations
of Haggaj, Habakkuk, and Obadiah. The formation of the word, as a proper name, is not
without precedent, as in Naphtali, Zichri. It would be contrary to the analogy of the
prophetical books, it would weaken the force of the prophecy, and cast some suspicion upon
it, if we regarded it as anonymous. We consider it then with Hitzig, as a proper name,
and as an abbreviation of Malachiah, servant of Jehovah. •
The time, in wliieh Malachi prophesied, has also been the subject of some difierence of
opinion. AU are agreed, from the internal evidence, that it was after the exile, which is
not mentioned in the book. The temple was rebuilt, its service, together with the sacrifices,
and feasts and fasts, restored. Some are disposed to put the age of Malachi at a much later
date than others. Dr. J. G. Murphy (Fairbairn's Imperial Dictionary, art. Mai.) maintains,
that he may have lived till the time of Alexander the Great, 331 B. c. Hitzig {Comm. on
Minor Prophets) conjectures, that he prophesied about 358 B. C. But as we find Malachi
condemning the very same abuses, which Nehemiah found existing in his second visit to
Jerusalem, we may reasonably conclude, that they were contemporaries, and sustain the same
relations to each other, that Haggai and Zechariah did to Zerubbabel, and that Malachi
prophesied from 440-410 B. c.
To understand the prophecy, we must glance at the circumstances of the Jews, in his time.
They had returned from the exile, as we learn from Nehemiah, in " great affliction and dis-
tress." The period of the exile had been a painful and humiliating one. They had been
in the furnace of affliction. From the prophecies of Isaiah, and other prophets, they had
expected even more than the restoration of their former blessings, but instead of that, they
»ere under Persian governors, " who had dominion over their bodies." Now, while the
1 I bavo beeo more brief m the Preface to tlalacbi, than I desired, from the brief space allotted me. — J. P
MALACHI.
exile was a great blessing to them in many respects, as it cured them of idolatry, and pro-
duced some outward repentance at least, as the tears, which they shed at Ezra's exposition
of the law, testified, yet from the disappointment of their fond hopes, tliey fell into an un-
grateful, murmuring, self-righteous spirit, complaining of God's injustice to them, as though
they had claims upon Him, and provoking his divine majesty by a denial of his justice, and
providential government. We see in the state of mind and heart of the people, the germs
of that Pharisaism and Sadduceeism, which were full-blown in the time of our Saviour.
They had relapsed, too, into their old sins of marrying heathen wives, which Ezra had
sternly prohibited, and labored to reform.
Bishop Lowth here remarks, " that Malachi is written in a, mediocre style, which seems
to indicate that the Hebrew poetry, from the time of the Babylonish captivity, was in a de-
clining state, and being past its prime and vigor, was then fast verging towards the debility
of age." Gesenius classes him also in the silver age of the Hebrew language, and thus de-
cidedly inferior to the earlier writers. On the contrary, Ewald, who is a competent, and
certainly unbiased judge, pronounces his style as not lacking in smoothness and elegance ;
and Kohler regards it as forcible and remarkably pure, for the time, in its diction and
syntax, and his reasoning as concise and cogent. His descriptions of the original type of
the priesthood, his prophecies of the sun of righteousness, of the Angel of the Covenant,
and of tlie great and terrible day of judgment, are glowing and fervid. Ewald has re-
marked upon a peculiarity of liis style — in his first laying down moral and religious axioms,
as a foundation, and then reasoning from them, and refuting in the form of a dialogue any
objections which might be brought against them. The prophecy of Malachi has been al-
ways regarded as one of great importance. The Church of Rome, it is well known, has
found in the " pure offering," of Malachi i. 11, its principal proof-text of the doctrine of the
Mass.
The contents of the prophecy are principally of a threatening character. After an intro-
duction, in which the Prophet proves the love of God to the people, as the foundation of the
following rebukes and exhortations, he turns, first of all to the priests, and threatens them
with severe punishment for their open contempt of the law, and their unfaithfulness in their
office.
The next rebuke is administered to those who had divorced their Jewish wives, in order
to contract marriages with heathen wives. He rebukes the iri-eligion of the people, their
denial of God's justice, and their withholding tithes and offerings. The Prophet assures
them that the awful day of divine judgment, in which God will reward the righteous and
punish the wicked, will surely come, and that God would graciously send his messenger
Elijah the Prophet, before his coming.
The last words of the Old Testament, " The Angel of the Covenant, — Elijah the
Prophet," have hardly died upon the ear, when John the Baptist, standing at the threshold
of the New Testament, echoes the voice of Malachi, and cries out in the wilderness, " I am
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, as it is written in the Prophet, Behold, I send my
messenger, before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before me."
5 2. Analysis of the Book.
Most Commentators, following Jahn in his Hebrew Bible, and Introdtiction to the Old
Testament, divide the prophecy into six sections.
1. Chap. i. 1-6. Introduction. Expostulation of Jehovah with Israel. He proves his
distinguishing love by comparing their condition with that of Edom, and thus refutes their
complaint, that he has not loved them.
2. Chaps, i. 6-ii. 10. Rebuke of the Priests, for their oflCering unlawful sacrifices, and
thus profaning God's ordinances, for their perversion of the law. Prophecy of the pure and
spiritual worship of Jehovah among the heathen.
3. Chap. ii. 10-16. Rebuke of unfaithfulness in the marriage relation by marrying heathen
(fives, and divorcing Israelitish wives.
4. The sending of Jehovah's messenger to prepare the way for the unexpected coming of
the Messiah, to judge, but not utterly to destroy Israel (chaps, ii. 17-iii. 7).
6. Rebuke of the people for withholding the legal tithes and offerings, and thus defraud'
bg God (chap, iii 7-13),
INTRODUCTION.
6. Prediction of the destiny of tlie rigbteous and the wicked. Exhortation to observe
the law. Another Elijah to come. Threatenings, if they do not repent and flee from the
wrath to come, of a curse of utter destruction upon the land.
§ 3. Unusual Words and Forms in Malachi.
Chap. i. 3. nisri, for □''3^1. The verb, tt?©^, i. 4. The combination of b?a, with b,
i. 5. The meaning of nr^:iT:;i, i- 10, 11-13 ; ii. 13 ; iii. 4. The word 3"'2, i. 12. The verli
b?5j i- 14; tli6 form nntPa,. i. 14. The unusual meaning of rT1!JD, ii. 1. The use o.
"|Sba, ii. 7; iii. 1. The expression 132 bS'na, ii. 11. The proverb mV) ~>V, ii. 12;
the expression, rT^"!? n27i^, ii. 15. The form of the participle, SDtt7, ii. 16; the title
n''"12n "fSba, iii. l ; the word n"'"l!2, iii. 2 ; the construction in iii. 5, n3t» ~tSZ\ The
verb y? p, iii. 8 ; the proverb ^l"^h'3."\V, iii. 10 ; the word jT^pnip, used only in iii. 14 ;
the proverb r\^V'} WIW, iii. 19 ; the verb OOV, iii. 21.
§ 4. Literature.
Jerome, Comm. in Mat, in his Opera, vol. vi., Migne's edition, Paris, 1845 ; J. Calvin on tha
Minor Prophets (Eng. translation by Owen), Edinb. 1849 ; David ChytrsEus, Explic. Malachi,
Rost., 1568 ; J. J. Grynseus, Hypomnemata in Mai., Geneva, 1582; Sam. Bohlius, Malachias,
Rest., 1637 ; Sclater On Malachi, London, 1650; J. H. Ursini, Comment, in Malach., Fref.,
1652; Stock On Malachi, London, 1641; Poli, Synopsis, London, 1673; Marck on the
Minor Prophets, Amst, 1701; Sal. von Til, Malach. Illustratus, 1701; J. C. Hebenstreit,
Interp. Malachice, 1731 ; J. H. Miohaelis, BiUia Hebraica, Halle, 1720 ; Joa. Wesselius, MaU
aehias, Lubec, 1729 ; E. Pocock On Malachi, London, 1740 ; C. E. Bahrdt, Comm. in Malach.,
1768; J. M. Faber, Comm. in Mai., 1779; Vitringa, De Malach. Observationes, 1712; H.
Venema, Comm. ad. Mai., Leon, 1759; J. Jahn, Vaticinia de Messia, Vienna, 1813; P. P.
Ackermann, Prophetce Minores, 1830 ; W. Newcome, Minor Prophets, London, 1836 ; E. F.
C. Rosenmiiller, Scholia, Lipsise, 1836 ; G. R. Noyes, Neio Translation of the Pnrphets, Bos-
ton, 1837 ; F. I. V. D. Maurer, Comm., Lipsise, 1837 ; E. Henderson, Minor Prophets, Lon-
don, 1845 ; L. Reinke (R. C), T)er Prophet Malachi, Giessen, 1852 ; T. V. Moore, Prophets
of the Restoration, New York, 1856 ; E. W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the 0. T., 2d ed.
vol. iv. pp. 156-258 (transl. by Meyer), Edinburgh, 1858; F. Hitzig, Exegetisches Handbuch,
Leipz., 1866 ; A. Kohler, Die Nachexilischen Propheten, Erlangen, 1865 ; H. Ewald, Die
Jungsten Propheten, Getting., 1868 ; Keil, on the Minor Prophets (Engl, transl. by Martin),
Edinb., 1868 ; W. Pressel, Commentar zu den nachexilischen Propheten, Gotha, 1870 (origi-
nally intended for Lange's Bibelwerk, but published independently) ; C. Wordsworth, Comm,
on (he 0. T. (vol. vi.), containing Daniel and the Minor Prophets, London, 1872.
THE PROPHET MALACHI.
SECTION I.
Chapter I. 1-5.
God^s peculiar Love to Israel above Edom.
1 2 _ The burden 1 of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved' you,
Baith the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us ? Was not Esau Jacob's
S brother ? saith the Lord : yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his moun-
4 tains and his heritage waste for the dragons' [jackals] of the wilderness. Whereas
Edom saith, We are impoverished * [ruined], but we will return [again] and build
the desolate places ; thus saith the Lord of Hosts, They shall build, but I will throw
down ; and they shall call them. The border of wickedness, and, The people against
5 whom the Lord hath indignation for ever. And your eyes shall see, and ye shall
say, The Lord will be magnified " [great is Jehovah] from * the border of Israel.
TKKTTJAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
(A new translation will be given at tlie end of tlie Commentary.)
1 Ver. 1. — n5"| Sffi'Q, found only together in Zech. ix. 1, xii. 1, followed by 3, bp, bW, to determine Its re-
lation to the object.
2 Ver. 1.— The LXX. have inserted, before "I have loved": Lay to heart, or, consider, aa in Eaggai I. 7, II. IB.
8 Ver. S. — niapl, a fern. pi. for D^'pri (so Ewald, Eemke) from ]ri, Micah I. 8 ; Is. xili. 22.
4 Ver. 4. — !131i?^"7'i P''*' "f '^t?"') '" *>' destroyed, not from WT), as onr version makes it.
6 Ver. 5. — Glreat be 'Jehovah! praised aa great and glorious. See Ps. xxxv. 27, xl. 17, where the same phrase
occurs.
« Ver. 6. — byp, over, above, Neh. iU. 28 ; Bco. y. 7, not beyond the border, the land of Israel.
ISXEQKTICAL AND CRITIOAL.
Ver. 1 . The burden of the word of the Lord.
Borne of the recent German Commentators, fol-
lowing Vitringa, understand by burden (S^O)
nothing more than a divine speech, prophecy, or ut-
terance, so that it would mean, " the speech of
Babylon, Damascus, Egypt, Moab," instead of the
burden upon these countries. Jerome remarks :
" The word massa is never placed in the title,
save when the vision is heavy and fall of burden
and toil." In this interpretation he has been fol-
lowed by Hengstenberg, who has fully discussed
the subject, and by Kohler and Keil. Henderson
has translated it sentence. The connection in the
first verse with ward shows that it means some-
thing more, or it would have been superfluous.
Eleven times in Isaiah (xiii. 1 ; xiv. 28 ; xv. 1 ;
svii. 1 ; xiz. 1 ; xxi. 1, 11, 13 ; xxiii. 1), in Ezek-
iel xii. 10 ; Hab. i. I ; Zech. ix. 1 ; xii. 1, it is
followed by a prophecy of a threatening nature.
In Jeremiah xxiii. .33, xxxiv. 36, the meaning
burden, heavy prophecy is presupposed. The peo-
ple, whenever they met the prophets, asked scoif-
ingly, if they had received any new massa, or
burden. " What is th5 burden of the Lord ? " not
believing that the predicted evil would come. As a
punishment for their blasphemy God declares (ver.
39) " I will burden you." See Lange on Jeremiah
xxiii. 33-40; Alexander on Isaiah xiii 1.
To Israel, not concerning Israel, but to, as bS
shows. By Israel is meant here not the kingdom
of Israel as distinct from that of Judah, but the
small colony composed of all the tribes who had
returned to Judoea after the Captivity, and thus be-
came the central point of the divine promises and
threatenings. Those who did not return lost the
name of Israel, while those who did were called
Israel by way of eminence, »s those to whom the
MALACHI.
promises were made. Nehemiah and Ezra use the
word Israel in the same way.
By MalacM, through Malachi. The Hebrew is,
fcy the hand of Malachi. Kohler, Ewald, and De-
litzsch have discussed the question, whether the
prophecy, as it now is, was delivered vrally to the
people, and have concluded that we have only the
substance of the more copious oral addres.ses of the
prophet, at different times, brought together into
one single prophecy. The Septuagint, as we have
already remarked in the Introduction, has trans-
lated it, iv x^^P^ ayyeKov tWTov, by tlie hand of bis
angel.
Ver. 2. I have loved you, saitli Jehovali.
The whole prophecy represents the relations of
Jehovah to his people, first, as their Father and
Lord, secondly, as their only God, and final Judge.
The Prophet introduces Jehovah as declaring
his love to them, as the foundation of the rebukes,
threatenings, exhortations, and promises, which
follow. This love of Jehovah to them laid them
under obligation to love Him in return, and to
keep his commandments. It is because He loved
the people that He rebuked and chastened them.
In reply to the people, who ask for proofs of
Jehovah's love, he condescends to appeal to facts
in their history, and in his dealings with them,
that cleai'ly prove this love. Was not Esau a
brotlxer of Jacob's ? saith Jehovah, yet I loved
Jacob, and hated Esau. The question is put in
this way, and the names of Jacob and Esau men-
tioned, rather than those of Israel and Edora, to
call attention to the fact, that, though they were
brothers, and sustained the same relation to Jeho-
vah, so that it might have been expected, that He
would have dealt with both alike, yet He had not
done so, neither in their own persons nor in their
posterit) , so tiiat judging from the results we might
regard the one as loved and the other as hated.
That the word hate is not used here in its
strongest sense, is clear from several passages of
Scripture, as wliere Leah says that she was hafed
by Jacob (Gen. xxix. 3.3), and in Deut. xxi. 15,
wheic the case is put of a man's having two wives,
one beloved and the other hat«d, and in Luke xvi.
1 3, where it is said of a servant with two masters,
that he will bate the one and love the other, and
Luke xiv. 26, compared with Matthew x. 37, where
the hating one's father and mother is interpreted
by loving less. St. Paul, in Rom. ix. 11, refers to
Jacob and Esau as ilhistrations of the purpose of
God, according to election. Their history typified
and conditioned that of their posterity.
Ver. 3. And his inheritance for the jackals
of the desert. We are not informed when and
by whom this utter desolation of Edom took place.
Jahn and Hitzig ascribe it to the Persians, so also
Kohler ; Keil and others to the Chaldffians, fulfill-
ing thus the prophecies of Amos, Obadiah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. "
The word translated in the A. V. dragons
should be rather translated, jackals, with the Jew-
ish Commentators, and Ewald, Kohler, Umbreit,
Reinke, Stier, Pressel. Our version follows Je-
rome, Luther, Calvin, Bochart, Cocceius, J. H.
Michaelis, who translate it serpents, or dragons.
The Septuagint translates it, Si/uaTa ip-fi/iou,
iesert dwellings, in which they are followed by De
Wette ( Wohnungen), Gesenius, Maurer, Rosen-
miiller, Rodiger, Fijrst, Henderson, and Noyes.
The word in this form is found only here. We
regard it with Kohler, Keil, and others, as the
'eminine plural of ]i^. The mascuUne plural is
found, Ps. xliv. 20 ; Ixiii. 10 ; Is. xiii. 22 ; xxxiv
13 ; xxxv. 7 ; xliii. 20 ; Jer. ix. 11 ; x. 22 ; xlix
33 ; li. 37 ; Lam. iv. 3 (where it is strangely
translated sea monsters) ; and is translated in
oar version dragons. In Isaiah xiii 22, Mi-
cah i. 8, they are represented as crijing and waiU
ing, so they could not have been dragons, or ser-
pents.
Ver. 4. "Whereas Edom saith, or rather, al-
though Edom should say, we are ruined, but we will
again rebuild the ruins, ThuB saith Jehovah of
Hosts, or Jehovah of Saljaoth. Hengstenberg
has labored to show, in opposition to Gesenius,
that Sabaoth is in apposition with Jehovah, and
to be separated from it by a comma, as a special
appellation of God. It is translated by the Septua-
gint, TravTOKpirap (Almighty), twenty-four times
in Malachi, and passes over into the New Testa-
ment in 2 Cor. vi. 18, Tlie Lord Almighty ; the Al-
mighty, in Rev. i. 8 ; Lord God Almighty^ Rev. iv.
8, and frequently.
While Israel was rebuilding its ruins, all the at-
tempts of Edom to repair its desolations will prove
abortive.
The border of wickedness. By the word bw-
der is meant here the land, with its inhabitants.
When Edom fails to recover its former prosperity
all men must acknowledge that it is a perpetual
monument of God's wrath.
Ver. 5. Great is Jehovah over the land at
Israel. Hitzig, Maurer, Ewald, Umbreit, Reinke,
Noyes, Pressel, understand this clause to mean,
that from the doom of Edom Israel will be forced
to confess that Jehovah is not only great in Israel,
but beyond its borders. Henderson, following Aben
Ezra, connects, from the border of Israel with the
ye of the preceding clause, ye from the border of
Israel. But, as beyond is an unprecedented mean-
ing of 75p, as Israel had no doubt that Jehovah
ruled beyond the borders of Israel, we had better
understand it to mean, that Israel, by contrasting
its condition with that of Edom, will be more
deeply convinced that Jehovah's government of
his people Israel was a gracious one. As the fu-
ture precedes the subject it had better be trans-
lated, says Kohler, as an optative. May Jehovah be
praised! but it is more congruous to the context
to translate it. Great is Jehovah over the borders
of Israel ! as in Ps. xxxv. 27, where it is U> be
translated. Great is Jehovah ! See Alexander and
Delitzsch on the 3.5th Psalm, also on Ps. xl. 17,
where the same words occur.
DOCTRINAL, HOMILETICAL, AND PRACTICAL
W. Pressel : We cannot more correctly and
fully express the meaning of these prophetic words,
than the Apostle Paul has done in two passages in
Rom. ix. 7, 1 1 : " Neither because they are the seed
of Abraham are they all children ; " and, " Not
of works, but of him that calleth : " for the Apos-
tle as well as the Prophet recognizes in the relation
of Esau and Jacob, and of the descendants of
both, a striking example, that descent fiom one
and the same patriarch is not the ground of one
and the same election on the part of God, but that
it is his free grace, which uses one as an instru-
ment for the kingdom of God, and the other not,
and according to which the one does not frustrate
the saving purpose of God, through his want ol
faithfulness, and the other, in spite of all his «f
ibrts, does not obtain salvation for himself^ Aiid
CHAPTEBS I. 6-II. 10.
jet,-m the words of the prophet, as well a» of the
Apostle, the close connection of guilt on the part
of the individual, with the rejection on the part of
God, is also intimated. As much as in the Old
Covenant the circle of revelation was limited, juid
necessarily so, to the people of Israel, so rich is
this revelation, however, especially by the prophets
in hints that the decree and glory of Jehovah
BhoiiW extend beyond the limits of Israel, if even
at first only in the exiecution of his judgments,
which were necessary to prepare the way among
tlie heathen for the visitation of grace.
HOmuSIICAL HINTS.
Ver. 2. As there lies in the address of Jehovah
the key to the understanding of the history of our
life, so there lies in the reply of Israel the key to
the understanding of our hearts. The history of
our life appears, according to it, as a history of
love, wherein the bitter as well as the sweet have
only our good for their end, and as a decree of
love, according to which nothing is accidental, but
all ordained from eternity. Our heart appears in
it in its blindness, since though the proofs of God's
love are very plain yet we fail to understand them,
and in its ingratitude, and distrust the source of
this blindness ; or, the history of our life confirms
tp us what the Lord here testifies, and our perverse
and desponding heart at least thinks what Israel
here objects.
On ver. 3. May it be deeply impressed upon my
heart wliat a happiness it is to be a Christian !
for how does the heathen world appear to as, when
we look at the blessings of Christianity ! The
heathen are by nature our brethren, as Edom was
the brother of Israel, and yet what a waste and
kingdom of Satan is the heathen world ! In what
light does Christianity appear to us, when we look
at the curse of heathenisjn ! What do we not en-
joy in the knowledge of the love of God to us in
Jesus Christ,' and in communion with Him, and
in all the blessings in heart and house, in the social
and domestic circle, which flow to us therefrom,
and yet how little have we deserved it, and- how
little is this blessing from step to step our work!
Ver. 4. The world's defiance of God's decree :
It breaks down, He builds up ; it builds, He breaks
down.
On thff whole section i. 1-6. The gracious elec-
liun of God is the golden thread, which runs
through not only the history of Israel, but through
the whole history of the kingdom of God upon
earth ; but it is yet neither an " order of merit "
for us, it rather humbles and disciplines, and spurs
us on ; it is only a cord of love by which the Lord
draws us, while it brings destruction to thDsa
like the children of Edom. Love and hatred in
the heart of Godl What does the New Testa-
ment say to this prophetic expression'? What
does the history of the Church of Christ say to
it ■? What does the witness of the Holy Ghost in
our hearts say to it ?
Ver. 5. Thrn and now! Then, the word of
promise sounded, Great is the Lord beyond tha
limits of Israel ! and the promise found its fulfill-
ment in the history of the mission to the Gentiles.
Now, the word of promise sounds. Great is tlie
Lord among Israel ! and the promise finds like-
wise its fulfillment in the history of the mission
to the Jews.
E. PococK, Professor of Hebrew in Oxford and
Canon of Christ Church : " / loved Jacob," etc.
The Apostle St. Paul, in Rom. ix. 11, improveth
this argument from thence, that this love to the
one and hatred to the other was declared, when
those children were not yet born, so that it could
not be said that one had deserved better than the
other, and therefore his love to one above the other
must needs appear to be oi' free grace and choice,
electing one, and rejecting the other ; and the dis-
tinction was both in their temporal and spiritual
state. But the literal explication of the words re-
quires no more than the particular effect of his
love to Jacob's posterity and hatred to Esau's, here
instanced in the utter desolation of Esau's coun-
try, and the restitution of Israel's, the punishment
proving to the one utter destruction, to the other
a fatherly chastisement.
[Bishop Wordsworth, representing another
school in the Church of' England, remarks on vers.
2, 3 : The doctrine, taught by St. Paul in Eora.
ix. 13, which has been much misrepresented and
distorted by some Calvinistic teachers, may be il-
lustrated by the divine words here. "The love of
God towards Jacob, as St Cyril remarks, was not
without foresight of Jacob's faithfulness and piety
as compared with Esau. The hatred of God to-
ward Esau, " a profane person, who despised his
birthright," was certainly no arbitrary nor capri-
cious passion. And if we extend these words to
Edom, we find it bringing God's judgments on
itself by its unmerciful and revengeful spirit to-
wards Israel. See Ps. cxxxvii. 7 ; Is. Ixiii. 1 ; Ob. 8.
— P. S.]
SECTION n.
Chapteks I. 6-n. 10.
Rehihe of the Priests,
6 A son honoreth^ Ms father, and a servant his master : if then lie a, father [but
if 1 am] where is mine honor? and if I 5« a master, where is my fear? saith the
Lord of Hosts unto you, O [ye] priests, that despise my name. And ye say^
7 Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer ^ [offering] polluted bread upon
mine altar ; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee ? In that ye say. The table
10 MALACHI.
8 of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, It is not evil.
And if ye offer the lame and sick, It is not evil. Offer it now unto thy governor;
will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of Hosts ?
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that He will be gracious unto us : this hath
been by your means * [hand] ; will he regard your persons ? saith the Lord of
10 Hosts. Who is there ^ even among you [0, that there were one among you !] that
would shut the doors /or nought'}^ Neither do ye kmAle fire on mine altar for
nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept
11 an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going
down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every
place incense shall he offered unto my name, and [indeed, Keii and Kohier] a pure offer-
ing : for my name shall he great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts.
12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted ; and
13 the fruit thereof, even his meat, [its food] is contemptible. Ye said also. Behold,
what a weariness is it ! and ye have snuffed [puffed] at it, saith the Lord of Hosts ;
and ye brought that which was torn' [stolen], and the lame, and the sick ; thus ye
brought an offering : should I accept this of your hand ? saith the Lord. But
14 [And] cursed he the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and
sacriflceth unto the Lord a corrupt thing '" [an unsuitable animal] ; for I am a great
King, saith the Lord of Hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Chapter II.
1 And now, 0 ye priests, this commandment" [sentence, decree] is for you. If ye
2 will not hear, and if ye wOl not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith
the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your bless-
3 ings : yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold,
I will corrupt ^ [rebuke, as in ch. Hi. ii ; Ps. cTi. 9 ; Is. xTii. 13] your seed, and spread
dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts ; and one shall take
4 you away with it.^' And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment
unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of Hosts. My
5 covenant was with him of life and peace ; and I gave them to him for the fear
6 wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was
in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips : he walked with me in peace
and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the priest's lips should
keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth : for he is the
8 messenger of the Lord of Hosts. But ye are departed out of the way ; ye have
caused many to stumble at the law ; ye have corrupted " [or made void] the cove-
9 nant of Levi, saith the Lord of Hosts. Therefore have I also made you contempt-
ible and base before all the people, according as " [because] ye have not l^pt my
ways, but have been partial in the law.
TEXTDAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 6. — ^l^P^ ^ not to be understood as Jussive, in the sense of a eon skovid honor, but as a future of custom
K usage. The Bufflx in "I"li33, my honor, is objective, as in 0en. ix. 2 ; Ex. xx. 17 ; Ps. xo. 11.
2 Ver. 7. — The first clause is the answer to the last clause of Ter. 6. t£7''3l2 is used In Malachi B. 12, lil. 8, and In
I«v. U. 8, Amos T. 25, of offering, anj?, used In Ter. 8 : Offer it now to thy governor, is the more common word for
nflering.
8 Ver. 8. —No question. Tills greatly weakens its force.
4 Ver. 9. — Means (Hebrew *7^. hand.l
t' '
6 Ver. 10. — D3Q, not causal, but emphatic, and partitive.
6 Ver. 10. — Wbo is there, etc., for : 0, that there were ' For the Hebrew Idiom, txpresslnit a wish, see Ps. Iv 7 i
2Sam. XT. 4, xilii. 16; Job xix. 23. ■ r o , i
1 Ver. 10. — 3371, to no purpose, not gratlB.
8 Ver. 13. — ^^T3, stolen, not torn.
t'
• Ter. 18. - nHbfio hi iiii^r^-rTa.
CHAPTERS I. 6-n. 10.
11
1» Ver. U. — nnipa. Bem. Part. Hophal. The old yereiong, and many modem commentators, punctuate it with
> final Kamets, as maaculine. It occurs in tills torm in ProT. xir. 26. It corresponds to "IDT male.
U Ch. 2, ver. 1. — H JSH, sentence.
la Ver. 3. — inj. This Terb, translated " corrupt," occurs tmln times elsewheio, and is always translated : tebok*
IS Ver. 3. — D5^. Dative of disadTantage.
U Ver. 8.— nntt?, to make Toid.
U Ver. 9. — ''D?, because (De Watte, da/Ur) (Kohler, DietaeU).
EXEGBTIOAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 6. A son honoreth his father, etc. Je-
hovah expostulates with the priests for the unuat-
uralness of their disobedience. They stood in n
peculiar relation to Him, were under peculiar obli-
gations to sanctify Him in the eyes of the people,
and yet they had profaned his name, and made Is-
rael to sin. Jehovah begins with an indisputable
moral principle. No one would deny that a sou
was bound to love and obey a father, and a servant
to fear and obey his master. But if I am a father.
He speaks in a conditional form, though Israel
could not deny it, as though He would leave it to
Israel to acknowledge Him as such or not. Jeho-
vah was the Father of Israel, and Ephraim was
his son. He was without dispute their master.
My honor, my fear. The suifixes are used here
in an objective sense, the honor due me, the fear
of me. The priests, instead of confessing their
guilt, with hypocritical self-righteousness deny the
charge of despising Jehovah's name, and demand
the proofs of this charge. Yet ye say. Wherein
have we despised thy name ? A new sentence
should begin with this clause.
The answer to this question is to be found in
the first clause of ver. 7 : Offering polluted bread.
This we regard, with Maurer and Ewald, as an
answer to the question proposed in the last clause
of the preceding verse. By bread is meant here
not the shew bread, which was not offered upon the
altar, but any sacrifices, as the mention of the
blind and lame shows. Sacrifices are often called
in the law, the bread or food of God ; Lev. xxi.
6, 8, 17, 21, 22 ; xxii. 25; Num. xxviii. 2; Lev.
iii. 11, 16. The bread is called impure, or polluted,
because it does not correspond to the claims of
God and to his law, which forbade the offering of
a sacrifice with any blemish, such as blindness, or
lameness, or any evil-favoredness ; Lev. xxii. 20,
25 ; Deut. xv. 21. To pollute Jehovah is to offer
polluted sacrifices. In proof of the charge against
the priests, which they denied, Jehovah refers to
what they said and did. They represent the altar
as contemptible by their practice of offering sacri-
fices expressly forbidden.
The words. There is no evil, are not to be taken
as a question, this would weaken their force, but
are used in the sense of the priests, and in the
mouth of the prophet are words of angry rebuke
and bitter irony.
Ver. 8. The prophet now uses an argumentum
ad hominem, to show that they had treated Jehovah
with less respect than they would have treated any
human governor. Offer it now to thy governor.
The word translated, governor, is found in Jer.
li. 28; 1 Kings x. 15; Neh. ii. 7; v. 14, and
means a heathen governor of a province. To ac-
cept a person, is to be favorably disposed towards
»ny one, to espouse liis cause.
Ver. 9. And now I pray you, beseech Qod,
etc. The prophet proceeds to make an applica-
tion of the illustration in ver. 8. If the governor
will not receive worthless gifts, how much less will
Jehovah !
The challenge to the priests to beseech God has
been regarded by Jerome, J. H. Michaelis, and
Hitzig, as an earnest call to repentance, and prayer
for God's mercy. But as the parenthesis { This has
been by your hand !) most naturally means. Such
sins have been committed by you ! and seems to
be inserted to reiteiate the charge, and silence any
reply; as the question. Will he accept your persons?
intimates that God will not do so, which is never
the case where there is sincere prayer for his mer-
cy, and as the next verse expressesa wish that the
doors of the Temple were altogether closed, it is
better to regard it with Calvin, Maurer, Ewald,
Keil, Kohler, and Henderson, as conditional, and
with a shade of irony. Should you intercede with
God, will He accept any 1 "The Septuagint puts
it in the first person : " Shall I accept of you your
persons?" The word D?P is understood by Keil
and Kohler as meaning, on your account, but it is
better to regard it, with the LXX. and Maurer, as
partitive and emphatic : No one of you. The prophet
adds : Thus saith Jehovah Sabaoth, that we
may not forget that what he says was inspired of
God.
Ver. 10. 'Who is there among you, or rather,
O, that some one among you would even shut
the doors of the temple ! The first clause is to
be explained in accordance with a well-known He-
brew idiom as a wish, 2 Sam. xv. 4; xxiii. 15;
Ps. iv. 7 ; Job xix. 23. Jehovah is so provoked
by their illegal offerings, and the spirit which act-
uated them, that He would gladly see his whole
worship discontinued. D5i though placed first, be-
longs to the whole sentence, and is emphatic. By
the doors are meant the folding doors, which led
from the outer court to the court of the priests,
where was the altar of burnt offerings. The rea-
son for this wish is given, that the priests may
not light a fire uselessly, to no purpose, upon Jeho-
vah's altar. The for nought, in the first clause in
our version, is unnecessary. Jehovah character-
izes their sacrifices as vain, because they did not
accomplish their end. Jerome, Grotius, Hender-
son, understand by it in vain, gratis, without pay-
ment, and refer it to the avaricious disposition of
the priests ; but it is better to consider it to mean,
without an object. An oflfering (nnSJS), by this is
meant not the unbloody sacrifice of fine wheat-
flour, mentioned in Lev. ii. 1-15, but all kinds of
sacrifice, as the context shows where only animal
victims are spoken of, and from its use in this
sense in Gen. iv. 4, where Abel's sacrifice of a
lamb is called iin?!?, 1 Sam. ii. 15 ; Isaiah i. 13 ;
Zeph. iii. 10.
12
MALACHL
Ver. 1 1 . For from the rising of the sun, etc.
In contrast with the sacrifice which Jehovah re-
jects, he declares, that the honr is coming when
the true worshippers, not in Jerusalem only but in
even) place, shall offer a pure, a sincere offt-riny; in
spirit and truth, and a living sacrifice of their souls
and bodies to (he name of Jehovah, which has
been despised. What an insight into the most
distant future 1 TIow much is involved in this
prophecy ? The kingdom of God taken from the
Jews and given to the Gentiles, the abrogation of
the old dispensation wherein the worship of the
Father was confined to one place (Deut. xii. 13),
the coming of the hour " when the true worship-
pers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth : "
the universal spread of Christianity. This proph-
ecy is regarded by some of the Jewish Commenta-
tors, and by the Septuagiiit, and by Hitzig, Ewald,
Maurer, Umbreit, and Kohler as a declaration of
what was already the fact among the heathen who
worshipped ignorantly the unknown Jehovah, un-
der different names. If so, it would amount to
the lines in Pope's universal Prayer ; —
" Father of all I in every age,
In every cUme adored,
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord ! "
In opposing this view we first deny the fact. So
far from the name of Jehovah being great among
the heathen, and a pure worship offered Him, they
were sunk into the most abominable and inex-
cusable idolatry, they worshipped and served the
creature rather than tlie Creator, who is God over
all, blessed forever ! It would be in conflict with
other prophecies, Isainh xi. 10 ; Zeph. ii. 11 , Zech.
ix. 10; Is. Ixvi. 20, and many others, which speak
of such a worship as in the_/!(/Mre.
Pocock, speaking of this Jewish interpretation,
adopted by Ewald and others, well says, " What
is it less than even an excuse, or apology for, if not
a commendation of idolaters, and idolatry, as from
the mouth of God himself, who all along showed
them and their ways to be all most abominable to
him."
By incense is here meant prayer, of which it is
a frequent symbol. This is admitted by the Ro-
man Catholic commentator, Reinke, who ob-
serves, " that Malachi could not refer to literal in-
cense is evident from the fact that the offering of
incense could only take place in the temple." If
this is true of incense, why is it not true of the
ottering in the same sentence, associated with it
!here and in the law (Lev. ii. 15)'! Yet Reinke
, understands it with the Church of Rome, as refer-
ring to the " bloodless sacrifice of the New Testa-
ment, the holy sacrifice of the Mass." It is well
known that the Church of Rome makes use of
this text as its principal proof-text for the doctrine
of the Mass. " That in the Mass is offered to God
a, true, proper, and propitiatoiT sacrifice for the
living and the dead." In the Canons of the Coun-
cil of Trent, Sess. 22, we read, " that the Mass is
tiiat pure sacrifice which the Lord predicted by
JIalachi should be offered to his name in every
place."
Whately remarks of such a use of Scripture to
support certain practices, that " the misinterpreia-
tioti has sprung from the doctrine." The doctrine
lLa« arisen first, and then the texts of Holy Writ
we assigned to support it.
" In religion,
What error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text? "
The Church of Rome appeals here as elsewhere,
to the almost unanimous consent of the F'athcrs,
We may spend a little time in showing the unfair-
ness of such an appeal, by quoting the principal
passages in which they refer to this verse. They
were governed by no fixed rules in their interpre-
talion of Scripture, and were in the habit of ac-
commodating every text which came to hand, to
serve their purpose. An important distinction
should be made between their intnpretation and
application of texts. Tliey were given to a florid
and ornate style, and their rhetoric has often been
converted into logic. Kohler has very briefly
brought together the principal passages from the
Fathers, a synopsis of which we here give. Justin
Martyr speaks of " the heathen offering to God,
according to Malachi i. 11, the bread and cup of
thanksgiving," but he proceeds to explain it, as
used by metonymy for the true sacrifice of prayer
and praise.
IrenaBus also refers one passage to the elements
of the JLord's Supper, but only in the sense, " that
Christians symbolically offer bread and wine to
God in proof of their thankfulness, and after the
offering pray the Holy Ghost that he would ren-
der them the body and blood of Christ, so that
those who received them might obtain forgiveness
of their sine and eternal life." Irenseus regards
faith, obedience, praise, righteousness, and prayer
as the true sacrifices.
Origen, on Prayer, proves from our passage,
that every place is adapted to prayer."
The Apostolic Constitutions require " the faith-
ful to assemble for prayer on the Lord's day, io
order that, according to Malachi, their sacrifice
may be acceptable to God."
Fusebius Pamphilus sees in Malachi i. 11 a
prophecy of the abrogation of the Jewish ritual,
" while Christians would offer to God the sacri-
fices of love, prayer, and remembrance of the great
sacrifice, ri ^w^^utj tow ft^yaKov 6v/iaTOS."
Jerome, in his Commentary, explains this pas-
sage as, " spirittialei victimce sanctorum oratumes
JJmnino qfferendce."
Augustine understands it of " works of mercy
either to ourselves or to others." " We ourselves
are the best and noblest sacrifice." He speaks of
the Lord's Supper as shadowing forth the self-
sacrifice of the Church to its Lord.
Chrysostom quotes this passage in proof, that
the worship of God in spirit and truth should
take the place of the Jewish service. He calls the
Lord's Supper only so far a sacrifice, as by the in-
vocation of the Holy Ghost, the body aiid blood
of the Lord are present for the enjoyment of the
believers.
Cyril Alex., understands by this text in Malachi
" the sacrifices of faith, hope, love, and good works
which the heathen in the future shall offer."
We thus see with what justice the Church of
Rome appeals to the Fathers, and from this case
we may j udge of others, ab uno disce omnea. There
is not the slightest warrant to suppose any allu-
sion to the Lord's Supper in this verse ; nothing
is more common than to use sacrificial terms bor-
rowed from the Old Testament ritual, in a spirit-
ual sense, of the sacrifices of praise and good
works, of the royal priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, and
of the bodies of believers as living sacrifices.
Ver. 12. But ye profane it. The prophet re
news the charge of ver. 7 against the priests, that
they profane the name of the Lord by offering de-
fective animals.
CHAPtEES I. 6-n. 10.
13
And the fruit thereof, even ita food. Its pro-
vision, that is, of the table, or altar, even its food.
Ver. 13. Ye say also, Behold what weari-
ness ! Instead of regarding their service at the
altar as an honorable privilege, they look upon it
as an oppressive drudgery. Ye snuff at it, you
show without any concealment and publicly your
contempt.
Ye hring that which was torn, or rather
plundered. Two bringings are mentioned, the
first preparatory to the second, when the victim
was presented, ready for sacriiice. The verse
closes with an appeal to the priests, as in ver. 8, as
to Jehovah's acceptance of such sacrifices.
Ver. 14. And cursed be the deceiver. The
"1 here should be translated, And cursed, cursed
be he, who, when the law requires a male, brings
one of less value. The law permitted and enjoined
sacrifices of female animals in some cases (Lev. iii.
1; iv. 32; v. 6).
We had better understand corrupt or blemished,
(as in Lev. xxii. 25), witli Keil and Kijhler, as
masculine, and not as feminine, as Ewald, Maurer,
Hitzig, and regard the curse as pronounced upon
any one who redeemed his vow with an inferior
auimal.
The argument by which this rebuke is enforced
is, that Jehovah is a great king, " Hex tremendce
majestatis," and must therefore be served with
reverence and godly fear.
Chap. ii. 1 . And now, O ye priests, this com-
mandment is for you. The rebuke to the priests
is now followed by a threatening of the punish-
ment which would ensue, if they did not repent.
The word HISD, commandment, is to be under-
stood as in Nahum i. 14 in the sense of decree,
sentence.
Ver. 2. I will curse your blessings. This has
been understood by De Dieu, Bosenmiiller, Hitzig,
in the sense of revenues. Keil and Kohler inter-
pret it of the blessings pronounced upon the
people by the priests; these God will tui-n into
;urses ; but it is not necessary to depart from the
3ommon and general sense of the word. Yea, I
have cursed them. This is not a simple em-
phatic repetition of the proceeding " I will curse,
as the LXX. {KaTdpouroiial}, the Targum, Vul-
gate, Hitzig, Umbreit, Reinke, and Henderson
maintain, but as the D^l requires, is to be under-
stood of what has already taken effect, the corse
has begun. So Ewald, Keil, Kohler. The sin-
gular suffix attached to blessings is distributive,
referring to every blessing.
Ver. 3. Behold I will rebuke your seed. For
you the seed, is emphatic. In chap. iii. 11 we find
the same word "'¥5 used in the promised bless-
ing. / mil rebuke the devourer, or the locust. In
Joel i. 13 the priests are called upon to lament for
the meat-offering withholden, because the seed is
rotten. In Haggai ii. 17 we find, "I smote you
with blasting and mildew." The passage in Joel
shows, that though the priests did not till the
ground, yet they were dependent for their tithes
upon the harvest, so if the seed was cursed they
would themselves suffer. This renders it unne-
•essary to change the punctuation of 'S'J^, (seed)
* 5JnT (arm), with the LXX., Vulgate, Ewald,
Reinke] Keil, Kohler, Pressel. Kohler has a pe-
culiar view, that it lefers to the arm which the
priests raised to blesii the people, bit tlie hand
would more naturally have been mentioned. It is
understood by other Commentators to refer to th«
perquisite of the priests — the shoulder, but they
were entitled not only to the shoulder but to other
parts (Deut. xviii. 3; Lev. vii. 32).
Still further to show how displeasing the con-
duct of the priests was in his eyes, Jehovah threat-
ens that the dung of the victims, which was to be
burned without the camp (Ex. xxix. 14; Le»
xvi. 27), should be spread on their faces.
And ye shall be carried to it. This clause
has been differently understood, some making the
dung the nominative, as the Vulgate, Luther, Cal-
vin, Ewald, Reinke, Bunsen ; others, Jehovah. It
is better to regard the subject as indefinite, they,
some one — the people, as in John xv. 6. " jTAey
shall gather them, and cast them into the fire," or,
more according to our idiom, it is to be translated
ye shall be taken away with, or to it, where it ia
deposited, ye shall be treated as dung, as God
said to Jeroboam (1 Kings xiv. 10). The LXX.
have, "I will take you to the same."
Ver. 4. Ye shall know that I have sent this
sentence, etc. The word commandment is to be
understood as in the first verse, as sentence, decrea
of punishment.
That my covenant may contiaue with Levi.
Different interpretations have been put upon this
sentence. Ewald, Reinke, Henderson, Eosenmiil-
ler translate it. Because my covenant was with Leoi.
Hitzig, Maurer, De Wette, Noyes, That my erne-
nant might remain with Levi.
The view more generally adopted and advocated
by Luther, Calvin, Umbreit, Keil, Kohler, Pressel,
is, that my covenant is the predicate, ."ind that the
decree of punishment is to be henceforth God's
covenant, that according to which he should deal
with Levi, or the priests ; the decree of punish-
ment shall take the place of the earlier covenant
with the priests. The objections to this interpre-
tation are, that it is not plain and simple ; that a
different form of expression would have been made
use of had this been the meaning, such as — My
decree shall be instead of my Covenant ; that cov-
enant is immediately after used in its common
sense ; and that Levi, or the priesthood, is regarded
as one throughout.
We may understand it as an elliptical construc-
tion. This decree is sent to you, that by your lay-
ing it to heart my covenant may be, may continue
to be with Levi, as it was in the beginning, which
he goes on to speak of; that you may not make
null and void the covenant made in the beginning
with Levi, and which Jehovah would have con-
tinued in his posterity.
Ver. 5. My covenant with him was (of) life
and peace, etc. Jehovah now speaks »f the na-
ture of the covenant made with Levi, or the priest-
hood, in order to contrast the character of the
priests with that of their pious pretlecessors.
My covenant with him was life and peace.
These nouns are not in the genitive, as the Septu-
agint, Vulgate, and the English Version make
them, but are the nominative of the predicaite. It
is not necessary to confine tMs description to
Phinehas, as Henderson does, though In Num.
XXV. 1 2 they are specially addressed to hin».
And I gave them to him for fear. The de-
sign of the Covenant was to inspire him with holy
fear and reverence. For fea/r, put by naetonymy
for the effect of fear; and the aiiginal priesthood
corresponded to this divine intejafiion : And ho
reverenced my name.
Ver. 6. The law of truth was ia Ms moutba
14
MALACHl.
etc. His exposition of the law was according to
truth, its true nature, and there was found in him
no perverseness, no self-seeking, nor partiality.
Thus he walked in most intimate and endearing
communion with Jehovah, as did Noah and Enoch,
in integrity of heart and life, and by his faithful
instruction.s and warnings turned many to righte-
ousness. Thus he fultilled the design of the priest-
hood, which was to expound and apply to every
case the will of God, as expressed in his law, and
to be always ready to instruct the people. It was
for this end the priesthood was appointed of God
Ver. 7. The priest is an angel, or messenger of
Jehovah to negotiate the grand concerns of judg-
ment and of mercy. This is the only passage,
with the exception of Haggai i. 14, where it is ap-
plied to the prophet, where we meet with such an
application. Elsewhere it is applied to the Angel
of the Lord, the Angel of the Presence, the Angel
of the Covenant, in whom God revealed Himself,
and through whom He transacted with man from
the beginning.
Ver. 8. But ye have departed from the way.
Jehovah now reminds the priests how very differ-
ent they were from their pious fathers. They had
respect of pi'rsons; they had taught for hire
(Micah iii. 11). By their example and false ex-
positions of the law they had misled many, and
plunged them into sin, guilt, and perdition. They
had made the law itself, instead of being a light
and lamp to the people, a stumbling-block. As a
just retribution for their sin, Jehovah will abandon
them to the contempt of all Israel. According, in
our version, should be rather, because.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAli.
Matthew Henrt : " Nothing profanes the
name of God more than the misconduct of those
whose business it is to do honor to it."
Chap. ii. 7 (1). What is the duty of ministers ?
The priests' lips should keep knowledge, not keep
it from his people, but keep it for them. Minis-
ters must be men of knowledge, for how are they
able to teach others the things of God who are
themselves unacquainted with these things, or un-
ready in them 1 They must keep knowledge, must
furnish themselves with it, and retain what they
have got, that they may be like the good house-
holder, who brings out of his treasurij things new and
old. Not only their heads, but their lips must
keep knowledge; they must not only have it but
they must liave it ready, must have it at hand,
must have it, as we say, at their tongues' end, to
be communicated to others, as there is occasion.
(2.) What is the duty of the people? They
should seek the law at his mouth; they should con-
sult the priests, and not only hear the message, but
ask questions upon it, that they may the better un-
derstand it. We must not only consult the writ-
ten Word, but must have recourse to God's mes-
sengers' and desire instruction and advice from
them in the affairs of our souls, as we do from
physicians and lawyers concerning our bodies and
estates.
Ver. 8. The feeling of proper reverence for God
and the services of his altar would indeed alone
have dictated that what was offered to him should
be the best and most perfect of its kind. Even
the heathen were sensible of this propriety, and
were careful that their victims were without b!em-
jih or imperfection. Thus, Homer in the Iliad,
1. 66, makes Achilles propose to consult some priest,
prophet, or interpreter of dreams to know whetbe:
the angry Apollo might not be, " Soothed with
steam of lambs or goats unblemished." Cowper'a
T7-ansl.}
Maimonides says : " There were no less than
fifty blemishes, enumerated by him, which ren-
dered an animal unfit to be offered on the Lord 9
altar."
WoHDSwOBTH : On ver. 7. The priest's lips
should keep knowledge, a memorable statement.
The offering of sacrifices was indeed an essential
part of the priestly office ; but Malachi declarea
that all sacerdotal sacrifices are of no avail with-
out religious knowledge, sound learning, and
wholesome teaching. 'The first duty of the Levit-
ical Priests, — and how much more of the Chris-
tian 1 — was to keep, or preserve knowledge ; the
knowledge of God as revealed in his holy Word,
and so to discharge their sacred ofiice, that, ac-
cording to the Word of God, the people should
resort to them for instruction in holy things, and
not resort in vain, and unless this was done by
them all their offerings and sacrifices were nuga-
tory, and God would " spread dung on their faces,"
in token of his displeasure. Here is a solemn
warning to the Christian clergy. If such was the
duty of the Levitical priesthood, and such the pen-
alty of not performing it aright, how much more
imperative is the obligation of the Christian Priest
to " keep knowledge," and to instruct the people
in sound doctrine; or, as St. Paul expresses it,
" to give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine, to meditate on these things, and give
himself wholly to them," to speak the things which
become sound doctrine, to hold fast the faithful
word, so that he may be able by sound doctrine to
convince the gainsayers. And how much surer
will be his punishment if he fails to discharge it I
It is to be feared that this warning is greatly
needed at the present day. The clergy of the
Eastern Church, especially in Asia and Greece,
have been degraded to a low condition with regard
to religious and secular knowledge. Celebrated
Roman Catholic writers deplore the ignorance of
a great part of their clergy, consisting of mere il-
literate Mass-Priests. See Dr. Dollinger's The
Church and the Churches.
In Protestant Germany the theological chairs
of the universities are filled by those who have no
pastoral experience in the cure of souls, and have
none of that wisdom which is found at the side
of sick beds and death-beds, and in church-yards
at the grave, and have no mission from Christ,
and no unction from the Holy Ghost ; and many
among them treat the Holy Scriptures as if they
were a mere common book. Hence the theolog-
ical teaching of the Schools has been divorced from
the Christian Priesthood."
W. Pkbssel : The requisition of the Old Cove-
nant that the sacrifices offered should he unblem-
ished and perfect, and that by a defective sacrifice
the altar of God and the offerer himself were pol-
luted, grew out of the truth which Malachi here
in most convincing language represents to the
priests, that defective offerings betray a defective
disposition, a want of reverence for the Holy
God. In the New Covenant, where all sacrificial
worship has ended, this rebuke applies to all di-
vided service of God, to all half Christianity, and
to all those Christians, who, not influenced by
reverence of the Holy One, and by earnestness in
sanctiflcation, think to discharge their Christian
duty by certain ceremonies or good works. Where
this is the case with ministers of the Gospel thert
CHAPTER II. 10-16.
15
is, as in the case of the Priests, double guilt, part-
ly because they preach what they themselves do
not practice, and partly, because they thereby
caase a special scandal. The motives of the maj-
esty of God, the example of the first priests, and
the dignity of their calling to be a messenger of
Jehovah, apply with no less force to those under
the New Covenant. These arguments will have
little effect, where personal thankfulness to God
for his great love to us in Christ, and concern for
cur salvation through Him are wanting, but where
they animate ministers of the Gospel, they must
urge them to fulfill more truly and actively their
high calling.
HOMILETICAL REMARKS BY PRESSEL.
The close connection of the first and fourth
commandments. He only, who has a lively sense
of the presence of his God and Father, will honor
and obey the fourth commandment, and he only,
who knows what an earthly Lord and Father must
require of his own, will feel himself impelled to
obey the first commandment. In what way can
we now pollute the table of the Lord t (1.) In the
Sacrament, when we ourselves partake of it un-
worthily, or do not enough arouse the consciences
of others. (2.) In life, when we allow in ourselves
or in others committed to us, a half-way devoted-
ness to the Lord.
How far does the seventh verse apply to a min-
ister of the Gospel 1 He is still a Priest, so far as
he should point to the sacrifice on Golgotha, and
should bear his Church upon his interceding heart,
and should bless them in the name of Jesus Christ.
He is still a messenger of God to those commit-
ted to him, and should preserve his Word in the
Church, should teach young and old out of it, and
should testify fearlessly and faithfully what tha
Lord bids him testify.
SECTION HL
Against unlawful Divorce, and Marriages with Heathen Wive$.
Chapter IL 10-16.
10 Have we not all one father ? hath not one God created us ? why do we deal
treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our
11 fathers? Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Is-
rael and in Jerusalem ; for Judah hath profaned the [holy people] of the Lord,
12 which he loves, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The Lord will
cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar [the waker and the an-
swerer'], out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the
13 Lord of Hosts. And this have ye done again \_as a second thing"], covering the altar
of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regard-
14 eth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. Yet ye
say. Wherefore [doth he not accept'] ? Because the Lord hath been witness between
thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously ; yet i»
15 she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one
[flesh] ? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one ? That he
might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal
16 treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel,
saith that he hateth [I hate divorce] putting away ; for one covereth violence with
his garment [covers his garment with cruelty], saith the Lord of Hosts : therefore
take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 10. — 122 to deal treacherously, to bo unfaithful, ie used in vers. 11, 14, 15, 16.
8 Ver. 11. nS is used here, as often. In the sense of worshipper, or servant. t£7.7p means here, holy seed, n»t
boUnesB, as Henry, Scott.
8 Ver. 12. — Pn'y' jussive form. The master and the scholar. So Vulgate. A proverb like : none shut up or
efl (Deut. xxxii. 86) ; lAe deceiver and the deceived (Job xU. 16 \ Job xviii. 19) ; son nor nephew, to express totality bj
ipposites. Out of the tents, Is to be connected with " cut off."
4 Ver. 16. — The perfect with vav con. must here be translated as imperative, as in 1 Kings U. 6.
16
MALACHI.
EXBOBnOAL AND CRITICAI,.
We have here a new subject without any con-
nection with what precedes. The Prophet, in the
Dame of Jehovah, rebukes their marriages with
foreigners, and their divorce of their lawful wives.
As his manner is, he first lays down an ind isputa-
ble axiom as the basis of his reproofs.
Ver. 10. Have we not all one Father ? Jer-
ome, Calvin, and others understand by one father
here, Abraham : Pocock, Scott, and Henry, Ja-
cob. The obvious objection to this view is that
Abraham was the falher not of the Jews only, but
of the Ishmaelites and Edomites. The best recent
Commentators understand by it Jehovah. This
makes it parallel with chap. i. 6, where Jehovah
styles himself the Pather of Israel.
Divorce is a violation of the relation sustained
to Jehovah, as a common father, and it is dealing
treacherously with our fellow creature, one against
another (literally, a man against his brother) ; it
is further a profanation of the covenant which
Jehovah made with his chosen people, out of which
there grew specific duties and obligations not to
marry idolatresses, or the daughters of a strange
God. The Prophet classes himself with the of-
fenders, as it was a national sin. The Septuagint
has changed the suffixes here, " Has not one God
created you ? Why have te forsaken," etc.
The law of Moses prohibited all marriages with
the heathen, lest the Israelites should be led into
idolatry (Ex. xxxiv. 11 ; Deut. vii. 1-4).
Ver. 11. Judaii hath dealt treacherously.
He now proceeds to specify their sins. Judah, Is-
rael, and Jerusalem are here only different desig-
nations of the same persons. Jerusalem is prob-
ably mentioned, to show that the sin was aggra-
vated by being committed in the holy city.
The Prophet stigmatizes their unlawful divorce
as an abomination, and as such to be classed with
idolatry, witchcraft, and adultery. In the last
elause he characterizes their intermarriages with
the daughters of a strange god (or worshippers,
by a well-known Hebrew idiom), as a profanation
of the holy seed (Ezra ix. 2), for Israel was holi-
ness to the Lord (Jer. ii. 3).
Ver. 12. Jehovah will cut off, etc. The
Prophet denounces the judgment of Jehovah upon
every one out of the tents of Jacob, who commits
this sin. We must connect " out of the tents of
Jacob " with cut off"
The apocopated form of the future expresses a
wish that such may be the case. To express the
universality of this judgment that no one should
escape, not even in their posterity, we have a pro-
verbial phrase, which has been variously inter-
preted. Our version has translated it, the master
and the scholar, as the Vulgate, magistrum et di-
tcipuhm. This too is the Rabbinical explanation
followed by Luther, Pocock, Henry, Scott. Gesen-
ius, Rosenmiiller, Maurer, Reinke, Keil, Noyes,
Henderson, De Wette, J. D. Michaelis, translate
it, the watcher and the answerer, Calvin under-
stands it of the master and servant : " Every one
who was in power, and could command others,"
and by the answerer, " the servant, who received
and obeyed orders." The Targum, Syriac, Ewald,
ton and grandson. Furst, Munster, Hitzig, Die-
trich, the caller and the answerer.
Ver. 13. And thin ye do as a second thing.
Henderson understands this of time, that the peo-
ple had relapsed into theii- old sins in the time of
Eira, but it is better to understand it of a second
sin, in addition to marrying heathen wives, of di
vorcing their Jewish wives. The Septuagint read)
it, / haled, and mistook the word.
The greatness of their sin is enlarged upon
Their divorced wives repair to the altar of Jeho-
vah, there to pour out their hearts before Him
and to complain of their cruel treatment, and to
seek his help. The last clause of ver. 13 shows
that Jehovah will not accept the sacrifice, nor bless
the worshipper.
Ver. 14. Yet ye say, wherefore? That is,
wherefore doth He not accept ?
The people addressed refusing to be ashamed,
and to confess their guilt, shamelessly ask the rea-
son of their rejection. The Prophet now addresses
each one personally. Jehovah has been a wit-
ness. Kijhler understands this, as in Malachi iii.
5, of an avenging witness, but as we have in Gen.
xxxi. 48 a similar expression . " This heap is a
witness between me and thee," Where the same words
occur in Hebrew, we must regard it with Keil,
Henderson, and others, as meaning that God was
a witness to the marriage, or to the covenant
made betAveen the parties. The divorced wife is
now tenderly called the wife of thy youth, who
has been the choice of thy youth, the partner of
thy joys and sorrows, and the wife of thy cove-
nant, with whom thou didst make a covenant for
life.
Ver. 15. But did not he make one only.
And yet had he a residue of the spirit. And
wherefore one ? He sought a godly race. We
come now to the most difficult verse of all others
in the prophecy. There has been an extraordi-
nary difference of opinion as to its construction and
sense. Kohler st3'les it most justly a crux intet'
pretum. The Septuagint tr.mslator seems to have
given his understanding a holiday, and made hia
pen supply its place. Not a spark of light can he
struck from the words, and nothing but words.
The subject under discussion is divorce. In the
preceding verse, to add sanctity to the marriage tie,
Jehovah is said to have been a witness of it, and
the wife is to be regarded as bound by a solemn
covenant to the husband. What more natural
now than that the prophet should recall the insti-
tution of marriage in the beginning, as of divine
sanction ^ This would be a conclusive argument,
and is the very one our Saviour made use of, when
speaking of divorce, " Have ye not read, that He
which made them at the berinning made them
male and female, And said, For this cause shall
a man leave father and mother and shall cleave
to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh,
wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh."
The argument is introduced abruptly. Did not
Jehovah make one P The word ""^W, to a Jew,
perfectly familiar with IHM "'?'? in Genesis,
would immediately suggest the one flesh, the one
pair, of Gen. ii. 24.
And wherefore one ? In the Hebrew, one has
the article, "inyn, and must be understood of the
same subject with the preceding, ^^^. And
wherefore did he make one pair ? Yet had ho
the residue of the Spirit ? This applies most
naturally to the life-giving spirit of God — his
creative power, not exhausted, for He might have
made many women for one man.
That he might seek a godly seed. The de-
sign of God was to perpetuate a godly seed. Thi»
is counteracted by frequent divorce.
CHAPTER 11. 10-16.
17
Most English commentators adopt this inter-
pretation. Another view has been advocated by
Jerome, Ewald, Reinke, Bottcher, and others,
which malces Jehovah the subject, instead of the
object. They are led to this view by verse 10,
" Hath not one God created us f ' They therefore
translate it, "And did not one (the same God)
create them. And what did the one seek ? "
Another class of commentators refer the one to
Abraham, and translate the clause. But did not
the single one do it % And yet a divine Spirit re-
mained to him. But what did the single one do 1
They regard the one as a designation of Abraham,
and found their opinion on Isaiah li. 2, / called
him alone, and Ezekiel xxxiii. 24, where Abraham
is spoken of as one in opposition to the many of
the people. In both these passages there is an ex-
Sress mention of Abraham, which is not the case
ere. They consequently understand. Yet had he
the residue of the Spirit as meaning, that he re-
mained a good man.
Still another interpretation is adopted by a con-
siderable number of commentators, that there is
no question but a simple affirmation : in^ M7 is
to be translated no one, that the object of niade is
to be supplied from the previous sentence, that by
the residue of the spirit is meant, any portion of
reason, any sense of right and wrong. The one of the
second clause they refer to Abraham. The whole
verse would then be translated, " No one, who has
a sense of right and wrong, has done what you
are doing. And what did the one do 1 " They
suppose that the guilty parties were wont to ap-
peal to the case of Abraham to justify their con-
duct, and that the answer shows that his case was
no precedent. There are very serious objections
to this view. We have to supply the object of
T^WV, made, and the predicate of T^v'v' i" *^
second clause. The position of W7% and the
question in the second clause, render it probable
that it is a question. Had the Prophet meant to
say, that no' one ever did so, he would have used
t5"M l^N, as Gen. xxxix. 11, or simply V^-
Eurther, to understand the residue of the spirit
of any reason, or moral sense, is strained, and
lastly, ins refers to two different subjects, ac-
cording to this view, first, to " no one," and, sec-
ondly,- to Abraham, though the article is uSed, re-
ferring it back to the former.
There is an interpretation adopted by Fairbairn
and Moore, which refers the one to the one chosen
seed, the holy nation, but this strikes us as by no
means so consistent and forcible as the one which
refers it to the one flesh.
Ver. 15. Therefore take heed. Then follows
a warning against the sin rebuked. The perfect
with vav must be translated as imperative, as is
often the case. T'o talso heed to your spirit is to
take heed to yourself (Deut. iv. 15 ; Joshua xxiii.
Let no one deal treacherously. The third
person is here used for the second in the pi-evious
clause. This is often the case where there is no
change of subject. There is no advantage in fol-
lowing the LXX. and retaining the second person,
Ver. 16. For I hate divorce. The Prophet
sere gives the rea-fon of the warning. Jehovah
says, " / hate divorce." The LXX., Vulgate, and
l/uther, construe this very differently as a permis-
sion of divorce ; If thou hate her put her away.
But this is inconsistent with the context, which
condemns divorce ; it is in opposition to the law
which permits divorce only for some great miscon-
duct, " some unclean thing," and which (Deut. -xxi.
15) requires the husband to maintain a hated wife.
In favor of the translation, adopted by Kohler,
Kei!, Henderson, / hate divorce, may be urged, that
the form may be considered as a participle, that
the first person is often understood before partici
pies, that, saith Jehovah, God of Israel, which
follows in the Hebrew, implies that Jehovah is speak
ing directly in his own person.
ver. 16. And him who covers -with -violence
his garment. The design of this clause, parallel
to and coordinate with, / hate divorce, is to ex-
press more emphatically the consequences and
enormity of the sin, that it is exceedingly heinous,
and the height of cruelty. We read in Ps. cix.
1 8, 29, of being clothed with cursing as with a gar-
ment, of being clothed with shame. We find the
same construction of i^B? with ^V in Num. xvi.
33 ; Ps. cvi. 15 ; Hab. ii. 14, where the object cov-
ered is preceded by 7^ as here. " The earth cov-
ered them," " And covered the company of Abi-
ram," " As the waters cover the sea. We there-
fore understand the relative, which is frequently
omitted, and regard this clause as the continuation
of the preceding, "I hate divorce," only with a more
emphatic statement. Most of the recent commen-
tators understand by his garment, his wife. This,
says Kohler, is a very uncertain and rare Arabic
idiom, and contrary to all Hebrew usage. Nor is
it at all necessary, as the interpretation we have
given does not introduce a different idea, and i»
confirmed by the following, " saith the Lord of
Hosts."
DOCTKINAL AND PRACTICAL.
The frequency of divorce in the "United States,
so that in one of the States divorce is allowed for
" misconduct," reveals the same state of things
existing now, as was here condemned by Jehovah,
and must bring with it the same evils, and the
same punishment. What tongue can adequately
tell, what heart conceive, the untold misery from
this cause, especially to the deserted wives, and
the children left -n-ithout a mother's care! How
little is the indissoluble nature of the marriage re-
lation regarded ! and the fact, that the Lord was
the witness of it, and will be a swift witness against
those who violate it ! The Saviour only allows of
one cause of divorce, and regards divorce for any
other as adultery.
Matthew Henry : " The poor wives were
ready to break their hearts, and not daring to
make their case known to any other, they com-
plained to God, and covered the altar of the Lord
with tears, with weeping, and with crying. This
is illustrated by the case of Hannah, who, upon
the account of her husband's having another wife
(though otherwise a kind husband) and the dis-
content thence arising, fretted and wept, was in
bitterness of soul, and would not eat. It is a reason
given why husbands and wives should live m holy
love, that their prayers be not hindered. The Lord
has been witness to the marriage covenant between
thee and her, for to Him you appealed concerning
your sincerity in it and fidelity to it ; He has been
a witness to all the violations of it, and is ready to
judge between thee and h'r. It is highly aggra-
vated by the consideration of the persons wronged
and abused. First, she is thy wife, thy own, bons
18
MALACHL .
of thy bone, and flesh of thy flesh ; the nearest to
thee of all the relations thou hast in the world,
and to cleave to whom thou must quit the rest.
Secondly. She is the wife of thy youth, who had thy
affections when they were at the strongest, was
thy first choice, and with whom thou hast lived
long. Let not the darling of thy youth be the scorn
and loathing of thy age. 2%irdly. She is thy com-
panion ; she has long been an equal sharer with thee
in thy cares and gi-iefs and joys. Fourthly, she is
the wife of thy covenant, to whom thou art so
firmly bound, that, while she continues faithful,
thou canst not be loosed from her, for it was a cov-
enant for life. Married people should often call to
mind their marriage vows, and review them with
all seriousness, as those that make conscience of
performing what they promised.
Moore : The phrases, "wife of thy youth,'' and
" companion " are thrown in to show the aggra-
vated nature of this offense. " She whom you thus
wronged was the companion of those earlier and
brighter days, when in the bloom of her young
beauty she left her father's house, and shared your
early struggles, and rejoiced in your later success ;
who walked arm-in-arm with you along the pil-
grimage of life, cheering you in its trials by her
gentle ministry ; and now, when the bloom of her
youth is faded, and the friends of her youth have
gone, when father and mother whom she left for
you are in the grave, then you cruelly cast her off
as a worn-out, worthless thing, and insult her ho-
liest aflTections by putting another in her place."
{ There is something very touching in these allusiona
to the aggravations of this wrong, arising from the
tender associations and memories of youth.
Pressel, on ver. 10; Have we not all one Fa-
therf No faith without love, and no love without
faith. He who keeps the Father and Creator of
all men before his eyes must love all men as his
brethren, and he who recognizes in other men his
brethren must in the Creator of all men love the
Father. The prophet's mode of reasoning is not
unlike that of the Apostle John in his First Epis-
tle, iii. 17; iv. 11, 20, 21. The reference of the
prophet to the Heavenly Father is a glimpse in
the Old Testament of a doctrine which was not
fully brought to light till the time of the New Tes-
tament.
On ver. 14. Jehovah is witness between thee and
the wife of thy youth. This might be made use of
as a solemn warning by a minister against divorce,
whether intended or accomplished, as it represents
to us the sanctity of marriage, and at the same
time awakens in the hearts of the married all love-
ly and sweet recollections.
On ver. 15. He who regards the divine Spirit
within us will be proof against the lusts of the
flesh. He who indulges these lusts drives away
from his heart more and more the residue of the
divine Spirit.
SECTION IV.
TTle sending of Jehovah's Messenger. The coming of the Angel of the Covenant to
judge, hut not to utterly destroy Israel (Ch. ii. 17-iii. 7).
17 Te have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, wherein have we
wearied Him ? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of
the Lord, and He delighteth in them ; or. Where is the God of judgment ?
Chapter III.
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me : and
the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly' [unexpectedly] come to his temple, even
the messenger [angel, dyyeXds, LXX.] of the covenant, whom ye delight in : behold,
2 he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his com-
ing ? and who shall stand when He appeareth ? for He is like a refiner's fire, and
3 like fuller's soap [lye] ; And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver : and
He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they
4 may oifer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old, and as in
5 former years. And I will come near to you to judgment : and I will be a swift '
witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers,
and against those that oppress ' the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the father-
less, and that turn aside [piarai. The Ken reads singular'] the stranger from his right, and
6 fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts. For I am the Lord,* I change not [For I,
Jehovah, change not] ; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
CHAPTERS II. 17-III. 7.
19
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 1. — DMiHS, not immediately {statim Jerome), but unawares, unexpectedly, LXX. suddenly. Messenger, cofr
Msponding to angel in Greek, Angel of the Covenant, identical with the Lord, piSH. This form is always spoken d
ivboTah ; Ex. xxiii. 17 ; Vs. cxiv. 7 ; Is. i. 24.
3 Ver. 5. — "inDD, swift, corresponding to DNlH^j verse 1, unexpectedly.
8 Ver. 5. — pti?V, followed by a neuter object only here, and in Micah ii. 2.
4 Ter. 6. — Jehovah is not the predicate, but in apposition with I : the parallel, ye sons of Jacob, shows this.
EXEQETICAL AND CBITICAL.
Ver. 17. Ye have wearied the Lord with
your words. This vei'se should have been the
first verse of the third chapter, for a new subject
begins here, having no very close connection with
what precedes. The prophet is here opposing the
unbelief of a class, who, like the Pharisees, served
God, kept his ordinance, and walked mournfully
before Him, but who lost their faith in Providence,
when God delayed to punish the wicked, and who
complained, not in words perhaps, for, as Cocceius
remarks, " Scripture is wont to ascribe to the
wicked expressions suitable to their character," —
that He treated all alike, for if this was not the
case, why did He not punish the wicked ? That
by the " doers of evil " here, and by the sorcerers,
adulterers, false swearers, and oppressors of ch. iii.
5, and by the proud (ch. iii. 15), are meant sinners
of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles, seems perfectly
evident, for these were offenses against the law of
Moses. The prophecy had nothing to do with the
heathen, who were without the pale of the Cove-
nant. Such a denunciation of God's judgment
upon the heathen would have gratified the ha\ighty
and intolerant spirit of the Jews. Strange to say,
this reference has been made by Jerome, Hengsten-
berg, Hitzig, Reinke, Bunsen, Keil. The burden
of the tbird chapter is, Maranatha ! The Lord
cometh !
Ch. iii. 1 . Behold, 1 will send my Messenger.
The prophet now opposes to the unbelief of the
people Jehovah's own word. He will come for
judgment, but before his coming. He will send his
messenger to prepare his way. It is not said, a
Messenger, but his Messenger, the one familiar to
them from Isaiah's prophecy (eh. xl. 3), where the
Hebrew words, to prepare the way, are identical
with those here. The crier of Isaiah is here de-
scribed as the Messenger of Jehovah. In both
prophecies his office is the same. That Malachi is
not here speaking of himself, nor of an ideal per-
son, in whom the whole prophetic order culmi-
nated, as Hengstenberg maintains, is clear from
the fact that this messenger is called in ch iv. 5
Elijah, the prophet ; that our Lord, speaking of
John the Baptist, declares, " This is he, of whom
it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before
thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee "
(Matt. xi. 10 ; Lukevii. 27), and that Mark makes
use of this prophecy as fulfilled in John, quoting
it, indeed, as from Isaiah, because he was the Ma-
jor Prophet, according to Tregelles' text of Mark
1. 2 : " Many of the children of Israel shall he
turn to the Lord, their God, and he shall go before
Um (i. e., the Lord, their God, the Angel of the
Covenant, the Lord of Malachi iii. 1 ) in the spirit
and power of Elijah (Luke i. V6).
Chap. iii. 1. The Lord whom ye seek shall
suddenly oome to his temple, even the An-
gel of the Covenant. The Lord, whom ye sfeh
refers back to the preceding verse, where is the
God of Judgment ? The word Lord, TnW, with
the article, is applied only to God. In the parallel
clause, even the angel of the covenant, he is desig-
nated by a peculiar title expressing his office, as
this is the only place where this official title oc-
curs, it requires explanation.
From a very early period we find mention of an
extraordinary Messenger, or Angel, who is some-
times called the Angel of God, at others, the Angel
of Jehovah. He is represented as the Mediator be-
tween the invisible God and men in all God's com-
munications and dealings with men. To this An-
gel divine names, attributes, purposes, and acts are
ascribed. He occasionally assumed a human form,
as in his intei'views with Hagar, Abraham, Jacob,
Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, and his wife. He went
before the camp of Israel on the night of the Ex-
odus. In Exodus xxiii. 20, Jehovah said, " Be-
hold, I send an angel beibre thee to bring thee
into the place, which I have prepared. My name
is in him." In Isaiah Ixiii. 9 he is called the Angel
of his Presence, or face, where there is a reference to
Ex. xxxiii. 14, 1.5, where Jehovah said to Moses,
" My presence (or Hebrew, My face) shall go with
thee, and Moses said. If thy face go not with us,
carry us not up hence." He is called the face of
God, because though no man can see his face and
live, yet the Angel of his face is the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his person.
In him Jehovah's presence is manifested, and his
glory reflected, for the glory of God shines in the
face of Jesus Christ. 'There is thus a gradual de-
velopment in the Old Testament of the doctrine
of the incarnation, of the distinction of persons in
the Godhead, not brought to light fully, lest it
should interfere with the doctrine of the unity of
God. (For a more full discussion of the Angel of
Jehovah, see Hengstenberg's Christology, vol. i. p.
161, Keith's Translation; Lange On Genesis, p.
386; Keil On Genesis, p. 184).
We would further remark that of the Covenant
has been understood by most Commentators, as
referring to the New Covenant of which Jesus is
the Mediator (Heb. ix. 15). Kohler and Keil un-
derstand by it the Old Covenant, in which God
promised to dwell with his people. In that case,
the Angel is the Mediator of the Old Covenant.
But we need not restrict it to either, but consider
it applicable to both, to all God's covenant rela-
tions to man. Behold he shall come must be predi-
cated of the covenant angel.
Ver. 2. But who may abide the day of his
coming. We find similar language in Joel ii. 1 1 :
*' The day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and
who can abide it f " The question, who shall abide
it, is an emphatic negative, no one can abide it.
As the Lord is a righteous judge, the day is
which He comes must be a day of decisive judj
20
MALACHL
ment. As Augustine says, " The first and second
advent of Christ arc here brought together."
Malachi sees the great white throne in the back-
ground. In the last clause of this verse he gives
the reason why it is impossible to endure it, since
He is like the fire of the refiner, which separates
all dross, and like the lye of the washer, which
cleanses all stains.
The word n^"p3, which is translated in our
Tersion soap, occurs only here and in Jeremiah
ii. 22. Soap was unknown to the ancients, and
this was a vegetable substance, from the salt-
wort, which was burned and water poured on its
ashes.
Ver. 3. And he shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver. In the second verse the Lord
is the fire ; here by a slight change in the figure,
he is the smelter, who lets the pure metal flow off,
while the dross remains behind. He shall sit is
pictorial to make the figure more striking.
This judgment begins at the house of God, with
the priests who stand in the closest relation to
Him. This purification will result in the cutting
off the impenitent, and in the reformation of those
who repent, so that they offer sacrifices in a proper
state of heart, in righteousness.
Ver. 4. Then shall the offering, etc. When
the priests are thus purified, then the sacrifice of
the whole nation will be acceptable, as in the early
and better times, as in the days of David, to the
Lord. The Masora remarks, that the prophetic
lesson for the Sabbath before the Passover begins
here and ends with the prophecy. This lesson
was selected because of the injunction in ch. iii. 4,
to remember the law of Moses.
Ver. 5. And I will come near to you to judg-
ment. The prophet proceeds to show that the
coming judgment will not be only upon the priests
but u]jon all the people. He will practically con-
vince the wicked by his judgment, and that too
unexpectedly, and thus will be a swift witness.
The sins specified here were all sins against the
law of Moses, some of them to be capitally pun-
ished. The Jews were very much addicted from
this time onward, as Josophus and the New Testa-
ment testify, to sorcery, or witchcraft. The op-
pressors are mentioned. Those who oppress the
wages of the hireling. This verb is followed by
the accusative of the person, excepting here, and
in Micah ii. 2. That turn aside /lie stranger (Deut.
xxvii. 19), or oppress him. The tendercst love
to the stranger is everywhere breathed in the
law (Ex. xxiii. 9; Deut. x. 17, 18; Deut. xxvii.
19).
Ver. 6. For I Jehovah change not, there-
fore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jeho-
vah is not here the predicate, as in our version
and Luther's, but is in apposition with the pro-
noun I, in contrast with the sons of Jacob, For
is causal. It is because Jehovah is unchangeable
in his gifts and calling, that He will not suffer Is-
rael wholly to perish, though their sins deserved
their destruction. He must accomplish his pur-
poses of mercy. Kcihler finds in the phrase sons
of Jacob, an intimation that they resembled Jacob
in character before he became Israel, but it is bet-
ter to regard it as an emphatic expression for the
covenant nation. These do not perish, because
their existence rests upon the promise of the un-
changeable God, as Moore remarks, " The sons of
Jacob shall not be consumed, the seed of Christ
ehall not perish. The unchangeableness of God is
the sheet-anchor of the Churcli."
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
E. PococK : On chap. iii. 1. He should coma
unawares when men should not think on or b«
aware of Him. By the temple no doubt is meant
the temple at Jerusalem, then lately built aftet
their rbturn from the Babylonish captivity, which,
whatever alterations were made in it, was still
looked upon as one till the time it was destroyed
by the Romans ; and by the Jews called the Second
Temple in respect to that former, built by Solo
mon, and destroyed by the Chaldseans. To this
temple it is here said, that the Lord here spoken
of should come ; and so did Christ whom we say
to be that Lord ; and of his coming to it and
his appearances there at several times we read,
He was there first presented by his mother (Luke ii.
22) ; there again, when He was twelve years old,
found sitting among the doctors (ver. 46), where,
in his answer to his mother who told him that
they had sought Him sorrowing, He may seem to
allude even to this prophecy, " Wist ye not that I
must be in my Father's house 1 " Was it not fore-
told that He should come to the temple? Was
not that the proper place for Him to be in, and
for them to look after Him in ? Several other
times .we read of his going to it, preaching in it,
received with Hosannahs, exercising his authority
in it, in purging it, and vindicating the dignity of
it, and driving out thence those that profaned it.
Any of these appearances there is sufficient to
prove in and by Him to have been made good
that which we take to be the main drift of this ex-
pression in this prophecy, namely, that the Lord
Christ or Messiah) here spoken of was to come
fhile the temple (that temple then built) was
standing ; which is likewise evidently foretold by
the Prophet Haggai (ch. ii. 7), that !n(o it should
come the desire of all nations, and it should be filled
with glory, yea, that thereby the glory of that latter
house should be greater than that of the former (ver.
9), though it were then in their eyes as nothing in
comparison with it (ver. 3).
H0MILBTIC.4.L AND PRACTICAL.
Pressel, on ver. 17. Where is the God of judg-
ment? The judgment of the world and of Scrip-
ture as to the riddle of human destiny ; or, there
is a God, who lives to avenge and punish, — a
truth which even men of the world admit, but
which only lovers of the truth rightly understand.
Ye have wearied, etc. Whereby is the God of in-
finite patience wearied ? Not by our prayers. Not
even by our infirmities, but indeed by our hard-
ness and stubbornness, which will not confess our
guilt, and be converted.
On ch. iii. 1. Though there are quotations from
the Old Testament in the New, which are to be re-
garded only as an application, though never a ran-
dom one, of the language of the Old, yet, in all the
quotations, which are accompanied by an explana-
tion from the Lord Himself, or his Apostles, we
have the most certain commentary, which informs
us how the Old Testament writer himself under-
stood, and how he would have others understand
his prophecy. On this ground, such an interpreta-
tion of Mai. iii. 1, as Hengstenberg and others have
given, is untenable; for when the Lord Himself
(Matt. xi. 10 ; Luke vii. 27) says, " This is he of
whom it is written," we must understand by, " my
messenger," a definite person, first named by Mai
CHAPTER III. 7-12.
21
Bchi, and not the collective body of the prophets,
excending down to John the Baptist. If there is
to be a second coming of our Lord, it may be as-
'Bumed that the prophecy before us will be fulfilled
in all its particulars, and for the very reason that
Malachi knows no difference between a first and
second coming of the Lord, and his Messiah. Now
it cannot but be expected, that the second coming
of the Lord will be accoinpanied with the same
purification as the first was in the children of Is-
rael, and that the process of this purification will
have the same general cause and result. Though
this is" to be expected, it by no means follows that
this will be accomplished by a second sending of
John the Baptist, or by the sending of only one
'iiian, after the manner of Elijah, since the person
of the Lord Himself is carefully to be distin-
guished from that of his forerunner : the Lord is
one ; the forerunner, whether John or Elijah, may
be more than one : the Lord is for all nations ; Eli-
jah and John only for the people of Israel ; and
when the second coming of the Lord is at hand,
there may be also among the different nations of
the world, different messengers, like Elijah and
John, to prepare the way of the Lord, as indeed
the Revelation of John speaks, in the eleventh
chapter, of two such witnesses.
On ver. 5. We need only further remark, that
between the first and second coming of our Lord,
a process of purification takes place in portions of
Christendom, by virtue of which the impure ele-
iiiSiits will be cast oif, the hoUowness and profana-
tion of God's service and the Christian character
will be exposed, and the true Christian will go to
meet his future glory, as after all his inevitable,
and often fiery trials, he reflects the image of his
God and Saviour.
Among the commentators on the Prophets, we
must reckon the great Handel, for he has in such
a way illustrated to the world their most weighty
prophecies in his Oratorio of the Messiah, that we
cannot read, them without being reminded of his
musical commentary, and thereby be inspired, as
it were, to interpret them. This is specially true
of this last prophecy of the Old Testament.
On chap. iii. 1 : Behold, the daycometh 1 Two Ad-
Vent questions : Dost thou believe in the coming
of the Lord in humiliation 1 and dost thou hope
for his coming in glory ■? The world may believe
or not, the Lord cometh : the world may prepare
itself, or not, the Lord judges. This first Advent
teaches us the former, and his second Advent the
'latter. After perhaps the hymn has been sung,
" All Christians wait for thee, O Son of God ! "
tan we also say, " And love thy appearing "
The Lord once said, " Blessed are they who
have not seen, and yet have believed," and it re-
mains true down to the second coming. Notwith-
standing God calls to his people. Behold! for trua
faith has its eyes open for that which happened a
the first coming of the Lord, for that which will
happen at his second, and for that which must
happen in us, in order that the first as well as the
second coming may prove our salvation. He shall
prepare the way bejfore me. Every minister of the
Church, and every Christian, in the most private
circle, can prepare the way of the Lord by warn-
ing and teaching, by example and intercession, but
he is only a servant, and must wait in the humility
and patience of the Lord Himself. Everything in
the world is easier to be calculated, than the day
when the Lord comes, and easier to be endured
than his coming. He shall sit as a refiner's fire.
The refining of the Lord has its day, and the day
of the Lord has its refining. What salutary ter-
ror, and what strong consolation must this com-
parison of the divine refiner work in us !
The purifying fire is at hand to us all. It brings
with it a torture, for which the world has no sooth-
ing balm ; it penetrates what is most secret and
inmost ; it makes manifest whether we shall be
acknowledged by the Lord, or cast away. If we
would be the Lord's, then we may say, The Lord
sits, and has his eyes fixed upon me even in the
furnace, and especially there. He intends only my
purification, and should the smallest grain of gold
in faith and love be found in me, He does not cast
me away with the dross of this world ; and his de-
sign is that his image may be reflected in me, and
that I may be acceptable to Him. The prayer of
humility and faith is, 0 Lord, though thou shouldst
find no gold in me, let me only be found as useful
silver.
Ver. 5. How suddenly and how deeply will the
day of judgment interrupt the pursuits of tbe
world ! How suddenly ! for the prophet says,
" suddenly," and " a swift witness," so that the
world will be surprised in the midst of its pursuits.
How deeply ! for all nm-ighteous actions and
causes, however great, or little, will be rejiidged,
and brought to light in their ungodliness, job was
able to comfort himself with the word, " My wit-
ness is in heaven ! " — the opposite of the threat-
ening word, " a swift witness : " hence the question
comes up, Have I a witness in heaven to fear 3
What does He see with his all-seeing eye % and
what sentence will He hereafter pass upon me with
his all-decisive lips "i
SECTION V.
The People are rehiked for withholding the legal Tithes and Offerings.
Chapter HL 7-12.
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances
and have not kept them. Eeturn unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the
8 Lord of Hosts. But ye said. Wherein shall we return ? "Will a man rob^ [defraud]
God ? Yet [that, Kohier, KeU, Pressei], ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings." [In tithe and heave offering.]
a2
MALACHI.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse : for [yet] ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes^ [tithe] into the storehouse* [treasury], that there may be
meat [food, vuigate cans'] in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord
of Hosts, if I wUl not^ open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it ^ [to superabundance].
11 And I wUl rebuke' the devourer for your sakes,* and he shall not destroy the
fruits of your ground ; neither shall your vine cast her fruit ^^ before the time in
12 the field, saith the Lord of Hosts. And all nations shall caU you blessed : for ye
shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts.
TEXT DAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 8. — 3?np, found only in Prov. xxii. 8 : to cheat, de&aud. The Fut. is used here In the sense of: daze % am
rob God.
2 Ver. 8. — nOnri. The heaTe-offering.
» Ver. 10. — The whole tithe.
4 Ver. 10- — ~)12iS, storehouse, or treasury ; Neh. xiii. 12.
5 Ver. 10. — b^7"QM, not an oath, whet/ier not.
6 Ver. 10. — **"! means need, lack.
7 Ver. 10. — ^2 negatives the idea — beyond sufilciency.
8 Ver. 11. — "1^3, to rebuke. In ch. ii. 3, it is translated, corrupt. DIl^j dative of use, profit.
9 Ver. 11. — The LXX. read, jITTtDS, I will destroy.
10 Ver. 11. — V^t^"'Pl, miscarry, applied to the vine.
11 Ver. 11. — nnli?\ '^^^ future is here used contingently, to denote a probable future occurrence. See Noid
helmer, 993, 1.
standing that God had already visited them with
severe punishment, which aggravated their guilt.
They had been cursed, as we learn from the fol-
lowing verses, with failure of the harvest and fam-
ine. This curse corresponded to their sin. As
they had refused to give God his due by withhold-
ing the tithes and offerings, so had He withheld
from them the products of the field.
Ver. 9._ Ye are cursed with a curse. The
position of the noun before the verb is here highly
emphatic. Yet me ye defraud. It is not neces
sary to regard the ? as causal.
Ver. 10. Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse. The prophet now enlarges upon the
mode of recovering the divine favor. Israel should
not, as before, keep back a part of the tithes, but
should pay the whole without defrauding Jehovah,
that there might be food for the priests and Lc-
vites. Notwithstanding .Jehovah was angry with
the priests, yet He cannot suffer the people to with-
hold the tithe.
Storehouse. This same word is translated,
Neh. xiii. 12, treasw-ies. We find in 2 Chronicles
xxxi. n, mention of chambers in the Temple, into
which they were to bring the tithes. In Neh. x.
38, the Levites were to bring the tithe to the cham-
bers, into the treasure-house.
Prove me now herewith. The object of the
proof of Jehovah was not, whether He would be
faithful to his promise, for this was not the subject
under discussion, but whether He was a holy and
righteous God, for this had been called in question
by them. Tliey were now to put Him to the test, and
learn by the result of the experiment, in what re-
lation He stood to them, and also learn, that as Ha
had manifested Himself as a holy God in his se-
verity, so He would also do so in his goodness, and
the abundance of the blessings conferred upou
those who keep his commandments.
If I will not open the windows of heaven.
EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL,
Ver, 7. Eetum unto me, and I will return
unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts, After Jeho-
vah had announced the coming judgment for the
long-continued transgressions of the people, He
adds a gracious promise, as in Zech i, 3 : " Turn
ye unto me, saith the Lord, and I will return unto
you," In self-righteous delusion, supposing that
they lack nothing, and need no repentance, they
inquire, Wherein, in what particular, shall we re-
turn 1 The prophet thereupon shows them their
sin. They do what no man should attempt. They
try to defraud God in the tithe and heave-offering,
either by not paying them at all, or not paying
them as they should. The word 575lJ) which oc-
curs besides only in Proverbs xxii, 3, where it is
translated, spoil, means here, as the connection
shows, defraud, overreach, cheat.
Ver. 8. 'Wm a man rob (or defraud) God?
The Prophet appeals to their conscience for a de-
cision as to the baseness of their conduct. But
ye have robbed, or defrauded, me, or. That ye
have robbed me. This is a reason of the pre-
vious question, since you have defrauded me.
In tithe and offering. This is a specification
of the manner in which they had robbed God. In
Neh. xiii. 10 we find a striking coincidence with
this verso. " I perceived, that the portions of the
Levites had not been given them. Then brought all
Judah the tithe of the corn, wine, and oil."
The tithe, according to Lev. xxvii. 30, and Dent.
xiv. 22, was of the corn, wine, and oil, and of the
firstlings of the flock and herd, for the mainten-
ance of the Levites. The heave-offering — for that
is here referred to — was the portion of the priests.
" Ye shall give tlie heave-offering to the priests."
It was partly a free-will offering, and partly pre-
•cribed by the law. They withheld tithes, notwith-
CHAPTERS in. 13-IV. 6.
23
This is to be regarded as an indirect question,
whether I will not. Operi the windows. We read
of the windows of heaven in Gen. vii. 11, 2 Kings
vii. 2. The copious blessing is here compared to
rain coming down from heaven.
And pour out upon you a blessing tiU there
is not suflSioienoy of room. The word ''T means,
sufficiency, and room is to be understood, as in
Zech. X. 10 : " and place shall not be found for
them," where place is to be supplied, as here
room. ' v2| negatives the idea of the noun as in
Is. -f. 14. The interpretation, forever, adopted by
Wordsworth : " Till there be not enough, till my
abundance is exhausted ; and since this can never
be, therefore it means, forever," is strained and
unnatural. The Septuagint has translated it :
" Until there should be enough."
Ver. 11. And I will rebuke the devourer.
This verse describes in detail what blessings Jeho-
vah's coming will bring with it. Jehovah will take
away everything which would injure the fruits.
The devourer, that is, the locust, shall no more
ravage the land. The corn and wine shall flour-
ish. The grapes shall not fall before they ripen.
Ver. 12. And all nations shaU call you
blessed. The consequence of Jehovah's blessing
will be, that the land will be an object of pleasure
to every one. We find similar language in Zech.
viii. 13 : " As ye were a curse among the heathen,
■0 shall ye be a blessing."
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL.
From Matt. Henry : On Return unto me (ver.
7). What a gracious invitation God gives them
to return and repent! Return unto me, and to
your duty, return to your service, return to your
allegiance, return as a traveller that has missed
his way, as a soldier that has run from his colors,
as a treacherous wife that has gone away from her
husband ; return, thou backsliding Israel, return
to me ; and then I will return unto you, and be
reconciled, will remove the judgments you are un-
der and prevent those you fear. What a peevish
answer they return to this gracious invitation !
Wherein shall we return. Note : God takes notice
what returns our hearts make to the calls of his
Word, what we say, and what we think when we
have heard a sermon ; what answer we give to the
message sent us. When God calls us to return we
should answer, as they did (Jer. iii. 22) : Behold,
we come, but not as these here. Wherein shall we
return ■! They take it as an affront to be told of
their faults, and called upon to amend them ; they
are ready to say. What ado do these prophets
nake about returning and repenting. They are so
ignorant of themselves, ana of the strictness, ex-
tent, and spiritual nature of the divine law, that
they see nothing in themselves to be repented of;
they are pure in their own eyes, and think they
need no repentance. Many ruin their souls by
bafBing the calls to repentance.
HOMILETICAL.
Pressei, : On ver. 10. Prove me now herewith.
The condescending goodness of God gives not only
to the godly, but sometimes even to the ungodly,
opportunity and even a challenge to prove his truth
and alniightiness ; and it is the duty of a minister
of God now, as it was then of the Prophet Malachi,
not only to point both classes to it, but even to
offer to them this proving of God, confident as Eli-
jah was against Ahab, and as Isaiah was against
Ahaz, ihat God will not forsake his servants, but
will by the event put to sharae all unbelief.
On ver. 13. We are very apt to complain of
God's providences, when extraordinary afflictions
and troubles put men out of patience, or when we
read or hear of extraordinary accidents, but where
a heart stands firm in the fear and love of God,
what the Apostle John says : " His seed remaineth
in him, and he cannot sin," is true of it.
On vers. 10-12. How much depends upon our
giving ourselves wholly as an offering to the Lord !
The offerings which the Lord now requires are our
own hearts, and all that comes from them. But if
the Lord was so strict iu tithes, how much more
so is Hk with our hearts ! Dost tiiou wish the full
blessing of God, then be exact in whatever is thy
duty. What is our duty 1 Whatever God re-
quires of us, whether great or little, whether his
service or an every-day life. How can he who is
not strict in his duty hope, or even pray for the
full blessing of God 1
On vers. 14, 15. The vain service of God, He
serves God in vain who serves Him only outward-
ly. He who serves Him from the heart has never
served Him in vain. God is not man. It some-
times is the case with men that an outward ser-
vice only receives an unmerited reward, or that he
who serves another from the heart does not re-
ceive his due reward, for men can be deceived; but
this can never be the case with God, for He is om-
niscient and faithful. All things are under God's
providence. The contrary seems to be the case in
the history of the world and in daily experience,
and men without conscience lose thereby their
faith ; but this is only so in appearance, for the
inward testimony of the heart and eternity will
make plain the most diflScult and frowning provi-
dences, and sometimes in this world, God's holy
and righteous government is clearly manifested.
SECTION VI.
77ie Coming of a Day of Judgment which will vindicate the Ways of God, and reward
the Righteous and punish the Wicked. Elijah the Prophet.
Chapters III. 13-IV. 6.
\3 Tour words have been stout [bold] against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say,
14 What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is Tiin to serva
24 MALACHL
God : and wliat profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have
walked mournfully [gloomily] before [because of Jehovah] the Lord of Hosts ?
15 And noTi ^ we call the proud happy ; yea they that work wickedness are set up ;
16 yea,^ thei/ that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often ^ [nothing corresponding to often in Hebrew] one to another ; and the Lord heark-
ened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance* was written before him for them
1 7 that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine,
saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels ^ [or possession] ;
18 and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then
shall ye return * [again], and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between
him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Chaptbb IV. 1-6.
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, yea,
and all [plural in lxx., Targum, and eighty Mss.] that do wickedly shall be stubble : and
the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave
2 them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun
[fem. as in Gen. xt. 17; Jer. xt. 9; Nah. iu. 17] of righteousness arise with healing in his
wings ; and ye shall go forth, and grow up ' [leap for joy] as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked ; for they shall be ashes under the soles of
4 your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts. Remember ye
the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Is-
5 rael, with [strike out: with'] the [as] statutes and judgments [precepts]. Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet ' before the coming of the great and dreadful day
6 of the Lord : And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to [b^, to or together
with] the children [sons], and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse.
TBXTnAL AND GRAMMATICAL.
1 Ver. 15. — npip, a particle of inference, chaps, i. 9, ii. 1. (Ewald, 858.)
•^ Ver. 15. — The second D^ marks a climax. Nordh. 1096.
8 Ver. 16. — Spake often. The same word is used iu Ter. 13, and translated, spokeD, The word <ifien Is not In tiM
Sobrew.
4 Ver. 16. — jRemembrance (]i~13T), found in Ex. xxTiii. 29; Num. x. 10.
5 Ver. 17. — n bjp, jewels (Ex. xix. 5 i Deut. tU. 6 ; xxtI. 18).
6 Ver. 18. — Return, ^^t2?, is used here as in i. 4, ae an adverb, again (Gen. xiv. 2).
7 Chap. iv. 2. — Grow up. DWtpQ, frisk. LXX. : a^Kiprav (Hab. i. 8).
8 Ver. 5. — LXX. : 'KKiau rhv dea^nrjv. The Masora directs that this verse should be repeated after the last Terse,
Bo that the book may not end with a curse.
that it was profitless to serve God, since He was
not a righteous God, and that therefore they are to
be called happy who sought to secure their earth-
ly well-being, without regard to God. Such hard
speeches of ungodly sinners against God never
pass the lips of a pious Asaph or Job, not even in
the times of sorest trial, and in hours of the deep-
est darkness. They, though uttering despairing
feeling, never draw such conclusions, nor go so
far as to renounce God. Some have found the
atheism of these sinners in the phrase serve Godj
instead of serve Jehovah.
Ver. 14. "We have kept his ordinance. We
have observed all the prescribed rites. "Walked
mournfully, to go about in sackcloth, to neglect
their appearance in token of fasting, and for the
sake of Jehovah. They lay stress iipon fasting,
whether prescribed or voluntary, which was re-
garded as more meritorious. They attributed
worth to the opus operatum of fasting, a disposi-
tion attacked by Isaiah in chap. Iviii., which in'
creased after the Captivity, until it culminated in
the fasting twice in the week of the Fhariseea.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 13. Tour words have been bold against
me. Jehovah through the Prophet, now shows
the people that their murmuring against Him and
his service as unprofitable is unjust. Hengsten-
berg and Rcinke suppose that there is a dialogue
oetween the Prophet and the people, that they re-
ply to the Prophet's words, and contradict them.
Tcbovah has said, Prove me now herewith ? They
."^ply, The wicked prove God, and are delivered.
The Prophet says : They shall call you happy.
They answer : And now we call the wicked happy.
The Prophet says : Ye have not observed mine
ordinances. The people i-eply : "We have ob-
served them. But as this view is too ingenious,
and the Niphal is used. They spake one to another,
they conversed about God, and as it is analogous
to ii. 17, Ye have wearied me with your words, we
must reject it.
Your words are stout, that is, bold, pretump-
uout, imp%ietU. We have the substance of them.
CHAPTERS in. 13-IV. 6.
25
They felt that they had claims upon God, and
complained that He did not reward them for it.
Ver. 15. And now we call the proud happy.
In consequence of the supposed uselessness of their
piety, and the adversity in which Jehovah suffered
them to remain, they, unlilce Asaph, offend against
the generation of God's children by speaking thus,
and begin to call the haughty sinners happy, as
those who have chosen the best part. We must
■again regard the proud here as in chap. ii. 17, as
godless sinners in Israel. They must be the same
with the proud in chap. iv. 1, which Hengstenberg
-admits refers to sinners in Zion, though here he
refers it to the heathen. The heathen are spoken
of as the objects of the divine punishment, only
when they have harmed God's people, and never
where the sins of his people are rebuked. The
people now give the reason why they considered
the haughty sinners happy. They appeal to the
matter of fact, that, though the wicked have put
God to the test by their sins, calling down the ven-
geance of heaven, yet they have been unpunished,
■and their condition is therefore to be envied. The
two clauses correspond to each other, and are
placed in a reciprocal relation to each other by the
double yea (D?)-
Ver. 16. Then they that feared the Lord
spake one to another. The prophet now in a
narrative form, gives the speeches of the godly in
contrast with the hard speeches of the ungodly.
There were a faithful few who feared God with a
holy fear, and who valued his name, who, notwith-
standing all appearances to the contrary, believed
that verily there was a God judging the earth.
The language of the ungodly was the occasion of
their speaking together^ not, often, as in our ver-
sion. It was then (W) they testified their faith in
God. We need not adopt the view of Maurer and
Hitzig, that vav. conv. is to be translated that, and
begins the quotation of their very words, for this
is contrary to usage. We have not the substance
of their conversation. Jerome imagines that it
was a defense of God's dealings, which is doubt-
less correct. They sighed and cried for the abom-
inations of the times (Ezekiel ix. 4). Horror took
hold of them because of the wicked who forsook
God's law, and they exhorted one another daily
not to lose their faith in God, as holy and right-
eous. Their conduct and words pleased God, and
to show the certainty of their reward He is repre-
sented as recording their names and good deeds in
a book of remembrance, lest He should forget to
reward them. Some have found an allusion to
the custom of ancient kings keeping books, in
which all the most important events of their reigns
were recorded, as in Esther vi. 1, 2, but it rests
upon a much older and Scriptural idea, that the
names and actions of the righteous are written in
a book before God (Ps. Ivi. 9; Dan. vii. 10). The
Pirke Avoth, a collection of the sayings of the
Rabbis, quotes this passage, and the comment of
Babbi Chanina ben Teradjon : " Where two sit
together, and there are no words of the law
spoken between them, there is the seat of the
Bcorner of whom it is said, ' He sitteth not in the
Beat of the scorner ; ' but where two sit together,
and words of the law are spoken between thein,
there dwells the Shekinah among them, as it is
written, ' Then they that feared tie Lord spake
often one to another.' "
Ver. 17. And they shall be mine, etc. We
&nd the additional promise, They shail be to me a
peculiar treasure, not jewels, specifically, as in oui
version. The accents make nbjD (possession),
the object of make, but most of the recent com-
mentators, following the LXX., the Targum, and
Jerome, regard it as the predicate of. The// shall be
to me. They shall be my possession in the day which
I make, or appoint. In favor of this, we find th«
same words in Ex. xix. .5, to which this verse
doubtless refers. " Ye shall be to me a peculiar
possession out of all nations," and also in Deut.
vii. 6 : " The Lord, thy God, hath chosen thee to
be to Him a people of possession.^' Further, in ch.
iv. 3, we find the same phrase as here, the day I
make, or appoint. In the New Testament, this
language is borrowed from the LXX. to represent
the relation of believers to God, as in 1 Pet. ii. 9 ;
Eph. i. 14 ; 2 Thess. ii. 14 ; Titus ii. 14, where we
find a peculiar people, where the same word, Tnpi
volrtaiv, is used, as in the Septuagint translation
of this passage.
I will spare them — manifest tender compas-
sion to them, as a man spareth not his son merely,
but his son, who serveth him, who is filial and
obedient. " As a father pitieth his children, so the
Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Ps. ciii. 13).
Ver. 18. Then shall ye again discern be-
tween. The subject of the verb must be the
wicked murmurers, and not, as Henderson thinks,
the righteous. The wicked had arraigned God's
'ustice, now they shall be forced to acknowledge
it in their own punishment. The word "yw •■!
Hebrew is sometimes used as an adverb. It is so
regarded here by Kohler, Keil, Gesenius, Hender-
son, and others. Hengstenberg and Keil find in
ver. 18 a reference to Ex. xi. 7, where it is said:
" The Lord put a difference between the Egyp-
tians and Israel." Kohler understands by it, that
the wicked would now stand in a different rela-
tion to the question than they did before, that
they would, in the future, in consequence of Jeho-
vah's judgments, recognize that difference. Cal-
vin understands it, " if a different state of things."
We are not to put too much emphasis upon it,
nor need we refer it to any special case. The
preposition between, seems to be used here as a
noun, though not strictly such, in the sense of
difference. The time will come, when ye will see
the between in relation to the righteous and the
wicked, as in Is. Ixv. 13, 14 ; " Behold, my ser-
vants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry. My ser-
vants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall
howl for vexation of spirit."
Ch. iv. 1 . For, behold, the day cometh. In
Hebrew, there are but three chapters in Malachi,
the third chapter containing twenty-four verses,
instead of eighteen, as in our version. Most of
the modern versions begin unnecessarily here a
new chapter. The prophet now deecribes the re-
sults of that appointed day, first to the wicked
(ver. 19), and then to the righteous, in vers. 20, 3i.
Behold, the day cometh ! We find similar lan-
fuage in Zeph. i. 1 5 : " That day is a day ofvfrath,
lies Irce, Dies Ilia, and in Joel ii. 31 , where we find
"the great and terrible day of the Lord." Some have
referred the day here spoken of to the destruction
of Jerusalem, others to the last great day. While
it is to receive its fulfillment in the last day, yet it
is capable of more than one fulfillment. It is ful-
filled in every coming to judgment. As Words-
worth says : " All God's judgments are hours,
marked on the dial-plate, and struck by the alarum
of that ,jreat day." The destruction of Jerusalem
26
MALACm.
was but the fiery and blood-red dawn of that day
of days. To the ungodly it will be like a furnace,
where the iire burns most fiercely, and which
scorches and consumes everything which comes near
it. They that do wickedly will then be. as the dry
chaff, whicli is utterly consumed. Isaiah uses the
same figure; v. 21 ; and Obadiah, i. 18 ; Zech. xii.
6 ; Malt. iii. 12 ; Luke iii. 17.
That it shall leave, etc. The "ItSK here is not
a relative pronoun, as Maurer and Reinke sup-
pose, but a conjunction ; so Keil, Kohler, and
Kwald, so that neither root nor branch, a proverb, to
express utter destruction ; not one shall escape.
John the Baptist made this verse the text of his
exhortations when he spoke of the axe laid to the
root of the tree, and the chaff burnt with un-
quenchable fire.
Ver. 2. But unto you that fear my name
Bhall the Sun of Righteousness arise. Jehovah
now turns, and directly addresses the righteous,
and promises tliem that the Sun of Righteousness
will rise upon them. There has been much differ-
ence of opinion as to whether the Sun of Right-
eousness was to be understood /?ersotta//y of Christ,
or whether it is only a genitive of apposition —
the sun, which is righteousness, or, righteousness,
as a sun. The Fathers, Eusebius, Cyril, Theodo-
ret, the early Protestant commentators, and a ma-
jority of modern ones, refer it to Christ, while the
Jewish commentators, and Hengstenberg, Keil,
Eeiuke, Kohler, refer it to the consummation of
salvation, in which Jehovah's righteousness reveals
itself to the godly. Hengstenberg admits that the
interpretation which refers it to Christ is well
founded, though he does not find in it a distinct
allusion to the person of Christ. Keil, while inter-
preting it, that righteousness, that is, salvation, is
regarded as a sun, yet concedes that the personal
view is founded upon a truth, that the coining of
Christ brings righteousness. Henderson remarks :
" There can be no doubt with respect to the appli-
cation," and refers to the passage where Christ is
called the light of men, the light of the world, a
great light (Is. ix. 1), a light to the Gentiles (Is.
xlix. 6), the true light, the day-spring from on
high. Moore remarks : " We cannot think that
the prophet here meant to predict Christ person-
ally, or, indeed, to look at the ground of this right-
eousness at all." We think it safer, from the par-
allel passages, from exegetical tradition, and from
the internal evidence, commending itself to every
believing heart, and which has found expression in
hymns, and in the recorded religious history of
multitudes, to understand this sublime figure not
of an abstract righteousness, but of a personal
Christ.
Heahng in its wings. The beams of this sun
are compared to the outstretched wings of a bird,
to which they bear some resemblance. The figure
is not to be carried out so far as to refer to the
swiftness of a bird, or to the protection of her
young by the mothej' bird, but is to be confined
simply to healing. . . Healing or salvation comes
to the God-fearing through the wings, or beams of
this sun, shining fully upon them. As when the
Bun returns to the earth in spring time, all nature
rejoices in its light and warmth, so the righteous
shall be awaked to a new life by the beams of this
Bun.
And ye shall go forth, and leap as calves.
The righteous shall go forth from darkness, and
their jo / is compared, in a simple and childlike
manner, to that of calves, let loose, from the stall
to go to pasture, who frisk and leap for joy.
Ver. 3. They shall be ashes. The wicked, who
have troubled them, shall be as little regarded by
them as the ashes trodden under foot of men.
Ver. 4. Eemember ye the law of Mosea.
Now follows an exhortation as to the way in which
the coming judgment is to be averted. We have
here the conclusion of the whole book, and the
appropriate sealing up of the Old Testament.
There is in it an intimation, that no further commu-
nications are to be made. As they had gone away
from God's law, now they must give all diligence
to observe and obey it. The Septuagint, it is dif-
ficult to see for what reason, has transposed this
verse, and placed it at the end of the book, where
it is out of place, as it serves as the introduction
to the promise of John the Baptist, and the refor-
mation to be wrought by him. Hengstenberg and
Reinke suppose the reason of the transposition ia
to be found in the great importance of the precept,
but the more probable reason is, that it was done,
as in other cases, to avoid too harsh a sound in
the last verse.
Which I commanded him, not whom I com-
manded, as Ewald, Reinke, and Bunsen. Jeho-
vah calls attention to the divine authority and
origin of the laiv. Moses was but the servant of
Jehovah.
Statutes and Judgments. These words arc
found in the same combination in Deut. iv. 8, am.
may be construed as an exegetical definition, be
longing to which, or with Kohler, as the predicati?
which are statutes and judgments.
Ver. 5. Behold I will send Elijah the prophet
We have here a repetition of the promise in ch
iii. 1 in a more specific form. Behold, I will send
Elijah, not the Tisbbite, as the Septuagint has it,
but Elijah the prophet. But why is John the Bap-
tist here called Elijah 1 The angel before his birth
said unto his father, Zacharias, " And he shall go
before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah."
There were many points of resemblance between
Elijah and John. Both prophesied in a time of
great unbelief and apostasy from the law ; both
sought to bring back the people to the piety of
their fathers ; both prophesied before great and
terrible judgments. The historical circumstances
in which they lived were remarkably parallel.
Ahab reappears in Herod, Jezebel in Herodias
The words of Mark vi. 20, where he speaks of
Herod, fearing John, and did many things, apply
without any alteration to Ahab. Their very ap-
pearance, the fashion of their dress, and their
mode of life, were identical. Bengel says of John ■,
" Even the dress and food of John were in accord-
ance with his teaching and office. The minister
of repentance led the same life as penitents them-
selves should lead." His mode of life was a ser-
mon de facto on mortification. We may thus
clearly see why John should be called in proph-
ecy, which, for the most part, suppresses names,
and which throws a thin veil of obscurity over its
subjects, Elijah, just as Jesus himself was called
David, because he was the son and successor of
David (Hosea iii. 5; Ez. xxxiv. 23; xxxvii. 24;
Jer. XXX. 9). The interpretation of this prophecy,
that Elijah was to reappear before the coming of
the Messiah, has been universally held by the
Jews, and the obstinacy with which they have
clung to this opinion, received by tradition from
their fathers, has been a great hindrance to their
receiving Jesus as the Christ. In this interpreta-
tion, they have been countenanced by most of tin
CHAPTEES III. 13-IV. 6.
27
Fathers, as Chrysostom, Origen, Cyril, Theodoret,
Thcophylact, Jerome, Tertullian, Augustine, who
held to two Elijahs of prophecy, the one, John
the Baptist, and the other, Elijah in person, who
was to reappear, to convert the Jews, and prepare
the way for the second coming of the Lord, The
Romish commentators, in consequen ;e of this con-
sent of the Fathers, have held it a heresy, or next
to a heresy, to reject this interpretation. Some
few modern Protestant commentators, as Hitzig,
Manrer, Ewald, Olshausen, Alford, Stier, and
Kyle, have adopted the same view. Alford says :
" John the Baptist only partially falfilled the great
prophecy, which announced the real Elias (the
words of Malachi will hardly bear any other than
a personal meaning) who is to forerun the second
and greater coming."
We have two most important declarations of
our Lord's on the Elijah of Malachi. Speaking
of John the Baptist, he said : " This is he of whom
it is written. Behold, I will send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee. And if ye will receive it. This is Elias, who
was to come." Here our Lord declares that John
fulfilled both prophecies in Malachi, and that he
was his forerunner. And further, that so obsti-
nate were their foregone conclusions, that He did
not expect they would believe it.
In Matthew xvii. 10, " His disciples asted Him,
Baying, Why then say the Scribes, that Elias must
first corned And Jesns answered and said unto
them, "Elias truly shall first come, and restore all
things, but I say unto you, that Elias is come al-
ready, and they knew him not, but have done unto
him whatsoever they listed. Then understood his
disciples, that He spake unto them of John the Bap-
tist. We would remark, that this conversation
was soon after the Transfiguration of our Lord,
when Elijah appeared. Sharing the common Jew-
ish opinion, and supposing his residence with our
Saviour would be a permanent one, they were per-
plexed at his disappearance. Their question led
our Lord to speak of the prophecy of Malachi,
and to place Himself at the time of its utterance,
when the coming of Elijah as John was yet future.
Hence He uses the future in speaking of John's
agency. Alford infers from the use of the future,
that Elijah is yet to reappear, but it can be easily
explained in the way which has been done.
Again, the denial of John (John i. 21) has been
made use of by the few Protestant commentators
who have held the view of another Elijah. John
did not deny to the deputation from the Sanhe-
drim, that he was the Elijah of Malachi. This
he affirms, when he says, " I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of
the Lord ; " but that he was Elijah in their sense,
Alford finds in, If ye will receive it, a confirmation
of his views, but this expression strengthens the
exclusive refetence to John the Baptist, that it was
\o plain, that nothing but the most inveterate
prejudice prevented their acknowledging it.
Before the coming of the great and dread-
ful day. This expression, the great and terrible
day, is found in Joel ii. 31. The day (ch. iii. 17, iv.
1-5) throughout has the same meaning. It refers
ispecially to the destruction of Jerusalem. When
?he Lord Jesus came, it was not only to give eter-
1 Aben Ezra, at the close of his Commentary/ on the
Minor Prophets, says : " May God soon fulfill the prophecy
of Klijah, and hasten Ma coming! " Rather may we pray
ihat the veil may be taken from the hearts of the Jews,
K that they may believe that this prophecy has beon
nal life to those who received Him, but for judg-
ment upon those who rejected Him. His coming
was necessarily followed by the condemnation of
the unbelieving. The Gospel is always a savor of
life unto life, or of death unto death. But these
words have more than one fulfillment. The last
and perfect one will be in the last day.
Ver. 6. And he shaU turn the heart of the
fathers to the children. Some commentators,
among whom are Ewald, Maurer, and Henderson,
understand this of a restoration of family har-
mony, but it is better to understand it of a recon-
ciliation between the ungodly, estranged from the
piety of their ancestors, and their [jious forefathers,
produced by repentance. Thus the bond of union,
which had been broken, will be restored. That
such is the meaning is proved by Luke i. 16, 17,
where " the disobedient to the wisdom, or dispo-
sition, of the just," is substituted, as containing
the same sense.
Xiest I come and smite the earth with a
curse. By the earth here is meant, the land of
Israel. The word, DT^H, curse, means anything
devoted to the Lord, and is sometimes used in a
good sense, as in Lev. xxvii. 28. More generally,
however, in a, bad sense, as in Zech. xiv. 1 1 , where
it is translated, utter destruction, the ban of exter-
mination.
The close of the Old Testament in Malachi is
unspeakably solemn. On its last leaf we find the
blessing and the curse, life and death, set before
us. As its first page tells us of the sin and curse
of our first parents, so its last speaks of the law
given by Moses, of sin, and the curse following,
mingled with promises of the grace which was to
come by Jesus Christ. So on the last page of the
New Testament, we read of " plagues written in
this book," but its last words are gracious words :
" Surely I come quickly ! Amen. Even so. Come,
Lord Jesus I The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all ! Amen." i
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL.
Wordsworth: "The concluding sentence of
Malachi is a solemn warning to these latter days.
The Holy Spirit knows what is best for us. Ha
warns us of future punishment, in order that we
may escape it, and that we may inherit everlasting
glory. Knowing the terror of the Lord, he would
persuade men. And the character of these latter
days, when the Evil One is endeavoring to lure
men into his own grasp, and to make them his vic-
tims forever, by dissolving God's attributes into
one universal fullness of undiscriminating love;
and by endeavoring to persuade them that his jus-
tice and holiness are mere ideal theories and vision-
ary phantoms, and that there is no judgment to
come, and that the terrors of hell are but a dream,
in defiance of the clear words of Him who is the
Truth (Mark ix. 44 ; Matt. xxv. 46), shows that
there is divine foresight in this warning by Mal-
achi. Let it not be forgotten that the Apostle of
love, St. John, ends his Epistle with a warning
against idolatry, and that at the close of the Apoc-
alypse, there is a solemn declaration against all
who tamper with any words of that book, which
fulfilled, that Filias has already come, and that they may
with us unite in the prayer, which every believing and
loving soul continually prays : Gome, Lord Jesus ! Comi
quickly !
28
MAI/ACHI.
•peaks in the clearest terms concerning judgment,
heaven, hell, and eternity. May we have grace so
to profit by this solemn warning, that we may es-
cape the malediction of those on the left hand at
the great day, and inherit the blessing which will
be pronounced to those on the right hand by the
almighty and everlasting Judge ! Now unto the
King Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise
God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen !
Keil : After Malachi, no prophet arose in Is-
rael until the time was fulfilled, when the Elijah
predicted by hirh appeared in John the Baptist,
and immediately afterwards the Lord came to his
temple, that is to say, the incarnate Son of God to
his own possession, to make all who receive Him
children of God. Upon the Mount of Transfigura-
tion, there appeared both Moses, the founder of
the Law, and mediator of the Old Covenant, and
Elijah the prophet, as the restorer of the law in
Israel, who earnestly praj'ed, " Hear rae, 0 Lord,
hear me, that this people may know that thou hast
turned their heart bacli again ! " to talk with Jesus
of his decease, for a practical testimony to us all,
that Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, to
bear our sin, and redeem us from the curse of the
law, was the beloved Son of the Father, whom we
are to hear, that by believing in his name we may
become children of God, and heirs of everlasting
life.
M. Henry on Malachi iii. 14 : Walked mourn-
fully. They insisted much upon it, that they had
walked mournfulli/ before God, whereas God had
required them to serve Him with gladness and to
walk cheerfully before Him. They by their own
superstitions made the service of God a task and
drudgery to themselves, and then complained of it
as a hard service. The yoke of Christ is easy ; it
is the yoke of Antichrist that is heavy. They com-
plained that they had got nothing by their religion ;
they denied a future state, and then said : It is
vain to serve God, which has indeed some color in
it, for if in this life only we had hope in Christ, we
were of all men most miserable.
Note. — Those do a great deal of wrong to
God's honor, who say that religion is either an
unprojitable or an unpleasant thing ; for the matter
is not so ; wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and
wisdom's gains are better than that of fine gold.
M. Henkt on ver. 16. They spake often, etc.
Even in that corrupt and degenerate age, there
were some that retained their integrity and zeal
for God. In every age, there has been a remnant
that feared the Lord, though sometimes but a little
remnant. They thought upon his name ; they seri-
ously considered, anil frequently meditated upon
the discoveries God had made of Himself, and
their meditation of Him was sweet. They con-
sulted the honor of God, and aimed at that as
their ultimate end in all they did. They spake
often one to another concerning the God they
feared, and that name of his, which they thought
so much of; for out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth will speak ; and a good man out of the
good treasure of his heart will bring forth good
things. They that feared the Lord kept together as
those that were company for each other ; they spake
kindly and endearmgly one to another, for the
preserving and promoting mutual love, that that
jiight not wax cold when iniquity did thus abound.
They spake edifyingly to one another, for the in-
crease of faith and holiness ; they spake one to
Bnother in the language of Canaan ; when pro-
(aneness was to come to so great a height as to
trample upon all that is sacred, then they spake
often one to another. Tlw worse others are, the better
we should be ; when vice is daring, lei nU virtue bt
sneaking. They were industrious to arm them-
selves and one another against tlie contagion b)
mutual instructions and encouragements, and to
strengthen one another s hands. As evil commu-
nications corrupt good minds and manners, sc
good communications confirm thein.
MooKE ; When the wicked are talking against
God, the righteous should talk for Him. Religious
conversation is necessary, all the more, for the
very reasons that often chill and repress it. When
a fire bums lo\T, the coals that are alive should be
brought near together, that they may be blown
into a flame. So when all is cold and dead, living
Christians should draw near and seek the Isreath-
ings of the Spirit, and kindle each other by mu-
tual utterance. The words thus and then spoken
shall be heard and recorded in heaven.
Doddridge has versified vers. 16, 17 : —
The Lord on mortal worms looks down
From hi3 celestial throne ;
And when the wicked swarm around,
He well discerns his own.
The chronicles of heaven shall keep
Their words in transcript fair J
In the Redeemer's book of life,
Their names recorded are.
WoKDBWOETH : Malachi, as successor to ZecU-
ariah, discharged a peculiar office. Zechariah ig
one of the most sublime and impassioned among
" the goodly fellowship " of the Prophets. Tha
light of the sunset of prophecy is as brilliant and
glorious as its noonday splendors. The prophecy
of Zechariah is an impetuous torrent, sweeping
along in a violent stream, dashing over rugged
rocks, and hurling itself down in headlong cata-
racts, and carrying everything with it in its foam-
ing flood. In Malachi, it tempers its vehemence
in the clear haven of a translucent pool ; there it
rested in peace for four hundred years, till it
flowed forth again in the Gospel.
M. Heney, on ch. iv. ver. 4 : Observe the hon-
orable mention that is made of Moses, the first
writer of the Old Testament, in Malachi, the last
writer. God calls him Moses, my servant, for the
righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.
See how the penmen of Scripture, though they
lived at a great distance of time from each other
(it~was twelve hundred years from Moses to Mal-
achi) concurred in the same thing, all actuated
and guided by one and the same spirit.
Pressel : We meet sometimes in the Old Tes-
tament with passages, like flowers among the
rocks, which anticipate the New Testament. Of
this kind are the few passages in which God is re-
garded not as Lord but as Father (Dent, xxxii.
6; 2 Sam. vii. 14; Ps. Ixxxix. 27, ciii. 13; Is.
Ixiii. 16; Jer. xxxi. 20 ; Hos. i. 10; Mai. iii. 17).
God appears in them indeed more as the Father of
the whole nation, than in a personal relation to
individuals. The joyfulness of the sonship of in-
dividuals does not attain prominence, and it was not
the prevailing consciousness of the whole people ;
but these few traces of the fatherhood of God dis-
close the continuity of both Testaments. The re-
lation, which was not possible for the Old Testa-
ment Church, the New Covenant has granted us
through Jesus Christ, and what the New has thu»
granted, the Old had already foreshadowed.
Though the prophecy of Malachi, of the coming
of the Messiah, of the judgment accompanying it,
and of the sending of the forerunner, containi
CHAPTER III. 16-IV. 6.
23
nothing at all which would lead us to suppose that
the first coming would findits fulfiUmeut in a sec-
ond at the end of days, before which time there
should happen his rejection by his people, his re-
deeming work on Golgotha, and the whole history,
of the spread of his Gospel even to. the ends of the
earth, yet nothing can be concluded from this
against the truth, that this last prophecy of the
Old Testament had begun to be fulfilled in the ap-
pearance of Jesus of Nazareth; for the occasion
and design of this last prophecy had nothing to do
with the subsequent events ; for God reveals to his
faithful people at every stage, and under all rela-
tions, only just so much as they need. The Old Tes-
tament has sufficiently disclosed the most glorious
glimpses into the Messianic future, as special
Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and other books
testify, but here the object is only to enforce on
the light-minded and scoffing contemporaries of
the prophet the ineffaceable difference between the
godly and ungodly, and the certainty of the day in
which that difference would be revealed to all eyes.
It was for this object, that what God communicated
to them through his prophets of the coming of the
Lord, and the sending of his Porerunner, was ex-
actly what they needed.
Vers. 16, 17. Then they that feared the Lord.
What is the frivolity and scorn of the world, when
compared with the refuge of the pious in the word
of God, in the communion of those like-minded,
in prayer, and in a blessed hereafter !
The Lord knoweth them that are his ! This
Holy .Scripture everywhere testifies. Does also the
Spirit of God testify it to our spirits ?
The nanies of those who are registered in our
church books are not all found in God's book of
remembrance. As it was a great privilege to be
numbered among the people of Israel, so it is one
now to be numbered in our church books as a
Christian ; but as then there was a difference be-
tween those whose names were in God's book, and
those who were not, so it is still now.
" In thy fair book of life and grace,
0 may I fiud my name,
Recorded in some humble place,
Beneath my Lord, the Lamb."
This is the highest distinction to which man can
attain : all others are but a shadow, when com-
pared with it. It is a distinction most undeserved,
and yet promised to the sincere and pious. It ex-
cludes all merit, and, yet , it-is a reward of true
piety.
Ch. iv. 1 . For behold the day comes !
" That day of wrath ! that dreadful day !
"When heaven and earth shall pass away,
What power shall be the sinner's stay ?
How shall he meet that dreadful day ? "
Ch. iv. ver. 2. What will the day of the Lord
bring to the righteous, according to the promise
of the Old Testament ? The Sun of righteous-
ness ; salvation Tinder his wings ; the joy of free-
dom ; the tiiumph over the common enemies of
the Lord and his people.
Ch. iv. vers. 4, 5. Moses and Elijah must even
now go before the Lord : How far have they come
to us ■; Or, Conversion is the turning point,
where the Old Covenant ends, and the New begins :
the heart begins, and the life must end.
Ver. 6. He shall tarn the hearts of the fathers to
Jie children. How has the Word of God laid upon
as the duty of our conversion, and that of ourfam-
lies ! Grant me the heaveuly joy, that after many a
struggle, I may with rapture say. Dearest Father!
Here am I, and those whom thou hast given me 1
No one of them is lost ! all are prepared for thy
kingdom ! That this may be our experience, we
must strive by persevering prayer, and it will,
when realized, be a, matter of heavenly joy. Fi-
nally : The last word of the Old Testament is the
threatening of the curse ; of the New, the prayer,
"Even so come, Lord Jesus I " What should we
wish our last word to be '?
Cheysostom on, Behold the day cometh ! Let
us then Imagine that that day has come, and let
each one examine his reflections, and let him sup-
pose that the Judge is already present, and that
all things are revealed and published ; for we must
not only stand there, but also be made manifest.
Would you not blush '! would you not be beside
yourselves 1 For if now, when the occasion is not
yet present, but is merely supposed, and repre-
sented to the imagination, we are overwhelmed by
our reflections, what shall we do, when that day
has come, — when the whole world is present, —
when angels and archangels, when crowded myr-
iads, and the hurrying to and fro of all have come ;
and we are caught up in the clouds, and the gath-
ering together full of terror has come ; when trum-
pet after trumpet shall sound exceeding loud, — •
when all these have come 1 For even if there were
no hell, what a punishment to be thrust out in the
midst of such splendor, and to depart dishonored 1
For if even now, when a king and his retinua
make a triumphal entry, the poor, reflecting on
their poverty, receive not so much pleasure from
the spectacle, as mortification, that they are not.
admitted to the presence of the king, nor share hisi
favor, what will it be then ! Or, do you consider
it a light punishment not to be numbered in that
company, not to be counted worthy of that un-
speakable glory, to be thrust out from that joyful
assembly, and from those unutterable blessings ?
When too, there shall be darkness, and gnashing
of teeth, and everlasting chains, and the worm
that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched,
and tribulation and anguish, and tongues parched
like the rich man's ; when we shall beg for mercy,
but no one shall hear ; when we shall groan and
howl because of our torments, and no one shall
heed ; and look round everywhere, and nowhex'e
shall there be any to comfort us, what shall we say
to those in such a condition, what can be more
wretched than their souls ! what more pitiable !
For if we enter .a prison,, and see the squalid pris-
oners, some bound and famishing, others shut up
in darkness, we weep aloud, we shudder, and avoid
imprisonment there, when we are dragged away
by force into the very torments of hell, what shall,
become of us ! For these chains are not of iron,
but of fire, never to be quenched ; nor are our jail-
ers men, whom it is often possible to persuade,
but angels, whom we dare not look upon, because
they are exceedingly enraged, that we have in-
sulted their Lord. We do not see there, as here,
some bringing money, some food, others comfort-
ing words, so that the prisoners obtain some mit-
igation. Everything.Mere is beyond the reach of
alleviation. Even if Noah, or Job, or Daniel,
should see their own families suffering punish-
ment, they would not dare to relieve them. For
natural sympathy is there extinguished. For
while it is the case, that righteous parents have
wicked children, and righteous children Avicked
parents, that the pleasure may there be. unalloyed,
and that those who enjoy the blessings may not
lose their fruition from sympathy, even this nal;
so
MALACHI.
oral affection, I say, is extinguishec!, and they
Bhare in their Lord's indignation against their own
oHPspring. For if common men, when they see their
children wicked, disinherit them, and cut them
off from the family, much more shall the righteous
then. Therefore, let no one hope for good things,
who has done no good work, though he may have
ten thousand righteous ancestors, "for every one
shall receive the things done in his body, accord-
ing to that he hath done." And here I think I
will make vise of this fear to attack the adulterers,
and not them only, but all those who do any
wrong thing whatever. Let us ourselves hear
therefore these things ; if jMu have the fire of lust,
oppose to it that fire, and being extinguished, it
will quickly go out. If you are about to utter
anything uncharitable, reflect on the gnashing of
teeth, and your fear will be a bridle to you ; if you
wish to steal, hear the Judge commanding and
saying, "Bind him hand and foot and cast him
into outer darkness," and you will in this way cast
out your lust ; if you are a drunkard, and spend
your time in debauchery, hear the rich man say-
ing, " Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of
his finger in water, and cool my parched tongue,"
and not obtaining his request, and you will get
rid of this passion. If you love luxury, consider
the tribulation and anguish there, and you will de-
sire it no more ; if you are harsh and cruel, re-
member those virgins who, because their lamps had
gone out, were shutout of the bridal chamber, and
you will soon become kind-hearted. Are you sloth-
ful ? Think of him who hid the talent, and you
will become more ardent than fire. Does cove-
■oasness of your neighbor's property consume you 1
Think of the worm that never dies, and you will
easily get rid of this disease, and will reform all
other sins, for He has commanded nothing bur-
densome or grievous. Why then do his command-
ments seem grievous to us ? From our slothful-
ness. For as when we are zealous, even those
things which seem intolerable will be light and
easy, so when we are slothful, the things which
are tolerable will appear to us grievous. In view
of all this, let us not regard those who live lux-
uriously, but remember their end ; let us not re-
gard the extortioners, but remember their end, —
here cares and fears and anguish of soul, and
there everlasting chains ; let us not regard the
lovers of glory, but remember what it begets, —
here slavery and hypocrisy, and there intolerable
loss, and perpetual burning. For if we would
thus reason with ourselves, and continually oppose
these and the like things to our wicked lusts, we
should speedily cast out the love of the present,
and kindle the love of the future. Let us now
therefore kindle it, and burn with it. For if the
meditation on these things, imperfect as it may
be, gives such pleasure, think how much delight a
perfect realization will be. Happy, thrice happy,
yea, infinitely happy are those who enjoy such
blessings, as wretched, thrice wretched are those
who suffer their opposite ! That we may not be
of the latter class, but of the former, let us choose
virtue, for in this way we shall obtain these future
blessings. God grant that we may all obtain
them, through the grace and love of our Lord Je.
sus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy
Ghost together be glory, power, and honor now
and always, and for ever and ever. Amen I
NEW METRICAL TRANSLATION.
SECTION I.
Jehovah's distinguishing Love to Israel (Chap. i. 1-6).
1 The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel, by the hand of MalachL
2 I have loved you, saith Jehovah,
And if ye say, " Wherein hast thou loved us ?"
Was not Esau brother to Jacob ? saith Jehovah,
And yet I loved Jacob,
3 And Esau I hated ;
And made his mountains a desolation.
And his inheritance for the jackals of the desert.
4 Although Edom say, " We are ruined,
Yet will we build again the ruins ; "
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts ;
They may build, but I will pull down ;
And men shall call them, " The land of wickedness ;
And the people against whom Jehovah is angry forever.**
5 And your eyes shall see it, and ye shall say,
Great be Jehovah over the land of Israel I
SECTION n. .M
SECTION n.
Rebuhe of the Priests (Chap. i. 6-ii. 9).
6 A son honors his father,
And a servant his master ;
But if I am a father, where is mine honor ?
And if I am a master, where is my fear ?
Saith Jehovah of Hosts to you, ye priests, that despise my name.
Yet ye say, " Wherewith have we despised thy name?"
7 In offering polluted bread upon mine altar.
And if ye say, " Wherewith have we polluted thee ? "
In that ye say, " The table of the Lord is contemptible."
And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice,
(Ye say) "There is nothing evil ! "
8 And when ye offer the lame and the sick,
(Ye say), " There is nothing evil ! "
Offer it then to thy governor ;
Will he be gracious to thee.
Or accept thy person ?
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God to be gracious nnto Ofl I
(By your hand hath this been done !)
Will he show favor,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts ?
10 O that some one of you would even shut the doors,
That ye might not light the fire upon mine altar to no pnipose 1
I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And sacrifice from your hand I will not accept.
11 For from the rising of the sun even to its setting.
My name shall be great among the nations.
And in every place shall incense be offered to my name,
And a pure offering ;
For my name shall be great among the nations.
12 But ye profane it.
In that ye say, " The table of the Lord is polluted,
And the fruit thereof, even its food, is contemptible."
13 Ye say also. Behold, what weariness !
And ye snuff at it,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
And ye bring that which is stolen, and lame, and sick,
And present it for an offering !
Shall I accept it from your hand ?
Saith Jehovah.
14 And cursed be the deceiver,
Who, when there is in his flock a male.
Vows and sacrifices to Jehovah that which is blemished }
For I am a great king, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And my name is feared among the nations.
1 And now, ye priests, this sentence is to you I
2 If ye will not hearken,
If ye will not lay it to heart,
To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of HosUi
I will send a curse upon you,
And I will curse your blessings ;
£"? MALACHI.
Yea, I have cursed them already.
Because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold I will rebuke for you the seed;
And I will spread dung upon your faces,
The dung of your solemn feasts,
And ye shall be taken away to it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent to you this sentence.
That my covenant with Levi may continue,
5 Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
My covenant with him was life and peace,
And I gave them to him for fear.
And he feared me, and reverenced my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth.
And unrighteousness was not found in his lips ;
He walked with me in truth and equity.
And turned many away from iniquity.
7 For the lips of the priest should keep knowledge,
And men should seek the law from his mouth ;
For he is a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts.
8 But ye have departed from the way.
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law.
And ye have made void the covenant with Levi,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts ;
Therefore will I also make you
despicable and base before all the people ;
Because ye have not kept my ways,
But have had respect to persons in the law.
SECTION m.
Rehuke of Divorce and Mixed Marriages (Chap. ii. 10-17).
iO Have we not all one Father ?
Hath not one God created us ?
Why do we act treacherously one toward another.
And profane the Covenant of our fathers?
11 Judah hath acted treacherously,
And an abomination is committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem,
For Judah hath profaned the holy people of Jehovah, which He loveth,
And hath married the daughter of a strange God.
12 Jehovah will cut off from the tents of Jacob the man that doeth this,
The waker and the answerer,
And him that bringeth a sacrifice to Jehovah of Hosts.
13 And this second thing ye do.
Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears.
With weeping, and with groans,
So that He hath no more regard to the offering.
Nor accepts it as well-pleasing from your hand.
14 And if ye say, " Wherefore? (doth He not accept?) "
Because Jehovah has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth.
Against whom thou hast acted treacherously.
While she was thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
16 But did He lot make one (pair) ?
Though He Had a residue of the Spirit ?
And wherefore one ?
SECTIONS IV., V. 33
He sought a godly seed.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And act not treacherously to the wife of thy youth I
16 For I hate divorce,
Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
And him that covers with cruelty his garment.
SECTION IV.
The Coming of the Angel of the Covenant for Judgment (Chap. ii. 17— iiL 6).
17 Te have wearied Jehovah with your words,
And if ye say, " Wherein have we wearied Him ? "
In that ye say, " Every evil doer
Is good in the eyes of Jehovah,
And in them He hath delight,"
Or, " Where is the God of judgment ? "
1 Behold, I send my messenger,
That he may prepare the way before me ;
And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.
And the Angel of the Covenant, whom ye desire,
Behold he comes, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming ?
And who can stand at his appearing ?
For he is like the smelter's fire.
And like the lye of the washer.
3 And He will sit as a smelter, and purifier of silver.
And will purify the sons of Levi,
And will refine them, as gold and silver,
That they may offer to Jehovah sacrifices in righteousness.
4 And the ofiering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Jehovah,
As in the days of former times,
And as in past years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment ;
And I will be a swift witness
Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who sirear for
deceit.
And against those who defraud the hireling of his wages,
And oppress the widow and the fatherless,
And turn aside the stranger from his right.
And fear not me, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
6 For I, Jehovah, change not :
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
SECTION V.
Rebuke for Neglect of Tithes and Offerings (Chap. iii. 7-12).
From the day« of yonr fathers ye have departed from mine ordinances, And have
not kept them ;
Return to me, and I will return to you,
34 MALACHI.
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
And ye say, " Wherein shall we return ? "
Will a man defraud God, that ye defrauded me ?
" And ye say, " Wherein have we defrauded thee ? '
In the tithe and in the heave offering.
Ye are cursed with a curse.
Yet ye defraud me, even the whole nation,
10 Bring ye the whole tithe into the treasure house,
That there may be food in my house.
And prove me now herewith,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts,
If I will not open you the windows of heaven,
And pour out upon you a blessing tUl there is not room enonglL
11 And I will rebuke for you the devourer,
That he may not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor will your vine be barren in the field,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed,
For ye shall be a joyful land,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
SECTION VL
Retrihution of the Righteous and the Wicked (Chap. iii).
18 Your words have been bold against me, saith Jehovah ;
And ye say, " What have we spoken with one another against thee?'
14 Ye have said, It is a vain thing to serve God,
And what gain is it, that we have kept his ordinance,
And walked mournfully because of Jehovah of Hosts ?
15 For now we call the proud happy.
Yea, the doers of wickedness are built up,
Yea, they have tempted God, and have been delivered.
16 Then those, who feared Jehovah, conversed with one another,
And Jehovah attended and heard ;
And a book of remembrance was written before Him,
For them that feared Jehovah,
And that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be my property, saith Jehovah,
In the day which I appoint,
And I will spare them.
As a man spareth his own son, that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye again discern
[The difference] between the righteous and the wicked,
Between him who serveth God,
And him that serveth Him not.
rV. 1 For behold the day cometh, burning like a fiimace.
And all the proud, and every doer of wickedness shall be tAiaSS,
And the coming day shall burn them up,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts,
So that it will not leave them root nor branch.
2 But imto you, that fear my name.
Shall the Sun of Righteousness arise
With healing in his wings.
SECTION VI. 36
And ye shall go forth, and leap [for joy],
Like calves of the stall.
And ye shall tread down the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.
In the day which I appoint, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant.
Which I commanded him upon Horeb for all Israel,
My statutes and my precepts !
Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet,
Before the day of Jehovah come,
The great and terrible day.
He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sona,
And the heart of the sons to the fathers,
That I may not come
And smite the land with a corse.
INDEX
TO
LANGE'S COMMENTARY
ON
THE OLD TESTAMENT.
I. HEBREW. II. TOPICAL
BY
Rev. BEENHARD PICK, PH.D.
NEW TORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
1887.
COPTEIGHT BY
CHAELES SCEIBNEES' SONS,
1882.
EDITOR'S HISTORICAL NOTE.
LANGE'S COMMENTART.
A Commentary on the whole Bible embracing not less than twenty-five
large royal octavo volumes of from five hundred to seven hundred and fifty
closely printed pages each, and relying for success solely on purchasers, is some-
thing of an event in the annals of exegesis and of the book-trade. Looking back
upon the sixteen years of editorial labor and the many thousands of dollars (not
far short of one hundred thousand) invested in the work, I am not a little
surprised at the energy and perseverance of the publishers, and the interest and
patience of the readers. No theological enterprise of such magnitude was
undertaken before in America. Very few publishers would have ventm-ed on it,
and it is doubtful whether any publisher would risk it now, when the country is
flooded with commentaries of all sorts and sizes.
The German Bibelwerk was begun under the editorial care of Dr.
Lange, Professor of Theology in the University of Bonn (formerly at Ztirich),
in 1855, and completed in 1877, in sixteen parts. He laid out the plan and took
in hand the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, the Epistle to the Romans, the
Revelation, and also the first four Books of the Pentateuch. The Commentaries
on the other books were prepared by twenty contributors, most of them profes-
sors of biblical exegesis in German Universities, one from Holland (Prof. Dr. van
Oosterzee of Utrecht) and two from Switzerland (the late Prof. Auberlen, and
Prof. Riggenbach, both of Basle), all of the evangelical school of theology. He
invited me to contribute and assigned me an important book of the Old and
another of the New Testament (Isaiah, and Romans). I declined, chiefiy because
I had in contemplation a brief commentary of my own on a different plan. I
was well acquainted with Dr. Lange, and remember with pleasure my fir^t visit
to him at Zurich on my departure for America in March, 1844, when he
smilingly expressed the wish that I might become " an internuntius between the
old and the new world."
"When, in 1857, the first volume (the Gospel of Matthew) appeared, which
IV EDITORS HISTORICAL NOTE.
the author kindly sent me, the late Eev. Dr. Harbaugh, a friend of mine and a
great admirer of Dr. Lange's writings, strongly urged me to undertake an
English translation or reproduction rather of the Commentary, which seemed to
him admirably adapted for the wants of American ministers and students. At
first I hesitated, partly because I had a prejudice against the homiletical depart-
ment, which seemed to make sermonizing somewhat too easy. But further
reflection removed this objection. I thought that a translation of Lange for
ministers would not necessarily supersede a briefer original commentary for
laymen, and that the homiletical and practical department judiciously managed
might be made very helpful and stimulating to pulpit labors. Practical exegesis
moreover is as legitimate a form of exposition as grammatical and historical, and
it is the oldest of all. The best commentaries of the fathers (Origen, Chrysostom,
Augustin, etc.), and some of the most useful English Commentaries (as those of
Matthew Henry, Burkitt, Scott, Doddridge) are homiletical and practical. At
the same time I felt that this department needed considerable modification to be
adapted to Anglo-American taste.
So I wrote to Dr. Lange as early as 1859 for permission to prepare an
American reproduction of his Bibdwerh, which was promptly and cheerfully
granted. He made no conditions, and when I afterwards paid him a share of
the copy money from the sale of the volumes which I prepared myself (Matthew,
John, and Romans) he at first refused it, but I insisted on his acceptance. I
treated Dr. van Oosterzee in the same way for his Commentary on Luke, as far
as I translated and supplemented it myself (the first three chapters), for which
he was very grateful. As to the volumes prepared by others, I left the business
part in the hands of the publishers.
When I first applied to Mr. Charles Scribner, as publisher, and submitted to
him a plan of the work, he entertained it favorably, but advised delay in view of
the magnitude of the risk. Soon afterwards the outbreak of the civil war
paralyzed the book trade and buried the undertaking, apparently without the hope
of a resurrection.
But a few years afterwards Mr. Th. Clark of Edinburgh, who is doing so
much for the introduction of the best productions of modern German theology to
the English and American student, announced a translation of Lange's Commentary
on the Gospels, as a part of his Series of the " Foreign Theological Library,"
and issued the first volume in 1863. This translation met with considerable sale
in America, and induced Mr. Scribner to urge me to undertake an enlarged
reproduction and adaptation of the whole New Testament.
I at once went to work in 1863, secured a number of able contributors, and
moved from Mercersburg to New York (first temporarily, and then permanently)
in order to prepare the first volume, on the Gospel of Matthew. It was truly a
work of faith on the part of the publisher, undertaken in the darkest hour of the
civil war. When, in the following summer he visited England, most of his
friends abroad told him that we could not master the Southern rebellion and
would have to prepare for a permanent division of the Union. General Grant
EDITOR'S HISTOEICAL NOTE.
was then fighting the battles in the wilderness, and the premium on gold, the price
of paper and printing rose to an unprecedented and alarming figure.
But when the Commentary on Matthew was published in the autumn of
1864, it met with unexpected favor among all denominations. Success seemed
assured, and we pushed the work, including the Old Testament, as fast as
circumstances permitted. One or more volumes appeared every year, imtil the
twenty-fifth and last left the press, and the whole work is now completed by
this full index to the Old Testament similar to the one on the New which is
appended to the Commentary on the Apocalypse. The sale was not confined to
America. The demand from England was equally great. Mr. Cldrk of Edin-
burgh united with Mr. Scribner as co-publisher, and ordered a large edition in
sheets of every volume. He could not have paid a higher compliment to the
merits of the American edition. He supplies also the market in the British pro-
vinces. I found copies among missionaries on the banks of the Nile and in
Syria. Many are scattered through India, China and Japan.
Lange's Bible-work is intended for ministers and theological students. It is
a threefold commentary, exegetical, doctrinal and homiletical. The American
edition adds to it a fourth department, the textual and critical with many emen-
dations of King James' version. These departments are kept distinct so that the
reader can find at once what he needs. It is an exegetical Encyclopaedia. Like
every composite work, it is unequal in merit. But upon the whole it is the most
useful as well as the most complete Commentary for the class of readers for whom
it is intended and is likely to hold its ground for a good while to come. Such a
combination of force cannot easily be brought together.
The American edition is much larger than the German. The writers were
directed to supplement and adapt the work to the use of English students, as they
may deem best, but carefully to "distinguish the additions by brackets. Some
volumes are enlarged to the extent of one third. These additions are highly
prized, and were necessary to naturalize the work. A mere translation of the
German would never have taken root on American soil. The writers represent
the theological Seminaries of all the leading evangelical denominations. Some
parts were prepared in advance of the German but on the same plan, as we could
not wait for the original. The Commentary on the Apocrypha is entirely new,
the German work being confined to the canonical books. Professors in the
theological institutions at Andover, Hartford, New Haven, New York, Princeton,
Eochester, Madison, Middletown, Philadelphia, Alexandria, Cincinnati, Chicago,
San Francisco, etc., have contributed their learning and wisdom to this enter-
prize. There are few public teachers of Greek and Hebrew exegesis of high repu-
tation during the last twenty years, who have not had some share in this work,
which for this reason may claim almost a national American character.
The amount of correspondence (filling a large volume), care and trouble in
the preparation of this voluminous commentary was very considerable, but it ia
all forgotten now in the joy and gratitude of the completion. My intercourse
with, the publishers and contributors was uniformly courteous, fraternal and
VI EDITOK'S HISTOEICAL NOTE.
agreeable, and will ever be remembered with unmixed pleasure. Some of them
have been called to their reward in heaven, among them Prof. Tayler Lewis,
Dr. Hackett, Principal Fairbairn, Dr. Lillie, Dr. Yeomans, Dr. Schaffer, Dr.
Washburn, not to mention the departed among the German writers, nearly all of
whom I knew personally. Dr. Lange still lives, a young man of nearly eighty
years, in full discharge of his professoral duties.
Philip Schapf.
New York, December, 1881.
HEBREW INDEX.
Jj@* Note. — The Numerals refer to tlie pages of the Commentaries on the Books mentioned — which
are paged separately in each Volume.
nak, Deut. 182.
I^aN, Job 88, 509.
n3N, Job 378.
nnas, Ezek. 205.
'3X, Job 573.
■ T
Sas, Lam. 43.
"T
pS, Exod. 3.
□'J3S, Exod. 3.
1113K, Gen. 604.
mx, Gen. 192, 203.
nnnpn«. Lev. 104, 106.
'JIX, Gen. 110.
T -:
nms, Judg. 73.
nj;ia '7ns, Lev. 21 ; Josh. 153.
nnN, Exod. 137.
t: t
21«, Lam. 329; Isa. 136.
n'7in\X, Jer. 64.
T ■
TH'IX, Lam. 42.
D'S'lX, Prov. 43.
d'71N, Job 79.
T
fix, Hab. 13.
ij'lS, Job 446.
tiJIN, Jer. 121.
)'1K, Josh. 97.
Tin, Job 153.
nis, Gen. 170, 328.
XlIK, Dan. 70.
mDIX, Lev. 30.
TT : ~
)m, Deut. 211.
mm, Isa. 222.
ins, Gen. 604.
T
nnx, Judg. 78.
•\m, Judg. 72, 73.
"S, Isa. 234.
n'X, Lev. 89.
3VK, Job 223, 225.
HD'K, Gen. 231.
TV"
Drs, Lam. 179.
]W'K, Deut. 213.
'7:3s, Lam. 152.
"TDK, Lev. 90.
[DN, Isa. 419.
^IDN, Job 137.
Sn, Lam. 325.
?;;n3ri-bK, Lev. 81.
h^, Isa. 142,
t^yh'A, Ezek.
hSn, Lev. 39 ; Deut. 196.
T T
D'ilSx, Gen. 109.
a^'^h^, Gen. 575,
■■Sn, Job 35.
H'Sk, Lev. 33.
T : ~
ins'^X, 1 Kings 193.
D^'Ss, Lev, 147.
D'Sn, Isa. 45.
D^N, Ps. 351.
HBX, Isa. 107.
[TOK, Jer. 439.
njIDN, Isa. 352.
T
Tn«, Isa. 213.
• T
hhm, Ps. 79.
|px, Lam. 152.
D'Sn«, Zech. 50.
inN,' Josh. 53.
npN, Prov. 61.
n3J«, Lev. 89.
T T-:
np:«. Lev. 90.
pDK, Gen. 610.
^'dK, Jer. 104.
la^X, Jer. 37.
^T;;N, Lam. 86.
^N, Job 582.
i3«, Job 377.
D;3X, Lam. 48.
p^as, Lam. 571.
nbsN, Isa. 136.
T" —
'paS, Isa. 514.
D'D3N, Ezek. 468.
•T : ~
p3N, Josh. 136.
j'H")3N, Song of Solomon, 82.
nmSN, Josh. 138.
T T : V
'■•11SX, Jer. 18.
: TV
D^iNIX, Isa. 353.
T V : ■.•
nU^S, Eccl. 155.
[ns, Josh. 56.
n'lniN, Job 350.
: T
'7K''1N, Isa. 316.
D^N, Isa. 275.
Xj^lN, Jer. 120.
DTIX, Gen. 308, 309.
niJ'IN, Ps. 162.
mt/N, Deut. 222.
T
riT tyx, Deut. 227.
ncyS, Lev. 15, 26.
n^n'liyx, Jer. 408.
n^'i^N, Isa. 204.
nm, Lev. 14, 39, 41, 42.
T T
□i^'N, Isa. 453.
'■\n'm. Lev. 46.
HBlpK/X, Isa. 218.
•\-m, Lam. 324.
HEBREW INDEX.
n^B'■K, Exod. 143, 146.
n,E;"s, Ps. 50, 683.
n'lTilS DE/K, Jud. 79, 80.
ns, Exod. 3.
KON, Isa. 242.
T T
D'jRN, Isa. 55.
DBK, Gen. 331.
mm, Hos. 36.
Dn«3, Gen. 323.
boa. Gen. 358, Jer. 404.
nj3, Isa. 350.
- T
D'n3, Isa. 204.
nSna, Lev. 194.
T TV
nna, job 533.
Ki3, Gen. 657.
nOl'a, Lam. 53.
T •
ppb, Isa. 270; Hos. 81.
HD, Isa. 387.
TT
pn, Judg. 29.
^'n'nmi, Ecci. 151.
]'n3, Isa. 258.
]n3, laa. 348.
plans, Exod. 34.
l'?a3, Eccl. 154.
1 T
'3, Gen. 619.
T3, Isa. 230.
m% Job 117.
"inon n'.3, Gen. 596.
N33, Ps. 464.
T T
^^^73, Job 87.
T "
nD3, 1 Kings 41.
TT ^
n3l;;S3, Judg. 115, 117.
'in'3K'p3, Prov. 168.
D'J3Snp3, Numb. 59.
TIDS, Mic. 11.
•• t: t
Vnb3, Isa. 578.
T
D'Jpt [3, Gen. 580.
S^'S3 \J3, Deut. 128.
j;bJ3, Numb. 59.
Djtjpj3, Gen. 358.
nraj3. Lev. 22.
T T :
nXDNOa, Isa. 291, 294.
T : ~ :
l;^3, Euth 26.
S^a, Jer. 51.
^'"7^3, Isa. 587.
nyj, Hos. 67.
D-Sbps, Exod. 84.
nijria j?'i33, judg. 90.
D'JJj; nn33. Gen. 591.
lDbx|, Gen. 173.
IjpSsS, Gen. 173.
;>X3, Judg. 98 ; Job 113.
py3, Deut. 103.
ins, Ps. 200.
n;nn nips. Lev. 148. .
13, Ps. 58.
N13, Gen. 162.
T T
n'K'NiS, Gen. 162.
'13, Job 151, 590.
nns, Isa. 292.
" ■ T
D'n'13, Isa. 468.
■ T
nn3, Gen. 293, 301.
■^13, Job 53.
p13, Judg. 29.
num. Lev. 36; Josh. 134.
TT : ■
DJBfS, Gen. 279, 280, 285.
hm, Eccl. 123.
nj^;n ns, Lev. 89.
nns, Isa. 83.
D'HnS, Deut. 166.
nains, judg. 151.
HnJ, Lam. 161.
bvti., Ruth 37; Job 172, 456.
Din Sxj, Judg. 164.
[NJ, Nah. 25.
D'nSJ, EccL 91.
njt?aj, Judg. 137, 156.
13:, Job 70, 99; Lam. 122.
1J, Judg 66.
inj, Mic. 35.
y_m, Isa. 198.
'j'tIJ , Job 131.
nj, Ezek. 474.
nnj, Prov. 161.
IJ, Prov. 222.
'lU, Ps. 402.
bn'J, Josh 78
T
};n, Isa. 161.
nin. Lam. 157.
I'ln, Dan. 75.
SjSj, Josh. 64 ; Judg. 81.
Op^bi, 1 Kings 176.
'rhi, Josh. 164.
nVbj, Ezek. 470.
ri74, Judg. 35.
Spj', Isa. 219.
IDJ, Gen. 345; Hos. 25.
D^nj, Josh. 85.
□IJ, 2 Kings 96.
'm, Euth 28.
1'31, 1 Kings 62.
nb31, Isa. 395.
□;S31, Hos. 25.
pSI, 1 Kings 254.
131, Eccl. 91.
T T
ri31. Job 137.
T T :
D^'im, Gen. 358.
• T :
n;>1 Dn31, Gen. 580.
T T T T ■
D'Kin, Gen. 530.
• T
□"11, Josh. 96.
nson. Lev. 89.
in, Isa. 400.
p;i, Jer. 438.
V31, Prov. 222.
T -
111, Job 197.
vSl, Prov. 222, 223.
-ymi, Isa. 286.
'pl, Isa. 400.
n'DI, Ps. 373.
IS'JI, Lam. 7.
■• ■ T
J1K11, Isa. 711.
IJII, Job 119.
12*11, Deut. 123.
nsnxn, Song of Soi. 63.
T-: "
ty'SS'n, Isa. 326.
nsn, Gen. 376.
T T
'snsn, Hos. 73.
-• T ; -
'Sn, Euth 41.
?3n, Eccl. 37.
mijn. Josh. 134.
HEBKEW INDEX.
run, Isa. 295.
T t'
E*nn, Isa. 279.
:|snn, Job 125.
VN'in, Josh. 77 ; Sam. 227.
nj'in, Lam. 43.
T
M'n, Isa. 33.
n'ln, Exod. 24.
T7'in, Job 158.
B^nV ttfn'in, Josh. 53.
yjZfin, Hos. 8.
"l^in, Isa. 282.
•J'tn, Lam. 47.
"iri'7'inn, judg. 143, 146.
'bnn, isa. 578.
Dnn^nn, josh. 49.
n;.n;n, Job 78.
'V'Vn, Isa. 258.
SVn, Isa. 185.
Illin. Josh. 41.
'pn, Sam. 597.
nj'pn, Job 119.
°'2y.. '''?''??D. Gen- 657.
'JlDJ^pn, Jer. 226.
n-ian, isa. 66.
S'bn, Job 185.
jij3;n, Josh. 42.
HJn, Job 53.
Siasn, Gen. 293.
ntJSri, Gen. 634.
n'Dn, Isa. 185.
Dp'JDn, Lev. 194.
DS;?Dn, Isa. 675.
npn, Judg. 26.
ydpn, 2 Kings 86.
'■[Tpn, Sam. 401, 403.
ni;rDn, Job 213, 601.
T T : -
y^yp, Gen. 630, 634.
^yn, Jer. 230.
ity>n, Job 620.
p'pn, Isa. 629.
^Sn, Job 200.
asp, Nah. 24, 27.
Nlin, Dan. 97.
I'pn, Job 291.
^2'pn, Job 53.
|"pri, Isa. 114.
Tpn, Jer. 80.
n'E/pn, Job 609.
D"a^^, Jer. 129.
"innn, isa. i6l, 162.
n'lNE^n, Isa. 387.
S'XE/n, Sam. 62.
D'Dtyn, Gen. 162.
^lytywnn, isa. 508.
T 1 • '
iysnnn. Job 127.
inprinnn, judg. 241.
u\im, Job 437.
hhym, Sam. Ill, 114 ; Lam. 129.
j>;;.'nnn, Prov. 166.
DSinn, Prov. 83.
1
t3K1, Jer. 152.
rsi, Exod. 4.
ni^pKI, Job 63.
m';?N1, Isa. 129.
T ~T :
min'3i, Judg. 161.
hSt n'j^-DJl, Exod. 4.
T T T ':
n\3ni, Prov. 211.
Dnjnnnni, Josh. 183.
'n\m\, Job 454.
na lins'l, Gen. 630.
037 S^ laT^, Gen. 663.
Di;'], Josh. 95, 99.
j;T_1, Exod. 5.
Sn'IM, Exod. 4.
d;;;e^i»j, judg. 67.
'7n"l, Chron. 94.
VT-
iSrn, Hos. 73.
W'-inj], Isa. 377.
Sn"!, Gen. 308.
nin;], Nah. 33.
nnri. Gen. 280.
Sjh JS-l, Gen. 625.
TT-
OaS KVl, Gen. 610.
n^BS'], Josh. 88, 89.
^X■'], Exod. 129, 132.
■i3p^2. Deut. 237.
lt»p;i. Num. 87.
N'VJ, 1 Kings 218.
'h KTJ, Gen. 632.
"J*^.' v.".!' Gen. 364.
Dl'l, Exod. 56.
'J'''?";.'^. Job 553.
3p>^, Josh. 104.
a,K;M, Exod. 4.
naiy'1. Gen. 176.
OE'''J, Gen. 306.
piy'l. Gen. 335.
'^^rh.T.l, Gen. 227.
^i'rpm, Exod. 9.
inrity;i. Gen. 642.
nc'^, Judg. 149.
3;fyn;_l, Gen. 280.
nnp_71. Gen. 619.
E'lroi, Isa. 131.
T
nnpijl, Gen. 452.
n^pjl, Deut. 178.
t]31j7; c)i;;), Gen. 172.
'3K?1, Job 558.
njinj, Judg. 241, 242.
f ?.?U I^j"/?^. Gen. 630.
njni. Gen. 308.
inri'pjTI, Josh. 131 ; Judg. 85.
i;^rii, Judg. 67.
□p'niSisril, Jer. 235.
njsro, Josh. 131 ; Judg. 85.
■Nnm, Ruth 33.
nE?nj, Judg. 89.
r
npi, Exod. 37.
ant. Job 154, 593.
T T
Ont, Job 558.
3«, Lam. 158.
n:n, Josh. 48, 50; Judg. 212.
lUt, Gen. 197.
iOT, Lam. 113.
n'13T, Zech. 5.
D'St, Isa. 508.
*T
HDI, Job 130.
niiDT, Ezek. 155.
pt, Eccl. 65.
tpt, Judg. 91.
DPipJT, Josh. 101.
njt, Hos. 24.
TT
D''JWI, Hos. 24.
HEBREW INDEX.
nJT, Lam. 110.
nij't , Jer. 150.
IT, Job 91.
Spa-ll, Hag. 1.
n?, isa. 33.
TPJ, Prov. 252.
Onr, Jer. 179.
'2n, Isa. 287.
San, Isa. 158.
D'San, Job 479.
nSs3n, Song of Sol. 60.
3Jn, Eccl. 157.
T T
an, Hag. 8.
h-\r\, Isa. 400.
'.' T
Sin, Isa. 572.
•• T
^lin, Zecli. 67.
3in, Ezek. 182.
hin, Gen. 240; Josh. 121.
Siri, Job 205.
nVin, Eccl. 88.
SVin, Job 111.
nn'in, Lam. 92.
Tin, Judg. 210.
n'^n, Isa. 222.
ntn, Isa. 31 ; Lam. 89.
TT
nm, Isa. 31.
pin, Isa. 31.
I'rin, Job 93.
NOn, Lam. 47.
Ton, Dan. 115.
't t -:
n>-13 'n, Gen. 612.
m'n, Ezek. 175.
T •
no^n. Dent. 228 ; Prov. 7.
niDpn, Pro¥. 43.
iSn, Lam. 154.
T
ns^Sn, Job 79.
nSVn, Job 511.
T r
ntoSn, Dan. 68.
]'Sn, Lam. 151.
pSn, Job 438.
'pSn, Isa. 615.
npn, Isa. 291.
mipn, Hag. 18.
nnn, Job 583.
D'K^pn, Josh. 43.
I3jn,' Gen. 663.
nun, Job 89.
DUn, Job 296.
T •
npn, Prov. 61.
m'Dn, Jer. 103.
jOn, Isa. 46.
I'iin, Isa. 629.
n^K/pn, 2 Kings 157.
TSn, Isa. .369, 371.
■ T
pn. Job 118.
ppri, Job 77 ; Isa. 149.
'ppn, Judg. 95.
ipn, Job 389.
□n'«in, Isa. 376.
n^ri, Job 336.
nnn, Jer. 413.
nain, Exod. 45.
T T T
n'uin, Job 318.
T T
^nn, Isa. 156.
Bin, Exod. 129, 132 ; Isa. 129.
'pp'nn, Gen. 604.
□'ipp-in. Gen. 605.
nnn, Isa. 365.
pa-in, Jud. 65.
mn, Josh. 49, 71, 72, 105.
Din, Job 373; Isa. 226.
'31i2;n, Isa. 231.
SpB'n, Ezek. 43.
[nn. Numb. 59 ; Judg. 84.
D
'TlNBXtp, Isa. 186.
31B, Lam. 117.
na, Job 483.
nma, job 158, 606.
hSbSq, Isa. 252.
hsa, Job 413.
- T
D'nSB, Lam. 96.
Dna,' Gen. 202 ; Kuth 41.
]'m]. Job 162.
IDS', Isa. 418.
t]pK', Gen. 531.
2T, Judg. 106.
pT, Josh. 113.
Ssr, Lev. 187.
T: ■
nn], Job 59.
TT, Isa. 83.
•T
N-in', Eccl 146.
niX3X nin', Sam. 56.
T : r :
Spr, Josh. 69.
]V , Gen. 345.
Dyy, Lam. 149.
S«;r-ir, josh. 158.
'pn;, Ps. 342.
in^, Prov. 228 ; Isa. 482.
mn;, Gen. 154.
nin;, Job 366.
SxpTn;, Ezek. 1.
Tn\ Gen. 467.
• T
S^n', Lam. 117.
■ T
[JQ'n;, Hab. 20.
Sn:, Numb. 163.
]"Sn:, Isa. 629.
Dbn^, Job 428.
inn;. Job 478.
•TO;op', Exod. 51.
33'S\ Job 72, 390.
■■ T ■
aaS', Prov. 113.
ph\ Prov. 177.
Ip'D^, Ps. 414.
]'Xr, Eccl. 156,
•unm;. Gen. 269.
war, Gen. 176,
pj'. Lam. 151.
'np;, Prov. 53.
n3D\ Gen. 369.
T : •
PD\ EccL 137, 140.
ij^S;*;, Job 611.
3'j;^, Lam. 70, 71.
Kns:, Hos. 94.
SV', Isa. 96.
TT
yW, 1 Kings 63.
n'Sr, Ps. 683.
•\)S\ Gen. 164.
~ T
nnp;, Gen. 656.
HBBEEW INDEX.
D;Dn lip;, Gen. 168.
D'lp^, Job 365.
Onp'., Lam. 149.
\Wp], Isa. 321.
ns-i;, Gen. 468.
•iniXT, Job 593.
uhm-\\ Josh. 93.
-T :
D;Wn', Josh. 93.
BT, Job 434.
"inn;, Josh. 47.
lyr, Isa. 198.
ni;»'T, Song of Sol. 55.
in'DT, Jer. 8.
;>2'., Job 473.
12W\ Gen. 308.
T
'ipW], Job 376.
V^K?:, Isa. 570.
b^i Job 113.
V^td], Job 399.
?ny;E';, isa. 3.
YPPl> Isa- 59.
1tj\ Deut. 214.
T T
[nt£?;, Isa. 473.
DltyV;, Isa. 368.
[Mxn;, Lam. 122.
nn^, Judg. 217.
llSnn', Gen. 269.
Iin', Job 608.
T
fnn;, Ecci. 37.
Dnn;, judg. 214.
«X-in', Gen. 499.
1'3Np, Isa. 153.
nS3, Ps. 172, 700.
■ -:T
ni03, Judg. 236.
^703, 1 Kings 112,
iS^JS, Job 469.
'np, Job 347.
UniDip, Gen. 161.
rilJ3-n3, Eccl. 167.
H'O, Isa. 76.
T";
D'JO, Jer. 94.
*T ~
'3, Gen. 325, Job 94.
tr3, Am. 34.
D'Jj;;?, Lam. 152.
D'N'7p, Lev. 147.
ni3, Ezra 20.
^Sp, Sam. Ill, 272.
\v'h2, Isa. 156.
D'7p, Isa. 344.
npp. Job 179.
mH3, Lam. 60.
]3, Gen. 161.
■■jiibip, Isa. 350.
13D, Dan. 204.
D'TOp, Isa. 175.
71*703, Pa. 467.
T : ■
DD3, Ezek. 421.
T
n'b;;p. Song of Sol. 57.
V)J1P, Jer. 165.
n'lap, Jer. 441.
133, Job 560 ; Song of Sol. 59.
21^2, 1 Kings 66.
hip, Zeph. 24.
j'lViyp, ProT. 156.
Onp, Lam. 150 ; Ezek. 43.
n'D3 nphp. Gen, 580, 583.
103, Isa. 166.
pT nS, Gen, 279.
h};2 sou; N'S, Lev. 158.
axS, Job 80.
~ T
E/pS, Isa. 188.
in^nS, Isa. 121.
ppnS, ProT. 45.
rn'mS, Gen. 630.
DhS, Sam. 87, 89.
Q'lS, Isa. 279.
pSnS, Jer. 319.
DnS, Judg. 93, 94.
S'S, Isa. 197.
n'VS, Isa. 365.
'yb, Ruth 40.
]pb, Sam. 329 ; Hos. 37.
rnhh, Eccl. 65.
V V T
nn'?, Isa. 283.
ninipS, ProT. 256.
[^dS, Judg. 64.
, Eccl. 54.
HT:'?, Lam. 48.
T ■ :
d'7i;;7, EccI. 45.
nwai, Gen. 177.
mi, Job 74, 399.
np 7, Gen. 273, 275.
'rinp'l. Gen. 644.
;>E''7, Judg. 233.
StIND, Ezek. 256.
nilND, Isa. 161.
rnsp, Job 111.
psp, Jer. 119.
n^SpNp, Jer. 40.
;?3Np, Isa. 443.
nSnip, ProT. 179.
mnaa, Numb. 63.
nU'Spp, Jer. 106.
ISpp, Jer. 86.
!|3bNJp, Ruth 34.
lUn, Gen. 638.
T
Dnup, Lam. 97.
□^7^, Job 427.
]jp, Prov. 72.
hiaijp, Joel 11.
Ip-ip, Isa. 237.
inn, Hab. 35.
Tip, Job 354.
n3mD, Isa. 184.
D'nop, Lam. 86.
;;np, Job 105.
jnp, Judg. 96.
'7pnp, Prov. 135.
SSna, Sam. 568.
D':»a, Jer. 70.
■T
niSin, Lev. 140.
li^m, Lam. 78.
T))Sm, Job 151.
nsiia, Zeph. 26.
•Hlto, Job 439.
•• T
HTD, Isa. 261.
T"
niTD, Isa. 335.
n'llTD, Job 606.
T ~
on ID, Job 589.
IIEBREIV INDEX.
y^l ^'"iro, Gen. 169.
Snn, Dan. 130.
njnn, i Engs 8i, 83.
■■nD, Ezek. 249.
niiiSnn, judg. 2i7.
D'sSno, Ezra 24.
D3i?np, Exod. 63.
^'E/HD, Job 601.
D'SSnp, Judg. 96.
yiy 'p, Eoci. 71.
U^-nSi'l ^p, Judg. 23.
K3TD, Isa. 198.
y^:p, Ruth 26.
HD'D, Mic. 5.
T •
'Sv nn'D, Gen. 641.
- T T •'
I'Un, Isa. 81.
Vsp, Gen. 323.
DH'rnjp, Gen. 655.
nnJD, Isa. 399.
nniro, job 171.
T : •
]"'7P ^InSd, Job 208, 559.
I^Sp, Jer. 346.
nS'^D, Prov. 24 ; Hab. 23.
T •
DsSp, Zeph. 13.
"Iipp, Deut. 170.
D'nDID, Isa. 279.
n'n;;pp, Sam. 231.
^lypp, Isa. 216.
]D, Exod. 55, 63 ; Josh. 66.
map, Ps. 389.
••h lap, Job 65.
I'lja, Prov. 242.
Dp, Judg. 45 ; Lam. 89.
ni3pp. Job 590.
njpn, Jer. 219.
MpD, Judg. 217.
jilSpp, Ps. 463.
n;?pp, 1 Kings 118.
vixn iwpa. Josh. 65.
li})p_, Sam. 230.
"^yp,, Isa. 278.
hyp, Josh. 77.
niSj^p, Isa. 397.
<^}r2 r|;?p, Dan. 193.
^r\^^yo, Judg. 253.
yjjpp, Job 149, 587.
KSn, 2 Kings 256, 258.
T T ^
112;r3, Isa. 223.
T
misn, Isa. 315.
nbxn, Zech. 26.
pp, Isa. 75.
2/lpn, Isa. 134, 139.
nipp, 1 Kings 123.
njpp. Job 588.
n^pa ProT. 222.
nvpp, Dan. 57.
ppJ3, Isa. 361.
nnpp, Ecol. 58.
pp'n'ityx7P, Jer. 142.
nanp, Isa. 141.
n^O^p, Lev. 55.
t]17p, Isa. 185.
Dnnp, Lam. 45.
nnp, Jer. 157.
ntJ'n-ip, Lev. 29.
BIO, Isa. 217.
- T
nupnp, Song of Sol. 112.
;;^p, Prov. 160.
ym, Job 352.
□'niD, Jer. 410.
Ntyp, Isa. 175 ; Jer. 216 ; Lam. 89.
nat^n. Lam. 46.
T : ■
yim, 2 Kings 95.
r\2Wn, Isa. 83.
T :
nnE/p, Isa. 569.
n'TO, Dan. 197.
— ■ T
3:3E/D, Isa. 612.
l\wr^, Job 108.
a'2m, Jer. 70.
-!m, Prov. 28.
T T
DDtyp, Dan. 203.
';?E/D, Ezek. 160.
nstyn, isa. 83.
T : •
nnpij'p, Isa. 73.
mK/n, Isa. 140.
n-\m, Sam. 481.
nntyp. Job 290.
D'riD, Job 106.
nix J, Isa. 563.
T T
D«J. Sam. 585.
nifK^ Isa. 880.
T T :
IX:, Lam. 76.
IXEfX:, Ezek. 115.
30J, Job 390.
T
n3T3J, Dan. 70.
t;
D-03J, Job 603.
T ■ ■ ". •
Snj, Isa. 345.
T T
Spj, Isa. 803.
I;;p33, Gen. 304.
njj^ppj, Isa. 115.
13J, Sam. 573.
T T
SnUJ, Isa. 635.
i>j:. Lev. 103.
nirj:, Hab. 88.
niJJ, Ps. 433.
T : ■
nnjy Job 4'3.
T -
tyjj, Isa. 320.
•\:, Isa. 214.
mj, Ezek. 340.
'i:, Ps. 345.
3n:, Isa. 345.
■ T
nn:, Sam. 119.
T T
n'lJia, Sam. 43.
nu, Jer. 79.
no, Isa. 114.
'Sl3, Dan. 70.
•T :
V>:, Isa. 355.
]'13, Lam. 161.
nT3, Isa. 670.
TT
TU, Lev. 185.
D'i;n, Lam. 156.
iSb, Isa. 682.
T
SnJ, Josh. 112.
nSn:, isa. 214.
D^Snj, Ezek. 471.
• T :
□nj, Sam. 278.
- T
Wpnp, Jer. 142.
Un:, Lam. 124.
'n:nj, Jer. 202.
in:, Jer. 86.
" T
E'nj, 1 Kings 233.
\ripm, 2 Kings 208
HEBKEW INDEX.
nnj, Ecci. 99.
rrij, Sam. 575.
nrinj, Pa. 144.
nm, Pb. 133.
U'DBJ, Job 445.
nh'J, Gen. 323.
T;, Prov. 136, 184, 185.
DTJ, Numb. 117.
|i3J, Job 399.
njbj, Job 36.
T :'
do:, Ps. 243.
roriT nppj, Gea^ 621.
13:, Job 129.
rib:, Isa. 408.
■p:, Prov. 99.
'riDD:, Ps. 684.
jpp:, Isa. 310.
nODi, Isa. 640.
X^q:, Isa. 893.
D'hsi, Gen. 280, ii86'.
ya:, isa. 338.
WS:, Isa. 361.
3S:, Lam. 73.
is:, Isa. 37.
" T
nSJ, Isa. 161.
^nx:, Jer. 34.
nBj^:, Job 379.
Dp:, Isa. 364.
ITT
PDp:, Isa. 75.
«3p:, Job 437.
wS^ N-Jp:, Exod. 16.
nnp:, isa. 76.
TIT*
nxl:, 1 Kings 41.
1^"!:, Eccl. 73.
Wa^i:, Lam. 182.
nxn:, isa. 421.
»m, Hos. 22.
T T
'n'ty:, Jer. 216.
• • T
riDty:, Prov. 180.
T T ;
l^jp:, Lam. 53.
nnK?:, isa. 440.
T T r
^mi, Isa. 222.
DDann:, Exod. 1.
pKD, Isa. 140.
toap, Jer. 61.
^'736, Isa. 140.
■|'i:D, Job 117.
D'::ip, Isa. 443.
D'lno, Judg. 198, 199.
n"lD, Ps. 191.
D?D, Isa. 401.
1;r)0, Sam. 607.
in'lD, Lam. 108.
'np. Lam. 127.
"ino, Isa. 258.
-T
I'in'p, Josh. 49.
nop. Am. 34.
^JJD, Lam. 1^7.
130, Isa. 253.
^Ippp, Isa. 145.
nbo. Lam. 56.
r •
^p"??, Prov. 72.
)ho, Ps. 140.
nip, Lev. 30.
^ilD, 1 Kings 204.
r^yb, Isa. 690.
pSD, Jer. 201.
D'ilp, Jer. 441.
'7£ip, Judg. 105.
p3p, Jer. 380.
pS^ID, Dan. 99.
mo, Jer. 391.
3;?, Job 151.
n3j;, Ezek. 482.
0^3^ 13;;, Gen. 335, 3i
t3'03;>., Hab. 20.
13;;, Gen. 369.
■i3i', 1 Kings 220.
3:j;, Ezek. 310.
■n:;r, Isa. 401.
n ?:j?., Isa. 198.
'3-l;?_, Gen. 656.
nij;, Jer. 84.
n:nj?, Lam. 165.
on^1}!_., Job 454.
nSi>, Judg. 171.
rhiy, Job 149.
VSl;?, Job 435.
dSv, Ecol. 44, 67, 158.
"1V, Job 90.
1."?'l.r, Isa. 157, 185.
'T;'!;?, Isa. 258.
nv, Isa. 645.
nriji;_. Lam. 136.
V, Isa. 282, 326.
hmi, Lev. 122, 127.
np,^, Judg. 212.
t3:j;, Isa. 509.
Qni:'JS>., Hos. 82.
□3;^, Prov. 92.
t^'^'JN 'tin hy_, Gen. 308.
'JS-'?^, Exod. 72.
nSj;, 2 Kings 14, Job 147.
nS;;, isa. 46.
np_flil,, Prov. 249.
rb;;, Job 415.
T T
T^i', Job 357.
' V T
]'h^y^, Dan. 110.
na7;;, isa. 121, 123.
'^rhjf, 1 Kings 117.
noj;, Eccl. 88.
nvl^, Ps. 144.
□'::;r, isa. 59.
ni3j?, Isa. 342.
nSflJ^, Hab. 22.
is: 'X^, Gen. 293.
T^^- Isa. 514.
3p.^, Job 150, Ps. 723.
Iin'7j^j;, Isa. 292.
Ij;, Sam. 333.
31j; , Isa. 235, 244.
D'31;;, laa. 198.
D'Sn;^ , Isa. 95.
)**1JJ, Job 425.
nSV, Kuth 13.
T : T
p'Tj;, Job 123.
'p.li?, Job 126.
np^ty^, Isa. 401.
njj^i', Job 74.
" T
■•rij;, Lev. lis.
THil, Jo^ S''-
HEBREW INDEX.
niNS, Isa. 159.
T ■■.
D'-nS3, Josh. 155.
Sua, Lev. 55.
J13, Lam. 92.
113, Estli. 52.
t!;i3, Job 144.
NninS, Dan. 93.
nn?, Hag. 7.
nSs, Judg. 190.
n'uSa, Job 94.
ty.jVp, Judg. 242, Sam. 382.
n'nSs, Nah. 25.
^Ss, Sam. 388.
D'pa'SiJ, Josh. 29.
npp, Ps. 408.
Sp3, Exod. V8, Lev. 193, Deut. 72.
riDpai SpD, Judg. 229.
n;?3, Isa. 453.
np_3, Isa. 291.
npj), Isa. 400.
np_3, Isa. 457.
O'mS, 1 Kings 67.
H'^S, Gen. 417.
nnip, Joel 11.
]'ni3, Judg. 92, 94, 96.
nin"lil, Ezek. 144.
D^3, Dan. 131.
l'P"|3, Dan. 131.
j;l3, Deut. 209, 218; Judg. 91.
p^B, Dan. 116.
E'la, Numb. 85.
- T
]nn-;a, judg. 72, 76.
rn3, Jer 139.
T :
1^3, Job 575.
DNri3, Josh. 108.
Djn3, Dan. 98.
T : •
nnS, Sam. 388.
T T
nn3, Isa. 76.
'7''rn3, Isa. 75.
{JC^na, Ezra 50.
«3S, Gen. 175, Dan. 176.
TT
niNJy, Jer. 55.
D';;Dy, Judg. 107.
IS, Judg. 52.
my, Judg. 124.
pns, Eccl. 108.
npi:l, Isa. 43.
Itt:
■ini, Gen. 298.
niS, Lam. 165.
m, Jer. 62.
n'lnsnv, isa. 633.
D"S, Isa. 179, 181.
D'TV, Dan. 230.
nSs, Judg. 70, 194.
SSv, Judg. 127.
iSSs, Exod. 53.
oSy, Dan. 91.
nipSv, Isa. 140.
'tsSs, Isa. 216.
- T I
npX, Isa. 79.
D'pS, Job 61, 334.
n^BS, Ezek. 175.
nny, Lam. 130.
~ T
nnS, Ruth 28.
■ T
ni;^V, Isa. 74.
D'JJj^y, Josh. 160.
n3V, Isa. 240, Ezek. 290.
pas. Job 510, Ezek. 42.
nj;j3 njav. Gen. 604.
V^-i, Isa. 194.
lay, Ezek. 97.
~ T
ly, Isa. 640, Lam. 59.
rvy, Judg. 153.
P
nap , Numb. 124.
T JT'
Spp, Ezek. 249.
]'3p, Isa. 250.
□;ynp, josh. 170.
D''pnp, Judg. 102.
E'lp, Jer. 20.
D'^nj^ 2?Hp, Ley. 80.
nbnp, Eccl. 1 sq.
B'lp, Job 67.
Vip, Lam. 135.
pp, Isa. 347.
nnap, isa. 40.
niJ'P, Lam. 1.
jlSp^p, Hab. 20, 26.
I'p, Isa. 198.
SSp, Ezek. 45.
tIt
Sbp, Exod. 84, 94.
nSSp, Deut. 161.
nX2p, Isa. 143.
'n'Jp, Gen. 254.
"yjp, Job 445.
DDp, Sam. 331.
nap, Isa. 401.
-I'yp, Isa. 211.
tjyp, 2 Kings 33, 36.
J|pp, Lev. 14, 23, 28.
iy'ip, Eccl. 89.
nnp., Lev. 105.
nmp, Isa. 198.
T : It
Pp, Exod. 144.
D^p^, Isa. 505.
'('IR.. Jo^ 137, Jer. 36
na'typ, Job 630.
ntypiyp, Sam. 229.
TiJ/p, Isa. 134.
ncfp , Sam. 364.
HKI, Lam. 120.
T T
tyX'l, Job 100.
2^, Prov. 224.
nyni, isa. 369.
t:
in. Gen. 625.
DnDJ-l, Ps. 389.
yp^, Isa. 550, 553.
onl, Ps. 389.
nni, Job 175.
'fin, Gen. 279, 285.
nn, Ruth 13.
jn-l, Isa. 116.
nnm, Hos. 22.
T T '■.
f]ni, Gen. 164, 181.
nphp, Numb. 52.
HEBREW INDEX.
D'TI., Lam. 135.
on., Job 608.
D'pn., Judg. 162, 163.
Ijl, Sam. 390.
30n, Isa. 237.
;;n, Ps. 652.
jrn, Job 149, Ho3. 45.
n;rl, Isa. 420, Jer. 350.
'};'\ Isa. 88.
^^\ Isa. 132.
ni;f), Eccl. 36.
[Vj;-!, Eccl. 36.
D'K31, Job 189, 509, Ps. 477,
' ^ '' Isa. 187.
nai. Josh. 40.
T T'
DS1, Ps. 390.
- -r
713X1, Isa. 108.
nnpi, Judg. 107.
b'iKty, Job 355, Ps. 80, Isa. 92,
Gen. 585.
SSE', Gen. 83.
nSsK?, Isa. 120.
T T : '
^PJXC^, Isa. 387.
nm, Lam. 127.
»2\y, 1 Kings 117.
OE/, Isa. 561.
D'aty, Isa. 48.
• T
rhhj!>, Isa. 297.
D3ty, Isa. 74.
naty, Gen. 176.
n3K?, Isa. 330.
nm, Hab. 33.
T T
mC', Ruth 24.
T T
mty, Eccl. 56.
[HE;, Job 460.
aiiy, Jer. 102, Nah. 25.
2312/, Ezek. 361.
n33ity, Jer. 102.
nnnittf, Jer. 267, 269.
'2«ty, Jer. 266.
nw, Isa. 401.
nw, Lam. 112, 113.
aw, Job 295.
IPW, Isa. 307.
\W, Dan. 131.
DDlt:/, Lam. 108.
D'asW, Judg. 61.
D''73'l'n nnDltJ?, Josh. 69, 70.
I'l^, Gen. 234, 235.
pity, Judg. 206.
nnty, ProT. 53.
nam, hos. 58.
D-nty, Isa. 387.
D'pnE', Job 592.
mna?, isa. 5i5.
T : -
nn-^, Job 440, Ps. 126.
rtVty, Gen. 656, Josh. 152.
D'TE^n Tp, Song of Sol. 1,
Ssty, Ezek. 339.
D'K/'W, Prov. 196.
- T '
t]W, Job 95.
QW, Eccl. 69.
T
Swaty, Sam. 53.
Dpiy, Dan. 177.
D'-IDEV, Isa. 280.
■ T !
n:iy, Gen. 271.
T T
IJDJ^E/, Lev. 147, Deut. 164.
D'aS^TEf, Judg. 48.
a^biT^, Song of Sol. 71.
1;^^, Prov. 200.
pD'a-i?, Gen. 658.
■inaiZf, Jer. 345.
IpE', Jer. 22.
nnty, Jer. 71.
T
'innjy, Jer. 153.
p^!?, Lam. 90.
ninty, isa. 222.
nsif'. Gen. 253, 256.
Jfcyjty, Isa. 214.
nty, Ruth 11.
tBi?, Job 308.
r\'W, 2 Kings 95, 96.
^Ity, Lam. 77.
n3^, Judg. 134.
'iptf', Job 159, 606.
nniy, Jer. 134.
n2'!pE?, Judg. 86, 87.
naty, Gen. 358.
T T
naty, isa. 74.
p3E', Job 583.
jniif, Gen. 369.
D^ait:', Isa. 105.
■ T :
pity, Isa. 83.
Onw, Lam. 105.
n
in'72NJl, Job 473.
nnjNR Jer. 37.
T T -1 -'
INn, Isa. 482.
^>imr\, Isa. 442.
DB'Xn, Hos. 97.
K2h, ProT. 42.
nan, Gen. 297.
T ■•'
nmn, Isa. 441.
T : • '
inji, Isa. 273.
r\2-\ D^nn, Gen. 305.
nin, Ezek. 114.
tt'
'in. Job 545.
ij'nin, Ps. 125.
mm, Isa. 185.
n>t^-in, Job 72, 127, 188, ProT. 54
nsnn, job 88.
nbnn, Hos. 22.
nunn, 2 Kings 67.
Dnnn, job 584.
n'73n, Job 389.
]3ri, Isa. 427.
ni'aSri, Song of Sol. 85.
'riSn, Dan. 128.
D7D'?D, Song of Sol. 106.
on, Job 289.
oh, Ps. 195.
rran, Ezek. 108.
SlDfl, Ruth 30.
D'on, Sam. 573.
uan, Lam. 114, 115.
unri, Ps. 371.
■ran, 1 Kings 112.
tt' °
njn, Ps. 89.
pn, Isa. 292, Lam. 151, 152.
■^^]!P, Hab. 36.
10
HEBREW INDEX.
□'SOi'PI, Isa. 66.
™\t^ Judg. 104.
niJi-n Job 392.
T ■, -r
ni3i1 Josh. 136.
"ran, Lev. 54.
San, Lam. 87.
nbsn, Job 107, 300.
n^sn, Job 107.
nxSpn, Jer. 393.
nr\3R Isa. 338.
V: t'
Spri, Dan. 131.
nj^^^ri, Job 539.
pOWn, Gen. 238.
'inp^liyn, Gen. 227.
Bb»ri,Isa. 286.
noDtyn, Ps. 374.
TOPICAL INDEX.
- Note.— The NumeraU refer to the pages of the Commentfiries on the Books mentioned— which are paged separately in
each volume.
AARON appointed to assist Moses, Exod. 12; meets Moses,
13 ; fulfils his commission, 16 sq. ; chosen high priest,
122; consecrated, 123, LeTit. 71; his first offerings,
Ijevit. 77, 79; forbidden to mourn for his son's death,
83; his neglect excused, 85; his sin in making the
golden calf, Exod. 131 sq. ; spared at Moses' interces-
sion, Deut. 110 ; his sedition against Moses, Numb. 68 ;
stays the plague, 89 ; his rod buds, 93 ; excluded from
the promised land, 103 ; his death, j06 ; called blame-
less, Apocr. 271; hia descendants, Ohron. 73.
Aftronic blessing. Numb. ^.
Abaddon, Job 190.
ABABBANEL, quoted, 1 Kings 1C8, Isa. 7, 660.
ABDONJjudge), Judg, 181.
ABBDNBGO, see Shadrach.
ABEL'S birth, sacrifice and death, Gen. 265, sq., 263.
ABBNDANA, quoted, Dan. 206.
ABIATHAB (high priest), escapes Saura vengeance, Sam.
234; faithful to David, 289,345,600; (but opposed to
Solomon) degraded from the" priesthood, 1 Kings 36, 37.
ABIGAIL, her character, Sam. 305, 311 ; her intercession for
Nabal, 308 ; David's wife, 310.
ABIHU'S trespaae and death. Lev. 82 ; law in consequence, 84.
ABIJAH (or Abyam), King of Judah, his evil reign, 1 Kings
175, 177 ; hia wars with Jeroboam, Chron. 200.
(son of Jeroboam), his death foretold, lKingsl68,169.
ABIMELECH (King of Gerar) reproves Abraham for deny-
ing hia wife. Gen. 451 ; rebukes Isaac for denying his
wife, 606; his covenant with Isaac, 508.
•^ ■ ' (son of Gideon), Judg. 140 ; his cruelty, 144, 154 ;
made king, 144; alain by a woman, 165, Sam. 467.
ABINADAB receives the ark sent away by the Philistines,
Sam. 416.
ABIKAM, see Korah.
ABISHAG ministers to David, 1 Kings, 22, 25; Adongah
slain for seeking her in marriage, 1 Kings 35, 8*7.
ABISHAI, brother of Joab, prevented from slaying Saul,
Sam. 316, and Shimei, 508, 541, 544 ; his valiant deeds,
661, 597.
ABNEB, Saul's captain, Sam. 198, 240; taunted by David,
317 ; at first adheres to Ishboaheth, 373 ; but revolts to
David, 385, 391 ; treacherously slain by Joab, 387, 391 ;
lamented by David, 389.
Abomination, what to God, idolatry, pride, Xi. Lev. 61, 145,
186, Deut. 101, 1 Kings 127, Prov. 05, 85, 87, 148, 150,
162, 178, Isa. 444, Mai. 16.
-^— — — of the heathen censured. Lev. 145, Deut. 148, 1
Kings 172.
of desolation foretold, Dan. 250, 267; Hos.
[16 sq.].*
ABEAHAM (Abram) born. Gen. 370'; called, 301, 393, 394;
repaira to Canaan, Gen. 391 ; goes to Egypt, 393 ; denies
hie wife, 394 (449, 463) ; receives the promise, 398, 400,
410, 412 ; rescues Lot, 404, 405 ; blessed by Melchizedek,
404, 406 ; hia faith and sacrifice, 409 sq. ; God's cove-
iwit with, 410, 423 ; he and his household circumcised,
425, 426 ; visited by angels, 433, 440 ; intercedes for
Sodom, 435, 441 ^ dismisses Hagar and Ishmael, 457, 461;
his obedience m offering Isaac, 465, 470; purchases
Machpelah for a burying place, 476, 478; provides a
wife for Isaac, 482 sq. ; his descendants by Keturah,
491; death and burial, 492, 493; testimonies to hia
faith and works, Isa. 439, 551, Apocr. 490; legends
concerning the migrations of,. Gen. 372; literature on,
120.
Abrona, a river» Apocr. 171.
* The numbera In bracketa refer to the pages preceding
ABSALOM, son of David, Sam. 379 ; his person and family,
396 ; slays Ammon, 480, 488 ; his flight, 487 ; his con-
spiracy, 502, 609 ; his death, 517 ; lamented by David,
630, 632, 543,
ABU-ZAID, quoted Gen. 142.
ABYDBNUS, quoted, Isa. 237.
Accents, Hebrew, spirituality of, Eccl. 94.
Access to God by faith, Isa. 000, Uosea 98, 99, Joel 19 ; Itl
blessedness, Ps. 373, Isa. 57.
A ccursed, what so called, Deut. 161, Josh. 71, 77, Chron. 39, Isa.
696 sq.
AOH AN, his trespass and punishment, Josh. 79, 176, Chron. 39.
ACHIACHAKUS, Apocr. 146.
ACHIOK, Apocr. 193 sq.
AGHISH, king of Gath, his kindness to David, Sam. 274, 323.
Achor, valley of, Achan slain there, Josh. 79.
Achsah, her request to Caleb, Josh. 131, Judg. 35.
Acrabbim, Josh. 129, Apocr. 503.
ADAM created in the image of God and blessed, Gen. 175,
203, 270 ; placed in Kdcn, 204 ; names the creatures,
208; his disobedience and fall, 228 sq. ; promise noade
to, 233 ; his generations, 273 ; his death, i6.
ADAM, the last. Gen. 354.
(a city), Josh, 57.
Adar, month, Esth. 80, Apocr. 97, 209, 612.
ADDISON quoted, Ps. 151.
Adida, Apocr. 530.
Adm<ah, city of the plain, destroyed, Gen. 439, Hos. 86.
ADONI-BEZEK confesses his cruelty to be justly requited,
Judg. 30.
ADONUAH, hia conspiraey, 1 Kings 22, 20 ; his presumptu-
ous request, 35, 37 ; slain, 35.
ADONI-ZBDEK, king of Jerusalem, resists Joshua, Josh. 94;
his death, 101.
Adoption, belonging to Israel, Deut. 219.
, of the Gentiles, Isa. 710, 714; Hos. 41.
AduUam, David's sojourn there, Sam. 279, Chron. 99.
Adultery forbidden, Exod. 80, Lev. 156, Deut. 90.
, evils of, Prov. 80.
, spiritual, Jer. 45 sq., 143, Ezek. 162, Hos. 23 sq.,
35 sq.
Adversary, the devil. Job 295,''30r; Zech. 36, 39.
^LIAN, quoted, Judg. 243, Job 611.
jEnonian words in Scripture, their meaning, Eccl. 442 aq.
.aiSCHYLUS quoted. Gen. 267, 332, 355, 689, Job xvi., 63, 115,
116, 133, 161, 190, 201.
iESOP, quoted,, Judg. 147.
Afilicted, our duty towarda the. Job 349, 359, 433, Prov. 197,
257.
Afflictions, the consequence of sin, Gen. 237, Job 329, 340,
Isa. 622 ; man born to, Job 334, 409 ; appointed by
God, Gen. 411, 2 Kings 71, Job 334, 337, 340, Pa. 378,
441, Prov. 02, 00, Isa. 164, 492, Jer. 248, Lam. 110, 143;
often sent in mercy, Job 3.37, Ps. 214, 641, Jer. 268;
support under, Ps. 200, 202, 303, Isa. 278, 475, Nah. 20;
behaviour under, Sam. 50, 90, 476, 2 Kings 233, ^19,
Job 300, 305, 337, 340, 407; prayers under, Sam. 60,
606, 2 Kings 211, Chron. 202, Ezra 88, 92, Job 357, 359,
379, 408, 661, Ps. 79 sq., 84 sq., 9S sq., 109 sq., 130 aq.,
169 sq., 218 sq., 241 sq., 260 sq., 278 sq., 282 sq., 335 sq.,
339 sq., 344 sq., 347 sq., 365 sq., 370 sq., 395 sq , 400, 402
sq., 433 sq., 470, 476 sq., 501 sq., 521 sq., 651 aq., 604 aq.,
651 sq., 6.55 sq., 658, 600 sq., Isa. 682 sq.. Lam. 179 sq.,
Dan. 189 sq., Hab. 34 sq. ; benefits of, Gen. 466 aq.,
Deut. 104, 105, Noh. 7, Job 498, 604, 557 sq., 672, 682,
Ps. 225, 237, 271, .'577, 413 sq , 441, 591, 617 Isa. 166,
285, 621, Lam. 113, 117, 122, E/,ek, 1.50, Hos. 37 aq., 6.3.
AGAG, king of Amalek, spared by Saul, Sam. 2O0, but alain
by Samuel, 211.
11
12
TOPICAL INDEX.
Age golden, the, of Hebrew literature of wisdom, Prov. 8.
Age, old, description of, Eccl. 152 sq., 102.
Ages, inquisitiun of the, Eccl. 72 eq.
AUUB, his confession and prayer, Prov. 24G eq.
AHAB, king of Israel, his wicked reign, 1 Kings 185, 186 ;
meets Elijah, 203, 2U9; encouraged against the Syrians,
234, 238: condemned for dismissing Ben-hadad, 237,
238; and taking Naboth's vineyard, 243, 244; his re-
pentance, 244. 246; seduced by false prophets, 251, 256 ;
Blain by the Syrians, 254, 257 ; his character, 210, 238,
244, 256 ; fall of the house of, 2 Kings 100, 103, Chron.
225.
AHAB, a false prophet, condemned, Jer. 249.
AHASUERUS, king of Persia, divorces Vashti, Esth. 35, 37;
makes Esther queen, 44, 47 ; exalts Raman, 49 sq. ; his
decree against the Jews, 53 ; rewards Mordecai's fidel-
ity, 73 sq. ; punishes Haman, 79, 84, 85 ; advances
Mordecai, 82 sq.
AHAZ, king of Judah, his evil reign, 2 Kings 168, 174 sq.,
Chron. 240 ; profanes the temple, 2 Kings 172, 175 176;
chastised by Pekah, Chron. 241 ; Isaiah sent to him in
his trouble, Isa. 115 sq. ; refuses a sign, 122, 169 ; his
end, Chron. 242 sq.
AHAZIAH, king of Judah, his evil reign, 2 Kings 90, 91,
Chron. 224 ; slain by Jehu, 2 Kings 97.
— ■ , king of Israel, his evil reign, 2 Kings 6 ; his
sickness and idolatry, 4 ; his death denounced by Eli-
jah ih.
AHIJAH, prophecies against Solomon, 1 Kings 136, 138; and
Jeroboam, 167, 169 ; foretells Abijah's death, 168, 170.
AHIKAM protects Jeremiah. Jer. 241.
AHIMAAZ serves David, Sam. 506, 519, 529.
AHIMELECH, high priest, for assisting David, Sam. 271,
slain by Doeg at SauFs command, 283, Ps. 331.
AHINOAM, David's wife, Sam. 310.
AHITHOPHEL, his treachery, Sam. 504, 507, 510 ; disgrace
and suicide, 520,
AHOLAH and AHOLIBAH, their abominations figurative
of Samaria and Jerusalem, Ezek. 222 sq.
AI, men of, at first defeat Israel, Josh. 77 ; afterward sub-
dued, 83.
*Al-ajjeleth haschachar, Ps. 34.
'Al-alamOth, Ps. 34.
*Al-haschemlnith, Ps. 33.
*Al-haKgittith, Ps. 33.
'Al-jeduthi:in, Ps. 32.
'Al-j6nath clem rechokim, Ps. 35.
'Al-machalath, Ps. 34.
•Al-muth labben, Pa. 33.
•Al-shoshanuim, Ps. 35.
*Al-ehilshan eduth, Ps. 35.
*Al-tascheth, Ps. 35.
AL-ZAMAKHSHAEI, quoted, Gen. 142, Job 145.
Alarm, how to be sounded, Numb. 55.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, Apocr. 14; his conquests fore-
told, Dan. 173, 239 ; divides his kingdom, Apocr. 485.
ALEXANDER JANN.-EUS, Apocr. 25; is pelted with citrons
at the feast of Tabernacles, ib. ; his quarrel with the
Pharisees, ih.; has 800 rebels ci*ucitied, ih. ; bequeathes
his kingdom to his queen Alexandra, ih.
ALEXANDER POLTHISTOR, quoted, lea. 379, 407.
ALEXANDRA succeeds Alexander Jannteus, Apocr. 25 ; sides
with the Pharisees, ib. ; appoints her son Hyrcanus to
the high -priesthood, ib. ; scheming of her son Aristo-
bulus to obtain the kingdom, 26; her death, ih.
ALEXANDRIA, Jews in, Apocr. 17 ; philosophy of religion
in, 38.
Alexandrian canon, Apocr. 50 : character of Judaism, Gen.
289.
Allegorical method of interpretation, Apocr. 36.
Allusions, alleged historical, in Ecclesiastes, Eccl. 84 sq.
Alma, i. e. the origin, explanations of, Isa. 123, 127.
Almighty, the. Gen. 421, 422, 425, 620, 642, Exod. 17, Buth
23, Ps. 386.
Almond tree, Eccl. 157, Jer. 22.
Almonds produced by the rod of Levi, Numb. 94.
Alms, their effect, Apocr. 142.
Altar erected by Noah, Abraham, etc., Gen. 324, 329, 560, 1
Kings 205; directions for making, Exod. 82; of burnt-
offering, Exod. 118; and its consecration, 125; of in-
cense, Exod. 125 ; in the temple, Chron. 172.
Aluka, meaning of, Prov. 249, 253.
AMALEK, Gen. 575 ; his descendants, attacking Israel, dis-
comfited, Exod. 66; perpetual war declared against,
t6. 170, Deut. 179 ; smitten by Gideon, Judg. 127 ; by
Saul, Sam. 198, 205 sq. ; by David, 324, 346.
Amalekite, accusing himself of killing Saul, slain, Sam. 363.
AMAN. Apocr. 146, 207.
AMASA, Absalom's general, Sam. 525 ; submits to David, 550,
Chron. 105 ; treacherously slain by Joab, 552, 1 Kings 30.
AMAZIAH, king of Judah, at first reigns well, 2 Kings 148,
152, Chron. 237 ; subdues Edom, 2 Kings 148, Chron.
237 J his idolatry, Chron- 238 j rebuked by & prophet,
ibid. ; his arrogance chastised by Joash, 2 Kings 149,
153, Chron. 238; slain, 2 Kings 150, Chron. 238.
AMAZIAH, priest of Bethel, his judgment for accusing Amos,
Am. 46.
Ambassadors sent to Hezekiah, Chron. 258, Isa. 407 sq.
AMBROSIUS, quoted. Gen. 593, Jer. 20, 221.
Amen, form of assent, Deut. 187; its use in the ChriBtlan
church, Apoc. 137.
AMER. ENCYCLOP., quoted, Job 152.
AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, quoted. Job 620.
Ammonites, origin of, Gen. 440, 442; their possessions to
remain inviolate, Deut. 04; why forbidden to enter
the congregation, 170; subdued by Jephthah, Judg.
169; by Saul, Sam. 167; their insult to David, 458;
chastised, 475 sq. ; prophecies concerning, Jer. 232, 389,
Ezek. 244, Am. 18, Zeph. 24.
AMNON, David's son, Sam. 379 ; his wickedness and death,
484 sq., 486, 488.
AMON, king of Judah, hia wicked reign, 2 Kings 247, 250,
Chron. 263.
Amorites dispossessed for their iniquities. Gen. 411.
AMOS, personal relations of, Am. 3 ; his age, 4 ; his virfons,
45 sq., 52 sq., 56 sq. ; declares God's judgment upon the
nations, 17 sq. ; and upon Israel, 25 sq. ; foretells Israel's
restoration, 67, 59.
, book of, 5; its contents, ib. ; origin of, 7; its signifi-
cance, 9 ; its style, 10 ; literature on, 11.
Anakim described, Deut. 108 ; destroyed by Joshua, Josh. 109.
ANACREON, quoted, Eccl. 80.
Anarchy, symptom of decay, Isa, 69
Anathoth, man of, condemned for persecuting Jeremiah,
Jer. 132.
Angelology, Dan. 232 sq
Angels, their character and office, Sam. 495, Neh. 40, Job 602,
Ps. 387, 625, 629, 674, Apocr. 142; sent to Daniel, Dan.
181, 193, 227, 264.
Angel of the Lord, different views on. Gen. 386 ; appears to
Abraham, 433; to Lot, 4-37; to Hagar, 416; to Balaam,
Numb 128 ; to the Israelites, Judg. 51 ; to Gideon, 112;
to Manoah's wife, 183 ; to David, Sam. 608, Chron. 133.
Angel Intercessor, Job 208 sq.
Angel-Redeemer, Gen. 646 sq.
Angels and demons among non-Israelites, doctrine of, Job 559.
Anger (human) described and forbidden. Job 333, Prov. 128,
143, 157, 173, 219, 229, 242, 252, Eccl. 106 ; liow pacified,
Prov. 143, 217, Eccl. 139 ; oif Cain, Gen. 256 ; of Esau,
515 ; of Jacob, 543 ; of Simeon and Levi, 560, 655 ; of
Moses, Exod. 133, Lev. 84, Numb. 89, 103, Ps. 540;
of Saul, Sam. 266 ; of Naaman, 2 Kings 54 ; of Jonah,
Jon. 36.
of God against sin. Gen 232, 257, Ezra 83, Ps. 85, Nah.
17; is slow, Isa. 520, Nah, 17; is just. Lam. 67; how
manifested. Gen. 438 sq.. Job 375, Lam, 39 sq., Ezek,
97 sq., 113 sq., Nah, 16 sq. ; resented for the day of
judgment, Zeph, 16 sq. ; to be feared, deprecated and
endured, Exod. 133, Sam. 608, Ps. 59, 79 sq., 261 sq.,
266 sq., 420 eq.. Lam. 124, Mic. 51, Hab. 34 ; appeased
by repentance, 1 Kings 244, Jer. 268, Joel 19, 21.
ANGUS, quoted. Job xxx.
Animal world, the, a living text-book for men. Job 627.
Anointed, the (Christ), Isa. 658, 662 (see Messiah).
Anointing oil, directions for making, Exod, 127.
Anointing of Aaron, see Lev. 72, 83; of Saul, Sam. 151; of
David, Sam. 218 ; of Solomon, 1 Kings 25 ; of Jehu, 2
Kings 94 eq., 101.
iVNTIGONITS, murdered by order of his brother, Aristobulus
I., Apocr. 24,
Anti-Libcralists, Hos. [40],
ANTIOCHUS III, THE GREAT, Apocr. 19; defeated at
Magnesia, 514.
ANTIOCHUS IV. EPIPHANES, also called EPIMANES,
Apocr. 20 sq., 485 ; wars against Egypt, but is com-
pelled to retreat, 20 ; his ill treatment of the Jews
causes tho revolt of the Maccabees, ibid, ; transfers
the high priest's offlce to Jason, ibid. ; sells it again
for a higher tribute to Menelaus, 21 ; resolves to sweep
Judaism from the face of tho earth, ihid.; decrees that
idol worship should be generally inti-oduced, ihid. 486;
the temple was desecrated, and swines were offered on
the holy altar, ibid.; revolt of Mattathias and his sons,
21 ; his death, 22, 508, 565, 593.
Anthropology or Biblical doctrine of man, Gen. 53 ; litera-
ture on, 118.
ANTONINUS MARTYR, quoted, Judg. 210.
Ape, his relationship to man, Gen. 354.
Apocrypha of the Old Testament, title, Apocr. 39; Trhich
books they include, Gen. 68, Apocr. 39; their origin,
40 ; compared with those of tho New Testament, 42 ;
their outward form, 4:i ; their value, ihid. 48 sq. ; their
attitude with respect to the Scriptures, 43 ; their wit-
ness for inspiration of canonical writings, ihid. ; their
representations concerning God, 44 ; respecting crea-
tion and providence, 45 ; angelology, ibid, ; anthropo-
TOPICAL INDEX.
13
logy, ibid, ; moral duties, ibid. ; escliatology, ibid. ;
messianic hope, 47 ; their history, 49 sq. ; their Greek
text and MSS. 58 sq. j worlis on, Gen. 64, Prov. 19,
Apocr. 6Y2 sq.
Apparel, exhortationa concerning, Deut. 164 ; of the Jewish
women, described, Isa. 72.
APPIAN, quoted, Apocr. 608.
Apple of the eye, Deut. 213, Ps. 132, Prov. 90, lam. 94,
Zech 32.
Arabia, prophecies concerning, Isa. 244, Jer. 232.
Aramaisms in Ecclesiastes, Eccl. 16 sq.
Ararat, mountain which the ajlc rested on. Gen. 308, 309, 313.
Araunah, Jebusite, sella land to David, on which the temple
waa built, Sam. 608, 610, Chron. 134, 136, Ps. 213.
ABOHILOOHUS, quoted, Hos. 651.
Arcturus, Job 374, 606.
Ariel, meaning of, Isa. 316, 324.
AEISTOPHAKES, quoted, Gen. 181, Job 91, Eccl. 39.
ARISTOTEDES, quoted. Gen. 333, 626, Eccl. 46, Isa. 98.
Ark (of Noah), iDuilding of, Gen. 297 ; difficulty in respect to
the magnitude of, 298 ; observance of the week and
the seventh day in, 311.
— — ■ of the covenant, Exod. 115 ; symbol of God's presence,
Josh. 59, Sam. 99; carried into Canaan, Josh. 56 ; taken
by the Philistines, Sam. 98, 102 ; their plagues in con-
sequence, 105 ; restored, 112 ; carried to Jerusalem,
Sam. 418, 421, 506, Chron. 108, 114 sq. ; brought into
the temple, 1 Kings 90, 103, Chron. 176, Ps. 628 sq.
AKISTOBULUS, the philosopher, Apocr. 36, 564.
^— I., son of Hyrcanus, assumes the title of
king, Apocr. 24; imprisons his mother and brothers,
excepting Autigonus, ibid.
■ II., Apoo. 26.
Armor, Goliath's, described, Sam. 229.
AENADD, ANT., quoted, Isa. 673.
ABNOBIUS, quoted, Isa. 618.
AENOLD, THOS., quoted. Josh. 21 note.
AEEIAN, quoted, Ezra 77, Apocr. 485.
AESES, made king by his fatlier, Bagoas, Apocr. 7 ; murdered
by him, ibid.
Art in Christian Church, 1 Kings 89.
ARTAXEKXES, Apocr. 6, 97, 102 ; his decree concerning the
Jews, Ezra, 52, 55, Apocr. 81 ; his letter to Ezra, Ezra
"75, 78 ; his kindness to Nehemiah, Neh. 10.
AETEMIDOE, quoted, 1 Kings 41.
ASA, king of Judah, his good reign, 1 Kings 176, 178, Chron.
201 ; his prayer against the Ethiopians, Chron. 202 ;
his zeal, 203; wars with Baaaba, 1 Kings 177, Chron.
204; rebuked by Hanani, Chron. 205; oppresses the
people, ibid. ; his disease and death, ibid.
ASAHBL, his rashness, slain by Abner, Sam. 376, 388.^
ASAPH, a Levite, Psalms 50 and 73 to 83 ascribed to him.
Ascension of Isaiah, see Isaiah.
Ashdod, the ark carried there, men of, smitten, Sam. 106;
subdued by Uzziah, Chron. 239.
ASHEE, son of Jacob, Gen. 630 ; blessed by Jacob, 658 ; by
Moses, Deut. 233 ; bia descendants. Numb. 152, Chron.
60 ; their inheritance, Josh. 159, Judg. 101.
Ashes, man likened to, Gen. 436, Job 539 ; used in mourning.
Est. 60, Job 304, 626, Isa. 632.
ASHKELON, taken, Judg. 30, 203.
Ashtaroth, goddess of Zidon, worshipped by Israel, Judg. 57,
159, Sam. 175 ; by Solomon, 1 Kings 127.
Aaidffians, Apocr. 490, 511.
ASMODjEUS, Apocr. 128.
Abb, laws concerning, Exod. 43, 94, Deut. 164.
(wild), described. Job 608, Hos. 73, Apocr. 313.
, Balaam's, Gen. 85.
Assembling together for public worship enjoined, Exod. 173
eq.; David's love for, Ps. 200, 282 sq., 373 sq., 461 sq.,
472, 609, 634, 636 ; instances of, 1 Kings 95 sq., Chron.
177, 251 sq., Neh. 35.
Assumption of Moses, see Mobcb.
ASSYEIA, Israel carried captive to, 2 Kings 161, 191 sq. ,
army of, miraculously destroyed, 217, 222 sq., Isa. 391
sq. ; prophecies concerning, Isa. 129, 151, 191, 338, 343,
Mic. 37, Zeph. 25 ; its glory, Bzek. 283.
Assyrian and Pre-Assyrian Period, prophets during, Hos.
[42 sq.].
— monuments referred to, Isa. 233, 238, 262, 377, 378,
380, 383, 391 sq., 393.
Asylum, right of. Numb. 187.
ATHALIAH, queen, 2 Kings 90 ; seizes the government of
Judah, and destroys the royal family, 121, 127, Chron.
225 ; slain by Jehoiada, 2 Kings 124, 128, Chron. 227 sq.
Atheism, not inconsistent mth some doctrine of future being.
Job 18 ; effect of, Zeph. 17 ; impossibility of permanent
state of, Zech. 80.
ATHENJ3US, quoted, 1 Kings 49, Neh. 6.
Atonement, annual day of. Lev. 123, 177; made by Aaron for
the plague, Numb. 91 ; prophecies concerning, Isa.
674 sq., 683 sq., Dan. 194 sq., Zech. 96, 102, 103 sq., 105.
ATTAE, F., quoted. Job 510.
ATTIUS, quoted, Dan. 82.
AUGUSTIN, quoted. Gen. 265, 434, 614, 698, Deut. 75, Judg.
224, Jer. 124, Zech. 106, Apocr. 134.
Avenger of blood, deUveranco from. Numb. 187, Deut. 155,
Josh. 164.
AZAEIAH (Uzziah), king of Judah, 2 Kings, 150; his good
reign, 158, 163, Chron. 238 ; his succcessful wars, Chron.
239 ; invades the priest's office, ibid. ; struck with lep-
rosy, 2 Kings 168, 163, Chron. 240 ; his death, Chron. 240.
, prophet, exhorts Asa, Chron. 202.
AZAEIAS, his prayer, and Song of the three children — ori-
ginal language of, Apocr. 443; author and date of, 444;
genuineness, 445 ; estimation in the Christian Church,
448.
AZAZEL, Lev. 127, 130.
BAAL worshiped. Numb. 132, Judg. 67, 141, 159, 1 Kinga
185, 205, 2 Kinga 186, 245, Jer. 31, 184, 211, Hos. 37, 94,
Zeph. 13 ; his altar and priests destroyed by Gideon,
Judg. 116 ; by Elijah, 1 Kings 200, 200 ; by Jehu, 2
Kings 113, 115; by Jehoiada, 125; by Josiah, 206,
Chron. 270.
Baal-hamon, Solomon's vineyard in, meaning of. Song of
Sol. 131.
Baal-Peor, the trespass of Israel concerning. Numb. 147,
Deut. 70, Ps. 640, Hos. 77.
Baal-Zebub, Ahaziah rebulccd for sending to, 2 Kings 4, 6.
BAANAH and Rechab, for murdering Ishbosheth, slain by
David, Sam. 397,
BAASHA, liing of Israel, destroys the house of Jeroboam, 1
Kings 181, 182 ; Jehu's prophecy against, ibid.
Babel, founding of the kingdom of. Gen. 349 ; name of, 361,
305, Jer. 404 ; symbolical significance of, Gen. 361 ; a
type of the world, Jer. 433 ; the tower of. Gen. 77 ; its
building forms the limit to the history of the primi-
tive time, 359; the genesis of striving after a false
outward unity, ibid. 303 ; the genesis of contbunding,
360, 364; the genesis of the people's dispersion, 360,
365, and of formation of heathendom, ibid,
Babylon, ambassadors from, come to. Hezekiah, 2 Kings 236,
241, Chron. 257, Isa. 406 sq. ; Jews carried captive there,
2 Kings 295 sq., 298, 301, Chron. 276, Jer. 330, 440 sq. ;
' their return from, Ezra 22 sq. ; its greatness, Dan. 117 ;
taken by the Modes, 133 ; its fall, Isa. 179 sq., 237 sq.,
612, 515, 518, 519, 522, 526, Jer. 230, 406-434.
Baca, valley of, Ps. 464.
Backbiting forbidden, Ps. 118, Prov. 218.
BACON, quoted, 1 Kings 22, Prov. 169, 219.
BAGOAS poisons Ochus, Apocr. 6; forces his way into the
Holy of Holies, 7.
BALAAM, the prophet, Nvrmb. 120, Josh. 120, 184 ; literature
on. Numb. 120 ; a type, 143 ; his moral character, 122,
143, 146 ; receives tlio iirst messengers of Balak, 124 ;
refuses to go, 125 ; second message to, ibid. ; his jour-
ney, 127; his soeaking ass, Gen. 84, Numb. 127, 129;
his reception by Balak, 128; his blessings, 131, 134,
136 ; his prophecy, 140 sq. ; his wicked counsel, 108 ;
slain, 107.
Balances, false, condemned, Prov. 120, Hos. 90, Am. 62,
Mic. 49.
Balm of Gilead, figuratively mentioned, Jer. 107.
Baptism of heretics, verse used in controversy concerning,
Apocr. 368.
BAEAK delivers Israel from Sisera, Judg. 83, 86, Sam. 176.
BARNABAS, epistle of, quoted, Gen. 187, 201, 423, Exod. 145,
Dan. 207.
Barrenness of Sarah "removed. Gen. 434, 466 ; of Rebekah,
Gen. 499 ; of Rachel, Gen. 531 ; of Manoah's wife, Judg.
184 ; of Hannah, Sam. 53 ; of the Shunamite, 2 Kings 42.
BAEUOH writes Jeremiah's prophecy, Jer. 284, 310; com-
forted, 359; apocalypse of, Apocr. 668; book of— its
extant texts, Apocr. 410 ; canonical standing, 411 ;
unity of, 412 ; author, time and place of composition
of, 413 ; characteristics and value, 418.
BAEZILLAI, his kindness to David, Sam. 626 ; David's grati-
tude to, 642, 1 Kings 30.
BASIL, quoted, Jer. 221.
Bastards not to enter the congregation, Deut. 170.
Bath-dol, Sam. 61.
BATHSHEBA, her sin with David, Sam. 465 sq. ; his wife,
468; her request for Solomon, 1 Kings 23; for Adoni-
jah, 35.
Battle, laws concerning, Deut. 156; several described, Gen.
403 sq., Exod. 65 sq.. Numb. 166 sq., Josh. 83 sq., 93 sq.,
Judg. 80 sq., 127 sq., 133 sq., 169 sq., 249 sq., Sam. 96
sq., 165 sq., 191 sq., 228 sq., 363 sq., 376 sq., 459 sq., 626
sq., 561 sq., 1 Kings 234 sq., 250 sq., 2 Kings 30 sq.,
Chron. 126 sq., 200, 202, 215, 237.
Battlements to be made to houses, Deut. 164.
BAUE, G., quoted. Job 235.
Bear, seen in visions, Dan. 151.
Beard, laws concerning, Levit. 152.
14
TOPICAL INDEX.
BEASTS, created, Gen. 172; named, 208; preserved, 300, Pa.
249 ; what clean and unclean. Lev. 91 sq., pent. 131
eq. ; laws concerning, Exod. 439 eq., Prov. 138 ; Daniel'H
vision of four, Dan. 150 eq.
Beauty and Bands, the staves, broken, Zech. 84,
BECHAI, RABBI, quoted, Deut. 115.
Bedstead of Og, king of Bashan, Deut. 67.
Beer-Sheba, Abraham dwells there, Gen. 459, 461 ; Hagar re-
lieved there, Gen. 458 ; Jacob comforted there, Gen.
631; Elijah fleea there, 1 Kings 218.
Behemoth described, Job 619.
Bel, an idol, Isa. 506, Jer. 406, Apoc. 463.
BEL AND DRAGON, original language and genuineness of,
Apocr. 447 ; estimation in the Christian church of, 448.
Belial, men of, wicked men so called, Deut. 128, Sam. 53, 73,
159, 307, 347.
Belief, religious, foundations of. Job 2.
BELSHAZZAR'S profane feaat, warning and death, Dan. 125
sq., 134 eq.
BELTESHAZZAR, Daniel so named, 60, 110, 225.
Beltis, women visiting the shrine of, Apocr. 440.
BENAIAH, valiant acts of, Sam. 597, Chron. 100, 151.
Benevolence, exhortation to, Prov. 64.
BEN-HADAD, king of Syria, his league vrith Asa, 1 Kings
177 ; wars with Ahab, 234, 238 ; baffled by Elisha, 2
Kings 67, 73; besieges Samaria, 69, 74; is slain by
Hazael, 82, 83,
BENJAMIN (Benoni), son of Jacob, born. Gen. 568, 570; sent
into Egypt, 620 ; Joseph's policy to stay him, 622 ;
Jacob's prophecy concerning, 659, 660; his descendants,
Chron. 81; numbered. Numb. 152; blessed by Moses,
Deut. 230; their inheritance. Josh. 154; their wicked-
ness chastised, Judg. 249, 254; the first king chosen
from, Sam. 140; gate of, Neh. 61.
BENJAMIN OF TtJDELA, quoted, Ruth 14.
BERNHARD OF CLAIRVAUX, quoted, Jer. 67.
BETH-EL (the house of God), Jacob's vision there. Gen. 522 ;
ho builds an altar at, 562 ; taken by the tribe of Joseph,
Judg. 41'; Jeroboam establishes idolp.try there, 1 Kings
154; purified by Josiah, 2 Kings 264; prophets dwell
there, 12.
BETHLEHEM, Naomi's return to, accompanied by Ruth,
Ruth 12 sq. ; David anointed at, Sam. 218; well of,
mentioned, Sam. 697, Chron. 99 ; Messiah born at,
Mic. 35; note on Ruth 14.
BETH-SHEMESH, men of, punished for profanity, Sam. 116.
Betrothal, laws concerning, Exod. 88, Lev. 151.
BEZALEEL appointed and inspired to construct the taberna-
cle, Exod. 128, 151, 175.
Bible, works, of introduction to the. Gen. 2; directions xor
reading the, ibid. ; works on the, 2, 91; unity of, in its
diversity, 6; the book of books, 7 ; the riches of, ihid. ;
names of the, 64; different, ibid.; poetic merit of the,
Job xii. ; poetry of the, viii.; Sandford quoted on the
poetry of the, xiii. ; irony in the, 155.
Biblical books, dates of their origin. Gen. 42 ; their arrange-
ment, 65.
history, a prophecy, Ps. 441.
■ theology, definition and structure of, Gen. 2, its
contents, 45 ; development, 51.
BIGTHAN and Teresh, their conspiracy discovered by Mor-
decai, Esth. 45.
BILDAD rebukes Job, Job 362 sq., 367 sq., 444 sq., 448, 507
eq., 512 ; Job's reply to, 373 sq., 384 sq., 451 sq.
BILHAH, Jacob's children by. Gen. 530.
BinginOth, Ps. 32.
Birds created and preserved. Gen. 172, 300; used in aac^.iiCGs,
411, Lev. 113; what may not be eaten. Lev. 92, Deut.
132; law concerning, Dent. 164 ; mentioned figura-
tively, Prov. 46, 84, 92, 223, 229 ; symbol of keenest
intelligence. Job 118.
Birth-right, law concerning, Deut. 161; despised by Esau,
Gen. 500; lost by Reuben, Chron. 63.
Births foretold: of Isaac, Gen. 4:i4; of Samson, Judg. 1S4;
of Josiah, 1 Kings IGl ; of Slessiah, Mic. 35.
Bitter herbs eaten with the passover, Exod. 36 ; water, healed,
Exod. 60.
Blasphemy forbidden, Exod. 79; its punishment. Lev. 183, 1
Kings 143; law regarding, Lev. 183; Naboth unjustly
stoned for, 1 Kings 143.
Blemish, offerings must be without, Exod. 35, Lev. 24, 35 ;
the priests must be free from. Lev. 161.
Blessed, who so called, Gen. 391, Ruth 34, Job 337, Ps. 50 sq.,
224, 236, 278, 373, 463, 562, 689, 621, Prov. 113, 178, 192,
211, 236, Isa. 551.
Blessing (of Isaac) obtained by Jacob, Gen. 513 ; given by
Jacob to sons, 643, 654 sq,; of the twelve tribes by
Moses, Deut. 226 sq.; and curse set before Israel, Deut.
119; the people, form of, delivered by Moses, Numb. 43 ;
at removing the ark. Numb. 60.
Blind, laws concerning the. Lev. 150, Deut. 187.
BHndnoss inflicted on the men of Sodom, Gen. 437; on the
Syrians, 2 Kings 68 ; spiritual, Isa. 613, 638 ; judicially
inflicted, Ps. 397, Isa. 109, 319, 484 ; prayer for deliver-
ance, Ps. 109, 590 ; removed by Messiah, Ipa. 141, 452.
Blood, circulation of, Eccl. 160; forbidden to bo eaten. Gen.
326, Lev. 35, 62, 135, 151, Ezek. 309 ; this law enforced
by Saul, Sam. 196 ; water changed into, Jlxod. 12 ; of
the covenant, Exod. 100, Zech. 74; typified — under the
law, Exod. 38, 124, 126, Lev. 25, 40 sq., 126 ; figuratively
used for life. Gen. 258.
Blood-shedding forbidden. Gen. 327, Exod. 80.
Blood-vengeance, instance of, Sam. 503,
Boards of the tabernacle, how constructed, Exod. 116.
Boasting reproved, Ps. 332, 502, Prov. 179, 217, 229, Isa. 154,
Jer. 115 ; of Goliath, Sam. 228 ; of Ben-hadad, 1 Kings
234 ; of Sennacherib, 2 Kings 206 sq.
BOAZ, his kindness to Ruth, Ruth 29; (strength: pillar of
the temple), 1 Kings 86.
Bochim, Israel reproved by an angel at, Judg. 51 ; why S9
caUed, 53.
Body (of man) not to be disfigured. Lev. 152, 160, Deut. 131;
dead, laws concerning. Lev. 161, Numb. 101, Dent. 161,
Hag. 22 ; to be raised again, Ezek. 348 sq.
BOEHME, quoted, Eccl. 77.
Boldness through faith, Prov. 235, Isa. 546 ; exhortations -to.
Josh. 42, Jer. 19, Ezek. 63 ; of Abraham, Gen. 4^5 ; of
Jacob, Gen. 550 ; of Moses, Exod. 135 ; of Aaron,
Numb. 91 ; of David, Sam. 233.
Bond (or vow), law concerning. Numb. 163.
Bonds and yokes sent by the Lord to various kings, Jer. 244.
Bones, Joseph's charge concerning his, obeyed, Exod. 40 ;
scattered as a judgment, Ps. 334; vision of the dry
bones, Ezek. 348 sq.
Boo«c of the Wars of the Lord, Numb. 114 ; of Jasher or the
Upright, Josh. 95, 97; of life, Ps. 398, Isa. 81, 99, Dam
201 ; of the law, Deut. 192 j found and read, 2 Kines
256. ■ "
Books, historical, their prophetic character. Josh. 5 ; tlje
three middle books of the Pentateuch, in their relation
to the whole Pentateuch, Exod. 11] ; to Genesis [2]; to
Deuteronomy [3J ; to each other [4] ; to Holy Scripture
and the New Testament [9J ; to the records on which
they are founded [10] ; organism of [5] ; historical
foundation [11] ; poetical and historical side of [26] ;
theological literature of [49] * ; of the Old Testament
referred to, Apocr. 509; of judgment, Dan. 155.
Booths used at the feast of tabernacles, Lev. 178.
Borders of the land determined. Numb. 181, Josh. 41, Ezek. 474.
Boring of the ear, law concerning, Exod. 88.
Borrowing, law concerning, Deut. 136 ; its consequences,
Prov. 192, 2 Kings 50 ; of Israel from the Egyptians,
Gen. 83.
BOSSUET'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 11.
Bottles figuratively mentioned, Jer. 141.
Bow in the cloud, sign of God's mercy, Gen. 328, Ezek. 61.
Bowels of mercies, Gen. 620.
Bowl, golden, meaning of, Eccl. 160.
BOZR AH,, prophecies concerning, Isa. 671, Jer. 379, Am. 18.
Bramble chosen to reign over the trees, Judg. 147.
Branch (of the Lord), meaning of, Isa. 80, 99; prophecies
concerning, 79, Jer. 207, Zech, 36, 53, 54.
Brand plucked from the fire, a figure. Am. 30, Zech. 36.
Bread, man appointed to labor for, Gen. 239; given from
hcavffn (manna), Exod. 62.
Breast-plate of the high priest described, Exod. 119.
Breath (life) dependent upon God, Gen. 204, Job 400, Ezek.
349 ; of God, its power. Job 329, Ps. 231, Isa. 163.
Brethren, duty of, towards each other. Gen. 308, 309, Ps. 631.
BRIDGES, quoted, Prov. 3.
Brimstone and fire, Sodom destroyed by, Gen. 438 ; figurative
of torment, Isa. 338.
Brother's widow, law concerning, Deut. 178.
Bucket, breaking of, its meaning, Eccl. 160.
BUCKINGHAM, quoted, Ruth 14.
Budding of Aaron's rod, Numb. 94,
Bundle of life, Sam. 309.
BUNYAN, quoted, Apocr. 49, 292.
BURNS, quoted. Job 64.
Burnt-offerings, laws concerning, Lev. 23; instructions for
the priests in regard to, 56, 63 ; significance of, Sam.
127.
BURROW'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 12.
Buyer characterized, Prov. 179.
C^SAR JUL., quoted, Josh. 73.
Csesareopapiamua, Am. 48.
CAIN, his name, Gen. 254 : judgment of, 257, 264; de-
scendants of, 200, 261, 264.
CALEB, permitted to enter Canaan, Numb. 153, Deut. 61 ;
reminds Joshua, Josh. 124, 125; h^a possessions, 131,
* The numbers in brackets [ ] bore and elsewhere refer to
the pages of the special introduction, preceding the book of
Exodus.
TOPICAL INDEX.
15
Judg. Zi ; receives Hebron, Judg. 40 : his descendanta,
Chron. 40 eq., 43 sq.
Oalf, golden, Exod. 131, 175 : punishment for making the, 132
sq., 176.
CALENDAR, JEWISH, months of the : Abib or Nigao, Exod.
35, Neh. 10, Esth. 5^; Zif or Jjar, 1 Kings 61 ; Sivan,
Esth, 83 ; [Thammuz, Ab, not mentionedj ; EIul, Neh.
28 ; Ethanmi or Tisri, 1 Kings 95, Chron. 176 ; Bui or
JVlarchesvan, 1 Kings 69; Chisleu, Neh. 6, Zech. 56,
Apoor. 21, 486; Tebeth, Esth. 44; Sebat, Zech. 25;
Adar, Ezra 67, Esth. 52, 91, Apocr. 97, 209, 512.
Call Of Noah, Gen. 297 ; of Abraham, Gen. 391 ; of Jacob,
Gen. 524; of Moses, Exod. 10; of Gideon, Judg. 112;
of Samuel, Sam. 87; of Elijah, 1 Kings 194, 196; of
Elisha, 1 Kings 223, 226 ; of Isaiah, /sa. 107; of Jere-
miah, Jer. 18 ; of Ezekiel, Ezek. 60; of Hosea, Hoa. 22 ;
of Amos, Am. 16 ; of Jonah, Jon. 16.
CALVIN, quoted, Exod. 122.
OAMBYSES, his expedition against Egypt, Apocr. 4; his
death, 5.
Camels, their flesh unclean, Lev. 92,IDeut. 131.
CAMERABIUS, quoted. Lam. 139.
Camp of the Israelites, its order, Kumb. 24 sq. ; to be kept
holy, Deut. 171.
CANAAN, son of Ham, cursed for despising Noah, Gen. 337,
348 ; sons of, 350.
■ ■ , land of, and its position on earth, Gren. 10 ; works
on, ibid.; promised to Abraham, Gen. 391, 423; its
boundaries, Exod. 98, Josh. 41; spies sent to. Numb.
72 ; the munnurers forbidden to enter, 77 ; also Moses
and Aaron, 103 ; viewed by Moses, 236 ; subdued by
Joshua, Josh. 23 sq., 55 sq. ; division of, Numb. 152,
Josh. 123 aq. ; its Inhabitanla ordered to be extirpated.
Gen. 87, Exod. 146, Numb. 179, Deut. 101, but were not
wholly so, Josh. 117 143, 146, Judg. 28, 51, 68.
Ganaanites, origin of the, Josh. 28.
Candlestick in the Tabernacle, Exod. 115 ; light of. Lev. 180;
taken care of by Aaron, Numb. 50 ; its symbolism, Lev.
181, Zech. 43.
Canon of the,01d Testament alluded to, Apocr. 287, 569.
Captivity of the ten tribes foretold. Am. 24 sq., 29 sq., 47;
fulfilled, 2 Kings 183 sq., Chron. 66; of Judah foretold,
Isa. 409, Jer. 143, 228 ; fulfilled, 2 Kings 295 sq., Ps.
640 sq., Jer. 328 sq., 439 sq.; their return from, Ezra
20 sq., Neh. 10 sq.. Pa. 617,
CAELTLE, quoted. Job xiv.
Carmel, mount, Elijah sacrifices there, 1 Kings 205.
Carpenters, vision of four, Zech. 29.
Cattle of Israelites preserved, Exod. 25, 28 ; laws concerning,
Exod. 9a 91, 94, Deut. 163, 178 ; an example of obe-
dience, Isa. 35.
Caucasian cultivation, Gen. 347.
Celibacy, dangers of, Jer. 170.
Censers of Korah, reserved as a memorial. Numb. 91.
Chaldaean period, prophets during the, Hos. [43],
Chaldeans afflict Job, Job 299; besiege Jerusalem, 2 Kings
284, Jer. 318-332 ; wise men of, preserved by Daniel,
Dan. 72 ; prophecies concerning, Isa. 261, 469, 512, 522,
Hab. 14. (See Babylon.)
Chance, meaning of, Eccl. 58.
Charity, exhortations to. Lev. 150, Deut. 114; how to be
manifested. Lev. 191, Job 542, Prov. 114, Isa. 632.
Chebar, the river, Ezekiel's visions at, Ezek. 34.
Chemosh, god of Moab, Numb. 118, Judg. 167, Jer. 376, 377.
Cherubim guard the entrance of Eden, Gen. 241; mythical
analogies of, Gen. 242 ; representations of, placed in
• the sanctuary, Exod. 115, 1 Kings 66, 74, Chron. 171,
Ps. 142 ; see also Sam. 97 ; literature on, Ps. 142 ; Eze-
kiel's vision of, Ezek. 39 sq., 114, 121 ; in the temple,
their significance, 1 Kinga 74 ; palms of, 75 ; flower-
work of, ibid; statues of, ibid.
Children, duty of, Exod. 80, Lev. 149, Deut. 90 ; wicked chil-
dren characterized, Sam. 73, 76, Prov. 173 ; their pun-
ishment, Exod. 89, Deut. 161, Prov.^250.
Chisleu, month of, Apocr. 21, 486.
Chittim, prophecies concerning. Numb. 141, Isa. 259, Jer. 32,
Dan. 250.
CHRIST, sufferings of, alluded to, Apocr. 237; cross of, a
power. Job 393 ; the yearning of the heart after, typi-
fied, Song of Sol., 75, 123; union of the soul with.
Song of Sol., 91 ; parables of, their character. Job xxvi. ;
Ewald on, ibid.
Christian's, the, golden A, B, C, Ps. 587.
Christology, biblical. Gen. 64.
CHRONICLES, book of, author of, and time of composition,
Chron. 8 ; sources, 16; name of and relation to Ezra and
Nehemiah, 5 ; to Samuel and Kings, 3 ; credibility, 22 ;
matter, plan and object, 11 ; parallel passages in com-
mon with Samuel and Kings, 14 ; literature on, 29.
Chronicon Samaritanum, Josh. 8.
Chronology, Egyptian, Gen. 353 ; Hebrew, 352.
OHRYSOSTOM, quoted, Jon. 18.
Church of God, condition of the, Ps, 303 ; under persecution,
prayers of, Ps. 289, 359, 360, 419 sq., 423, 443 sq., 446,
448, 459, 460, 482 sq., 501, 621, 611, 641 ; thanksgivings
of, Ps. 230, 301, 305, 373, 377, 384, 391, 425, 429, 451, 453,
472, 605, 511, 534, 535, 540, 545 sq., 613 eq., 617, 623,
634-638, 676 ; typical analogies of, Song of Sol. &4 sq. ;
an exalted mountain, Isa. 96 ; and State, rela^tions be-
tween, Ezra 55.
Churlishness of Nabal, Sam. 306.
CICERO, quoted, 1 Kings 222, Est. 79, Eccl. 42, 153, 155,
Song of Sol., 102, Isa. 98, 389, 541, Dan. 172, Apocr. 579.
Circumcision, its institution, Gen. 423 sq. ; a sign and seal,
427, Josh. 67 ; renewed before entering Canaan, Josh. 63.
Cities of refuge. Numb. 187, Deut. 85, Josh. 164 ; literature
on, Numb. 189.
CLAUDIAN, quoted, 2 Kings 214, Job 161, Am. 42.
Clean and unclean beasts, distinction between, Gen. 300, 302,
Lev. 86 ; doctrinal significance of the distinction be-
tween. Lev. 94 ; laws concerning, 91 sq., 157.
CLEMENT OP ALEXANDER, quoted, Isa. 583.
Clothing, the first. Gen. 240 ; rending, a mark of grief, Gen.
584.
Cloud, pillar of, Israel guided by, Exod 47, Numb. 54, Isa,
81 ; appearance of God in a, Exod. 103, 145, Lev. 124,
Numb. 69, 1 Kings 97, Ezek. 37, 121.
COLERIDGE, quoted, Prov. 3, Apocr. 359.
Commandments, the ten, see Decalogue ; blessings for the
observance and curses for the neglect of the divine.
Lev. 196 sq.
Commonwealth, theocratic, the first law of the, Exod. 87 ; its
leading features, 146.
Company, evil, exhortations to avoid, Ps. 51, Prov. 141, 242.
Compassion to be shown to the afflicted, Job 349, Pa. 278, 279,
Prov. 142 ; when commanded not to be shown, Deut. 179,
Confession of sin, comnuvnded, Lev. 47, 198, Josh. 78, Jer. 51;
examples of, Numb. 70, Josh. 78, Sam. 121, 177, 209,
Ezra 88, Neh. 7, Ps. 324 sq., Dan. 190 ; at the offering
of the first fruits, Deut. 182.
Confusion of languages, see Languages, confusion of.
Congregation (of Israel), all to keep the passover, Exod. 35 ;
see off'ering for. Lev. 45 ; to stone offenders. Lev. 183;
who not to enter, Deut. 170.
Conscience convicts of sin, Sam. 290, Prov. 180.
Conscientiousness, a characteristic of holy men. Josh. 109.
Consciousness, what? Apocr. 269.
Consecration of Aaron, Lev. 71 sq. ; of the Levites, Numb. 50.
Consolation under affliction. Job 456, Ps. 100, 181, 278, 279,
283, 327, 342, 398, 403, 413 aq., 615, Isa. 168, Lam. 115,
Mic. 53, Zech. 27 ; sources of, Lam. 140.
Contentment with godliness, great gain, Ps. 255, Prov. 249;
admonitions to, Prov. 161, 163.
Contributions for the Tabernacle, Exod. 126.
Contrite heart, not despised by God, Ps. 237, 327, Isa. 622, 699.
Conversion, reality of a thorough, Sam. 124 ; a miracle, Ps.
328 ; of the Gentiles foretold, Isa. 57, 166, 648, 706.
Copy of the law to be written by the king, Deut. 146.
Cord, silver, meaning of, Eccl. 160.
CORNELIUS NEPOS, quoted, Judg. 154.
Correspondences between Job and Isaiah, Job 258 sq,
COTTON, quoted, Apocr. 634, 635.
Counsel, advantage of, Prov. 121, 128, 230; of God, asked by
Israel, Judg. 250 ; by Saul, Sam. 196 ; by David, Sam.
289, 345; of the wicked rejected, Job 479.
Courses of the Levites established by David, Chron, 142 sq. ;
of the singers, 146 ; of the captains, 151.
Court of the Tabernacle described, Exod. 118 ; outer, in Eze-
kiel's temple, Ezek. 388 ; inner, 390.
Covenant, precioudneas of the word, Zech. 76 ; religious idea
of. Gen. 299; biblical idea of, 300; the religion of
revelation, the religion of, 302 ; of God with Noah,
Gen. 299, 327 ; Abraham, 410, 413, 422 sq.; Isaac, Gen.
424, 605; Jacob, Gen. 522; Israel, Exod. 69 sq., 99,
147, Lev. 196 sq., Deut. 88, 109, 196 sq., Jer. 127 sq.,
274 ; Phinehas, Numb. 148 ; David, Sam. 689 ; the Old,
at present only a ruin, Isa. 712 ; cannot exist along
with the New, 714; New Covenant, Jer. 275; its nature,
Isa. 610 ; a covenant of peace, Isa. 590, Ezek. 322, 351;
unchangeable, Isa. 642 ; everbisting, 698, 660, Ezek.
351; signs of: salt. Lev. 31, Chron. 200; the sabbath,
Exod. 128 ; covenant between Abraham and Abimelech,
Gen. 459 ; Joshua and Israelites, Josh. 186 ; David and
Jonathan, Sam. 241, 264, 291.
Covetousness described, Prov. 187, Eccl. 81, 92 ; forbidden,
Exod. 81 ; its evil consequences, Josh. 79, 2 Kings 55
sq., 60, Prov. 150, 236 ; its punishment, Job 470, Isa.
90, 622, Mic. 19, Hab. 25.
COWLEY, quoted, Job 93.
COWPER, quoted, Sam. 457, Ps. 683, Isa. 654.
COZBI, slain by Phlnehas, Numb. 148.
Creation, account of. Gen. 71, 161, 177, 178 ; essential ideas
of, 126 ; history of, how revealed, 147 ; idea of, 178 ;
dogmatic doctrine, ibid. ; eternity of God in relation to
temporal, 180; theological definitions of the, ihid. ;
Mosaic account of, in relation to the mythological
16
TOPICAL INDEX.
legends of, 181; to natural sciences, 190; literature
on, 116.
Creation of heaven and earth, Gen. 161 ; of light. Gen. 165 ;
of firmament, Gen. 168 ; of vegetable world, Gen, 168 ;
of heavenly bodies, Gen. ITO; of marine animals, Gen.
171 ; of land animals. Gen. 172 ; of man, Gen. 172, 211.
Creationism, Eccl. 164.
Creatures, Living, the vision of the, Ezek. 42 sq.
Critical questions in the treatment of the Old Testament,
Gen. 33.
Criticism, biblical, and its related literature. Gen. 30 ; desira-
bleness of an organ of, ibid.
Crocodile, Job 621.
Cruelty, human, iU terrible history, JnAg. 30.
Curse upon the earth in consequence of the fall, Gen. 238 ;
upon Cain, Gen. 258 ; upon the breakers of the law,
Dent. 191 ; causeless, never comes, Numb. 148.
Curses uttered by Noah, Gen. 336; by Job, Job 315, 322 ; by
CURTIUS, quoted, Judg. 30, 40, 154, Isa. 188, 266, 512, Apocr.
485.
Cutting of the flesh forbidden, Lev. 152, Deut. 131.
CYKIL, quoted, Lev. 75, Jon. 27, Micah 34, Nab. 25.
CTKUS, his name, Isa. 487; the Persian, Dan. 145 ; king in
Persia, Chron. 276, Ezra 20, Dan. 224 ; conqueror and
founder of a world-monarchy, Isa. 490 ; the fourth
ruler before Xerxes, Dan. 238; his personal character,
Apocr. 3 ; a worshiper of the true God, Chron. 276 ;
Ezra 21, 26, 60 ; the liberator of the Jews, and pro-
moted the building of the city and temple, Isa. 487,
495, Chron.-27G, Ezra 20, 25, 26, Aporr. 3, 80; a shep-
herd of God, who was to fulfil God's will concerning
Israel, yea, an anointed of the Lord, Isa. 490 ; whose
spirit the Lord raised up, Chron. 276, Ezra 20, Isa. 495;
forerunner and type of the Messiah, Isa. 502.
DAGON, a Philistine deity, Sam. 105.
Damascus garrisoned by David, Sam. 446, Chron. 126;
Eezons reigns there, 1 Kings 135 ; Elisha's prophecy
there, 2 Kings 80; re -conquered, 2 Kings 152, 172; an
altar there, 2 Kings 172.
DAN, son of Jacob, Gen. 630 ; hia descendants numbered.
Numb. 152; their inheritance, Josh. 162; blessed by
Jacob, 657; by Moses, Deut. 232; they take Laish,
Judg. 232 sq.
Dancing, Exod. 54, Judg. 174, Sam. 418 ; in the East, described,
Apocr. 308.
DANIEL, personal relations of, Dan. 7; captive in Babylon,
56; bis obedience to the law, 60, 63; his innocence,
Apocr. 491 ; hia conduct, Dan. 120 ; interprets Nebu-
chadnezzar's dreams, 72, 114,120; and the handwriting
on the wall, 130; promoted by Darius, 138 ; disregards
the idolatrous decree, 142 ; preserved from the lions,
144, 146; his visions, 13 sq., 149 sq., 171 sq. ; his prayer,
189 ; is encouraged and receives the promise of return
from captivity, 193, 227, 266 ; hia name remarkably
mentioned, Ezek. 151, 260.
, Book of, a prototype of the canonical apocalypse,
Dan. 1 ; authenticity of, 20 sq. ; design of, 41 ; harmony
of the prophecies of, 44; unity of, 16; Alexandrian
version of, 48; literature on, 50 sq.; additions to —
name, Dan. 49, Apocr. 442; extant text, Dan. 442; esti-
mation in the Christian church of, 448 ; ix. 24-27, note
on, Dan. 213 aq.
DANTE quoted, Buth 10.
DARIUS CODOMANNUS, defeated at the battles of Granicus,
Issua and Arbela, Apocr. 7.
(HYSTASPES), Apocr. 5; his decree for re-building
the temple, Ezra 63 sq.
■ (the Mede), takes Babylon, Dan. 138; his rash de-
cree, 142; hia grief for Daniel, 143; his decree after
the deliverance, 145,
DATHAN, see Korah,
Daughters, their inheritance determined, Numb. 154, 191 ; in-
law and mothers-in-law, relation between, Kuth 18, 21.
DAVID, son of Jesse, his genealogy, Ruth 52, Chron. 3;
anointed by Samuel, Sam, 21S, Chron. 97; plays before
Saul, Sam. 222, 223; his zeal and faith, 231, 232; kills
Goliath, 234; at first honored by Saul, 240; afterward
persecuted by him, 241, 245, 246, 250, 265 sq,, Ps. 217;
loved by Jonathan, Sam. 241, 250, 253, 260 sq., 268;
and by Michal, 244, 251, 253, 254; again overcomes the
Philistines, 245, 251, Chron. 110; flees to Naioth, Sam.
251, 253; oats of the hallowed bread, 272, Ps. 331; flees
te Gath and feigns madness, Sam. 274, 276, Ps. 235, 344;
dwells in the cave of Adullam, Sam. 279, Ps. 347; de-
livers Keilah, Sam. 289, 292; escapes Saul's pursuit,
291 sq., Ps. 335; twice spares Saul's life. Sam. 296, 316 ;
his wrath against Nabal appeased by Abigail, 307, 310;
dwells at Ziklag, 323, 326; makes incursiong, 324, 326;
dismissed from the army by Achish, 340, 342; chastises
the Amalekites, 345, 340; laments the death of Saul
and Jonathan, 3G6, 367, Job xviii.; becomoa king of
Judah, Sam. 372, 379 ; forms a league with Abner, 386
laments his death, 3S9 ; avenges the murder of Ishbo-
Bheth, 397 ; becomes king of all Israel, 397, 399, Chron.
116 ; his victories, Sam. 403, 408, 410, 411, 445 sq., 458 sq.,
475, Chron. 126, 127, Ps. 93, 359 ; brings the ark to Zion,
Sam. 415 sq., 421, Chron. 106, 114, Ps. 185; his psalma
of thanksgiving, Sam. 567, Chron. 117, Ps. 138 eq.;
reproves Michal for despising his religious joy, Sam.
419, Cbron. 116 ; forbidden to build the temple, Sam.
429, Chron. 122 ; God's promises to him, Sam. 431, 439,
Chron. 122, Ps. 643, Ezek. 321 ; his prayer and thanks-
giving, Sam, 433, 441, Chron. 123; his kindness to Me-
phibosheth, Sam. 455 ; his sin concerning Bathsheba
and Uriah, 465 sq., 468 ; his repentance at Nathan's
rebuke, 472 sq., 477 eq., Ps. 224, 323; troubles in his
family, Sam. 484 sq. ; Absalom's conspiracy against
him, 502, 509, 520, Ps. 63, 68, 195, 339, 364, 367 ; forsaken
by Ahithophel, Sam. 504, 507, 510, 516, Ps. 277 sq., 339
sq.; his flight, Sam. 504, Ps. 63, 199, 282,362; cursed
by Shimei, Sam. 508; relieved by Barzillai, 526, Ps. 71,
181; his grief at Absalom's death, Sam. 530, 532, 543;
retnrns to Jerusalem, 539, 543; pardons Shimei, 540,
544 ; Sheba's conspiracy overcome, 549 ; renders justice
to the Gibeonites, 560, 563 ; his highest officers, 554,
Chron. 127; his mighty men, Sam. 594, 599, Chron. 98,
102; his offence in numbering the people, 602 sq., 609,
Chron. 131 sq,; his last words, Sam. 584, 590; regulates
the service of the tabernacle, Chron. 142 sq.; his ex-
hortation, 156 ; appoints Solomon his successor, 1 Kings
24, 26; his charge to Solomon, 30, 31, Chron. 136; his
death, 1 Kings 31, Chron. 160; his sepulchre, Neh. 61;
bis descendants, Chron. 48 ; his character, Job xi. ;
traits in the character of, Sam. 299; a counter picture
to Saul, 223 ; a representative of the theocratic princi-
ple, for which he suffers and endures, 285 ; a type of
Christ, 219; literature on, 223, 584; prophecy in the
time of, Hos. [23],
Day of doom, the wicked kept to the. Job 182 sq. ; the last,
Isa. 189, Joel 19, Zeph. 16, Mai. 25.
Dead, feasts for the, Apocr. 440; prayer of the, Apocr. 427,
614; resurrection of. Job 457 sq., Ps. 315, Isa. 289;
raised by Elijah, 1 Kings 195 ; by Elisha, 2 Kings 44,
143 ; sin-offering for the, Apocr. 605.
Death, its possibility and necessity. Gen. 239; earliest ideas
of, 274, Job 3, Eccl. 129 sq., Apocr. 235; none to be
pronounced blessed before, Apocr. 314; distinction be-
tween dead and, Numb. 99; the consequence of sin,
Gen. 239; universal, Job 300, 409, Eccl. 125.
DEBORAH, Rebekah'a nurse, her death and burial, Gen. 562,
565.
the prophetess, judges and delivers Israel, Judg.
81 sq.; her song, 89 aq.
Decalogue, form of its promulgation, Exod. 76; division of,
77, Deut. 92 ; relation of the, in Exodus, to its form in
Deuteronomy, 76 ; outline of, 171 ; exposition of, Deut.
94^168 ; literature on, Exod. 77, 166.
Deception, is it justifiable, Apocr. 189.
Dedan, prophecies concerning, Jer, 232, 392.
Dedicated thing, law concerning. Lev. 205.
Dedication of the tabernacle, Exod. 160 ; of the temple, 1
Kings 95 sq., Chron. 178; of the wall of Jerusalem,
Neh. 51 ; feast of, instituted, Apocr. 22, 499.
Defilement, laws concerning, Lev. 87, 93.
DELILAH betrays Samson, Judg. 215 sq.
DELITZSCH, quoted, Job 233, 242.
Depravity, total, doctrine of. Gen. 286.
Desolation, abomination of, Apocr. 486.
DEUTERONOMY, the Book of, its description according to
its position and titles, Deut. 1; viewed according to its
own declarations, 4; its authorship, 10, 33, 243; special
objections against the Mosaic authorship of, 247 sq.;
refutation of the argument of the anti-Mosaic autlior-
ship, 11 sq., 263 sq.; Mosaic features and origin of, 37,
266 sq.; division of, and survey of the contents, 43;
importance of, 39; quotations in the New Testament
from, 41 ; literature on, 44.
Devil, the, called Satan, Chron. 131, Job 294, Zech. 39 ; through
his envy, death came into the world, Gen. 589, Apocr.
237; tempts Eve, Gen. 228 sq.; accuses Job, Job 295,
301; tempts David, Chron. 132; resisting Joshua, re-
buked, Zech. 36.
Devils, sacrifices offered to, Lev. 135.
Devoted things, law concerning, Lev. 202 sq., Ezek. 422.
Dew, a blessing. Gen. 513; a sign, Judg. 120; figurative,
Deut. 212, Ps. 556, 632, Isa. 289.
Diadochi, Apocr, 14.
DIES IRiE, quoted, Apocr. 667.
DILLMANN, quoted. Job 229.
DINAH, Jacob's daughter. Gen. 531; ravished by Shechem,
560, 563 ; is avenged bv Simeon and Levi, 561, 564.
DIODORUS SICULUS, quoted, Gen. 658, Exod. 50, 134, Job
12, Isa. 502, Dan, 69, 114, NaJi. 33.
Disfigurement in mourning forbidden, Deut. 131.
TOPICAL INDEX.
17
Divination forbidden, Lev. 151, Deut. 148 ; practiced by Saul,
Sam. 331.
Division of the land of Canaan, Numb. 183, Josh. 117.
Divorce, laws concerning, Deut. 175, 179.
DOEG, at Saure command, alaya the priests of Nob, Sam, 283.
DogB, figurative of enemies, Ps. 172 ; false teachers so called,
laa. 013 ; a term of impenitence, Prov. 224,
DOBDRIDGE, quoted, Mai. 28.
Dove in classical myths, Gen. 311 ; figuratively mentioned,
Ps. 385, Song of Sol. 59, 70,
Dragon, Pharaoh called, Ezek. 272 ; and Bel, see Bel and Dragon.
Dreams, sent by G-od, Job 557, Joel 28 ; to Abimelech, Gen.
450, 453 ; to Jacob, Gen. 521, 523, 541 ; to Laban, Gen,
542 ; to Pharaoh's servants. Gen. 601 ; to Pharaoh, Gen.
C07; to the Israelite, Judg. 127; to Solomon, 1 Kings
41; to Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 81.
Drink, strong, when forbidden. Lev. 84, Numb. 40, Judg. 184;
to whom to be given, Prov. 257.
Drunkenness, censured, Isa. 91, Hos. 53; its punishment,
Deut. 161, Joel 12; of Noah, Gen. 336, 341; of Lot,
Gen. 440; of Nabal, Sam. 310.
Dust, man formed of, and to return to, Gen. 239, Job 381,
Eccl. 161 ; placed on the head as a mark of grief, Josh.
77, Job 306, Lam. 99.
Duty of man, the whole, Eccl, 168.
EAGLE, unclean, Lev, 92; described. Job 378; seen In
visions, Ezek. 47, 195.
Earth, cursed. Gen. 238; a new one promised, Isa, 281,
695, 713 ; spherical development of. Gen. 186.
Eat and drink, there is nothing better for man than that he
should, Eccl. 60, note on.
Ebal, mount, curses pronounced from, Deut. 186, Josh. 86.
EBED-MELECH intercedes for and delivers Jeremiah, Jer.
323 ; comforted by Jeremiah, 332.
Ecbatana, Apocr, 95, 168.
ECCLESIASTES, Book of, alleged Epicureanism of, Eccl.
130; aim of, 19; aramaisms in, 16; author and epoch
of, 13, 28 sq. ; canonical value and theological signifi-
cance of, 31 ; character and name of, 1 ; contents and
plan, 5 ; a didactic poem, Prov. 16 ; declamatory style
of, Eccl. 58; false logical and ethical divisions of, 137,
142; integrity and unity of, 11; literature on. 25; ma-
terialism of, 71; metrical version of, 183-199; pathetic
repetition in, 126 ; a philosophic poem, Job xxv, ; poet-
ical character of, Eccl. 171 sq.; soliloquizing style of,
113; JSeine on, 17; Luther on, ibid.; Aramaisms in,
ibid. ; character of. Job xxv. sq.
EOCLESIASTES I. 3, note on, Eccl. 44 sq.
5, " " - " 38.
IL3, " " *' 64.
8, " " " 56.
14, " " *' 58.
16, " " " 58.
24, " " " 60.
25, " " *' 61.
in. 4, " " " 66.
11, " *' " 67 sq., 72 sq.
14, 15, " " " 72 sq.
17, " " " 60.
18-21, " " " 70 sq.
21, " *' " 71 sq.
IV. 3, " " " 80.
6, " " " 81.
14,15, " " " 84 sq.
V, 3, " " " 89.
6, " " " 90.
7, " " " 91.
8, " " " 91.
9, " " " 92.
17,18, " " " 94.
VI. 10, « " " 101.
VIL7. " " " 106.
11,12, " " " 107.
16, « " " 108.
24, " " " 113 sq.
VIII. 6, " " " 118.
10. " " " 119.
15, " " " 120.
IX. 5, " " " 129.
9, " " " 126.
7-10, XL 9, 10, " " " 131 sq.
X. 1, " " " 138,
14, 15, " " " 141.
17, " " " 143.
XI. 5, " " " 147 sq.
8, 9, " " " 151 sq.
XII., " " '* 152 sq.
2-5, " " " 154 sq.
5, » " " 158.
6, " " " 160.
27 u (I .( 154,
ECCLESIASTICUS, Book of, ancient versions of, Apocr. 280;
author of, 274; contents and their arrangement, 275;
dogmatical and ethical character, 281; Greek version,
277, 278; name of, 274; original language, 276; recog-
nition by Jews and Christiana of, 283; translator of,
275 ; unauthentic preface of, 284.
EDDINUS, Apocr. 76.
Eden described, Gen. 204; Adam drove from, 241.
EDOM and EDOMITES, kings and dukes of. Gen. 575 sq.,
Chron, 36 ; their unkindness to Israel, Numb. 105 sq,,
Deut. 63; subdued by David, Sam. 448; revolt, Chron.
223; subdued by Amaziah, 2 Kings 148, Chron. 237;
prophecies concerning, Jer. 392, Ezek. 245, 332, Am.
18, Obad. 10.
EGLON, king of Moab, oppresses Israel, Judg. 73; slain by
Ehud, 70.
EGYPT [Exod. 13, 31]; literature on [12]; visited by Abram,
Gen. 392; Israel in [Exod. 13] ; growth of Israel in
[17]; departure from, Exod. 42; direction of the de-
parture from, 40 sq.; prophecies concerning, Isa. 223
sq., 233, Jer. 363, Ezek, 272, 278, 283, 291 ; confidence
in, censured, Isa. 326, 340; plagues of, Exod. 19 sq.;
temple of Onias in, Isa. 228.
Egyptian Miracles and Plagues, Gen. 82, Exod. 19 sq,; trea-
surer. Gen. 83 ; temples, Exod. 117 ; claim to wisdom
by priests, Isa. 224.
Egyptians, belief in a supreme being inspiring their actions,
Apocr. 76; worse than the Sodomites, 273 ; pursue the
Israelites, Exod. 49 ; perish in the Bed Sea, 50.
EHUD, judge, delivers Israel, Judg. 73 sq.
Ekron taken, Judg. 39 ; men of, smitten with emerods,
Sam. 108.
ELAH, king of Israel, his evil reign, 1 Kings 184; killed by
Zimri, 184, 186 sq.
, valley of, battle in, Sam. 228.
Elders, appointment of the Seventy, Numb. 64.
Eleazar, son and successor of Aaron, Numb. 91, 107; his
death, Josh. 180.
— — — , son of Abinadab, keeps the ark, Sam. 117.
, son of Dodo, one of David's captains, Sam. 595,
Chron. 99.
, high-priest, under him the translation of the Sep-
tuagint was undertaken, Apocr. 16.
EL-ELOHE-ISRAEL, God, the God of Israel, Gen. 560.
EL-HANNECHILOTH, Ps. 32.
ELI, high-priest, blesses Hannah, Sam, 53; reproved, and
the destruction of his house foretold, 79, 84, 89 ; the
prophecy fulfilled, 90 sq.
ELIAB and DAVID, Sam. 235.
ELIAKIM, son of Hilkiah, speaks with Kabshakeh, 2 Kings
206, 207, Isa, 379; his exaltation foretold, Isa, 254.
(Jehoiakim), son of Josiah, made king by Pharaoh,
2 Kings 279, 287; his evil reign and death, 281.
ELIASHIB, high-priest, Neh. 15 ; censured for breaking the
law, 57,
ELIHU, liis person. Job 553; reproves Job's friends, 554, 564;
and Job's impatience, 555, 503, 569; declares God's
justice, power and mercy, 557-595; his character, 662,
575; his idea of justification, 564; genuineness of the
speech of, 25 sq., 39. 268.
ELIJAH (Elias), the prophet, 2 Kings 72; prophesies a great
drought, 1 Kings 193, 196; miraculously fed, 104 sq.,
197; raises the widow's son, 105, 198; slays the priests
of Baal, 2f>4, 208; flees into the wilderness, 218, 224;
remains forty days on Horeb, 210, 224; calls Elisha,
222, 226; denounces Ahab in Naboth's vineyard, 243
sq., 246; rebukes Abaziah, 2 Kings 4, 6; calls down
fire from heaven, 5, 7; his writing to Jehoram, Chron,
223; his ascension inro heaven. Gen. 88, 2 Kings 13 sq.,
18 ; compared with the ascension of Christ, 2 Kings 19 ;
different views on the end of, 20; literature oa, 1
Kings 190 sq,; apocrypha of, Chron. 228 note,
Elim, meaning of, Ps. 208.
ELIMEOH, Kuth 12.
ELIPHAZ, Job 300; harsh criminations of, 185 sq.; reproves
Job, and declares God's judgment against sinners, 29,
320 sq., 339, 421 sq., 428, 487 sq., 492; Job's reply to,
338, 345, 497 sq., 508; his fearful vision, 329; rebuked
by Elihu, 553 ; God's anger agaiiLst him appeased, 630 ;
pure and elevated conceptions of God by, 493.
ELISHA, the seer, 2 Kings 72; appointed to succeed Elijah,
1 Kings 221, 226, 2 Kings 24; receives bis mantle, 2
Kings 10; curses the mocking children, 18-25; fore-
tells the destruction of the Moabites, 32, 35 sq. ; various
miracles wrought by him, 16, 17, 24 sq., 41, 45 sq., 48,
66, GO; raises the Sbunaraite's son, 44, 47; his care for
her, 79, 82; Naaman's leprosy healed, 53, 67; Gehazi
condemned, 50, 60; Syrians smitten with blindness,
68, 73; he prophecies plenty in Samaria when besieged,
71, 74; his prophecy to Hazael, 80, 83; sends to anoint
Jehu, 94, 101 ; in his sickness foretells victories over
the Syrians, 141, 143; death, 142; miracles wrought
by hia bones, 142 sq. ; Apocr. 403.
18
TOPICAL INDEX.
ELKANAH, Samuel's father, Sam. 44 eq.; hia kindness to
Hannah, 47.
Elohim, meaning of, Gen. 109 ; and Jehovah, definition of,
111.
Elohiatic and Jehovistic Bectiona, Gen. 105.
ELON judges Israel, Judg. 181.
El Shaddai, Gen. 4'^1 sq., 425.
El shoshannira eduth, Ps. 35.
Emancipation of the flesh, Gen, 289.
Encampment, plan of the, Exod. [48], Numb. 25.
Endor, Saul consults a witch there, Sam. 331.
Enemies, duty towards, Exod. 94, Prov. 218, Job 644; God
delivers from, Sam. 175, Ps. 355.
BNGEDI, city. Josh. 1^9 ; David dwells there, Sam. 295, 296.
ENOCH, his godliness and translation, Gen. 273, 274, Apocr.
241 ; a type of the Ufa of Christ, Gen. 275.
, Book of, authorship of, Apocr. 665; translation of,
ibid. ; time of composition, 666 ; original language,
ihid. ; doctrinal teaching, ibid.
Envy, a diabolical vice. Gen. 689.
Ephah, a measure, Levit. 153, Ezek. 427, Zech. 47.
Ephod of the priest, directions for making, Exod, 119; idola-
trons, Judg. 139, 229.
BPHEAIM, son of Joseph, Gen. 607; preferred to Manasseh,
643; his descendants numbered, Numb. 152; their
possessions. Josh. 141, Judg, 46; chastise the Midian-
ites, 129 sq. ; their quarrel with Gideon, 131, and Jeph-
thah, 178 ; revolt from the house of David, 1 Kings
146 sq.; carried into captivity, 2 Kings 184; prophe-
cies concerning, Isa. 115 sq., 145, 166, 304, Jer. 267,
Hoa. 60-99 ; gato of, Neh. 61,
Ephron, the Hittitc, sells Machpelah to Abraham, Gen. 477.
Epicureanism, allged, Eccl. 131; melancholy of, 80.
Epiphi, an Egyptian month, Apocr. 635,
EEPENIANUS, quoted, Gen. 127,
ESAR-HADDON, king of Assyria, 2^ Kings 218, Ezra 45,
Isa. 393.
ESAU, son of Isaac, his biith and individuality, Gen. 499, 501;
■why called Edom, 500; sells his birthright, ihid.; his
ill-assorted marriage causes grief to Isaac, 510 ; hia
blessing, 514 ; hostility to Jacob, 515 ; hia pretended
correction of hia ill-assorted marriages, 515 ; his meet-
ing and reconciliation with Jacob, 651, 653 ; burial of
his father, 571, 672; his family record, 574, 677,
Chron. 35,
ESDBAS, First Book of, title of, Apocr. 62 ; author, time and
place of compilation, 64 sq. ; arrangement of the ma-
terials, 63; contents and scope of, 62 sq.; history of
the book, 69 ; whether a fragment, 70 ; sources of the
work and character of the text, 66 sq.; manuscripta
and versions of, 71.
^^ , Second Book of, author and date of composition,
Apocr. 643 ; title and original language, 641 ; ancient
Tersions, design and plan, 642; canonical authority,
644 ; translation of, 645 sq.
Esdrelom, plain of, Apocr. 169.
Essenes, their origin, Apocr. 29 ; their doctrine, 251.
ESTHER, her descent, Est. 42 ; chosen queen, 44, 46 ; fasts
on account of the king's decree, 62 ; intercedes for her
people, 77, 83.
, Book of, aim and historical character. Est. 3 ; ca-
nonical dignity, 11 ; composition, time of origin, and
integrity, 20 ; contents, 1 ; liturgical use, 18 ; referred
to, Apocr. 146 ; literature on, Est. 27.
- ■ ■ , Additions to, Est. 25 ; author and date, Apocr. 204 ;
canonical estimation, t&i(?. ; origin of, 200; history of,
199 ; text, 199 sq. ; second translation, 217-220.
ESTOR HA-PARCI-II, quoted, Judg. 45.
Eternities, see .ZEonian word.
E31HAN, Pb. 89 ascribed to.
ETHIOPIANS, described, Isa. 218 ; invading Judah, subdued
by Asa, Chron, 202 ; prophecies concerning, Isa. 217 sq.,
Ezek. 278.
EthB©3ogical table, its basis, Gen. 346 ; its religious eignifl-
cance, 351 ; literature on, 119, 345.
Euphrates, river, Gen. 206.
EURIPIDES, quoted, Gen, 334, Josh. 64, Judg. 176, Sam. 276,
3bb 8, 99, Eccl. 131.
EUSEBIUS, quoted, Gen. 684, Exod. 60, Jor. 221.
EVE, created, Gen. 208 ; named, 240 ; beguiled by the ser-
pent, 228 ; her sentence, 237 ; her words concerning
Cain, 255, and Seth, 262.
EVIL-MERODAGH, king of Babylon, his kindness to Jehoi-
achim, 2 Kings 297.
Evils, God not the author of, Lam. 141.
EWALD, H., quoted, Job xiv., xxvi.
Exile and Post-Exile Period, prophets during, Hos. [43],
EXODUS Book of, organism of, Exod. [6] (see Books, Mid-
dle) ; xxxviii. 26 referred to, Numb. 12.
-, the, see under Egypt.
Exorcism, Apocr. 119, 134.
Expiation, need of, 9am. 117.
Eye, attributes of, Apocr. 320.
EZEKIEL, name and meaning of, Ezek. 1 ; his position
among the "Four Greater Prophets," 2.; his life, 3;
historical background and his labors, 6 sq. ; character-
istics of the prophecy of, 15 ; commission of, 60 sq., 71,
307 ; his visions of God's glory, 36 sq., 52, 105, 121, 128;
of the Jews' abominations, etc., 104 sq. ; and their piin-
ighment, 113, 125 ; of the dry bones, 348 sq. ; of the
house of Grod, 383 sq., 436 sq. ; of the Holy Iiand and
City, 474 sq..; intercedes for his people, 115, 127 ; be-
comes a sign to the Jewa, 76 sq., 86 sq., 133 sq., 233;
reproves their hypocrisy, 148 sq., 192, 310; Ms para-
bles, 155, 159, 175, 187, 221, 231; his dumbness, 71, 23^,
308 sq.; rehearses Israel's rebellions, 192 sq.; and thie
Bins of Jerusalem, 214 sq., 221 sq., 231 sq. ; foretells her
punishment, 202 aq. ; prophecies against Ammon, 208,
244; Assyria, 283; fedom, 245, 332, 338 sq.; Egypt, 272,
278, 283, 291; Gog and Magog, 360 sq., 372 sq, ; Moab,
246; Pharaoh, 288; Philistines, 245; Tyre, 248, 250,
253, 255 sq., 259 aq., 265 sq. ; Zidon, 254, 264.
■ ' , Book of, contents and division of, 10 sq. ; xompo-
eition, collection, arrangement, genuineness of, 21 ;
christology of, 23 ; chronological sketch according to
the dates in, 15; use, theological import and differeirt
way of understanding of, 25 ; literature on, 29.
I. 4-28, note on, Ezek. 62 sq,
IV. 1-3, " " " 77 sq.
9, *' " " 81 sq.
VIII,, " " " 104 sq.
XVI. 8-14, " " " 161.
XXVU., " " " 352 sq.
XXVIII., XXrS., « " " 372 sq.
XLIII. 1-12, " " " 410.
XLV. 18-25, " " " 429.
XL.-XLVI., " " " 439 sq.
XL VII. 1-12, " " " 466.
XLVIIL, " " " 485.
EZION-GEBER, stations from, Exod. [24].
EZRA, returns to Jerusalem, Ezra 74, 77 sq. ; families return-
ing from Babylon with, 80, Apocr. 109 ; men having
married foreign wives, returning with, Ezra 98, 99,
Apocr. 109 ; appoints a fast, Ezra 83 ; his charge to the
priests, ihid. ; Ms arrival at Jerusalem, ihid. ; his
prayer, 88, 92, 98; reads the law, Neh. 35, Apocr. 107 ;
reforms various corruptions, Ezra 95 sq., Neh. 57 sq.
and NEHEMIAH, Books of, their authenticity, Ezra
12 ; character, 2 ; composition, 8 ; contents, 4 ; signifi-
cance, 1 ; sources, 7 ; relation to one another, to the
Chronicles and Esdr^, 14; literature on, 17.
FAITH, sees the invisible God, Pe. 336 ; direct way to the
heart of God, Hab. 27; idea of, 23; and hope in Job,
Job 8.
Fall, mythological analogies of the biblical tradition of the,
Gen. 243 ; Jewish and Christian theology on the, ihid.;
modern views on the, 244 ; referred to, Hos, 65 ; litera-
ture on, Gen, 119,
Family, formation of, Gen, 262.
Famine, in Canaan, Gen, 392 ; in Israel, Ruth 12, 1 Kings 203,
2 Kings 69 ; threatened, Jer, 148 ; described, 147, Lam, 153.
Fasting, symbol of sorrowful spirit and humble disposition,
Sam. 124; how to be performed, Isa. 630 sq., 643 ; meri-
torious, Apocr. 174.
Fat, instructions concerning, Lev. 62 sq.
Fatherless, protected by God, Dent. 114.
Feasts, the three annual, Exod. 95, 146, Lev. 169, 175 ; literar
ture on, 168 ; of lamps, Apocr. 440 ; of snakes, 316 ; of
trombones or new moon. Lev. 176.
Fiery serpents, plague cf, Numb. 110 ; means of deliverance
from, ibid.
Figs, Jeremiah's vision of, Jer. 218.
Fire from heaven, commemoration of, Apocr. 665.
Firmament, created, Gen. 168.
First-born, sanctiflcation of, Exod. 42.
First-fruits, confession at, Deut. 174.
Fish, created, Gen. 171 ; Jonah swallowed by one, Jon. 25 ;
story of a, Apocr, 133.
Fleeee, employed as a sign by Gideon, Judg. 120.
Flesh, lust of the, Deut. 168 sq. ; reigning of the, Eccl. 64.
Flies, dead, Eccl. 138.
Flood, the, Gen. 76; Hebrew namo of, 293; stories of the,
ibid. ; Chaldeean legend of the, 2 Kings 187 ; fact of
the. Gen. 295 ; geological effect of, 296; announcement
of, 297 ; time of the, 304; opening of the, 305 ; full de-
velopment and elTect of, 306; stages of, 309; decrease
of, ihid.; disappearance of, 310; partial extent of, as
deduced from the Hebrew text, 314 sq. ; turning point
wrought by, 329; literature on, 293; a symbol and
typoj Gen. 302, 306, 313.
Food, provided for man and beast, Gen. 174; carried to the
house of mourners, custom of, Apocr. 130.
Foreign wives, table of persons, found guilty of having mar-
ried, Apocr. 109.
TOPICAL INDEX.
19
Porek&owledge, divtne, Deut. 193.
Foreordination, human destiny dependent on, Apocr. 305.
Forgivenesg of sin, promised, Lev. 46, Isa. 358.
Fornication, spiritual, idolatry, etc., Ezek. 159 sq., Hot 24 sq.,
35 sq., 44 sq,
Fortune-tellingB, Bccl. 91.
Forty, Btripes not to exceed, Deut. 17T.
Fourfold restitution to be, Exod. 91.
Four living creatures, vision of, Ezek. 42 sq.; kingdoms,
Nebuchadnezzar's dream concerning, Daa. 76 sq. ;
Daniera vision of, Dan. 158 sq.
Frankincense employed in the incense, Exod. 128.
yratrieide, Gen. 263; its origin, ibid.
French Revolution, referred to, Hab. 16.
Friend of God, Abraham so called, Isa. 439.
Friends, advantages of, Ptov. 169, 230.
Fringes, laws concerning, Numb. 85.
FRONTINUS, quoted, Judg. 154.
Frontlets, Exod. 43, Deut. 95.
FRY'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 10,
Fugitive Servant, law concerning, Deut. 174.
Fulfilled, that it might be, Ezra 24 sq.
Furnace, deliverance of Shadrach, etc., from, Dan. 99, 104;
figurative, Isa. 521, Ezek. 216^
GAAL conspires against Abimelech, Judg. ISO.
GABRIEL, an angel, sent to Daniel, Dan 181, 193.
GAD, son of Jacob, blessed by Jacob, Gen. 658; by
Moses, Deut. 232; his descendants, Numb. 152; pos-
■essions of them, and the Reubenites, 11. 171 sq. ; com-
mended by Joshua, Josh. 174 ; accused of idolatry, 175 ;
their apology, 176; their warlike character, Chron.
104.
, seer, declares God's Judgment to David, Sam. 606,
Chron. 133.
— , a deity, Isa. 693.
GALATIANS, Apocr. 514, 590.
GALEN, quoted, 1 Kings 22.
Galilee, prophecy concerning, Isa. 138.
Gallows, Haman hanged on. Est. 79, 90.
GALLUS CORNELIUS, quoted, Isa. 624.
Garments of the pricsta, Exod. 120 sq., 157"; purification of
unclean, Lev. Ill ; not to be made of diverse materials,
Deut. 164; of the seers not to be exchanged, Deut. 164.
Garizin, Apocr. 681.
Gates in Ezekiel's Temple : East, Ezek. 385 ; North and South,
389 ; of the inner court, ibid.
- in Jerusalem, as described in Nehemiah: of Benjamin,
Neh. 61 ; Comer, 61 ; Dung, 60; of Ephraim, 61 ; First,
61; Fish, 69; Fountain, 60; High, 61; Horse, 61;
Inner, 61 ; Middle, 61 ; Miphkad, 61 ; New, 61 ; Old,
60 ; Prison, 60 ; Sheep, 59 ; of Sur, 61 ; Water, 60.
OATH, of the Philistines, men of, smitten with emerods, Sam.
107 ; taken by David, Chron. 126 ; by Hazael, 2 Kings
133 ; by Uzziah, Chron. 239. 4»
C^AZA (of the Philistines), Samson's acts there, Judg 212;
prophecies concerning, Jer. 370, Am. 18, Zeph. 23,
Zech. 68.
GAZARA, Apocr. 540, 543, 597.
GEDALIAH, left as governor of Judah, 2 Kings 297, 332, 335 ;
slain by Ishmael, 297, Jer. 339.
GEHAZI, servant of Elisha, 2 Kings 41, 48 ; his covetousnesa
and deceit punished, 55 sq., 60.
Genealogical material, its grouping aud arrangement, highly
attractive, Chron. 91.
flonealogiea, an important pert in Israel, Neh. 32; of Adam,
Gen. 270, Chron. 33 ; of Noah, Gen. 348, 369 sq., Chron!
33 ; of Nahor Gen. 475 ; of Abraham, Gen. 491, Chron,
85 ; of Jacob, Gen. 529 sq., Chron. 38 ; of Esau, Gen.
674 sq., Chron. 35 ; of Levi, Chron. 70 ; of Judah, Chron,
39, 48, 53 ; of Simeon, 59 ; of Reuben, 63 ; of Gad, 64
of Issachar, 76; of Bei;jamin, 76, 81; of Manasseh, 78
of Naphtali, 77 ; of Ephraim, 79 ; of Asher, 80; of Saul,
83 ; of David, 48.
flSlNBSIS, Book of, its name. Gen. 121; character of, 101,
Composition of, 114 ; fundamental thought and division,
120 sq. ; general introduction to, 91; sources of, 104;
literature on, 114 ; relation of the three middle books
of the Pentateuch, to, Exod. [2].
*■"* 'I'" I., note on, Gen. 71.
II., " " " 73 sq.
in., " " " 74.
v., " " " 75.
vi.-vin., " « " 76.
VI, 3, " « « 285 aq.
5, " " " 286.
XL, " " " 77.
XIL sq., " " « 78.
XXXVII. 35, " " " 684.
XLVL, XLVIL, " « " 637 sq.
XLVIII. 16, " " " 646 sq.
XLIX. J-33, " " " 651 sq.
GENESIS, First Chapter, special introduction to, Gen. 125;
its anthropomorphisms, 192; its contents, 193; litera-
ture on, 116.
^" ■ -, First Verse of, as related to the rest of the first
chapter of. Gen. 167.
Gentiles, prophecies relative to their conversion, Isa. 165, 448
533, 665, Jer. 161, Zech. 62, 64.
GERAB, Isaac's strife with the men of, Gen. 506.
GERHARD, PAUL, quoted, Eccl. 93, Song of Sol. 76.
Gerizim, mount, appointed for blessing, Deut. 186, Josh. 86.
GERRHENIANS, Apocr. 609.
OERSHOM, son of Moses, Exod. 6.
GERSHONITBS, their employment, NQmb.33.
Giants, meaning of the word, Gen. 286.
GIBEAH, its wickedness, Judg. 243, 245; and punishment,
GIBEON, oraft of its inhabitants, Josh. 89; delivered by
Joshua, 94 ; God appears to Solomon there, 1 Kings 41.
GIDEON, angel of the Lord appears to, Judg. 12; overturns
Baal's altar, 116; his signs, 120, Isa. 169; his army
reduced, Judg. 122; his stratagem, 127; subdues the
Midianites, 129, 133 ; refuses to be king, 138; his ephod
a snare, 139 ; his death, 140.
GILBOA, mount, Saul slain there, Sam. 330, 353, 363.
GILEAD, covenant of elders of, with Jephthah, Judg. 164.
6ILGAL, why so called. Josh. 64 ; Joshua encamps there,
Josh. 58 ; Saul made king there, Sam. 154.
Girdle, typical, Jer. 139, 143.
Gleaning, law concerning, Lev. 150; Boaz's liberality con-
cerning, Ruth 31.
Gluttony, condemned, Deut. 161.
Gnosis, Apocr. 290.
GOD of the Old Testament, Deut. 220; conception of the
living, Josh. 59 ; names of. Gen. 109; desire of men to
comprehend, Isa. 610 ; anthropopathic representation
of, their significance, Sam. 211; his anger, Josh. 79;
his repentance, Gen. 287, 290 ; sppaking the language
of men, Job 156; the teacher of men. Pa. 503; will not
be mocked, Hos. 29 ; gross and external representation
of retributive justice of. Job 368 ; the fundamental law
of the divine government of the world, the law of the
retributive rlghteousnese of, Sam. 580 ; creates the
world, Gen. 101 sq. ; drives man from Eden, 241 ; con-
demns the world, 287; conmiands Noah to build the
ark, 297; sends the flood, 304; assuages it, 309; accepts
Noah's sacrifice, 324 ; blesses him, 326 ; his covenant
with Noah, 327 ; calls Abraham, 391 ; renews the pro-
mise, 398, 409, 422 ; comforts and exhorts Hagar, 416,
458 ; institutes circumcision, 423 ; reproves Sarah's un-
belief, 434; reveals to Abraham the destruction of
Sodom, ibid. ; rescues Lot, 437 sq. ; counsels Abimelech,
450; commands Abraham to offer Isaac, 466 sq. ; grants
the prayer of Abraham's servant, 484 ; declares Jacob's
superiority to Esau, 499, Mai. 8 ; iiwtructs and blesses
Isaac, Gen. 505, 508 ; appears in a vision to Jacob, 521 ;
prospers him, 538; grants Jacob's prayer, 549, 551;
commands him to build an altar at Bethel, 662 ; blesses
him there, 563 ; prospers Joseph in Egypt, 697, 600 ;
comforts Jacob at Beersheba, 631 ; blesses the Hebrew
midwives, Exod. 3 ; hears the cry of the Israelites, 6 ;
appears to Moses, 9 ; reveals his name, I AM, 10 ; his
message to Israel, 11 ; grants various signs to Moses,
and appoints Aaron to assist him, 12 ; renews his pro-
mise by his name JEHOVAH, 18 ; encourages Moses,
ibid.; commands the plague of blood, 20; of frogs, 21;
of gnats, 22 ; of flies, 23 ; of murrain, 26 ; of boils and
blains, ibid.; of hail, 28; of locusts, 30; of darkness,
31 ; threatens the death of the first-born, 33 ; institutes
the passover, 35, 39, 43 ; slays the first-born of Egypt,
40 ; sanctifies the first-born of Israel, 42 ; preserves the
Israelites, and destroys Pharaoh and the Egyptians,
49; feeds Israel with quails and manna, 62; causes
water to issue from the rock, 65 ; his wrath against
Amalek, 66 ; his message to Israel by Moses, 69 ; sanc-
tifies mount Sinai, 71 ; delivers the ten commandments,
78 sq.; and diverse laws, 88-98; reveals his glory to
Moses, Aaron and the elders, 101 ; commands the
making of the tabernacle, the altar, etc., 113-118, 125 ;
appoints the garments of the priests, 119 ; and the sac-
rifices, 123 ; promises to dwell with the people, 125 ;
appoints and fits Bezaleel and Aholiab for their work,
128 ; his wrath at Aaron's making the golden calf, 133 ;
refuses to go with the people, 139 ; talks with Moses,
ibid,; reveals his glory and proclaims his name, 145.;
makes a covenant with Israel, 147 ; commands the
tabernaele to be reared, and fills it with his glory, 159 ;
delivers the law concerning the burnt-offerings, etc.,
Lev. 23-63, Numb. 160 sq. ; sanctifies Aaron, 71 sq., 77
sq. ; punishes Nadab and Abihu, 82 sq. ; issues various
laws, 92 sq. ; punishes the blasphemer, 183; propounds
a blessing and a curse, 196 sq., Deut. 191 sq. ; com-
mands the people to be numbered, Numb. 21, etc., 151;
appoints a form of blessing, 43 ; speaks to Moses from
20
TOPICAL INDEX.
the raercy-aeat, 48; punishes the murmuring Israel-
ites—gives them manna and quails in wrath, 65 sq.;
appoints seventy eldei'S, 04 ; ^ebulces and punishes the
sedition of Miriam and Aaron, 69 sq. : conimande spies
to be sent into Canaan, 72 ; punishes those giving an
evil report, and the unbelievers, 77 sq. ; hearkens to
Moses' intercession, ibid. ; punishes the rebellion of
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, 88 sq. ; causes Aaron's rod
to blossom, 93; supplies Israel with water at Meribah,
102; rebukes Mosea and Aaron, and excludes them
from Canaan, 103 ; foretells Aaron's death, and ap-
points Eleazar to succeed him, 106; plagues tho people
■with serpents, 110 ; heals them by the brazen serpent,
ibid.; his dealings with Balaam and Balak, 126 sq.;
punishes Israel sinning by Baal-Peor, 146 ; decides the
question of tho daughters of Zelophehad, 154, 191 ;
appoints Joshua to succeed Moses, 156; commands the
Midianites to be spoiled, 167 ; conceals the body of
Moses, Deut. 237; encourages Joshua, Josh. 42, 56;
divides the waters of Jordan, 57; commands the people
to be circumcised, 63; overthrows Jericho, 78; com-
mands the punishment of Achan, 77 ; overthrows Ai,
84 ; and the kings of Canaan, 94 sq. ; appoints cities of
refuge, Numb. 187, Deut. 155, Josh. 164; rebukes Israel
at Bochim, Jud. 51; delivers them by Deborah and
Barak, 81 sq.; calls Gideon, 111; delivers Israel from
the Midianites, 129, 135; his judgment upon Abiras-
lech and the Shochemites, 154 sq. ; delivers Israel by
Jephthah, 169 sq. ; and by Samson, etc., 213 sq. ; pun-
ishes the Benjamitea, 254; afflicts Naomi, Ruth 13;
afterwards blesses her, Boaz and Ruth, 46 sq. ; answers
Hannah's prayer, Sam. 53 ; rebukes Eli and threatens
his house, 79, 89; calls Samuel, 90; permits Israel to
be smitten by the Philistines, 96; plagues the Philis-
tines retaining the ark, 106 ; punishes the Bethshem-
ites' impiety, 116; delivers Israel from the Philistines,
126; declares the manner of a king, 134; appoints
Saul king of Israel, 141 sq., 151 sq. ; reproves the peo-
ple's ingratitude, 173 sq.; by means of Saul and Jona-
than, overthrows the Ammonites, 165; and Philistines,
187 sq. ; and Amalekites, 205 ; rejects Saul for disobe-
dience, 189, 209, 3;>3; commands Samuel to anoint
David, 216 ; enables him to kill Goliath, 228 sq, ; pre-
serves him amidst various dangers, 241 sq. , makes
David king in Hebron, 372, and in Jerusalem, 397;
punishes Uzzah'a presumption, 417, Chron. 109; forbids
David to build him a huuse, but blesses him, Sam. 429,
Chron. 122; rebukes David's sin with Bathsheba, and
denounces judgment upon his house, Sara. 473; those
judgments fulfilled, 484^-554, 1 Kings 22; punishes
Saul'a house for persecuting the Gibeonites, Sam. 559 ;
punishes Israel with pestilence, 603, Chron. 132 ; but
spares Jerusalem, Sam. 608; makes Solomon king, 1
Kings 25 ; grants Solomon's prayer, 41, 43, Chron. 164;
sanctifies the temple, 1 Kings 97, 111, Chron. 178 ;
threatens Solomon for his idolatry, 1 Kings 128 ; ap-
points Jeroboam king of the ten tribes, 136, 146; and
forbids Rehoboam to attack him, 146; denounces judg-
ments upon Jeroboam, 161, 167; d^^livers Asa from the
Ethiopians, Chron. 201 ; threatens Baasha, 1 Kings
181; punishes the builder of Jericho, 186; feeds Elijah
by ravens, 194 ; sends him to rebuke Ahab, 203 sq. ;
rebukes Elijah's murmuring and comforts him, 218 sq. ;
appoints Elisha his successor, 222; delivers Israel
from the Syrians, 234 sq. ; his judgment against Ahab,
244, 251 sq, Chron. 214; delivers Jehoshaphat from
the Moabites, Chron, 215 ; punishes Jehoram with
incurable sickness, Chron. 223; his judgment against
Ahaziah, 2 Kings 4 ; takea up Elijah into heaven, 11 ;
delivers Israel from the Moabites, 31 ; enables Elisha
to work various miracles, 41 sq., 53 sq ; preserves
Elisha from the Syrians, 68 ; terrifies the Syrians be-
sieging Samaria, 71 sq. ; appoints Hazael king of Syria
and Jehu king of Israel, 81, 95; his judgments upon
Jezebel and the house of Ahab, 99, 100 ; destroys Aha-
ziah, king of Judah, Chron. 224; punishes Athaliah's
treason, 2 Kings 121 sq., Chron. 225 ; and Joash's in-
gratitude, Chron. 236; delivers Jehoahaz from the
Syrians, 2 Kings 140; sends Jonah to Niniveh, Jon.
16; preserves his life, 25 ; spares the repentant Nine-
vites, 31; reproves Jonah repining at his mercy, 36;
chastises Amaziah's presumption, 2 Kings 148; and
Uzziah's (Azariah's) sacrilege, 158, Chron. 239; causes
Israel to be captivated, 2 Kings 183; preserves Heze-
kiah and Judah from the Assyrians, 203, Chron. 256,
Isa. 391; lengthens Hezekiah's life, 2 Kings 232,
Chron. 257, Isa. 394 sq. ; rebukes his vanity and fore-
tells the captivity, 2 Kings 237, Isa. 408; punishes
Manasseh, and restores him upon repentance, 2 Kinga
245, Chron. 262; commends and exhorts Josiah, 25T>,
Chron. 270 ; chastises his sons, and delivers Jerusalem
to the Chald?ean3, 2 Kings 281 sq., 295 sq., Chron. 274,
Jer. 196 sq., 328 sq., 438 eq. ; protects tho Jews in cap-
tivity. Est. 41 sq., Dan. 56 eq. ; brings them again to
Jerusalem, Ezra 20 sq., Neh. 6 sq.. Hag. 8 sq., Zech. 22
sq. ; commends Job, Job 295 ; permits Satan to try him,
297, 303 ; answers hie complaints and reasonings, 600-
626 ; reproves his friends, 629 ; blesses his latter end,
631 sq. ; declares his will by Isaiah, Isa. 34 sq. ; and
reveals his glory, 104 sq.; sends him to comfort Ahaz,
115 sq. ; reproves the king's unbelief, 122; foretells
Shebna's deprivation and Eliakim's advancement, 252
eq. ; foretells Messiah's coming and kingdom, 78 sq.-
125, 162, 304 sq., 344 sq., 370 sq., 420 sq., Jer, 207 sq.,
290 aq., Ezek. 318 sq., 338 sq., 348 sq., Dan. 193 sq ,
Mic. 30 sq., Mai. 19 sq., 24 aq. ; and sufferings, Isa. 545,
570, 573 sq., Ps. 1G7 sq., 395 sq., Zech. 85 sq.; shows the
sin and folly of idolatry, Isa. 439, 4:36 sq., 482 sq,, 506
sq. ; calls Jeremiah, Jer. 19; expostulates with the
Jews, 26-87 ; sends Jeremiah to preach repentance,
91-125, 240; to declare his covenant, 127 eq. ; refuses
to hear Jeremiah's intercession, 149, 150 ; comforts
him, 156; threatens the utter ruin of Judah, 158 sq.;
commands the hallowing of the Sabbath, 174; sends
Jeremiah to the potter's house, and there declares his
absolute power, 178 sq., 183 sq., 190 ; denounces pun-
ishment upon Pashur for smiting Jeremiah, 186 sq.;
threatens Zedekiah, 196, 301 sq. ; his judgment upon
Shallum, Jehoiakim and Coniah, 199, 201 sq., 205;-
promises the Messiah, the Branch, 208, Zech. 37 ; com-
mands Jeremiah to send yokes to the king of Edom,
etc., 244 sq. ; punishes several false prophets, 249 ; pro-
mises a return from captivity, 257 sq., 2G3 sq., 288, 291
sq. ; blesses the Rechabites, 306 sq. ; comforts Ebed-
melech, 332 ; rebukes the hypocrisy of tho Jews, 344,
351 sq. ; foretells Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt,
347 ; reveals his glory to Ezeklel, Ezek. 36 sq., 107 sq.,
121 sq.; instructs and encourages him, 60 sq., 67 sq.;
reveals his judgments by various types, parables and
visions, 76 sq.. 86 sq., 106 aq., 112 sq., 126-144, 155-189,
202-236 ; reproves the Jews' hypocrisy, 148 sq., 192 sq.,
310; and munnurings against him, 181 sq., 306 sq. ;
declares the duty of a watchman, 69, 307 ; commands
the resurrection of the dry bones, 348 sq. ; grants to
Ezekiel the vision of the holy city, 383 sq. ; blesses
Daniel and his companions, Dan. 57 sq. ; reveals to him
the king's dream, 73 ; delivers Shadrach, etc., from
the furnace, 101 ; humbles Nebuchadnezzar, 116 ; warns
Belsbazzar of his doom, 126 sq.; preserves Daniel in
the den of lions, 143 sq. ; grants Daniel a vision of his
kingdom, 150 sq. ; comforts him with the promise of
Messiah's coming, 193 sq.; foretells the overthrow of
the Persian and Greek empires, etc., 238 sq. ; and the
general resurrection, 261 sq. ; his command to Hosea,
typifying Israel's apostasy, Hos. 23 aq.; exhorts the
Jews to repentance, Joel 12 sq. ; hearkens to the inter-
cession of Amos, Am. 46; comforts Habakkuk, Hab.
22 sq. ; reproves the Jews' slackness in rebuilding the
^ temple. Hag. 8 sq., and encourages Zerubbabel, 14 sq.;
his visions to Zechariah, Zech. 25-54 ; reproves the
people, 57; yet encourages them, 61 sq. ; reasons witli
the people and with the priests, 7 sq. ; declares the
coming of Messiah and his forerunner, 19 sq. ; hia
judgments against various nations, see Amnion, Baby-
lon, Egypt, etc., etc.
: one God, Deut. 74, 94, 217, 2 Kings 211, Isa. 499 ; the
Father, Mai. 11, Isa. 679 ; the judge of all, Ps. 353,
Eccl. 69, 152, 169, Isa, 57, 71 ; the Searcher of hearts,
Pa. 85, Jer. 166 ; a Refuge, Sanctuary and Trust, Deut,
233, Sara. 568, Ps. 65-76, 94, 103, 106, 121, 158, 181, 199,
205, 218, 282 sq., 331, 335, 345, 347, 356, 362-371, 403,
433,470, 493 sq., 607, 615, 626, 643, 655, Isa. 134, Ezek.127;
the Saviour, Isa. 464, 467, 407, 539, 651, 076 ; incompre-
hensible, Eccl. 67, 123, 147, Isa. 428, 497; Unsearchable,
Job 335, 389, 512, 586; His GIoit, Power and Majesty,
Exod. 140, Lev. 79, Sam. 569, 1 Kings 97, Ps. 56 sq., 64
sq., 89 sq., 139 sq., 150 sq., 185 sq., 208 sq., 2:i0aq., 294-309,
319, 373-391, 430, 433, 482, 493-515, 520*548, 556, 560,
565-574, 636, 639, 647, 667-678, Isa. 106 sq., 276, 698,
Ezek. 36 sq., 107 sq., 121 aq., 406, Dan. 154, Nah. 17 ;
Eternal and Unchangeable, Gen. 160, Exod. 10, Sam.
210, 1 Kings 99, Ps. 669, Isa. 522, 622, Mic. 32, Mai. 20;
the Creator and Preserver of all, Gen. 161 sq., 200 aq.,
326 sq., Sara. 67, Ps. 89 aq , 150 aq., 181, 231, 373 sq.,
377 sq., 525, 530, 546, 564, 636, 638, 647 sq., 671, 674,
Prov. 154, Isa 492, Zech. 91 ; the Supreme Governor,
Gen. 297-328, 365, 391, 467 eq., 505 eq , Sara. 143, 209,
430, Ps. 185 sq., 230 sq., 425 aq , Isa. 463-500, Jer. 121 j
His Wisdom, Knowledge and Power, Exod. 20-32, 40,
48 aq., 52 sq., Josh. 57, 72, Sam. 217, 234, 1 Kings 253,
Chron. 159, Job 329, 335, 373 aq., 388 sq., 398-403, 453,
488 sq., 497 sq., 556 eq., 674-620, Prov. 63, 188, Eccl.
67, 107, Isa. 312, 322, 356, 442, 452, 4G7, Lara. 121, Dan.
74, Joel 19, Hab. 25 ; His Holiness and Justice. Gen.
231, 257, Exod. 53, 70, 136, 146, Lev. 40 eq., 62, 93, 198,
Numb. 76 sq., 88 sq., 102 sq., 146 eq., Josh. 77, 185,
TOPICAL INDEX.
21
Judg 68, Sam. 6i, 81, 89, 116, Job 331, 363 sq., Isa. 106,
534, 622, Jer. 115, Lam. 68, Dan. 192, Hos. 61-60, Nali.
17, Mai. 25; His jealousy, Exod. 79, 146, Josh. 185,
Joel 26, Zech. 27 ; His Goodness, Mercy and Love,
Gen. 234, 309 sq., 326, 410, 422 sq., 468, 608, 521, 560,
696, 632 sq., Exod. 3, 79, 97, 133, 140, 145, Job 337, 367,
389, Ps. 68 sq., 94 sq., 213-237, 248, 271, 301, 425, 463,
467, 613, 625, 607, 639, 643, 663, Prov. 167, Isa. 278, 621,
598, 676, Jer. 263, Lam. 115, Mlc. 63, Nah. IS, Hab. 38,
Zeph. 63, Mai. 24 ; His Truth and Faithfulness, Josh.
171, Sam. 437, Ps. 153, 483, 575, 593, Isa. 278, 694,
Lam. 92.
Gods, judges so called, Exod. 94, Ps. 456; heathen, worship
of, forbidden, Exod. 78, Deut. 88.
Goel, interpretation of, Gen. 646.
6CERBES, quoted, 1 Kings 103.
G(BTHE, quoted, Gon. 363, Deut. 76, 219, Josh. 60, Job xiv.,
Apocr. 366.
Gog and Magog, prophecy concerning, Ezek. 360 sq., 372 sq.
GOLIATH, a giant, description of his person, Sam. 228 ; slain
by David, 234 ; psalm concerning, 236 ; contrast to
David, 234.
GOOD'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 10.
Goshen, in Egypt, Israelites placed there, Gen. 624; free
from the plagues, Exod. 28.
' , in Canaan, Josh. 136.
Gourd prepared for Jonah, Jon. 37.
Grace, the fundamental attribute of God, Sam. 380 ; nature
of the work of, Zeph. 36.
GRAHAM, quoted. Job 148.
Grass created, Gen. 169 ; man compared to, Ps. 255.
Grave, law concerning. Numb. 101.
Graves of the lust. Numb. 66.
GRAY, quoted, Prov. 3.
GEEEOE, prophecies concerning, Dan. 182, 230, 238, Zech. 74.
GREEK ANTHOLOGY, quoted. Job 99.
Greek poet, quoted. Josh. 109.
GREGORY OF NAZIANZEN, quoted. Lam. 143.
Groves, places of worship. Gen. 459 ; idolatrous forbidden,
Judg. 116.
GUEGLEE, quoted. Job 148.
GUTHRIE, quoted, Prov. 4.
HABAKKUK'S complaint, E[ab. 11 ; the answer, 13, 22 ;
his prayer, 34 sq.
', Book of, author of, Hab. 7 ; contents of,
3, 6 ; date of, 4 ; form of, 3 ; its place in the organism
of Scriptures, 7 ; literature on, 8.
HADAD, an Edomite, becomes an enemy to Solomon, 1
Kings 135, 137.
HADADEZEE (Hadarezer), king of Zobah, David's wars
with, Sam. 446, 461, Chron. 126.
Hadassali, Est. 42.
Hades, Apocr. 209, 267, 472.
HAGAR, mother of Islimael, her flight. Gen. 416 ; her nam-
ing of God, 417 ; her return, 419 ; her expulsion, 458,
461 ; promise of the angel of God to, 458 ; takes a wife
for her son, 459 ; her moral beauty, 461.
Haggadah, the, Apocr. 4Q sq.
HAGGAI, prophet, Ezra 67, Hag. 3; reproves "the Jews,
Hag. 9 ; and encourages the re-bmlding of the temple,
14 sq.
, Book of, matter and form of. Hag. 5 ; occasion and
aim of the prophecy of, 3 ; literature on, 6.
Halachah, Apocr. 40 sq.
HAM, son of Noah, for his impiety cursed. Gen. 336, 337 ;
liis descendants, 348, Chron. 34 ; smitten by the Simeon-
ites, Chron. 61.
HAMAN'S advancement, Eat. 49 sq. ; hatred to Mordecai, 53,
55 ; his fall, 79, 83 ; his sons, 90.
HAMANN, quoted, Sam. 276, Ps. 441.
HAMATH, land of, Numb. 182, Josh. 119.
HANAMEEL sells a field to Jeremiah while Jerusalem is
besieged, Jer. 283.
HANANI, a prophet, imprisoned by king Asa, Chron. 205.
, brother of Nehemiah, Neh. 6, 31.
HANANIAH, a false prophet, his death foretold, Jer. 245.
Hands, washing, as mark of innocence, Deut. 168, Ps. 196.
Hanging, a punishment. Numb. 147; the person hanged
accursed, Deut. 161.
HANNAH'S vow and prayer, Sam. 50, 57; answered, 53;
her song, 64, 68 ; a type of the Ghrietian Church, 67.
HANUN, king of the Amorites, dishonors David's messengers,
Sam. 459, 461 ; chastised, 476.
Happiness, earthly, how obtained, Eccl. 95.
Happy, who so called, .Job 337,
HARBONAH proposes the hanging of Haman, Est. 79.
Hardening the heart by God, its meaning, Josh. 109, Sam.
330.
HARIRI, quoted. Job 169.
HARRIS, papyrus referred to, Isa. 223.
Harvest, feast of, Exod, 96,
HAZAEL, appointed to be king of Syria, 1 Kings 221 ; Eli-
sha's grief at seeing him, 2 Kings 81, 83; he slays
Ben-hadad, and usurps the kingdom, 81 ; afflicts
Israel, 142.
Heathendom, literature on. Gen. 120.
Heathenism, its character and teleology. Gen. 366.
Heaven, note on the Hebrew plural. Gen. 162 ; God's throne
and dwelling place, Isa. 698: new one promised.
Isa. 096.
Heavens, seven, of the Eabbins, Gen. 103.
HEBREWS, the name, Gen. 9, Apocr. 687 ; works on. Gen. 9.
Hebrew words, list of, appended to Isaiah Isa. 717 sq.
HEBEON, in Canaan, Abraham dwells there. Gen. 476, 479 ;
the spies come to. Numb. 73 ; taken. Josh. 104 ; given
to Caleb, 131 ; David reigns there, Sam. 372.
, formerly called Kiijath-arba, Judg. 32.
HEINE, H., quoted, Prov. 17.
HELIODOSUS, treasurer of the king of Syria, sent to rob
the Temple at Jerusalem, but is struck down on the
threshold, Apocr. 17, 673.
HELIOPOLIS, temple at, Apocr. 18.
Hell, described, Isa. 92 ; for whom reserved, Ps, 95.
HEMAN, Ps. 88 ascribed to, Ps. 476.
Hephzibah, Israel called so, Isa. 665.
HEEBERT, GEO., quoted. Lam. 65.
HERCULES, sacrifice of, Apocr. 678.
HERDER, quoted. Job xiii.
HEEODIAN, quoted, Jer. 94.
HERODOTUS, quoted. Job 124, Jer. 192, Gen. 230, 693, Judg.
147, 149, 1 Kings 35, 2 Kings 278, Ezra 76, Est. 33, 35,
Isa. 224, 237, 240, 245, 464, 502, 692, Jer. 370, Dan. 139-
141, Apocr. 480, 647, 686.
Heroes, school of, Sam. 600.
HEEBICK, R., quoted, Lam. 142.
HESIOD, quoted, Judg. 91, Job 15, Isa. 101.
Hexsecimeron, the, or the creative days, allusions to, in other
parts of the Bible, Gen. 135, 186 ; parallelism of the,
with the creative account of the Apocalypse, ibid. ;
characteristic traits of, 188 ; works on, 186.
HEZEKIAH, king of Judah, 2 Kings 200, 221; abolishes
idolatry, 203, 222, Chron. 255 ; restores the temple-
service, Chron. 251 ; celebrates the passover, 253 ; hia
message to Isaiah when attacked by the Assyrians, 2
Kings 209, Isa. 381 ; his prayer, 2 Kings 210, 225,
Chron. 267, Isa. 386 ; his deliverance 2 Kings 217, 220,
Isa. 391 sq. ; his life lengthened, 2 Kings 232, 238 sq.,
Chron. 257, Isa. 394 sq. ; his thanksgiving, Isa. 401 sq. ;
rebuked for displaying his treasures, 2 Kings 236, 240
sq., 242, Isa. 406 ; his repentance at Micah's preaching,
Jer. 239 ; his death, 2 Kings 237 sq., Chron. 258.
Hezekiah, the author of Job, Job 262 sq.
HIEL rebuilds Jericho, 1 Kings 186.
Higgajfln, Ps. 31.
HILARY, quoted. Gen. 206.
HILKIAH, high-priest, finds the book of the law, 2 Kinga
266 ; abolishes idolatry, 261.
Hin, a measure, Exod. 125, Levit. 153, Ezek. 81.
Hinnom, valley of (Tophet), abominations practiced there, 2
Kings 262, Chron. 241, 262, Isa. 338, Jer. 183, Apocr.
304 ; a symbol of hell, Josh. 138.
HIRAM (Huram), king of Tyre, his kindness to David and
Solomon, Sam. 406, 411, Chron. 110, 167.
, a workman of Solomon's, 1 Kings 84.
Hire (of laborers) not to be withheld. Lev. ISO, Deut. 177.
HIRTIUS, quoted, Apocr. 632.
History, rapid beginnings of. Gen. 366 ; prophetic view of,
Isa. 476.
HITZIG, quoted, Prov. 2.
HOFFMAN, W. quoted. Gen. 187.
Holiness, exhortations to, Levit. 166, Deut. 183.
Homer, a measure. Lev. 204.
HOMEE, quoted. Gen. 318, 329, 377, 621, 626, Jud. 242, Ruth
28, Sam. 468, Job 14, 44, 78, 87, 100, 107, 122, 128, 141,
146, 148, 1.60, 168, 161, 190, 417, 589, Eccl. 37, 126, 166,
Song of Sol. 71, Dan. 172.
Homicide, ordinance of the punishment for, Gen. 331 ; the
ancient, universal and unchanging law of, 332.
Honey, figuratively mentioned, Ps. 153, Prov. 208; not to be
used in sacrifices. Lev. 31.
Honor to be ascribed to God, Mai. 11 ; to be given to parents,
Exod. 80, Deut. 90 ; to the aged, Lev.-162.
HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS, sons of Eli, their great wicked-
ness, Sam. 73, 75 ; threatened, 89 ; slain, 98.
HOE, mount, Aaron's death there, Numb. 106.
HORACE, quoted. Job 417, 619, Prov. 66, 192, 229, Eccl. 80,
95, 100, 109. Isa. 98, 483, Jer. 94, 167, Lam. 192.
HOREB (Sinai), God appears to Moses there, Exod. 9 ; law
given and covenant made at, Exod. 70 sq., 76 sq. ;
Israel's idolatry near, Exod. 131 sq.; Moses remains
there forty days twice, Exod. 1( ', 147 ; also Elijah, 1
Kings 219.
Horns, figuratively mentioned, Sam. 64, 568, Ps. 426 ; seen in
a vision, Dan, 153, 173, Z6ch. 29,
22
TOPICAL INDEX.
Hom3 of the altar, a plaae of refage, 1 Kings 25.
Horse, described. Job 610.
Morses of tho sun, meaning of, Bccl. 38 ; seen in a vision,
Zech. 26, 50.
HORUS, quoted, Job 623.
HOSEA, prophet, his name, Hoa. 3 ; his typical marriage, 24
sq. ; declares God'a Wrath against Israel, 52 ; and hik
mercy, 37, 37, 85 sq., 94 sq., 98.
— ., Book of, Hos- 6 ; symbolical transactions in chap.
I. and III., of, 13 ; literature on, 17.
HOSflEA, last king of Israel, his conspiracy, wicked reigh
and captivity, 2 Kings 161, 183 sq., 190.
Housos, law concerning leprosy in. Lev. 115.
House, tho Eternal, Eccl. 158 ; of God (Temple), David de-
siring to build it, restrained, Sam. 428 aq., Chron. 121
sq. ; his preparations, Chron. 136 sq., 156 sq, ; built by
Solomon, 1 Kings 61 sq., Chron. 170 sq.; dedicated and
sanctified by God^a glory, 1 Kings 95 sq.. Ill sq.,
Chron. 177 sq.; ravaged by Shishak, 1 Kings 172 ; re-
paired by Joash, 2 Kings 131 sq., Chron. 235; by Heze-
kiah, Chron, 251 ; profaned by Manasseh, 262 ; restored
by Josiah, 270 ; burned by the Chaldoeans, 2 Kings 295 ;
Cyrus' decree concerning, Chron. 276, Ezra 20, 63 ;
Darius' letter concerning, Ezra 65 ; exhortation to
rebuild it, Hag. 8 sq. ; ita glory foretold, 18 sq. ; re-built
by Zerubbabel, etc., Ezra 37-84; purified, Neh. 56 sq.;
exhortations to assemble there, Ps. 373, 462, 604, 615,
577, 609.
Human sacrifices, literature on, €!en. 469.
Humanity, institution of the new, Gen. 330.
HUMBOLDT, A. v., quoted, Job xiv., 594, 613.
Hunter, Nimrod, the first mentioned, Gen. 349.
Husband and wife, relation between, Apocr. 137,
HUSHAI'S faithfulness to David, Sam. 507, 611; defeats
Ahithophers counsel, 517.
Hyksoa, the, in their relation to the Israelites, Gen. 582,
Exod. [14J.
HYBCANUS, JOHN, succeeds his father Simon, Apocr. 24,
540; compelled to sue for peace, 24 ; destroys Samaria,
incorporates the Idumseans into the Jewish nation and
church, ibid.; joins the Sadducees, ibid.
Hyssop, use of, Exod. 39, Numb. 100, Pa. 325.
I AM, the divine name, Exod. 10.
IBZAN, a judge of Israel, Judg. 18L
I-CHABOD, why so called, Sam. 103.
Idolatry forbidden, Deut. 72, 88, Jer. 32; its vanity and folly,
1 Kings 205, Ps. 569, Isa. 480, 606, Jer. 120 sq.; monu-
ments of, to be destroyed, Exod. 98; instanced in the
Israelites, Exod. 131 sq.. Numb. 146 sq.; of Micah,
Judg. 228 sq.; of Solomon, 1 Kings 127; of Jeroboam,
1 Kings 154; of Ahab, 1 Kings 185; of Manasseh, 2
Kings 245; of Ahaz, Chron. 240; of Nebuchadnezzar,
Dan. 91 sq.; exaamples of zeal against in Asa, 1 Kings
176; in Jehoshaphat, Chron. 212; in Josiah, Chroik
270; Assyrio-Chaldtean, known among Israelites, 2
Kings 169.
Image, doctrine of the original. Gen. 1911; not lost after the
fall, 331.
worship, prohibition of, Exod. 78 ; (see idolatry).
Images, painted, Apocr. 495.
IMMANUEL, name of Isa. 122, 169 ; a type, 125.
Immortality, three-fold conception of, Gen. 213; hope of Ps.
126, 127, 216, Prov. 128, Eccl. 161 ; literature on, Gen. 118,
Exod. 164 ; and Moses, Exod. [33].
Imposition of hands, in its great signifi.cance for the king-
dom of God, Gen. 644.
Incense, Exod. 128 ; symbol of prayer, Mai. 12.
Incest forbidden, Lev. 141 sq., 156, Deut. 168; instances of,
Gen. 439, 571, 502, Sam. 484, 516.
Ihconsistencies, attempt to remove apparent. Gen. 325.
Individuals, natural development of, Gen. 190.
Inheritance, law of. Numb. 154.
Injustice forbidden, Exod. 93. Deut. 177, Job 542, Prov. 240.
Inspiration, prophetic, nature' of, Hos. [5].
Intercession of Abraham for Sodom, Gen. 436 ; of Judah for
Benjamin, Gen. 622 ; of Moses, Exod. 1.32, 139, Numb.
61, 70, 77, Deut. 110 ; of Samuel, Sam. 178,
Interpretation, prophetical, schools of, Hos. [39].
Introduction, constituent elements of, Gbu. 8; elements of
the historical and critical science of, 41.
to the Old Testament, as related to that of the
New Testament, Gen. 1 sq.
Iron made to swim by Elisha, 2 ICinga 66.
Iropy in the Bible, Job 155.
IREN^US, quoted, Jer, 108, 221.
ISAAC, his birth, Gen. 450; offering, 78, 464 sq., 469 sq •
typical significance of the offering of, 470, 471; mar'
ries Rebfcra, 48G; his propensity for retirement and
piourning, 4S8; ia blessed by God, 495 sq.; intercedes
for Rebecca, 49S, 500- goes to GeraT, 505; God appoara
to him, 506; denies his wife, 505, 507; is envied and
banished by the PhUistinea, 606 ; goes to Beer-sheba,
and makes a ti^eaty of peace with Abimelech, 508, 609 ;
his preference to Esau, 513 ; blesses Jacob and Esau,
513 sq., 517 ; death and burial, 571 sq. ; a typie of Christ,
460; and 6f his resurrection, 470 ; traditions concern-
ing, 504 ; literature on, 120.
ISAIAH, the prophtit, his name, Isa. 3, 232 ; his prophetic
labors, 2, 3 sq.; his high rank as a prophet, 5; his
prophetic oracles cohtain no history, 2 Kiqgs 202 ; his
mastery of th6 Hebrew language, Isa. 7 ; his vision of
the glory of God, 104 sq., 110; his commission, 109;
sent to Ahaz, 115; and Hezekiah, 2 Kings 200, Isa.
388 ; becomes a sign, Isa. 233 ; predicts the destruction
of Sennacherib, 2 Kings 224, Isa. 389 ; prophecies con-
cerning: Arabia, 244; Ariel, 316 sq. ; Assyria, 131 sq.,
151 sq., 191 sq., 215, 351 ; Babylon, 176, 179, 182, 186.
237,512, 515, 518, 519, 522, 326; Dafliascus, Isa. 2i0;
Edom, 242; Egypt, 223, 225, 227, 231, 326: Ephraim,
116 sq., 145, 212, 214, 304 sq. ; Ethiopia, 217, 2l9 sq. ;
Jerusalem, 245 sq., 247, 249 ; Moab, 196 sq., 202 ; Phi-
listia, 194; Tyre, 256, 268 sq., 264 sq.; his testament,
137; ascension of, Apocr. 669 sq.
, Book of, authenticity and integrity of, Isa. 12;
division of, 7 ; analysis of, 10 ; genuineness of tlie pro-
phecies of, 207 ; literature on, 26.
Isaiah and Job, correspondence b(^tween, Job 258 eq.
ISHBOSHETH, son of Saul, made king, Sam. 373 sq. ; trea-
cherously slain, 396, 399.
ISHMAEL, son of Abraham, Gen. 417; ca^t out, 457; buries
his father, 492 sq., 496; hjs death, 495 ; his desfcendahts,
494, 496 ; his character, 417, 457, 460.
son of Nethaniah, slays Gedaliah, 2 Kings
297, Jer. 339.
ISOCRATES, quoted, Apocr. 297.
Israel, Jacob so called. Gen. 540, 553, 555.
, kings of, see under: Ahab, Ahaziah, Baasha, David,
Elab, Hoshea, Ish-boshetfi, Jehoahaz, Jehomm, Jehu,
Jeroboam, Jeroboam II., Menahem, Nadab, ,Omri, Pe-
fcah, Pekahiah, Saul, Shallum, Solomon, Zachariah,
Zirari.
Israel and Judah. prophets under kings of, Hos. [42 sqj-
ISRAELITES (Israelitish people), their origin, Gen. 9; dis-
tinguishing features of, 10; chronology of, 12; theoc-
racy of, 16; wisdom and science of, .19; civilization,
ibid. ; religion and worship of, 17 ; sacred ait of, 18 ;
(literature on, ibid. ;) law and jurisprudence of, ibid.;
(literature on, 19;) international law of, 20; Hyksos
in their relation to, 582; servitude and affiiction of,
413 ; in Egypt, Exod. [13] ; growth of [17] ; oppressed
by the Egyptians, 2, 17; depart from Egypt, 42; pass
through the Bed Sea, 50; song of ti^umph, 52; mira-
culously ffed, 60, 62 sq., 65, Numb. 64 sq.; twice num-
bered, Numb. 20 sq., 151 sq. ; God's covenant with,
Exod. 69 sq., 76 sq., Deut. 195 sq. ; journey under
God's direction, Exod. 47, 49, Numb. 54; their encamp-
ment. Numb. 25, and marches, 67; their stations in
the wildernfesa, 177; their munnurings in the wilder-
ness, Exod. 61 sq., Nuinb. 64 sq , 76 sq., 102 ; their
various rebellions, etc., Deut. 59 sq., 109 si^.; subdue
Amalek, Exod. 05; the Cauaanitcs and Midianites,
Numb, 117, 166 sq.; enter and subdue Canaan under
Joshua, Josh. 41 sq. ; delivered and governed by judges,
Judg. GO sq., and by ||kin^, Sam. 151 sq ; carried into
captivity to Assyria, 2 Kmgs 184 sq., and to Babylon,
2 Kings 295 sq. ; their state while there (see Esther^
Daniel, Ezckiel) ; their return (see Ezra, Nehemiah, Hag-
gai, Zechariah) ; Their redemption a type of redemptioti
in general, Exod. 165, 168; a type of the true people
of God, Hos. 31, 41.
ISSACHAR, son of Jacob, Gen. 531; blessed by Jacob, 657;
his families. Numb. 152; his inheritance, Josh, 158.
ITHAMAR, son of Aaron, Lev. S4.
JABESH-GILEAD, men of, slain, Judg. 256; delivered
from the Ammonites by Saul, Sam. 167; thoir gratitude,
354, 560, Chron. 95; blessed by David, Sam. 373,
JABEZ, prayer of, answered, Chron. 65.
JABIN, king of Ilazor, subdued by Joshua, Josh. 106; by
Barak, Judg. 80 sq.
JACOB, his birth and individuality, Gen. 499, 501 ; obtains
Esau's blessing, 513 ; his journey to Mesopotamia, 521 ;
his dream at Bethel, ibid. 523; hia vow, 522 sq.; his
arrival in Haran, 527; his marriages, 528; his sons,
629 sq.; his dealings with Laban, 537 sq., 541 sq. ; hia
vision at Manahaim,^ 544 ; his prayer, 549, 652 sq. j
wrestles with an angel, 550, 653 sq., Hos. 90 sq.; meets
Esau, Gen. 551; builds an altar, 562; his love for Jo-
soph and Benjamin, 582, 687 ; goes down to Egypt, 631 ;
brought before Pharaoh, 635, 637 ; blesses his sons,
043 sq., 055 sq.; his death, 659; his burial, 603; com-
pared with Peter, 555; his twelve sons in thoir typical
significance, 571; literature on, 120.
TOPICAL INDEX.
23
JACOB'S blesBing, in its prophetic development, Gen. 648 ;
in the character of its contents, 649; in its poetic
form, 650; in ita analogiea, ihid.; literature on, 120.
-^— dying vision of the tribes and the Messiah, Gen.
651, Hoa. [171.
JAEL kills Slsera, Judg. 87, 105.
JAIE, judge, Judg. 157.
JAPHBT, son of Noah, blessed, Gen. 340: his descendants,
348, Chron. 33.
JASON, high-priest, Apocr. 26, 664; creates a gymnasium at
Jeruaalem, 21; is supplanted by Menolaui his brother,
ibid. ; recovers the high-priesthood by force, and drives
out Meaelaua, ihid.
Jaw-bone, miraculously employed, Jud. 208.
Jealousy-offering, Numb. 36.
JEBUSITES, Gen. 350; occupy Jeruaalem, Josh. 139; ex-
pelled by David, Sam. 403.
Jedidiah, Solomon so-called, Sam. 475.
JEHOAHAZ, (Shallum), King of Judah, his evil reign and
captivity, 2 Kings 278, 287, Chron. 274, Apocr. 77 ; pro-
phecy concerning, Jer. 199.
, King of Israel, his wicked reign, 2 Kings 140 ;
hia supplication heard, 140, 143.
JEHOIACHIN (Coniah, Jeconiab), King of Judah, his evil
reign and captivity, 2 Kings 282, 288, Chron. 175 ; kind-
ness shown to, by Evil-merodach, 2 Kings 297, Jer. 444;
prophecy concerning, Jer. 204 sq.
JEHOIADA, high priest, slays Athaliah, and makes Jehoash
king, 2 Kings 124, 127, Chron. 226; repaira the temple,
2 Kings 132, Chron. 235 ; his death, Chron. 235.
JEHOIAKIM, King of Judah, hia evil reign and captivity, 3
Kinga 279, 281, 287, Chron. 274 ; prophecy concerning,
Jer. 201.
JBHOKAM (Joram), King of Judah, his wicked reign, 2
Kings 99, Chron. 223 ; slays hia brethren, Chron. 222 ;
Elijah's written prophecy to, 223, 228; his miserable
death, 224.
(Joram), King of Israel, eon of Ahab, his evil
reign, 2 Kinga 30, 34 ; rebuked by Elisha and delivered
from the Moabitea, 31, 34 sq. ; Naaman sent to, 53, 57 ;
diamisaes the Syrian captives, 69; threatens Elisha, 70 ;
delivered from the Syriana, 74, 75 ; elain by Jehu, 97 ;
character of, 75, 82.
JEHOSHAPHAT, King of Judah, hia good reign, 2 Kinga 3,
6, Chron. 212 sq., 207 sq. ; asaociatea with Ahab, 1 Kinga
251, 255, Chron. 213; and Joram, 2 Kings 31. 34; re-
buked by Jehu, visits his kingdom, Chron. 214; com-
forted by Jahaziel, 215 ; delivered from the Ammonites,
216 ; reproved by Eliezer, 217 ; death, 2 Kinga 3, Chron.
222.
, valley of, Joel 35.
Jehovah, ita pronunciation and origin, Gen. 110; name of,
Exod. 10 sq., 17, 145, 177 ; literature on, 164 ; Elohim
and, Gen. Ill; accepts Noah's oflFerlng, Gen. 324; the
Bhepherd of hia people, Ezek. 319 ; effects of the voice
of, Ps. 211 ; angel of, Gen. 386, Exod. 9, 138, Zech. 26,
28.
—^ JIREH (the Lord will aid, or provide), Gen. 468.
— ^— ^ NISSI (the Lord my banner), Exod. 66.
■ SABAOTH (the Lord of hosts), Sam. 47, 56, Isa. 38?
SHALOM (the Lord send peace), Jud. 114.
SHAMMAH (the Lord thither), Ezek. 484.
TSIDKENU (the Lord our righteousness), Jer. 208.
JEHU, prophesies against Baaaha, 1 Kings 181 ; rebukes Je-
hoshaphat, Chron. 214.
■, appointed king of Israel, 1 Kings 221; anointed, 2
Kinga 94, 101, 103 ; kills Joram and Ahaziah, 97 aq.,
105; cuts off the family of Ahab, and the worahippers
of Baal, 111 sq., 115 aq. ; his idolatry, 117 sq., 118.
JEPHTHAH, hia atory, Jud. 162; his covenant with the
Gileadites, 164; his message to the Ammonites, 166 ;
his vow, 169, 173 ; hia victoryj 169 ; chastises the Eph-
raimites, 178; his burial, 180.
JEBEMIAH the prophet, hia person and minlatry, Jer. 3 ;
the historical background of the labora of, 1 ; literary
character of, 8 ; hia call and visions, 18, 22, 25 ; mourns
for Josiah, Chron. 274 ; hia mission, Jer. 26, 90 ; hia
diacouraes on Israel, 28 sq. ; smitten by Pashur, 186 ;
hia complaint, 189; his meaaage to Zedekiah, 194, 220,
301; foretells the aeventy years' captivity, 226 sq., Ezra
25, Apocr. 78 ; apprehended but delivered by Ahikam,
Jer. 241 ; rebukes Hananiah, 275 ; hia letter to the cap-
tives, 247 sq. ; buys a field while in prlaon, 282 sq. ;
praying, is comforted, 285, 287, 289 sq. ; proves the
Rcchabites, 308 ; hia roll read, 312 ; cut and burnt, 314 ;
imprisoned, 319, 323 ; released by Ebed-melech, ihid ;
his supplication to Zudekiah, 324; kindly treated by
the Chaldoians, 332, 334; entreats Johanan totre-
main in Judah, 343 aq. ; rebukes their hypocrisy, 344;
carried into Egypt, 345 ; comforta Baruch, 359 ; pro-
phesies against : Ammon, 389 ; Babylon, 402 aq. ; Da-
mascus, 397 ; Edom, 392 aq. ; Egypt, 363 sq. ; Elam, 400 ;
Kedar, 399; Moab, 374 sq. ; Philiatinea, 370 sq. ; de-
14.
livers hia prophecy to Seraiah, 432 ; a type of Christ,
Sam. 139.
— Book of, Jer. 9 ; contents of, 12 ; literature on,
-Epistle of, author, contents, genuineness, original
language and name of, Apocr. 4;J3 sq.
JERICHO, spiea aent there. Josh. 47 ; its walla fall down, 72
aq. ; curse upon, 72, 74; rebuilt by Hiel, 1 Kings 186.
JEROBOAM I, promoted by Solomon, 1 Kings 136, 138;
Ahijah'a prophecy to, ibid. ; becomes king, 146, 148 ; es-
tablishes idolatry, 153, 155; his hand withered, 161,
162; judgment denounced upon hia houae, 167,109, his
death, 168, 170.
JEROBOAM II, hia wicked yet prosperous reign, 2 Kings
151,153.
JEROME, quoted, Judg. 35, Ruth 24, 2 Kinga 234, Chron. 5,
lea. 623, Jer. 20, 445, Dan. 63, 254.
Jerubbaal, new name of Gideon, Jud. 117, 140, 142.
JERUSALEM, etymology of the name of. Josh, 94; ita in-
habitants till the times of the kings, Chron. 86 ; king
of, opposing Joshua, slain. Josh. 101 ; conquered, Jud.
31; Jobusites remain, 41; expelledby David, who reigns
there, Sam. 405; the ark brought there, 418; preserved
from the pestilence, 608 ; temple built there, 1 Kings
54 sq., Chron. IGGsq., ravaged by Shlshak, 1 Kings
172, Chron. 195 ; and by Joash, 2 Kings 150, Chron.
238 ; delivered from Sennacherib, 2 Kings 204, Chron.
257, Isa. 391 ; taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 295
sq., Chron. 275, Jer. 329 sq., 438 sq., Apocr. 421; re-
built, Ezra 37 sq.. Neb. 11 eq ; walls and gates of, Neh.
21 aq.; a type of the church. Lam. 52.
JESHUA (Joahua), high priest returns from the captivity,
Ezra 30, 37, Apocr. 9 ; typically mentioned, Zech. 54.
Jeshurun, Israel, so called, Deut. 214, 220, Isa. 474.
JESSE, father of David, Ruth 52; Samuel sent to him, Sam.
216.
JETHRO, Exod. 9 , visits Moses, 66, 170.
JEWS, of the dispersion, Apocr. 33; restoration of the, 432 ;
their relation to the Spartana, 535 ; under the Greeka,
Apocr. 13 ; under the Persians, 3 ; under the SeleucidEC,
Apocr. 19.
Jewish allegorical expositors of Song of aongs, Song of Sol.
27.
JEZEBEL, wife of Ahab, 1 Kinga 185, 187 ; kills the pro-
phets, 203, 217, 224 ; her moral depravity, 245 , causes
Naboth to be put to death, 243, 245 ; her violent death,
2 Kings 99, 103.
JEZBEEL, Naboth 's vineyard there, 2 Kings 97; Joram
slain there, 97; Jezebel eaten by dogs, 100, 103.
JOAB, captain of the host, Sam. 452, 554; contends with
Abner, 377; treacherously kills him, 387, 391 sq.,
causes Uriah's death, 467; subdues the Ammonites,
475 ; intercedes for Absalom, 492 sq., 496 ; kills him,
528; reproves David's grief, 538, 543; treacherously
kills Amasa, 652, 555 ; suppresses Sheba's rebellion,
554; unwillingly numbers the people, 603, Chron. 133 :
supports Adonijah, 1 Kings 23; slain by Solomon's
command, 36.
JOAH, 2 Kings 207.
JOASH (Jehoash), king of Israel, his evil reign, 2 Kings 145 ,
visits Elisha sick, 141, 143 ; defeats the Syrians 142,
145; chastises Amaziah, 149, 153.
, king of Judah, preserved by Jehosheba, 2 Kings 122,
Chron. 225 ; made king by Jehoiada, 2 Kinga 123, 126,
Chron. 226 ; rejiaira the temple, 2 Kings 131, 134, Chron.
235 ; uugratefnlly kills Zechariah, Chron. 236 ; chas-
tised by the Syrians, and slain by his servants, 2 Kings
133, Chron. 236; his character, 2 Kings 134.
JOB, age of, Job 227 ; his character, 288 sq., 301, Ezek. 151,
his great afflictions, Job 298, 303 ; hia patient submia-
sion, 27, 200, 304; visited by hie friends, 305; his com-
plaints, 314 sq., 322, 353, 359, 379 ^ and justification of
the same, 345 ; his reply to hia friends, 372, 384, 398,
415, 432, 441, 457, 476, 484, 497, 504, 509, 512, 517, 525,
532, 546; declares his integrity, 541, 547 ; hia confes-
sion, 612, 614, 625, 627 ; his prosperity, 630, 632 , com-
mendation of, 28 sq., 34 sq, ; faith of, 384 sq. ; his ex-
aggeration of innocence 441 ; his moral exaltation,
547; hia high aud clear conception of rectitude, virtue
and holinesa, 547 ; not an Israelite, ihid. ; God's mani-
festation to, 600 sq. ; vindication of, 629.
Book of, addition in Septuagint to, Job 631 , aim and
idea of, 20, 235 ; author of, 252 , historical material of,
225; place of composition, 249; name and contents of,
223; when written, 243 ; ita ])laco in the canon, 241 ;
its religious and national character, 239; its poetic art
form, 37, 228 ; unity and integrity of, 262, 273 ; corres-
pondence between Isaiah and Amos, 258, 259 ; various
views on, 19; legend or fiction, 41; a drama, 43;
didactic drama, xxx sq. ; product of the poetry of Wis-
dom, Prov. 14; particular analysis of the contents,
Job 273-280 ; history and literature of the exposition
of, 280-85 ; soliloquizing character of the speeches oij
24
TOPICAL INDEX.
175 sq. ; rhythmical version of, 53-1C9 ; G. Baur on,
236 ; DelUzsch on, 233, 242 ; Dillmann'B analysis of, 229 ;
Guegler ou, 234; Luther on, 227 ; I. F. v. Meyer on, 235 ;
Carlyle on, xiT ; the supernatural not to be rejected
in, 46 ; its sublime theism, its great lesson— the abso-
lute sovereignty of God, 18, 22; not a doctrine of com-
pensation, 19 ; not a solution of the problem of evil,
40 ; nor exhibition of natural theology, 41 ; creation in,
Gen. 139; divineomnipotence, Job22, 2.5; fatalistic idea
in, 23 sq., 217 ; faith and hope in, 8 ; view of the posi-
tion of the mundus, and of the earth in, 191 ; niioing
operations, in, 197, 520 sq. ; the ruling number Three,
in, 231 ; physical theology of, 513, 612 ; a Gross and
Comfort Book^ 632 ; well of, Apocr. 566.
Job VI, 13, note on, Job 189.
XI. 6, "
"
" 188.
XII. 16, "
"
" 188.
XIX. 26-27, "
"
" 171 sq.
XXI. 17, "
u
" 175.
30, "
"
" 182.
XXII.,
"
" 31.
6-13, "
It
" 185 sq.
XXVI. 3, "
"
" 188.
6, 6, 7, "
"
" 189.
xxvn.-xxx., "
"
" 193.
XXVn.T-XXVIII. 28, "
It
" 265.
XXVIII. 4, 6, "
"
"' 197.
XXIX. 18, "
"
" 204.
XXX.,
'•
" 20T.
xxxn.-xxxvii.,
"
" 268.
XXXIII. 23, 24, "
•'
" 208.
XXXVIII. 1, 2, "
"
» 213.
XL. 15-XLI. 26. "
"
" 265.
XLII. 7, "
"
" 35 sq.
JOEL, the prophet, person and time of, Joel 3 ; declares God's
judgment, 12 sq. ; proclaims a fast, 13, 18 sq.; declares
God's mercy to the penitent, 19, 35 sq.
^■— - Book, of, Joel's style of, ibid. ; contents of, 6 ; impor-
tance of, 7 ; literature on, 8.
JOHAN AN, warns Gedaliah, Jer. 337 ; rescues the Jews from
Ishmael, 341; his pride and hypocrisy, 342 sq.; takes
Jeremiah to Egypt, 345.
JONADAB (Jehonadab) son of Recbab assists Jehu, 2 Kings
112, 117 ; his descendants' obedience, Jer. 396.
JONAH, prophet, 2 Kings 251, 254; his disobedience and
punishment, Jon. IG eq., Apoc. 635 ; his prayer, Jon.
25 sq. ; preaches at Nineveh, 31 sq., Apocr. 145; re-
proved for murmuring at God's mercy, Jon. 36 eq.
Book of, its contents, Jon. 2 ; date of, 7 ; historical
character of, 2 ; symbolical character of, 3; literature
on, 13.
JONATHAN, a Levite hired by Micah, Jud. 231; deserts and
robs him, 236.
, son of Saul, miraculously smitos the Philistines,
Sam. 187, 191 sq. ; disregards Saul's vow, 195; his love
for David, 249, 250, 253, 291 ; slain hy the Philistines,
352 ; David's lamentation for, 366.
■ — , one of David's soldiers, his deeds, Sam. 562.
, brother of Judas MaccabEeus, succeeds his brother
in the leadership of the Jewish patriots, Apocr. 23; ob-
tains the high priesthood from Alexander Balas, 23,
525; supports the impostor, 23 ; is freed from payment
of taxes, 525 ; treacherously murdered by Tryphon, 23.
JONES, W., quoted, Job xiii.
JOBDAN, waters of, divided for Joshua, Joah. 57, 58; Naa-
man's leprosy cured at, 2 Kings 54; iron swims in, 2
Kings 56.
JOETIN, quoted, Prov. 3.
JOSEPH, son of Jacob, his birth, Gen. 531, 633 ; his dreams,
583,588; his brother's plot, 583, 588; sold into Egypt,
583 ; Potiphar's house, his temptations, consolations and
Bufferings, 596 ; in prison, 597 ; interprets the dreams
of his fellow-prisoners, 596 eq. ; interprets the dreams
of Pharaoh, 605; advanced, 606,607; his dealings with
his brethren, 611 sq. ; sendsfgrhia father, 624 ; presents
him and his brethren to Pharaoh, 633; his political
economy, 633, 635; his blessing, 658, 660; mourns for
his father, 663 ; his charge concerning his burial, 664,
(Exod. 169, Josh. 186) ; his sons, 607 ; his history con-
sidered in a triple relation, 581; hia character, 588; an
example of chastity, 597; a type of Christ, 581 ; litera-
ture on, 120.
JOSEPHUS, quoted, Gen. 14, 219, 228, 272, 515, 682; Exod.
121,122; Lev. 26; Josh. 18, 20, 97, 106. 153, 154, 157
158, 159 ; Judg. 25, 41, 123, 136 ; Sam. 50, 132, 135, 187,
409, 418, 428 ; 1 Kings 56, 82 ; 2 Kings 15, 20, 69, 74,
140, 159, 160, 205, 218, 219, 236, 246, 266, 256, 273, 274,
278, 287, 288, 290: Chron. 133, 145, 1G8, 178 ; Ezra 23,
64 ; Est. 19, 31, 41 ; Isa. 228, 266, 488, 548, 613 ; Jer.
347, 356, 445; Lam. 162; Ezek. 266; Dan. 139, 143,
206 ; Obad. 14; Apocr. 24, 25, 26.
JOSHUA, Exod. 66, 133, Chron. 79 ; appointed Moses' suc-
cessor, Numb. 156, Deut. 238 ; encouraged by the Lord,
Josh. 42 ; his charge to the ofBcers, 42 ; passes Jordan,
65, 59 sq. ; erects a monument, 58 sq. ; renews circum-
cision, 63; takes Jericho, 70 ; punishes Achan, 79; sub-
dues Ai, 83 ; deceived by the Gibeonites, 89 ; conquers
several kings, 93, 115 ; arrests the sun. Gen. 86, Josh.
96 sq. ; distributes the ^and. Josh. 123-125, 128-139,
141-148, 152-163, 108-171 ; his charge to the Reubeil-
itesand the half-tribe of Manasseh, 174 ; exhorts the
people, 82; rehearses God's benefits, 183; renews the
covenant, 185 ; his death, 186, Judg. 55 ; hia character,
Josh. 20, 186.
JOSHUA, Book of, its name, contents and character. Josh. 5
sq.; credibility, 14; chronology, 17 ; division, 30 ; origin
of, 8 ; literatiire on, 33 sq.
X, note on. Gen. 80.
JOSIAH, prophecy concerning, 1 Kings 161; fulfilled, 2
Kings 264 ; his good reign, 256, 266, Chron. 276 ; re-
pairs the temple, 2 Kings 256, 266, Chron. 271 ; tl*o
book of the law found, 2 Kings 256, 267, Chron. 271;
Haldah's prophecy to, 2 Kings 259, 269, Chron. 271';
causes the law to he read and oh^erved, 2 Kings^GO sq.,
270 sq., Chron. 272; abolisbes idolatry, 2 Kings 261 sq.,
270 sq., Chron. 270; his solemn passover, 2 Kings 264,
Chron. 272, Apocr. 75; slain by Pharaoh Nechoh, 2
Kings 265, 273, Chron. 273, 277, Apocr. 76; Jeremiah's
lament, Chron. 274, Apocr. 77,
JOTHAM, son of Gideon, his parable, Jud. 145.
king of Judah, hia good reign, 2 ^Kings 161, 165,
Chron. 240.
Jubilee, year of, institution, Lev. 188 sq. ; laws concerning,
190 sq., 192.
Jubilees Book of, Apocr. 679.
JUDAH, son of Jacob, his sejjaration, marriage and sons.
Gen. 592; his crime with Tha^iar, ibid. ; his supplica-
tion to Jacob, 619 ; to Joseph, 622, 632 ; blessed fcy
Jacob, 650, 659 ; by Moses, Deut. 225 ; his descendants,
Numb. 152, Chron. 39, 48, 52 ; their inheritance. Josh.
128-139 ; appointed to attack the Canaanites, Judg.
26 ; smite the Anakim and take Hebron, 32 ; take the
Philistine cities, 38 sq.; make David king, Sam. 372 ;
and adhere to his house, 1 Kings 144 sq., Chron. 192
sq.
■, kingdom of, kings of, see under: — Abijah, Abaziah,
Ahaz, Amaziah, Amon, Asa, Athaliah, Azariah or
Uzziah. David, Hezekiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jehoia-
chin, Jehoiakim, Jehoram, Jehpshaphat, Josiah, Jo-
tham, Manasseh, Ucbohoam, Uzziah or Azarii^h, Zede-
kiah ; its fall, 2 Kings 298, 300 sq-
' — and Israel, prophets under Kings of, Hos. [42 sq.]
, prophets under Kings of, Hos. [43.]
JUDAH HALLEVI, quoted, Judg. 229.
Judaism, internal history of, Apocr. 7 ; the Scriptures, 8 ;
synagogue and its services, 9 ; Great Synagogue, its
composition and duties, 10; other institution^ of, 11;
influence of Persian religious system upon, 11.
JUDAS MACCABAEUS, see under Maccabseus.
Judge of all, God, Gen. 436.
Judges, to be appointed, Deut. 144, Ezra 77 ; their jurisdiction
and title^ Jud. 61 ; their duty, Exod- 97, Lev. 150, Prov.
211 ; unjust ones, Sam. 132.
in Israel, see under: — Abdon, Barak, Deborah, Ehud,
Elon, Gideon, Ibzan, Jair, Jephthah, Othnial, Samson,
Shamgar, Tola.
Judges, Book of, its chronology, Jud. 11 ; sources, 6 ; contents
and plan, 3 ; time of composition, 5 ; course of thought,
19; literature on, 15.
Judgment, dpctririe of, Eccl- 73 ; the last foretold, Isa. 267 sq.,
271 sq,, 274 sq.
JUDITH, Book of, author and orig^inal language of, Apocr.
164 ; date of composition, 160 sq. ; contents, 157 ; hisr
tory or romance ? 157 sq. ; literary and moral character,
162 sq.; ecclesiasjtical recognition of, 166; different
texts, 165 sq.
Justice, of God, Job 363, Isa. 500, Zeph. 27; exhortation to,
Prov. 197.
JUSTIN MABTTR, quoted Apocr. 97.
JUSTINUS, quoted, Exod. 50; 1 Kings 35 ; Dan. 243; Apocr.
526.
JUVENAL, quoted, Buth 18; Isa. 140, 583; Lam. G4; Apocr.
297, 318.
KAABI BEN-SOHAIR, quoted, Job 417.
Kah, a measure, 2 Kings 69.
KADESH-BABNEA, sojourn of Israel there, Exod.
[25], Numb. 73 81, 102.
KADESH to EZION-GEBEIt, stations from, Exod. [24.]
KEDAB, prophecies concerning, Isa. 245, Jer. 399.
Kedron, brook near Jerusalem, passed by David in affliction,
Sam. 506.
KEILAH, Josh. 135 ; delivered by David, Sam. 289; ingrati-
tude of its inhabitants, 290, 292.
TOiPICAIi INDEX.
26
Kenitea, Gen. 412 ; Balaam's prophecy concerning, l^umb. 140.
Kerchiefs idolatrously used, Ezek. 143.
KEEIOTH, Am. 18.
KETUEAH, Abraliam'Bdesoendanta by, Gen. 492, Chron. 35.
Key of David, Isa. 254.
jChorsabad inscription concerning Ashdod, Isa. 231 sq.
KIBEOTH-HATTAAVAH, Numb. 66.
Kid, law concerning, Exod. 97.
Kine, Pharaoh's dream of, Gen. 605.
Kingdoms, the four of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 77 sq. ; sym-
bolism of the image of, 83; historical interpretation of,
84 ; literature thereon, 86 ; history of the founding of
the Christian church in relation to the image of, 87.
Kingdom of God, Chron. 159, Dan. 78.
Kings, their election and duty, Dent. 145, 149, Sam. 158,Prov.
219 ; desired by the Israelites, Sam. 132 ; the manner
ofaking described,Sam.l34; several chosen by God,
143, 146, 216, 1 Kings 136, 222 ; their anointing, Sam.
161, 159, 1 Kings 25.
^-^.— of Judah and Israel, chronological table of, 2 Kings
309 sq. j chronology of, 86, 180, 293, 807 ; contempo-
raneous history with, 161, 174, 189, 220, 237, 247, 284,
Isa. 1.
— ^ Book of, author, date of composition and name, 1
Kings 1 ; sources 2 ; credibility 10 ; object and charac-
ter, 11 ; unity and independence, 9 ; review of con-
tents, 13 ; literature, 16 sq.
2 Kings XV. 19, note on, 2 Kings 162
29,
162.
174.
189.
220.
238.
XVI.
xvii.; " " "
XVIII., XIX.,
YV « '( *<
KIE, Isa. 199, 248, Amos, 17.
KIK-HARE^TH, 2 Kings 33, Isa. 205.
KISH, Saul's father, Sam. 140.
Kissing of the hand, Job 643.
-Kneeling used in prayer, Dan. 145.
KOHATH, his descendants, Chron. 70.
KOBAH, Dathan, etc., their sedition and punishment, Numb.
88 sq.; sons of, Psalms xlii-xlix., Ixxxiv., Ixxxv.,
Ixxxvii., Ixxxviii. ; ascribed to.
KORAN, quoted, Gen. 141, 144, 305, 334, 443, 444^ Job 12, 94,
129, 510, Eccl. 150.
KOSS, quoted, Gen. 142.
LABAN. Gen. 485, 515 ; his character, 531, 538 ; pursues
Jacob, 542 ; his covenant with him, 543, 545 ; sumamed
the Syrian, 542.
Labor appointed to man, Cten. 239 ; vanity of all human,
Hab. 25.
Lahai-roi, well of, Gen. 495.
LAISH taken by stratagem, Jud. 237,
LAMECH, his song the first poetic form in Scriptures, Geri.
261 273
LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH, author and time of
composition of, Lam. 6, 19 sq, 196 sq. ; name, place in
canon and liturgical use of, 1 ; contents and structure
of Job XXI., Lam. 2; character of the language in,
10 ; literature on, 16.
Lamenazzeach, Fs. 31.
Language, original. Gen. 362 ; psychology of, 377 ; literature
on, 118.
, Shemitic, note on, Gen. 373, 379,
Languages, confusion of, (Jen. 372 ; its relation to original
unity of human race and original multiplicity of hu-
man speech, 361 ; historical and archoeological testi-
monies concerning, 362; mythical stories confirming
the, 363 ; literature on, 119, 359.
Laughter unseasonable, censured, Gen. 434.
LAUKENTIUS, quoted, Song of Sol. 76.
Laver, brazen, in the tabernacle, Exod. 126.
Law, the, Exod. [34] ; preparations for the giving of the,
69 sq, 172; the giver of the, 78; the giving of, 171;
effect of the giving of, 81; doctrines of, 163, 165; out-
line of, 171 sq. ; literature on, 164; written on stone,
Deut. 184; to be copied by the king, 146; placed in the
ark, 205; character of, Ps. 154; book of, found by His-
kiah, 2 Kings 256; read by Josiah, 260.
Ia^b, concerning personal freedom, Exod.88; murder,homi-
cide and bodily injuiries, 89; injuries resulting from
property relations, specially from acts of carelessness,
90; things entrusted and lost, 92; unnatural crimes,
abominations, committed against religion and hu-
manity, 93, Lev. 135; legal proceedings, Exod. 94;
Bacriflce, Lev. 23 sq. ; clean and unclean food, 91 sq. ;
purification after child-birth, 97; leprosy, 100 sq.;
sexual impurities and cleansings, 119 aq.; holiness in
regard to food, 133 sq. ; marriage and prohibited de-
grees, 138 sq.; holiness of conduct towards God and
man, 149 sq. ; concerning the inheritance of daughters,
Numb. 154 sq.; lust of the flesh, Deut. 168.
LEAH, Jacob's sons by. Gen. 529 eq. ; her character, 532.
Leaven, not to be used at the paasover, Exod. 38 ; nor in meat
offerings, Lev. 31.
LEMUEL, king, his lesson, Prov. 256.
Lending, laws concerning, Deut. 177.
LENOEMANT, quoted, Isa. 372, 406.
Leopard, seen in vision, Dan. 152.
Lepers excluded from the holy camp, Numb. 34.
Leprosy, Lev. 100 aq,; laws concerning, i&i'rf., Deut. 176.
Letters:— of David, Sam. 467; of Elijah, Chron. 223; of king
of Syria, 2 Kings 53; of Jehu, 2 Kings 111; of Heze-
kiah, Chron. 262 ; of Sennacherib, 210, Isa. 386 ; of
Artaxerx.es, Ezra 52; of Tatnai, Ezra 59 ; of Jeremiah,
Jer. 248.
LEVI, son of Jacob, Gen. 529 ; revenges Dinah's dishonor,
561 ; his blessing, 655 ; his relation to Judah, Deut.
237; his sons, Numb. 30.
Leviathan, Isa. 292.
Levirate, law, Gen. 591, 594 ; marriage, Lev. 138, Deut. 178,
ISO, Ruth 37, 46.
Levi tes, their calling, Numb. 28; exempted from military
service, 21 ; their relation to Moses and Aaron, 29 ;
numbered, ibid. 152 ; their camping order, 30, 32 ; their
service, 50, Chron. 88, 142 sq; their revenues, Numb.
97 ; cities of the, 186, Josh. 168, Chron, 72 ; genealo-
gies of, Chron. 70, 88 ; services appointed by David,
_ _ 143 sq.
Levitical code, its relation to heathen usages, Lev. 5 ; sacri-
fices, note on, 9 sq. ; literature on, 19.
LEVITICUS, Book of, its name, Lev. 1 ; organism, Exod. [6] ;
object, Lev. 2 ; connection with Exodus and Numbers,
1 ; authorship of, 2 ; unity and contents of, 3 ; litera-
ture on, 7 ; works on symbolism of, Exod. [36] ; com-
pare Books Middle.
LIBNAH conquered, Josh. 135 ; revolts, 2 Kings 90 ; besieged,
209, Isa. 382.
Licentiousness, ruinous consequences of, Prov. 97, 89.
Life individual, gradual development o^ on earth, Gen. 189;
a procession, Job 99; unknown way of, !Ecc1. 147;
given and preserved by God, Gen. 204, Job 400 ; short-
ness and vanity of, Job 353, 409.
future, idea of, Gen. 214 ; doctrine of. Job 2, 4, 12 ;
veiled in the Old Testament, 13 ; moral danger of sepa-
rating from a pure theism the idea of, 17 ; atheism and
materialism not inconsistent with some, 18.
Light created, Gen. 165, Jer. 275 ; figurative of God's favor,
Isa. 652 sq. ; of thy countenance, note on, Eccl.*101.
Lilithjlsa. 365.
Lions of Mesopotamia, described, Apocr. 463 ; slain by Sam-
son, Jud. 195 ; by David, Sam. 233 ; Daniel saved from,
Dan. 143 sq. ; likeness of seen in vision, Ezek. 47, Dan.
151; parable of, Ezek. 187; figuratively mentioned,
Gen. 056, Job 329, Hos. 60.
Literalista, Hos. [39.]; Dan. 245, 247, 249, 252: Apocr. 61&,
531, 539.
Living, what it is ? Apocr. 296.
LIVY, quoted, Josh. 73 ; Judg. 205, 234, 250 ; Isa. 98.
Liwan, or room for strangers, Apocr. 337.
liO-Ammi and Lo-Rubaraah, Hos. 27 sq.
Locusts, plague of, Exod. 30, Joel 12 sq.
LOCKMAN, quoted, Gen. 142.
LOFTUS, quoted, Est. 33.
LONGFELLOW, quoted, Apocr. 299.
Lot, his choice, Gen. 398 sq., 342 ; appearance of the two
angels unto, 436, 441 ; is rescued with his daughter,
437,441 sq., his descendants 439; his character, 399 ;
his disappearance, 440, 442.
Lot, Canaan divided by, Numb. 152, Jos. 123; Saul chosen
king by, Sam. 162.
Love, power of, Song of Sol. 129-134.
LOWELL, J. R., quoted, Apocr. 329.
LOWTH, quoted. Job VIII.
LUCAN, quoted, Isa. 77.
LUCIAN, quoted, Judg. 246; Isa. 190.
LUCIUS, Apocr. 546.
LUCRETIUS, quoted, Job 161, 509, Eccl. 135, 173, Song of
Sol. 104.
LUTHER, quoted. Job 227, Prov. 217, Eccl. 17, Isa. 190, Jer.
136, Lam. 173, Obad. 6, Mio. 7.
LYSIA.S, Apocr. 596 ; concludes a peace with the Jews, 600,
607.
M
AACHAH, queen, degraded for idolatry, Chron. 204.
Maccabsean struggle, scope of, Apocr. 261. .
MACCABAEUS JUDAS, Apocr. 22; defeats Apollo-
nius, Serom and Lysias, purifies the altar, defeats the
Edomites, and meets again with Lysias. defeats the
Syrians, makes a treaty with Rome, his death and
burial, ihid.
'• — JONATHAN, see Jonathan MaccahsEus,
SIMON, succeeds his brother Jonathan, Apocr.
23 ; sides with Demetrius II. and obtains the indepen-
26
TOPICAL INDEX.
dent sovereignty of Judtea, ibid. ; the Jewish nation con-
fer on him and his posterity the high priesthood and
Bupreme civil authority, 2i ; is treacherously murdered
with his two sons by Ptolemy, ibid,
Maccabee, the name of, Apocr. 474.
MACCABEES, FIRST BOOK of, general remarks on, Apocr.
473 ; historical character, 476 ; authorities used by the
author and date of composition, 479 ; religious coloring
of, 477; canonieal standing, 480; original languages,
475 ; Greek text and ancient versions, 479 sq.
, SECOND BOOK of, general remarks, Apocr.
650 ; aim of the work, 552 ; authorship of, 558 ; time of
composition, 559; sources of the work, 557; chrono-
logy followed in, 556; historical worth, 553; religious
character, 555; ecclesiastical standing, 560 ; language
and style, 559 ; text and versions, 5G0.
, THIRD BOOK of, author and original language
of, Apocr. 615; time of composition, 618; history or
tradition, 616; ecclesiastical standing, 618; versions,
ibid.
-, FOURTH BOOK of, language and authorship.
Apocr. 637 ; time of composition, 638 ; a philosophical
treatise, 637 ; object of the work, its doctrine and edi-
tiona, 638.
, FIFTH BOOK of, its author, object and origi-
nal language, Apocr. 639 ; time of composition and re-
ligious character, 640 ; when first published, 638.
Macedonian months, Apocr. 599, 600.
MACHIAVELLI, quoted, Judg. 144.
Machpelah, cave of, Gen. 477 ; the sacred grave of the old
covenant, 478, 492.
Macrobioi, the Gen. 75, 270.
MACROBIUS, quoted, Eccl. 126.
Madness feigned by David, Sam. 275.
MAGEDDO, Apocr. 76.
Magic, knot used for exorcising demoniacal spirits, Apocr.
119.
MAHANAIM, Jacob's vision at, Gen. 644; dance of. Song of
Sol. 114.
MAHER-SHALAL-I-IASHBAZ, prophecy concerning, Isa. 129.
MATMONIDES, quoted. Gen. 173, 349, 612, 632 ; Lev. 30.
MAKKEDAH, cave of. Josh. 101.
MALACHI, the prophet, Mai. 3, Apocr. 619 ; complains of
Israers unkindness and profanity, Mai. 8 sq., 16 sq. ;
reproves the priests and people, 11 sq. ; foretells the
coming of Messiah and John the Baptist, 19 sq.
BOOK of, analysis of, Mai. 4 ; style of the pro-
phecy of, 4 ; unusual words and forms in, 5 ; literature
on, ibid. ; new metrical translation of, 31 sq.
Malak-Haggcel, interpretation of, Gen. 646. ^
Malcam, Malcom, Jer. 389, Zeph. 14,
Males to appear three times before the Lord, Exod. 96.
MAMRE, Abram dwells there. Gen. 398, 433, 477.
Man, what? Gen. 192 ; created, 172, 203 ; his original dignitj^
174, 210, Eccl. 116; his fall. Gen. 230 sq.; his mortality,
Job 409, Ps. 265 sq,, 312 sq., 525, Eccl. 154; his sinful-
ness, Gen. 286, 297, Ps. 112 sq., 324 sq., Isa. 576, Jer.
IGG; his ignorance, Prov. 229; subjected to affliction,
Job 334; his whole duty, Eccl. 168.
MANASSEH, sou of Joseph, Gen. 607; blessed, 644; his de-
scendants, numbered. Numb. 152 ; grant of conquered
land beyond Jordan, to the half-tribe of, Numb. 174,
Josh. 121.
■ — - , king of Judah, his evil reign, 2 Kings 245, 248
sq., Chron. 262, Jer. 151 ; his repentance, Chron. 262 ;
his end, 263 sq.
, high priest, Apocr. 16.
MANASSES, PRAYER of, Apocr. 467 sq.
Mandrakes, Gen. 530, Song of Sol. 120.
Maneh, fifteen shekels, Ezek. 427.
MANILIUS, quoted. Job 62ri.
Manna, the natural and miraculous, Exod, 63 ; it ceases, Josh.
65; transubstantiation of, Apocr. 267.
MANOAH (father of Samson), his prayer is heard, Jud. 189.
Manslaughter, laws respecting. Gen. 327.
Marah, Ruth, 23; bitter waters made sweet in, Exod. 60.
MARCUS AURELIUS, quoted. Eccl. 40.
Mardochteus, Apocr. 207 ; day of, 614.
Marriage, instituted. Gen. 210, 223; mixed, scriptural dis-
tinctions of, 289 ; of the heathen, Lev. 139 ; laws con-
cerning heiresses. Numb. 191, Deut. 176 ; literature on,
Lev. 140; contract, Apocr. 135 ; spiritual, a sign of the
covenant relation between Jehovah and Israel, Hos.
29, 40.
Martyrdom of the mother and her seven children, Apocr. 586.
Maskil, Job xix., Ps. 23.
Massah, Israel's rebellion there, Exod. 65.
Materialism, not inconsistent with some doctrine of future
being, Job 18 ; works on. Gen. 118.
MATTATHIAS, priest of the Jews, his zealous opposition to
Syrian emissaries, Apocr. 21 ; slays an apostate Jew,
22; retroats with his followers to the wilderness, dies
and appoints his son Judah as leader, ibid.
Matter, eternal, Apocr. 256.
Mazzaroth, Job 606.
Meah, tower of, Neh. 61.
Measuring of the holy city, and new Jerusalem, Ezek. SSSsq.i
Zech. 32 sq.
Meat-offerings, regulations concerning. Lev. 29 ; instnictiona
for the priests in regard to, 57, 63.
MEDIA, ten tribes carried there, 2 Kings 184.
Modes, subdue Babylon, Dan. 132, 138.
Mediator, necessity of. Job. 379, 385, 560.
MEDUS, quoted. Gen. 232.
Megiddo, Josh. 114 ; battle of, 2 Kings 98.
MELANCHTHON, quoted, Isa. 412.
Melchizedek, meets Abram, Jer. 404; blesses him, 407; priest
and king in one person. Gen. 406, Ps. 557 ; a type of
Christ, Gen. 406.
MEMPHIS in Egypt, Hos. 76.
MENAHEM, king of Israel, his evil reign, 2 Kings 159, 164.
MENELAUS purchases the priesthood of Antiochus-Epi-
phanes, Apocr. 21.
MEPHIBOSHETH, son of Jonathan, his lameness, Sam.
396; David's kindness to, 455; Ziba's treachery to,
508, 541, 544; preserved by David, 560.
Merab, Saul's daughter, Sam. 198.
Meraritee, employment of the, Numb. 33.
Mercy of God, Apocr. 292.
Meribah, Israel's rebellion there, Exod. 65.
MERODACH (or Berodach), Baladan, his embassy to Heze-
kiah, 2 Kings 235, 238,241.
Meroz cursed, Jud. 103.
MESSIAH, iiaines^ titles and character of: — Branch, Zech. 37,
53 ; David, Jer. 257, Ezek. 321, 351, Hos. 47 ; Emmanuel,
Isa. 122, 125, 169 ; Light, True, Isa. 170 ; Our Right-
eousness, Jer. 298; Prince, Anointed, Dan. 198,206;
Prince of Peace, Isa. 143; Prophet, Deut. 149, 150;
Redeemer, Job 456; Ruler, Mic.36; Son of Man, Dan.
156, 157; Star and Sceptre, Numb. 142.
, prophecies relating to the : — general ones, declar-
ing the coming of a, Gen. 233, Isa. 308, 344, 370 451,
599, Ezek. 322, Mic. 30, Zech. 37 ; His Divinity, Ps.
654, Isa. 142, Jer. 209, Mic. 36, Mai. 19 ; The Nation,
Tribe and Family, He was to descend from. Gen. 468 sq.,
656, Ps. 146, 639, Isa. 162, Jer. 207 ; the time when He
was to appear. Gen. 656, Numb. 140, Dan. 194 sq.. Hag.
17, Mai. 19 ; the place of His birth, Mic. 35 ; that a mes-
senger should go before Him, Isa. 422, Mai. 19; that He
was to be born of a virgin, Isa 122 sq.; that He should
be distinguished by peculiar grace and wisdom, and by
the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, Isa. 162, 448,
658; that He should be a prophet, Deut. 150; that He
should preach the word of the Lord, Ps. 57, Isa. 57,
658, Mic. 30; that He should work miracles, Isa. 370;
that He should be a priest, Ps. 555 sq. ; that He should
be hated and persecuted, that Jews and Gentilesshould
conspire to destroy Him, Ps. 55 sq. ; that He should ride
triumphantly into Jerusalem, Zech. 20 sq.; that His
disciples should forsake Him, Zech. 104 ; that He should
not plead upon His trial, Ps. 262, Isa. 576 sq. ; that He
should be Scourged, Isa. 546; that His side should be
pierced, Zech. 95; that He should be patient under His
sufferings, Isa. 576 sq. ; that He shoiild die with male-
factors, Isa, 580 sq.; that He should be buried with the
rich. Isa. 580; that He should rise again from the dead,
Ps. 126, 578 ; that He should ascend into heaven, etc,, Ps.
388, 555.
Messianic prophecy, during tho captivity, Hos. [33] ; nature
of, Ps. 60; hope, Apocr. 47, 297 ; nature of, Dan. 197.
METHUSELAH lives 969 years. Gen. 273.
METRODORUS, quoted. Gen. 183.
MEYER, I. F. von, quoted. Job 235.
MICAH'S, theft and idolatry, Jud. 228 sq. ; his idols taken
by the Danites, 236.
MICAH, the prophet, Mic. 6; declares God's wrath against
Israel's sin, 11 sq., 47 sq. ; foi-etells Messiah's coming,
30 sq.; historical situation and date of, 3; his prophetic
oracles contain no history, 2 Kings 202.
MICAH, Book of, contents and form of, Mic. 5; its position in
the organic system of Holy Scripture, 6; literature on,
7 ; lAithcr on, ibid. ; Pusey on, ibid.
MICAIAH prophesies against Ahab 1 Kings 252, 257.
MICHAEL the archangel protects Israel, Dan. 228, 230, 261.
MICHAL, Saul's daughter, Sam. 198; becomes David's wife,
24"!; her stratagem, 251, 255; taken from David, 310;
restored, 386 ; rebuked for despising his religious joy,
419.
MIDIAN, son of Abraham, Gen. 492 ; his descendants, ibid.
Exod. [20] ; spoiled, Numb. 166, 169.
, land of, Moses flees there, Exod. 6.
Midrash, quoted, Isa 583, Apocr. 464.
Miktam, Job xix., 171, Ps. 24.
Milcom, god of the Ammonites, worshipped by Solomon, 1
Kings 128.
Mill, note on, Eccl. 155 sq.
TOPICAL INDEX.
27
MILMAN, quoted, Judff. 155.
MILTON, quoted, Job XIII. 59, Pb. 697, Hos. [31].*.
Mining oporationa, references to, Job 11*7.
Miracles, biblical idea, Deut. 128 ; rationalistic explanation
of, Josh. 60; of the Mosaic period, Exod. [27J ; wrought
by Mosei and Aaron, Exod. 20; by Samuel, Sam. 177 ;
by Elijah, 1 Kings 195, 2 Kings 4 sq., 7 ; by Elisha, 2
Kings 41 sq., 142; by Isaiah, 2 Kings 234.
MIRIAM, sister of MoscHjKumb. 153; her song, Exod, 54; her
opposition to Moses, Numb. 68 ; leprosy of, 70.
Mizm6r, Job xix., Ps. 23.
MIZPAH (Mizpeh), Jacob and Laban's covenant at. Gen. 544;
Israelites asscmblo there, Judg. 164, 247, Sam. 121.
MOAB, son of Lot, Gen. 440, 442 ; territory of, Numb. 114,
Deut. 49, 64; not to be distressed, 64; their fear of
Israel, Numb. 123 ; why excluded from the congrega-
tion, Deut, 170; oppressing Israel, Jud. 109; subdued
by Gideon, 112 sq. ; by David, Sam. 445 ; by .Tehoram,
2 Kings 30 sq.; Israelites sojourn in their land, Ruth
12; valiant men of, slain, Sam. 598 ; their miraculous
destruction, Chron. 216 ; again distress Israel, 2 Kings
142, 281; prophecies concerning, laa. 196 sq., 202, Jer.
374 sq., Ezek. 240, Am. 18, Zeph. 24.
Moab, boundary of, to the Plains of Moab, stations, from
Exod. f24].
Modein, sepulchre at, Apocr. 539.
Money, use of, Gen. 477.
Months of the Hebrews, Exod. 35, 1 Kings 61, Neh. 6, 10, Zech.
57 ; of the Macedonians, Apocr. 699, 600.
Moon, feast of the new. Numb. 160, Sam. 261, Isa. 42, Hos. 37.
MORDECAI,his family, Est. 41, 46; discovers Bigthan'a trear
son, 45, 47, 54, 75 ; excites Haman's enmity, 50, 55 ;
appeals to Esther, 60 sq. ; honored by the king, 73, 76 ;
his advancement after Haman's fall, 82 sq. ; day of,
Apocr. 614.
Moriah, mount, Isaac redeemed there, Gen. 467, 471 ; site of
the temple, Chron. 170.
Mortgages mentioned, Neh. 24.
Mosaic, system, the, Lev. 82.
, blessing, its authorship, Deut. 224 ; its relation to
Jacob's blessing, 225 ; importance of, ibid. ; general
Messianic character of, 235.
■ ■ — , doctrine of immortality, literature on, Exod. 164.
, legislation, Exod. [30] ; typical and Messianic, 75 ; lit-
erature on, [31], 164,
, Middle Ages in the Old Testament, Exod. 138.
, Song, Job XVI. ; Herder on, Ibid. ; its authorship,
Deut. 210 ; its prophetical character, 211.
Mosaic writings, typology of the, Exod. [:j1].
Moses, Exod. [18, 33], 84, 168; his birth, 5; flees to Midian,
6; commanded to lead the Israelites, 9 ; signs shown
to, 12 ; returns to Egypt, 13 ; declares God's will to
Pharaoh, accompanied in miracles, 16 sq. ; conducts
Israel out of Egypt, 46 sq. ; and through the wilder-
ness, 58 sq. ; called up to the mount, 69; delivers the
law, 72 sq. ; directed concerningthe tabernacle, 113sq. ;
descends from the mount and breaks the two tables of
Btone, 134 ; destroys the molten calf, 134 ; intercedes
for the people. 133, 135 ; removes the tent before the
camp, 139; sees God's glory, 140 ; makes two new tables
of stone, 144; writes down the law, 147 ; his face shines,
148 ; commanded to muster the people, Numb. 20 ; his
complaint, G4; intercedes for Miriam, 7' I; sends out the
Bpies, 73 eq,; intercedes for the people, 77 ; withstands
Korah, etc., 88 sq. ; his disobedience, 103, Deut. 238 ;
prevents him from entering Canaan, Numb. 156; leads
Israel in the wilderness, 105 sq. ; raises the brazen ser-
pent, 110 ; appoints the borders of the land, 181 sq. ;
rehearses Israel's history. Deut. 47 sq., 58 sq. ; exhorts
to obedience, 70 sq. ; his charge to Joshua, 204 ; blesses
the tribes, 224 sq.; his death, 236sq., 238 sq. ; his burial,
239 ; strife between Satan and Michael over the body
of, 239 ; his songs, Exod. 52, 170, Deut. 210 sq., Ps. xc.
ascribed to ; his meekness. Numb. 69.
. , Assumption of, Apocr. 669.
MOSCHUS, quoted. Job 417.
Moth, figuratively mentioned, Ps. 267, Hos. 60.
Mother of all living. Eve, Gen. 240; her joy, 262.
MULLER, I. von, quoted, Job xiii.
Murder forbidden. Gen. 327, Exod. 89.
MURPHY, quoted, Gen. 272, 319.
Mysteries, not hidden among the Jews, Apocr. 245.
Mystico— doctrinal, interpreters of Song of Solomon, Song of
Songs, 30.
, hieroglyphic, ibid., 35.
, mariological, ibid., 35.
, political, tftid., 32.
, prophetic, i6wi., 33.
■ ■■ , spiritual, ibid., 28.
* The number in brackets, refers to the pagea of the intro-
duction, preceding the prophet Hosea.
NAAMAN the Syrian's leprosy healed, 2 Kings 54, 58 ;
his request and gratitude, 54 sq., 59.
NABAL'S churlishness to David, Sam. 305 ; Abigail's
intercession for, 307 ; his death, 309.
NABOTH refusing to sell his vineyard, slain by Jezebel, 1
Kings 243 sq. ; his death avenged, 2 Kings 98.
Nabuchodonnsor, Apocr. 77, 422.
Nadab, son of Aaron, his trespass and death, Lev. 82.
, king of Israel, his evil reign, slainby Baasha, 1 Kinga
181 sq.
Nahor, Abram's brother, his descendants. Gen. 475.
NAHUM, the prophet, declares God's goodness and majesty,
Nah. 16 aq. ; and foretells the destruction of Nineveh,
24Bq., 31 sq.
, Book of, its author and date, Nah. 4; contents and
form, 3; position in the organism of Scripture, 7; fit-
erature on, 13.
Nanaea, temple and priests of, Apocr. 505.
NAOMI'S affliction and return to Bethlehem, Rnth 12, 23 ;
her advice to Ruth. 37 sq. ; its ijrosperous issue, 46 sq.
NAPHTALI, son of Jacob, Gen. 530; blessed by Jacob, 658;
and Moses, Deut. 232 ; his families, Numb. 152 ; their
inheritance. Josh. 160; carried captive, 2 Kings 161.
NATHAN, the prophet, forbids David to build the temple,
Sam. 429 ; his prophecy to, 431 ; hifeturical character of
the prophecy of, 438 ; chief points in the content of
the prophecy of, 439 ; his parable condemning David,
473, 477; proclaims Solomon king, 1 Kings 23, 26.
Nature, idea of in Scripture, Gen. 143, 184; development of,
at large, 190; glory of, Ps. 154; symbol of God's reve-
lation to man, Sam. 579, Ps, 146, 210; growing darker
the more it is studied. Job 117.
Nazarite, laws concerning, Numb. 39, Jud. 184, Sam. 50,
Apocr. 495 ; distinction between a Samson- Nazarite and
a perpetual, Jud. 18G.
Nebo, an idol, Isa. 506,
NEBUCHADNEZZAR, king of Babylon, 2 Kings 286 ; pro-
phecies concerning, Jer. 227, 245, 2S7, 301; subdues
Judea and takes Jerusalem, 2 Kings 279, 282 sq., 286,
Jer. 318-325, 440 sq., Ezek, 249, 275, 298 aq., Dan. 56 ;
his kindness to Jeremiah, Jer. 331 ; his dreams, Dan.
67 sq, 109 sq.; interpreted by Daniel, 72, 81 sq,, 114,
120 ; his idolatry and tyranny, 91 sq., 102 ; his pride,
degradation and restoration, 109 sq. ; his confession,
118.
NEBUZAB-ADAN, captain of the Chaldeans. 2 Kings 295.
NECHO, king of Egypt, 2 Kings 285, Apocr. 76.
NEHEMIAH, his sorrow and prayer for Jerusalem, Neh. 6,
8,12; his request to Artaxerxes, 10; arrives at Jeru-
salem, 11 ; his exhcrtation, 12; resists the enemies, 21;
rebukes the usurers, 25 ; his faith and courage, 27 sq.;
comforts the people, 35; seals the covenant, 43; puri-
fies the temple, 56-58 ; punishes the Sabbath-breakera,
57 ; and annuls unlawful marriages, 58.
Book of, author and time, Neh. 2 ; contents of,
1,4.
— , well of, Apocr. 566.
Nehushtan (the brazen serpent,) destroyed by Hezekiah, 2
Kings 203.
Neighbor, duty toward one's, Deut. 163, 165.
New Testament miracles, types of, Gen. 89 ; its relation to tho
three middle books of the Pentateuch, Exod. [9].
New Tear, feast of the. Lev. 175.
NICANOR, Apocr. 604.
Nimrod, Gen. 349.
NINEVEH, Jonah's prophecy against, Jon. 16, 30; its repen-
tance, 32; its destruction foretold, Nah. 16, 24 sq.,
131 sq. ; when taken, 2 Kings 289, Nah. 9, Apocr. 146 ;
literature on, Nah. & sq.
NISAN month, Neh. 10, Est. 51, Apocr. 75, 121.
Noh, in Egypt, prophecy concerning, Jer. 368, Ezek. 280,
Nah. 33.
Noachic precepts, Gen. 331.
NOAH, meaning of the name. Gen. 276; descendants of, 297,
Chron. 43 ; his oifcring, Gen. 324, 329 ; his work, 336,
341; indulgence, ibid,; error, 336; behaviour of the
eons of, ibid.; curses, blessing and end, ibid. 342;
prophecy delivered to, Hos [15sq.J; referred, Ezek.
151 ; a type of Christ, Gen. 297, 302.
NOB, city of the priests, Sam. 276 ; destroyed by Saul for as-
sisting David, 283.
NOPH, prophecy concerning, Jer. 34, Ezek. 279.
NOVALIS, quoted, Ps. 441.
NOTES, division oi Song of Solomon, Song of Songs 10,
Number of Israelites after the first and later mustering,
Numb. 11.
NUMBERS, Book of, its organism, Exod. [7] ; most important
points of, [47] ; author of. Numb. 8 ; title of, 9, 21 ;
origin and composition of, 1 ; division of, 10 ; charac-
teristic mark and position of, 1 ; unity of, 15 ; difficul-
ties presented in, 11; antiquity of, 3; testimonies of
other Scriptures to the antiquity of, 4 ; internal proofs
28
TOPICAL INDEX.
of the antiquity of, 6 ; typical and doctrinal proof of
the antiquity of, 7 ; see alao Books Middle.
Numbers, symbol of, Gen. 180, 192, 306.
-— I., note on, Numb, 26.
0
ATH,
91.
taking of, Josh. 61 ; promissory, 90 ; sanctity of.
OBADIAH, servant of Ahab, preserves the prophets, 1
Kings 203, 210.
' - , the prophet, his name and time, Ob. 3 ; fore-
tells Edom's fall, 10; and Israel's salvation, 12.
' ■ , Book of, literature on, Ob. 6; Luther on, ibid.
OBED-EDOM, blessed while keeping the ark, Sam. 418,
., Chron. 109.
OBED, Ruth 51.
Obedience better than aacrifice, Sam. 209, 212.
OBOTH, Numb. 113, 177.
ODED, the prophet, commanda the release of the captivea of
Judab, Chron. 241.
OETINGER, quoted, Prov. 2.
Offences, different, punishment for. Lev. 155 sq.
Offerings, the first, Gon. 255 ; their origin, 262 ; of blood, Exod.
i41] ; concrete forms of, [42] ; at times of consecration,
43] ; expressive of communion, [ibid.] ; restorative,
44] ; material of the, ibid. ; ritual of the, [45] ; priest's
portions of the, ibid. ; strictness of the ritual of, [46J ;
repetition of the law of, Numb. 160.
OG, king of Bashan, victory over, Dent. 66.
Oil, olive-leaf and olive-tree, symbolic significance of, Gen.
313.
Oil, for the lamps, Exod. IIS ; for anointing, 127; anointing
with, a symbol, Sam. 159.
Ointment, the holy, directions for making, Exod. 127.
Okeanos, etymology of, Gen. 220.
OLD TESTAMENT, Apocr. Gen. 63, 64; biblical antiquities
of, 8 ; claronology of, 12 ; difficult places so-called, in,
69; dates of the origin of the books of, 42 eq ; practi-
cal explanation and Iiomiletical use of, 56; idea of the
future life in, 214, 264, Job 13 sq., 15 ; hevmoneutics
of, Gen. 23; its introduction in relation to that of the
New Testament, 2; language of, 21, 22; theocratic
miracles of salvation in, y7; non-missionary character
of, Sam. 109 ; names of God in, Gen. 100 ; tlio New Tes-
tament and Old, 65 ; organism of, 66 ; period of the
books of, 45 ; philosophy of, Prov. 4 ; critical questions
in the treatment of. Gen. 33 eq. ; scheme of the revela-
tion of the, Exod. 161; literature on the typology of,
Exod. 164 ; system of the literature of wisdom in, Prov.
20 sq.; claimed superiority of Greek writers to the
writers of. Job 14 ; of the Vedaa to the, 15 ; literature
on. Gen. 61 sq.
Olive trees, two seen in a vision, Zcch. 42.
Olivet (Olives) mount, ascended by David in affliction, Sam.
507.
Omnipotence divine, taught in Job, Job 22.
OMRI, king of Israel, his evil reign, 1 lungs 185 sq.
ON, city of. Gen. 606.
ONAN, his Bin, Gen. 593.
ONIAS, a Pharisee, distinguished for his prayer, Apocr. 26.
ONIAS I, high priest, Apocr. 16; under him the Jews make
a treaty with the Lacedemonians, ibid.
• II, Apocr. 16 ; fails to pay the tribute to Ptolemy III,,
ihid.
— " III., Apocr. 20; endeavors to HoUenize the Jews, 21.
IV. (?), builds a temple at Heliopolis, Isa. 228.
OPHIR, Gen. 351 ; its situation, Chron. 183 sq.
OPPERT, quoted, Jer. 430.
Order of tlio Israelites' march. Numb. 57.
Ordinances concerning Feast-Days and Days of Best, Biod.
95.
ORIGEN, quoted, Lev. 75, Isa. 533.
Original sin, Gen. 247; consequence of, Ps. 328.
ORPAH, Ruth 13.
Oryx, Job 008.
Ostrich described. Lam. 153.
OTHNIEL, takes Kirjath-sepher, Josh. 131, Jud. 34; delivers
and judges Israel, Jud. 69; a type, 71.
Over-righteousness, note on, Eccl. 108.
Over-wisdom, note on, ibid.
OVID, quoted. Gen. 294, 320, Judg. 30, 218, Job 191 434
Eccl. 73, 92, 145, 155, Song of Sol. 101, Isa. 97, 433,
Lam. 145, Dan. 118, Apocr. 245.
Ox, laws relating to the, Exod. 90, 91; not to bo muzzled when
treading out corn, Deut. 178.
PACTION, an Egvptian month, Apocr. 635.
PADAN-ARAM, Gen. 493, 559, 643.
Painting tho face practised, 2 Kings 99! Jer. 67, Ezek.
225.
Pair, the first human, its fall and judgment, Gen, 74.
PALESTINE, namo of. Josh. 23 ; original inhabitants of, 27 ;
other peoples of, 30 ; natural history of, 24 ; works on,
Gen. 16, Josh. 35 sq. ; progress of Greek culture in,
Apocr, 17 ; language used in, 32.
PALGRAVE, quoted, Chron. 92.
Palm tree, branches of, used at times of rejoicing, Lev. 179 ;
the city of palm trees, Deut. 237, Jud. 37.
Parables, of Jotham, Jud. 145 ; of Nathan, Sam. 473 ; of tho
woman of Tekoa, Sam. 493 ; of a prophet, 1 Kings 237 ;
of Joash, 2 Kings 149 ; of the prophets, Isa. 84 sq., 311,
Ezek. 159 sq., 176 sq., 187 sq., 221 sq., 231 sq., 283 sq.
Paradise, account of. Gen. 73, 215 ; different views on, 215 ;
actual and symbolical importance of, 216 ; rivers of,
217 ; man expelled from, 241.
— — — lost, meaning of tho narrative, Gen. 243 ; literature
on, 119.
Parallelism, difierent forms of, Job xxxiv.
Paran, wilderness of, Ishmael reared there, Gen. 459 ; Israel's
journey there, Numb. 57, Deut. 48 ; fall of the old
generation in, Numb. 78 sq.
Pardoning grace open to every sinner, Lam. 92.
PASCAL, quoted, Gen. 581.
PASHUR, his name, Jer. 186 ; prophecy against, for persecu-
ting Jeremiah, ibid.
Passages of the difierent books especially treated :
Genesis I. note on, Gen. 71.
11. " " " 73 sq.
IIL " " " 74.
V.
"
'
«
75.
VI-VIII.
"
*
»
76.
VI. 3
"
'
"
285 sq.
5
"
"
"
286.
XI.
"
"
*'
77.
XII. sq.
'*
"
"
78.
XXXVII. 35,
"
"
"
584.
XLVI., XLVII.
"
«
"
637 sq.
XLVIII. 16,
"
"
'*
646 sq.
XLIX. 1-33,
"
'*
"
651 sq.
Exodus XXXVin. 26,
"
"
Num
.12.
Numb. I.
*'
"
"
26.
Joshua X.
"
'*
Gen
86.
2 Kings XV. 19,
"
"
2 Kings 162.
29,
"
"
"
XYI.
M
"
"
174.
XVII.
"
"
"
189.
xvni., XIX.
"
"
((
220.
XX.
"
"
"
238.
Job VI. 13,
*'
"
Job
189.
XI. 6,
"
"
"
188.
XII. 16,
"
"
"
XIX. 25-27,
(I
*'
((
171 sq.'
XXI. 17,
l<
"
(1
175.
30,
**
"
i<
182.
xxn.
"
<«
"
31.
5-13,
"
«
4<
185 sq.
XXVI. 3.
"
"
"
188.
5, 6, 7,
((
"
*'
189.
xxvn-xxx.
"
*'
"
193.
XXTII. 7— XXVIII. 28.
«
"
"
265.
xxvni. 4, 5,
«
(t
CI
197.
XXIX. 18,
"
*'
"
204.
XXX.
((
"
"
207.
xxxn— XXXVII.
"
"
(1
268.
XXXIII. 23, 24,
'«
"
«
208.
XXXVIII. 1, 2,
"
"
"
213.
XL. 15— XLI. 26,
"
"
'*
265.
XLII. 7,
"
"
"
35 sq.
Ecclesiastes I. 3,
«
(<
Eccl
44 sq.
5,
«
"
'^
38.
n. 3,
U
"
tt
54.
8,
"
"
"
66.
14,
«
"
((
58.
16,
"
t(
"
68.
24,
"
((
a
60.
25,
((
"
(t
61.
ni. 4,
((
"
•'
06.
11,
((
M
(1
67 sq., 72 sq.
14, 15,
"
"
'*
72 eq.
17,
"
"
"
69.
18-21,
"
«
((
70 sq.
21,
"
"
((
71 sq.
IV. 3,
(1
t(
"
80.
IV. 6,
'1
"
"
81.
14, 16,
"
((
*•
84 sq.
V. 3,
U
"
*'
89.
6,
c<
(t
«'
90.
7,
"
"
'•
91.
8.
"
((
((
91.
9,
"
"
"
92.
17, 18,
"
"
"
94.
VI. 10,
"
"
"
101.
VII. 7,
"
"
«<
106.
11, 12,
"
'■
**
107..
16,
"
"
"
108.
TOPICAL INDEX.
29
Paasages eapecially noted:
Bcclesiastes 24, note on X^l. 113 eq.
Till. 6, " '■ " 118.
10, " ■' ■' 119.
15, " " " 120.
IX. 6, <• •• » 129.
9, " " " 126.
7-10, XI. 9, 10, " " " 131 SO.
X. 1, " " « 138.
14,15, " " " 141,
17, " " " 143.
XI. 5, " •' « 147 aq.
8,9, ■• ", " 151 eq.
Xn. 152 sq.
2-5, " " » 154 sq.
6, ' 158.
6, " " " 160.
27, 164.
Ezekiel I, 4-28, " " Ezet. 52 sq.
IV. 1-3, « " " 77 sq.
9, " " " 81 sq.
VIII. ' 104 sq.
XVI. 8-14, . ", " " 161.
XXVII. " » " 352 sql
XXVIII. XXIX. " " " 372 sq.
XLIII. 1-12, " " " 410.
XLV. 18-2S, " " " 429.
XL.-XLVI. ' 439 sq.
XLVII. 1-12, " " " 466.
XIiVIII. " " « 485.
Daniel IX. 24-27, "" " Dan. 213 sq.
Hosea I, III. " " Hos. 13.
Passover, instituted, Exod. 35,39,42; a 'typical festival of
redemption, 35; meaning of, 37; solemn sanction of,
38; significance of, 169, Lev. 1Y4; celebration of.
Numb. 52; observed by Joshua, Josh. 65 ; byHezekiah,
Ohron. 252 ; by Josiah, 2 Kings 265, Chron. 272 ; by
Ezra, Ezr. 67, 70.
— — — , the Little, Numb. 63.
Pastors of the Jews censured, Jer. 31, 123, 205 sq.
PATHEOS in Egypt, Isa. 16B, Jef. 351, sq^Bzek. 274.
Patriarchal period, age and state, at the, Gen. 382.
religion, period of, Gen. 382.
.^— ^ ■ society, nomadic life, the basis of. Gen. 382.
• theology, Gen. 637.
Patriarchs, ages of, Gen. 270 ; their history introductory to
the history of Israel, 384 ; sexual diflflculties in the
history of, 80 ; literature on the history of, 120, 382,
384 ; epithets applied to the, Apocr. 453 : without sin,
471.
Peace, none to the wicked, Isa. 526, 637.
Peace-offerings, Exod. [41], Lev. 64; regulations concerning.
Lev. 34; instructions for' the priests in regard to, GO,
62 sq.
PEKAH, king of Israel, his conspiracy and evil reign, 2 Kings
160, 165 ; his great slaughter in Judah, Chron. 241 ;
prophecy against, Isa. 115 sq.
PEKAHIAH, king of Israel, his evil reign, 2 Kings 160, 165.
PBLATIAH'S sin and death, Ezek. 126.
PBLBG, Gen. 357.
Peniel (Penuel), Jacob's wrestling with an angel there, Gen.
550 ; chastised by Gideon, Jud. 134 sq.
Pentateuch, the, its organic unity and arrangement, Gen.
92; origin and composition of, 94; relation of the
three middle books of the to the whole, Exod. [1] ; hy-
potheses of criticism of. Dent. 10 ; literature on. Gen.
101.
Pentecost, feast of, Lev. 175, Apocr. 126.
Percy's division of Song of Sol., Song of Songs, 11.
Perez, Euth 49.
Perfumes, use of, among Orientals, Apocr. 136,
PBEIZZITES, Gen. 307 ; suhduod, Jud. 29.
PEEO'WNE, quoted, Job xiv.
PBEKINS, quoted, Job, 201.
PEESIA, kingdom of, succeeds that of Babylon, Dan. 139 sq.,
Apocr. 566 ; prophecies concerning, Dan. 132, 228-238 ;
overthrown, Apocr. 7;
, theology, influence upon Judaism, Apocr. 11 ; upon
Zcchariah, Zcch. 16.
- ffiith, its, tenets, Apocr. 11..
-Kings of, prophets under, Hos. [43J.
Personal freedom, law of, Exod.
PETAOHIA, quoted, Euth, 14.
PHALAEIS, a tyrant, Apocr. 632. ,
PHAEAOn, Idng-of Ugypt, Gen. 392; his dreams, 605-607;
appoints Joseph his grand vizier, 606 ; Egyptian sym-
bolism in the dreams of, 607 ; oppresses the Israelites,
Exod. 2; God's message to, 13, 16 sq., 168; miracles
shown to, 20 sq. ; pursuing Israel drowned in the Eed
Sea, 50 ; Solomon's affinity with, 1 Kings 40 ; he re-
ceives Had.id, 135.
NECHO, provoke^ to war by Josiah, 2 Kings
265, 273, Chron. 273 ; hia destruction foretold, Jer. 363 j
dethrones Johoahaz, 2 Kings 278; makes Eliakim
king, 279.
PHARAOH HOPHEA, prophecy concerning, Jer. 365, Bzek.
273, 281, 283, 288.
Pharisees, origin of, Apocr. 27.
PHICHOL, king of Gerar, Gen. 459.
PHILISTIA, Gen. 460, Exod. 46, Josh. 117.
Philistines, distress Isaac, Gen. 506 ; not subdued by Joshua,
Josh. 117, Jud. 65 ; oppress Israel, are subdued by
Shamgar, Jud. 78 ; by Samson, 193 sq. ; by Samuel,
Sam. 123; by Jonathan, 191; by David, 233, 251;
David's stay with, 323 sq. ; war with Israel, 329, 340;
Saul, etc., slain by 353 ; prophecies concerning, Isa.
194, Jer. 370 sq;, Ezek. 245, Amos 18, Obad. 13, Zeph.
24, Zech. 67.
PHILO, Apocr. 37 sq. ; quoted, 2 Kings 33, Apocr. 9, 227.
Philosophy of the Old Testament, Prov. 4.
PHILOSTEATUS, quoted Judg. 136, 185.
PHINEHAS, son of Eleaz'ar, his deed. Numb. 147 Bq. ; sent to
the war, 167; sent to the Eeubenites, etc.. Josh. 175,
178 ; inquires of the Lord concerning the Benjamites,
Jul ?5U
PHOOYLIDES, quoted, Eccl. 146.
PHUD, Apocr. 171.
Physicians necessary, Apocr. 376.
PI-HAHIEOTH, Exod. 47.
Piety^ power of, Ps. 53.
Pilgrimage, idea of the earthly life, aa a. Gen. 637, Job 3 iq.
Pillar of salt, Lot's wife becomes. Gen. 439 ; of cloud and fire,
Exod. 47, 169, Isa. 100.
Pillars in the temple, 1 Kings 85, 89.
PINDAE, quoted. Job 15.
Pious, Book of the. Josh. 98.
PISGAH mount. Numb. 134 ; Moaea views Canaan from, Deut.
70.
Pishon, Gen. 205.
Plagues of Egypt, Exod. 20 sq., 163.
PLATO, quoted. Gen. 294, 650, Job 8, 122, 146, 201, 202, Isa.
503, 586.
Pledges, law'concerning, Bxod. 94, Dent. 176.
PLINY, quoted. Josh. 162, 2 Kings 4, 44, 69, 99, Job 521, 622,
543, Isa. 94, 266, 370, Jer. 22, 67, Obad. 10, Apocr. 345.
FLINT, THE TOUNGEE, quoted, Euth 18.
Plumb-line, vision of. Am. 46.
Plufalis majestaticus, Gen. 173.
PLUTAECH, quoted. Gen. 183, Judg. 146, 150, 1 Kings 205,
2 Kings 69, Job 93, 545, Dan. 172, Apocr. 696.
Pneumatology biblical, or doctrine of the Spirit of God, Gen.
55.
Poetry, Hebrew, spirit of. Job x. ; different kinds of, xiv-
xxxii. {viz., lyric, xv._xx. ; didactic, xxi.-xxvi. ; pro-
phetic, xxvii.-xxviii. ; dramatic, xxix.-xxxii.) ; poetic
diction of, xxxii. ; versification, xxxiii. ; parallelism of
members of, xxxiv. ; literature on, vii. ; Mould on, xiv. ;
Herder on, xiii.
origin of, Job viii. ; prophecy and. Dent. 219 ; religion
and, Job viii.
PolysenuB, quoted, Judg. 122, 128.
POLTBIUS, quoted, Apocr. 20, 608, 622.
Polygamy, Dent 162, Apocr. 304, 608.
POMP. MELA, quoted. Josh. 162.
Poor, how provided for, Deut. 177.
POPE, quoted, Mai. 12.
Porch of Ezekiel's temple, Ezek. 393.
POEPHTET, quoted, Dan. 79.
POSIDONIUS, quoted, Judg. 30.
Potiphar, an Egyptian, Gen. 596.
Potter, a type of God's power, Isa. 685, Jer. 178.
Pray, how to, Apocr. 267.
Prayer, formulas of, Deut. 183 ; effects of, Ps. 66, Zech. 80 ;
important for sanctification of life, Ps. 342.
Pregnancy, period of, Apocr. 247.
Pride, condemned, Sam. 65, Prov. 97 ; evil consequences of,
Prov. 135, 187.
Priest, a faithful, meaning of, Sam. 82 sq.
Priesthood, Levitical, note on. Lev. 65-69.
Priests, High, list of the, from Aaron to the Exile, Chron. 69.
their vocation andapparel, Exod. 168; consecra-
tion of, 122, Lev. 71 ; prerogatives of, Exod. 125, Lev. 59
Bq.,63; forbidden to mourn, Lev. 83 ; to abstain from in-
toxicating drink, 84 sq. ; purity and holiness required
of the, 160 eq. ; qualifications of, 161 aq. ; duties and
rights, Exod.- [45], Lev. 165 ; revenues of. Numb. 97;
slain by Saul, Sam- 234 ; ordered by David, Chron. 144 ;
return from captivity, Ezra 31, Neh. 51 ; censured by
the prophets, Jer. 76, Hos. 59 sq., Mic. 23, Zeph. 26.
Priests, the, the Levites, Deut. 145, 147.
Primitive men, state of, Gen. 353.
Prince of Peace, Isa. 143,
Probation tree. Gen. 244,
Proclamation of Cyrus for the building of the temple, Chron,
276, Ezra 21, 163. .
PKOCLUS, quoted. Gen, 183.
30
OPICAL INDEX.
PROCOPIUS, quoted, Judg. 23.
Profane-erotic interpreters of Song of Sol., Song of Songs,
35 sq.
Prohibited degrees of marriage, Lev. 138, 146.
Promises of Jehovah, Exod. 97.
PROPERTIUS, qnoted, Eccl. 93.
Prophet, meaning of, Hos. [3]; style of the, [36]; strong
faith necesBsary to the calHng of a, Amos 49.
Prophetesses, false, denounced, Ezek. 143.
Prophets, school of the, Sam. 153, 154, 2 Kings 213 ; infalli-
bility of, 2 Kings 225 ; their relation to the people and
mode of life, Hos. [7], table of minor, Hos. [44 sq.] ;
denounced, Isa. 147, Jer. 149, 210 sq., Ezek. 142, 145,
150 ; creation in the, Gren. 143.
■ "— ■■ during the Pre-Assyrian Period, Hos. [42] ; during the
Assyrian Period, ibid. [43] ; during the Ohaldsean Period,
ibid.; during the perio' of the Exile, i6i(i.; during the
Post-exile Period, ibid.
••— under the kings of Judah and Israel, Hos. [42 sq.].
'* « « " " Hos. [ibid.].
" " " " Persia, ibid.
Prophecy, development of, Sam. IGl, Ps. 60 ; meaning of, Hos.
[3j; sphere of, [S] ; doctrinal, [9] ; predictive, [UJ ;
cessation of, between Moses and Samuel, [21] ; relating
to the kingdom of the ten tribes, [26], to the heathen
nations, [29], to Judah, [27].
Prophetic gift and its ofSce, Jud. 81.
Prophetical, institution and order, Hos. [5] ; contents and
sphere of writings, [8] ; schools of interpretation, [39];
stylo, [36] ; canon of predictive books, [42] ; chrono-
logical arrangement of books, [ibid.']; * decay of office,
2 Kings 304.
Proselytes, Apocr. 34.
Protevangel, tho, Gen. 233; Hos. [21], tho germ of all later
Messianic prophecies. Gen. 247.
PROVERBS, Book of, names of the collection, Prov. 22 ; ori-
gin and composition of the collection, 25 ; contents of
the collection of, 35 ; Hebrew and Alexandrian texts
of the collection of, 30; poetical form of, 31; ethical
and religious rank and significance of, 1 ; dogmatic and
ethical substance of the, 33 ; their superiority. Job
xxii.; structure, xxiii. ; literature on, Prov. 37 sq. ;
Bridges on, Z ; Coleridge on, ibid. ; Gray on, ibid. ; Guth-
rie on, 4; Hitzig on, 2 ; Jortin on, 3 ; Luther on, 2; Oet-
inger on, ibid. ; Dean Stanley on, Job xxiii., Prov. 4, 23 ;
SlarJte on, Prov. 2 ; Wordsioorth on, 3.
Proverbs of Solomon, Prov. 42-213 ; collected by the men of
Hozekiah, 215-243 ; use of, 44 ; concerning moral vir-
tues and their contrary vices, 112-180.
PRUDENTIUS, quoted, Ruth 52.
PsaJm, composed by David when he had the combat with Go-
liath, Sam. 234.
Psalms, Messianic, prophetic element in, Sam. 590, Ps. 18 sq.
, Prophetical and Typical, Ps. 55, 121,167,294,395, 406,
472, 550, 555.
■, Historical, Ps. 438, 634, 539, 636, 639.
• — of Solomon, Apocr. 688.
■ of Wisdom, Prov. 18.
— Book of, title, Ps. 2; authorship ofAhid.; canonical
position of, 1 ; collection and arrangement of, 8 ; his-
tory of the composition of, 6 ; essential contents of, 16 ;
division of, Job xx., Ps. 5; expositions of, Ps. 42 ; trans-
lations of, 40; new version of, 683 sq. ; manner of ren-
dering the, 28 ; liturgical use of, among the Jews, 12 ;
among Christians, 36 ; liturgical rendering of, 29 ; lit-
urgical superscriptions of particular psalms in, 14 ;
^artistic structure of, 24; superscriptions indicating the
■ppoetical form of, 23 ; controverted musical expressions
in the, 30.
' ■ ■') Humboldt, A., on. Job xlv.
MQller, I. von, on, " xiii.
Milton, J., on, " xiii.
Perowne, on, *' xiv.
Stanley, Dean, on, *' xiv.
Stephens, H., on. " xiii.
PSBUDO-SMERDIS, Apocr. 5.
Psycholog:^', .literature on. Gen. 118.
PTOLEMY I. SOTER, Apocr. 15 ; takes Coclo-Syria and Judrea,
16 ; .razes the walls of Jerusalem to the ground, ibid. ;
carries 100.000 Jews to Egypt, ibid.
IL PHILADELPHUS, Apocr. 15 ; makes Alex-
andria the centre of literature and commerce, ibid. ;
manumits 130,000 Jews, ibicl.
III., EUERGETES, Apocr. 15.
IV., PHILOPATOR, Apocr. 15 ; defeats Antiochus
at the battle of Raphia, ibid. ; enters the temple of Je-
rusalem and forces his way into the Holy of Holies, j.6.
v., EPIPHANES, Apocr. 15; looses Phoenicia,
Ckele-Svria and Judfea, ibid.
VI., PHILOMETER, Apocr. 526.
* Tho numbers tn "brackets refer to the pages of tho intro-
duction preceding Hosea, •
PTOLEMY EUERGETES IL, Apocr. 547.
PUBLIUS SYRUS, quoted, Eccl. 93.
PUL, king of Assyria, Israel subjected to, 2 Kings 160, 162.
Purification, laws concerning, of women. Lev, 96 'sq. ; for
leprosy, 109 sq. ; for sexual impuiities, 119 sq.
, water of. Numb. 100.
Purim, a feast instituted, Est. 92, Apocr. 207, 512.
PUSEY, quoted, Mic. 7.
QUAILS, given to the Israelites, Exod. 62.
Queen of heaven, idolatrous worship of, Gen. 352, 354.
QUINTUS MEMMIUS, Apocr. 600.
Quotation, formula of, Apocr. 611.
Quoted writers and writings:—
Abarbanel, 1 Kings 103, Isa. 7, 660,
Abendana, Dan. 206.
Abu-Zaid, Gen. 142.
Abydenus, Isa. 237.
Addison, Pb. 151.
Aelian, Judg. 243, Job 611.
Aeschylus, Gen. 257, 332, 355, 589, Job xvi. 63, 116,
116, 133, 161, 190, 201.
Aeaop, Judg. 147.
Al-zamakhshari, Gen. 142.
Alexander Polyhistor, Isa. 379, 407.
Ambrosius, Gen. 593, Jer. 20, 221.
Amer. Encyclop. Job 152.
AmmianuB Marcellinus, Job 620.
Anacreon, Eccl. 80.
Angus, Job XXX.
Antoninus, Martyr, Judg. 210.
Appian, Apocr. 508.
Archilochus, Hos. 55.
Aristophanes, Gen. 181, Job 91, Eccl. 39.
Aristoteles, Gen. 333, 626, Eccl. 46, Isa. 98.
Arnaud, Isa. 673.
Arnobius, Isa. 618.
Arnold, Thos., Josh. 21.
Arrian, Ezra 77, Apocr. 485.
Artemidor, 1 Kings 41.
Athenseus, 1 Kings 49, Neh. 6.
Attar, Job 510.
Attius, Dan. 82.
Augustin, Gen. 265, 4.34, 514, 598, Dent. 75, Judg. 224,
Jer. 124. Zech. 106, Apocr. 134.
Bacon, 1 Kings 122, Prov. 169, 219.
Bamabaa, epistle of. Gen. 187, 201, 423, Exod. 145,
Dan. 207.
Basil, Jer. 221.
Baur, G., Job 235.
Bcchai, Dent. 115.
Benjamin of Tudcla, Buth 14.
Bernhard of Clairvaux, Jer. 67.
Bohme, Eccl. 77.
Bossuet, Song of Songs 11.
Bridges, Prov 3.
Buckingham, Ruth 14.
Bunyan, Apocr. 49, 292.
Burns, Job 64.
Burrows, Song of Songs 12.
Caesar, Josh 73
Calvin. Exod. 122.
Camerarius, Lam. 139.
Carlyle, Job xiv.
Chrysostom, Jon. 18.
Cicero, 1 Kings 222, Est. 79, Eccl. 42, 153, 155, Song of
501, 102, Isa. 98, 389, 541, Dan. 172, Apocr. 679.
Claudian, 2 Kings 214, ,Tob 161, Amos 42.
Clement c f Alexandria, Isa. 583,
Coleridge, Prov 3, Apocr. 359.
Cornelius Nepos. Judg, 154.
Cotton, Apocr. 634, 635.
Cowley, Job 93.
Cowper, Sam 457, Ps 683, Isa. 654
Curtir.s, Judg. 30, 40, 154. Isa. 188, 266, 512, Apocr. 485.
Cyril, Lev. 75, Jon. 27, Micah 34, Nah. 25.
Dante, Ruth 10
Delitzsch, Job 233, 242.
Dies Irae, Apocr 667.
Dillman, Job 229.
Diodorus Siculus, Gen, 658, Exod. 60, 134, Job 12, Isa.
502, Dan. 69, 114, Kah. 33.
Dordridge, Mai. 28.
Erpenianus, Gen. 127.
Estor Ha-Parchi, Judg. 45.
Euripides, Gen. 334, Josh. 64, Judg. 176, Sam. 276, Job
8, 99, Eccl. 131.
Euscbius, Gen 584, Exod. 50, Jer. 221.
Ewald, H., Job xiv. xxvi.
Frontinus, Judg. 154.
Fry, Song of Sol. 10.
Galen, 1 Kings 22.
Gbllus, Cornel , Isa. 624.
TOPICAL INDEX.
31
Gerhard, Paul, Eool. 93, Song of Sol. 76.
Goerres, 1 Kings 103.
Gcethe,Gen 36a, Deut. 76, 219, Joah. 60, Job xiT., Apr. 365.
Good, way of. Job 10.
Graham. Job 148.
Gray, Prov. 3.
Greek Anthology, Job 99.
Greek Poet, Josh. 109,
Gregory of Nazianzen, Iiam. 143.
Guegler, Job 148.
Guthrie, Prov. 4.
Eamann. Sam. 276, Ps. 441,
Hariri, Job 159.
Harris, papyrus, Isa. 223.
Heine, H., Prov. 17.
Herbert, Geo., Lam. 65.
Htfder, Job xiii.
Herodian, Jer. 94.
Herodotus, Gen. 230, 693, Jndg. 147, 179, 1 Kings 35;
2 Kings 278, Ezra 75, Est. 33, 35, Job 124, Isa. 224,
237, 240, 245, 464, 602, 692, Jor. 192, 370, Dan. 139,
141, Apoo. 486, 547, 586.
Herrick, K., Lam. 142
Hesiod, Judg. 91, Job 15, Isa. 101.
Hilary, Gen. 206.
Hirtius, Apocr. 632.
Hitzig, Prov. 2.
Hoffman, W., Gen. 187.
Homer, Gen. 318, 329, 377, 621, 625, Jud. 242, Ruth 28,
Sam. 468, Job 14, 44, 78, 87, 100, 107, 122, 128, 141,
146, 148, 160, 158, 161, 190, 417, 689, Eccl 37, 126,
Song of Songs 71, Dan. 172.
Horace, Job 417, 619, Prov. 56, 192, 229, Eool. 80, 96,
100, 109, Isa. 98, 483, Jer. 94, 167, Lam. 192.
Horus, Job 623.
Humboldt, A. von. Job xiv., 694, 613.
Irenseus, Jer. 108, 221.
Xsocrates, Apocr. 297.
lagur-veda. Job 417.
Jerome, Judg. 35, Ruth 24, 2 Kings 234, Chron. 5, Isa.
623, Jer. 20, 445, Dan. 63, 254.
Jones, Job xiii.
Jortin, Prov. 3.
Josephus, Gen. 14, 219, 228,; 272, 616, 682, Exod. 121,
122, Lev. 26, Josh. 18, 20, 97, 106, 163, 164, 167, 168,
169, Judg. 26, 41, 123, 136, Sam. 60, 132, 135, 187, 409,
418, 428, 1 Kings 66, 82, 2 Kings 16, 20, 69, 74, 140,
159, 160, 205, 218, 219, 236, 246, 266,266, 273, 274, 278,
287, 288, 290, Chron. 133, 145, 168, 178, Ezra. 23, 64,
Est. 19, 36, 41, Isa. 228, 266, 488, 54S, 613, Jer. 347,
366, 445, Lam. 162, Bzek. 266, Dan. 139, 143, 206, Obad.
14, Apocr. 24, 26, 26.
Juda Hallevi, Judg. 229.
Justin Martyr, laa. 683, Apocr. 97.
Justinus, Exod, 60, 1 Kings 35, Dan. 243, Apocr. 626.
Juvenal, Euth 18, Isa. 140, 683, Lam. 64, Apocr. 297, 318.
Kaabi ben-Sohair, Job 417.
Koran. Gen. 141, 144, 305, 334, 443, 444, Job 12, 94, 129,
610, Eccl. 160.
KoBS, Gen. 141.
Laurentius, Song of Sol. 76.
Xenormant, Isa. 372. 406.
Livy, Josh. 73, Judg. 205, 234, 250, Isa. 98, Dan. 245,
247, 249, 262, Apocr. 516, 631, 539.
Ijockman, Gen. 142.
Loftus, Est. 33.
Longfellow, Apocr. 299.
Lowell, J. E., Apocr. 329.
Lowth, Job viii.
Lucan, laa. 77.
Lucian, Judg. 246, Isa. 190.
Lucretius, Job 161, 609, Eccl. 135, 173, Song of Sol. 104.
Luther, Job 227, Prov. 2, 17, Eccl. 17, Isa. 190, Jer. 136,
Lam. 173, Obad. 6, Mio. 7.
Machiavelli, Judg. 144.
Macrobius, Eccl. 126.
Maimonidea, Gen. 173, 349, 612, 632, Lev. 30.
Maniliiis, Job 625.
Marcus Aurelius, Eccl. 40.
Medus, Gen. 232.
Melanchthon, Isa. 142.
Metrodoms, Gen. 183.
Meyer, I. F. von. Job 236.
Midrash, Isa. 683, Apocr. 461.
Milman, Judg. 156.
Milton, Job xiii., 69, Ps. 697, H09. [31].
MoBchuB, Job 417.
M^uller, I. von. Job xiii.
Murphy, Gen. 272, 319.
Noyes, Song of Songs 10.
Novalis, Ps. 441.
Oetinger, Prov. 2.
Oppert, Jer. 430,
Origen, Lev. 76, Isa. 683.
Ovid, Gen 294, 320, Judg. 30, 218, Job 191, 434, Eccl. 73,
92, 146, 165, Song of Sol. 117, Isa. 97, 433, Lam. 145,
Dan. 118, Apocr. 245.
Palgrave, Chron. 92.
Pascal, Gen. 581.
Percy, Song of Sol. ii.
Perkins, Job 201.
Perowne, Job xiv.
Petacliia, Euth 14.
Philo, 2 Kings 33, Apocr. 9, 227.
Philostratus, Judg. 136, 186.
Phocylidea, Eccl, 146.
Pindar, Job 16.
Plato, Gen. 294, 660, Job 8, 122, 146, 201, 202, Isa. 603 585.
Pliny, Josh. 1C3, 2 Kings 4, 44, 69, 99, Job 621, 622, 643,
Isa. 94, 266, 370, Jer. 22, 67, Obad. 20, Apocr. 346.
Pliny, the Younger, Euth 18.
Plutarch, Gen. 183, Judg. 146, 160, 1 Kings 205,2 Kings
69, Job 93 542, Dan, 172, Apocr. 696.
PolyajnuB, Judg, 122, 128,
Polybius, Apocr, 20, 508, 622.
Pomp. Mela, Josh. 162.
Pope, Mai. 12.
Porphyry, Dan. 79.
PoBidouius, Judg. 30.
Prochis, Gen, 183.
Procopius, Judg. 23,
Propertiua, Eccl, 93.
PrudentiuB, Ruth 62.
PubliuB SyruB, Eccl. 93.
Pusey, Mic, 7.
Racine, 2 Kings 127.
Eashi, Gen. 126, 176, 630.
Eaumer, von, Exod. 48.
Eowlinson, Ezra 20, 22, 23, 46, 62, 63, 63, 75, 76, 77, 82,
83, 84, 89, 96, 96, Est. 32, 34, 36, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,
60, 51, 62, 63, 54, 60, 61, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78,
79, 83, 84, 89, 90, 93, Dan. 30, 100, 117, Apocr. 439,
440 Bq., 463, 495, 643.
Eichter, Ohr. F., Isa. 265.
Rigveda, Job 16.
Eitterhusius, Hoa. 61.
Eougemont, Gen. 189.
SallUBt, Prov. 162.
Sandford, D, K., Job xiii.
Schiller, Gen. 268, Job 338, 687, Prov. 224, Dan. 117, 118.
Scott, W., Job 60.
Scriver, Job 386.
Selnecker, N., Jer. 20.
Seneca, Judg. 234, Eccl. 40, Isa. 98, Lam. 167.
Sepp, Ezek. 267, 273.
Sibylline Oraclea, Dan. 25, 167.
Simonides, Job 417.
Sixtus Senensis, Apocr, 549,
Sophocles, Gen. 687, 630, 638, Josh, 100, Jud. 106, 175,
Job 131, 141, 322, 669, Eccl. 167, 179.
Spenser, Zcch. 28.
Stanley, Dean, Josh. 22, Job viii,, xii., xiv. xxiii.
Starke, Prov. 2.
Stephens, H., Job xiii.
Strabo, Gen. 219, Jud, 40, laa, 240, Jer, 154, 186.
Stuart, M,, Song of Sol, 11.
Sueton, Jud. 177, Dan. 117.
Tacitus, Gen. 443, Josh. 29, 73, Jud. 42, 122, 128, 256,
Sam, 464, 460, 1 Kings 76, Eccl. 40, Jer. 180, Ezek.
447, Apocr. 76.
Talmud, Gen. 306, 329, Lev. 59, 60, 111, 114, 142, Numb.
37, 38, Joah. 8, Jud. 43, 66, 76, 124, 146, 178, 184, 186,
229, 237, 238, Euth 43, 48, 63, 2 Kings 87, 246, 301,
Chron. 8, Ezra 16, 35, Ps, 667, Eccl, 15, 21, laa. 7,
94, 312„Dan, 122, Apocr, 10. 28, 31, 267, 294, 297, 299,
301, 304,308, 313, 314, 318, 320, 322, 346, 347, 364, 468.
Tanchum, Gen, 215.
Targum, Isa. 674.
Tatius. Job 166,
Taylor, Job xiv., Song of Sol. 11.
Terence, Ruth 18.
Tertullian, Gen. 616, 2 Kings 264.
Theocritus, Song of Sol. Ill, 129.
Theodor Mopaueat, Zeph, 52.
Theodoret, Lev. 26, 74, Sam. 336 ; 2 Kings 15, 19, 65,
57, 143, Jer, 31, Lam. 174, Dan. 63, 123, 273, Jon. 18,
Zeph. 16.
Theodotion, laa, 623.
Theognis, Job 322, Eccl. 80.
Theophrast, laa, 618,
Tholuck, Lam, 143.
Thucydidea, Dan, 215.
TrebelliuB Pollio Judg. 106.
Trupp, Song of Sol. 11.
Valerius Maximus, Apocr. 607.
Virgil, Gen. 271, Job 104, 123, 128, 133, 148, 160, 151,
32
TOPICAL I^DEX.
161, 611, Eccl. 38, 161, Isa. 97, 255, Lam. 192, 193,
Hob. [38], Jonah 20.
Watta, Job 453, Eccl. 152.
Weiss, Song of Sol. 12.
Williams, Song of Sol. 11.
Wordsworth, Prov. 3.
Xenophon, Gen. 587, Jud. 39 sq,, 250, Ezra 75, Job 161,
Isa. 98, 240, 464, 509, Dan. 139.
Zinzendorf, Jer. 277.
RABBAH, besieged and taken by Joab, Sam. 475 ; prophe-
cies concerning, Jer. 389, Bzek. 244, Am. 18.
Rabbinism, Apocr. 31.
EABSHAKEH, the Assyrian, his blaaphemoua speech, 2
Kings 206, 226, Isa. 377.
EACHEL, meets Jacob, Gen. 528; becomes hie wife, 529; her
dejection, 530 ; gives birth to Joseph and Benjamin,
531, 568, 569 ; her death, 569 ; her grave, Ruth 14 ; her
character, Gen. 532.
BAOINE, quoted, 2 Kings 127.
BAHAB, of Jericho, receives the spies, Josh. 48 ; preserved
through faith, 50.
legend of. Job 376.
(Egypt), laa. 553.
Rainbow, sign of God's covenant with Noah, Gen. 328 aq.
■■ ■!■ , symbolical significance of the, Gen. 331.
■ , Prayer at the appearance of the, Gen. 329.
Ram, type of the Median and Persian power, Dan. 172 sq.
Ram's horns used as trumpets, .Tosh. 70.
BAMAH, of Benjamin, Josh. 156, Jud. 83, Jer. 267; Samnel
dwells there, Sam. 44, 128, 132, 252, 304.
BAMOTH--GILEAD, Deut. 85, 1 Kings 48.
RAMESES TO RED SEA, stations from, Exod. [23].
RAPHAEL, Apocr. 131, 135.
RASHI, quoted. Gen. 126, 176, 630.
RAUMEK, von, quoted, Exod. 48.
Baven, described, Gen. 310; a figure, 313 ; stories concerning,
Job 607.
BAWLINSON, quoted, Ezra 20, 22, 23, 45, 52, 53, 63, 75, 76,
77, 82, 83, 84, 89, 95, 96 ; Est. 32, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 43,
44, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60, 61, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 74, 7.^
76, 79, 83, 84, 89, 90, 93; Dan. 30, 100, 117; Apocr. 439,
440 sq., 463, 495, 543.
REBEKAH, Gen. 484; becomes the wife of Isaac, 486; her
barrenness, 498, 500; pregnancy, 499 sq; gives birth to
twins, ibid. ; steals with Jacob the theocratic blessing,
513; makes preparation for the flight of Jacob, 515.
Rechabites, blessed for their obedience. Jer. 303.
Reconcilement, theological significance and meaning of the
word, Apocr. 106.
Reconciliation of God with alnful humanity, indirect pro-
phecy of, Job 441.
Bed heifer, the. Numb. 100.
Red horse, vision of, Zech, 25 sq., 50.
Bed Sea, passage of, Exod. 50, 169 ; song of triumph at the,
52.
BED SEA TO SINAI, stations from, Exod. [23].
Eedeemor, interpretation of the word. Gen. 646; the Lord
Job 456 ; different views on, 460 sq.
- , I know that my liveth, Job 7 sq., 171 sq.
Redemption of Israel, a type, Exod. 165.
and revelation, Gen. 47 ; objective and subjective
form of, 48.
Reed, figurative of weakness, 2 Kings 206.
Refiner, the Lord is, of His people, Isa. 521.
Refuge, cities appointed, Nnmb. 187, Deut. 85, Josh. 164 ;
literature on, Numb. 189.
Begen'^^ration, Job 391.
BEHOBOAM, king of Jndah, 1 Kings 137 ; ten tribes revolt
from, 144, 147, Ohron. 192 ; forbidden to attack Jero-
boam, 1 Kings 146, 150, Chron. 193 ; chastised by Shi-
shak, 1 Kings 172 sq., Chron. 195.
Behoboth, why so called, Gen. 506.
Reining of the flesh, note on, Eccl. 54.
Religion, the primitive, symbolic, Gen. 170 ; patriarchal con-
tr.isted with, 177.
" ' - ■— and morality, cannot be separated, Zeph. 17.
Bepenting divine, note on, Gen. 238.
Bepentance and conversion, the only means of escaping the
doom of the wicked. Job 391.
EEPHIDIM, Exod. 60, 05 ; battle in, 60.
Rephaim, race of, Gen. 403, Deut. 94, 147, Josh. 147.
Resurrection, belief in, Apocr. 397; hope of, Job 416, Ps. 315.
— of the dead, unknown to Job, Job 360; foretold.
Job 436 sq., Isa. 287, Dan. 261; typified, Ezek. 348 sq.
Retribution, idea of. Job 4 ; doctrine of, 29 ; time of, Eccl. 70,
Apocr, 243; law of, Ps. 552.
Return from captivity promised, Jer. 159, 207 sq., 219 sq., 255
sq., 263 sq., 406, 409, 513, Amos 68.
fulfilled, Chron. 276, 278, Ezra 20, Neh. 11.
EEUBEN, son of Jacob, Gen. 529, 530 ; his crime, 571 ; his
blessing, 6.54; his families, Numb. 152; their request
for land beyond Jordan granted, 171 sq. ; Mosea' chargo
to, 173 ; blessed by him, Deut. 228 ; Joshua's charge to,
Josh. 43 ; commended and dismissed by him, 174 sq. ;
build an altar for a memorial, 175 ; justify themselves
when accused, 176; carried into captivity, Chren. 66.
Revelation of God, in the widest sense. Gen. 46; general and
special, distinction of, ibid. ; subject of, 47; redemption
and, ibid.; objective and subjective form of, 48'; grad-
ual process and forms of, 49 ; astronomical objection
to, 182, note on; fundamental form of divine, 385.
Revenge, its jubilant tone, in the Old Testament, Sam. 580.
Revolution, justifiablenesa of, 2 Kings 105.
REZIN, king of Syria, sent against Judah, 2 Kings 170, 173.
BEZON of Damascus, enemy of Solomon, 1 Kings 135, 137.
RIBLAH, in Syria, 2 Kings 278, Jer. 330.
RICHTER, CHR. F., quoted, Isa. 255.
Riddle, given by Samson, Jud. 199.
Right of the first born, in its two aspects, Gren. 500.
Righteous, marks of the, Ps. 52 ; described by Plato, Isa. 585;
their blessings and privileges, Ps. 331, lea. 69^ Ezek.
181 sq.
Eighteousnesa, faith connted for. Gen. 410 ; of the law, Deut.,
96, 201.
RIGVEDA, quoted, Job 16.
Rimmon, a Syrian god, 2 Kings 65.
Eing given as a mark of honor. Gen. 606, Est. 53.
EIPHAT, Gen. 348, Chron. 33.
RITTERHUSIUS, quoted, Hos. 51.
Robbery, forbidden, Lev. 150, Prov. 197.
Rock, water miraculously brought from, Exod. 65, NunSh. 103 ;
God the Rock of his people, Deut 212, Sam. 668, 586,
Ps. 140, 205, 218.
Rod of Moses miraculously changed, Exod. 12 ; of Aaron
buds. Numb. 94.
Roll of prophecy, cut with a penknife, Jer, 314.
Roman interference in Judaea, Apocr. 26.
Romans, their relation to the Jews, Apoci*. 414; their'treaty
with the Jews, 415.
Root of Jesse and David, Isa. 162, 165.
ROUGEMONT, quoted, Gen. 189.
RUTH, her name, Euth 13 ; her constancy, 19, 28 ; prdvedby
Boaz, 29, 41 ; becomes his wife, 49; a type of true con-
version, 32 ; Jewish tradition concerning, 53 ; day of
her commemoration, ibid.
EUTH, BOOK of, aim and contents of, Enth 3 ; time of com-
position of, 4 ; time of the history of, 8 ; position in the
canon, 7; translations and commentaries, 9; homileti-
cal introduction, 9 ; G(ethe on. Job xiv.
SABBATH, Gen. 196 ; institution of the, Gen. 175, Exod.
79 ; origin of the. Gen. 192 ; revival of, Exod. 95, 128,
Lev. 174, 195; to be kept holy, Isa. 605, 609, 643, Jer.
175 ; its offerings. Numb. 160; punishment fot* break-
ing the. Numb. 85 ; works on the. Gen. 198, Exod. 166.
Sabbatical year, ordinance concerning, Exod. 95, Lev. 188,
Deut. 136 ; enactments concerning. Lev. 188, 192, Deut.
136.
Sabeans afflict Job, Job 298.
Sabat, a Jewish month, Apocr. 649.
Sackcloth, employed in mourning. Sam. 389, 1 Kings 236, Pa,
214.
Sacrifices, Exod. [36], Lev. 9; origin of, Exod. [38]; design
of, [ibid.] ; purpose of, [39] ; various kinds of. Exod.
[40], Lev. 11 sq. ; the first compendious law of, Exod.
81 sq. ; regulations concerning, Lev. 23, 133, 137, Numb.
83 ; qualification, age and other points concerning, Lev.
166 sq. ; literature on, 19.
Sacrifices, Levitical, Lev. 9 sq., note oh.
Sacrificial rites, outline of, Exod. 172.
worship, organism of, Exod. [42].
Sadduceea, their orgin, Apocr. 28.
SALLUST, quoted, Prov. 162.
Salt, ufeed in sacrifices, Lev. 31 ; Lot's wife becomes a pillar
of, Gen. 439 ; city of. Josh. 139.
sea. Josh. 129.
Salvation, revelation of, In itsobjective form, Gen. 48 ; con-
trast between announcement and fulfillment of, 50 ;
forma of prefiguration of, ibid. ; fulfilling of, 51 ; first
promise of, 247, 248; gradually unfolded, 313, Deut.
150; universality of, Sam. 581; man's native inability
to achieve it, Song of Sol. 74.
SAMARIA, built by Omri, 1 Kings 185.
SAMARITANS, not permitted to assist in rebuilding thb tem-
ple, Ezra. 45, 53, Apocr. 7, 174; interrupt the building
of the temple, Ezra 46 sq., 54 ; separate themselves
from the Jews, Apocr. 7 ; build their own temple, 8 ;
accept only tho Pentateuch; 9 ; called fbolish ahd no
people, 406.
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH, Gen. 99, 257 ; Book of Joshua,
Josh. 8.
SAMSON'S birth foretold, Jud. 183; meaning of his name,
191; his marriage, 192, 198; tears a young lion, 195;
subdues the Philistines, 204 sq. ; treacherously delivered
up to them, 221 ; his revenge and death, 224 ; a t^e, 225,
TOPICAL IISTDEX.
33
SAMUEL, his parents, Sam. 44 ; birth, 53 ; presented to the
Lord, 61; ministera to the Lord, 73, 77; his call, 87,
92; prophet, priest and judge, 124; Eli's judgment re-
vealed to, 89; delivera and judges Israel, 126, 129; de-
clares the nature of a king, 134, 158 ; anoints Saul
king, 151; exhorta the people and king, 172 sq., 178
sq. ; rebukes Saul for dtsobedience, 189, 209 ; anoints
David, 218:; his death, 304, 310, 329 ; appears to Saul,
332 ; different views on the appearance of, 334, 337 ;
Samuel, prophecy in the time of, Hos. [22].
SAMUEL, BOOK of, name, Sam, 1 ; character and composi-
tion, 7; author and time of composition, 38; contents,
2; sources, 29; Israelitish religious and theocratic
character of, 24 ; Messianic character of, 28; references
in the New Testament to, 7 ; ancient versions of, 613
sq. ; literature on, 40.
SANBALLAT opposes Nehemiah, Neh. 11, 21 sq., 27, 58.
Sanctuary, personel of the, Numb. 96.
SANDFORD. quoted. Job xiii.
Sanhedrin, the great, its origin, Apocr. 30,
SABAH, the wife of Abraham, Gen. 371; her fanatical self-
denial, 415 ; displeasure of, 416 ; blessed, and her name
changed, 424; her joy at Isaac's birth, 457; causes
Hagar's expulsion, ibid. ; her death and burial, 476, 478 ;
her visitation a type of the visitation of Mary, 460.
SAEGON, acts of, their contents, 2 Kings 189 sq.
Satan, Gen. 245 ; idea of, Ghron. 131 ; conception of, not im-
ported, Zech. 39 ; different views concerning. Job 308
sq. ; accuses Job, 295, 301,
SAUL, his family, Sam. 140, Chron. 83, 90 ; his person, Sam,
140 ; sent out by his father, ibid. ; entertained by
Samuel, 143; chosen king, 146, 156; anointed by
Samuel, 151; signs accompanying the confii'mation of,
152,160; prophesies, 151; is acknowledged king; 157;
behaviour after his installation, 158 ; rescues Jabesh-
Gilead, 167 ; disobedience of, 189, 209 ; rash charge of,
195, 199 ; subdues Israel's enemies, 197 ; rejected by the
Lord, 209, 212 ; Samuel's grief for, 216, 218 ; troubled
by an evil spirit, 222 sq. ; discouraged by Goliatli, 228 ;
at first honors David, 240 ; afterwards persecutes him,
241, 245 sq., 250, 265 sq, ; kills the priests at Nob, 283;
visits the witch of Endor, 329, 334; his ruin foretold,
333, 337 ; his death, 352, 354, Chron. 94 ; David's la-
men-tatiou for, Sam. 364 sq ; a type of the theocratic
king, 147 ; a representative of the anti theocratic
principle, 235.
Scapegoat, the, Lev. 126.
Schiggajon, Job xix., Ps. 24.
SCHILLER, quoted. Gen. 268, Job 338, 587, Prov. 224, Dan.
117, 118.
SCOTT, W., quoted, Job 60.
Scribe, origin of the office of, Apocr. 3, 511.
Scripture, the Holy, as the sacred writings. Gen, 3 ; the one
pervading subject of, in its objective aspect, 4; in its
subjective aspect, 5; the one pervading theanthropic
subject of, ibid.; oppositions of, ibid.; truth and need
of, 450; the three middle books of the Pentateuch in
relation to, Exod. [9] ; works on the interpretation of,
Gen. 167 ; W. Jones on, Job xiii.
SCBIVER, quoted, Job 386.
Seed of the woman, different interprotationa, Geo. 233.
Seer (Eoeh), Sam. 142.
Seir, mount, Gen. 575, Deut. 49, 60.
Selah, Ps. 31.
SELEUCIA by the sea, Apocr. 530.
Seleucian Era, Apocr. 16, 485, 509.
S!ELEUCIDAE, the, Apocr. 19.
SELBUCUS IV. PHILOPATOR, the "raiser of taxea," slain
by Heliodorus, Apocr. 19, 572, 573.
Self-murder, iustification of, Apocr. 611.
SELNECKER, quoted, Jer. 20.
SENECA, quoted, Jud. 234, Eccl. 40, laa. 98, Lam. 167.
SENNACHERIB, invades Judah, 2 Kings 204, 222; his blaa-
phemoua letter, 210, Chron. 257, Isa. 382; his army de-
stroyed, 2 Kings 217, 226, Chron. 257, Isa. 391 sq. ;
slain by his sons, 2 Kings 218, Isa. 393.
Septuagint, the, Apocr. 18, additions of Josh. 143, 186, Sam.
234, 446, Job 631 sq., Dan. 122; minor prophets accord-
ing to the, Hos. [44].
SEPP, quoted, Ezek. 267, 273.
SBRAIAH, Jeremiah's charge to, Jer. 432.
Seraphim, Isa, 105 ; song of the, 106, 110.
Serpent, the instrument of temptation, Gen. 228 ; descnption
of, 245 ; heathen view of, Numb. Ill ; brazen. Numb.
110; a type. 111; destroyed by Hezekiah, 2 Kings 203;
worship of the, Apocr. 463.
Serpents fiery. Numb. 109,
Servant of God, different meanings, Isa. 567 sq.
SETH, his name, Gen. 262, 270.
Seven, number, Zech. 33.
Seventy, number, Gen. 352.
— *— - weeks, Daniel's prophecy concerning, Dan. 191 ; hia-
tory of tlie exposition of, 205-212; identification
of the historical period comprised within the, 213-
217.
SEVENTY years' captivity foretold, Chr. 276, Jer. 230]; ending,
Ezra, 20.
Sexual impurities and cleansings, laws concerning, Lev. 119,
■ sq.
■ - ■• -intercourse. Lev. 138, 141. 156.
SHADRACH, MESHACH and ABED-NEGO, their captivity
; and abstinence, Dan. 61, 63 sq. ; their promotion, 62 ;
their faith and deliverauee, 97 sq. '
iSHALLUM, king of Israel, his evil reign, 2 Kings 159, 164,
] Chron. 193.
ISHALMANESER, king of Assyria, carries t«n tribes captive,
2 Kings 184 sq., 189, 191, 204.
iShamelessness forbidden, Deut, 179.
ISHAMGAR, delivers and judges Israel, Jud. 78, 93.
SHAPHAN appointed to repair the temple, 2 Kings 266.
SHEBA, Gen. 351, 492 ; queen of, visits Solomon, 1 Kings
! 117 sq., Chron. 187.
jSHEBA'S rebellion and death, Sam. 549, 553.
SHEBNA, the scribe sent to Rabshakeh, 2 Kings 206; pro-
1 phecy against, Isa. 252 sq.
iSHECHEM, its importance in the history of the kingdom of
j God, Gen. 563, 583.
j ■ treachery of men of, Jud. 149 ; chastised by'Abim-
elech, 154.
■SHEM, Gen. 274, blessed, 340.
Shcmites, significance of the genealogical table of the, Gen.
369 sq., Chron. 34.
Shemitic language, note on, Gen. 373.
SHEMAIAH the prophet, forbids Rehoboam to attack Jero-
j boam, 1 Kings 146, 150, Chron. 193; rebukes Rehoboam,
I Chron. 195 ; denounced for opposing Jeremiah, Jer.
; 250.
Sheol, excursus on, Gen. 584 sq. ; derivation of the word, Ezek.
298, Ps. 80, laa. 92; shades in. Job 189.
Shepherd (of Israel), Ezek. 318.
SHESHACH, Jer. 334.
SHESHBAZZ AR made governor of the Jews by Cyras, Ezra
24, 60.
Shew-bread, the. Lev. 180 sq.
Shibboleth, made a test, Jud. 179.
Shiloh, prophecy concerning, Gen. 656.
(place), tabernacle erected there, Josh. 152, Sam. 48 ;
virgins of, carried off, Jud. 258.
SHIMEI curses David, Sam, 508 ; his acknowledgment, 540 ;
slain for disobedience, 1 Kings 36.
Shir, Job xix., Ps. 23.
, hamma'aloth. Job xix.
, jedidoth. Job xix,
SHISHAK king of Egypt, invades Jerusalem and ' spoila the
temple, 1 Kings 172.
Shoe, loosing of the, Deut. 178.
Shulamith, type of the church, Song of Sol. 92.
SHUNEM, Elisha's miracles there, 2 Kings 44.
SHUSHAN, city and palace of Artaxerxes, Nph. 6, Est. 54.
SIBYLLINE ORACLES, the, Apocr. 606, quoted Dan. 26, 157.
Sign, asking of, is it permitted ? Isa. 169.
Sihon, king of the Amorites, his defeat, Numb. 117, Deut. 65,
Josh 112, 120.
Siloa, pool of, Isa. 131.
SIMEON, son of Jacob, Gen. 529 j avenges Dinah's dishonor,
6G1 ; detained by Joseph, 613 ; Jacob's prophecy con-
cerning, 655; his descendants, Numb. 152; their in-
j heritance, Josh. 157.
SIMON I, the Just, high priest, Apocr. 16,
II, high' priest, Apocr. 16, 624.
, son of Mattathias, Apocr. 23; succeeds Jonathan,
ibid. ; obtains the independent sovereignty of Judgea,
ibid. ; the Jewish nation confer on him and his pos-
terity the high pri esthood and supreme Civil authority,
24; treacherously murdered with his two sons by Pto-
lemy, ibid.
SIMONIDES, quoted, Job 417- ^ ^ ^,^
Sin its origin with the beginning of the race. Gen. 24-3;
' threefold, 246; the form of genesis of, 263; conse-
quences of, Ps. 81 ; views concerning, Apocr. 262, 264,
305, 600; happiness for forgiveness of, Ps. 226.
i offerings, Exod. [40, 41] ; regulations concerning, Lev.
40, 84, 85 ; sacramental value of, 48 ; instructions for
'■ the priests in regard to, 58, 63 ; typical of the true
SIN, wilderness of^ Exod. 61, Numb, 20.
SINAI mount, Israel's arrival there, Exod. 69; works on,
[33]. Sinai to ErAonrGeber, stations from, Exod. [24].
SISERA, oppresses Israel, Jud, 81 ; slain by Jael, 87, 105.
Sivan, a month, Est. 83.
SIXTUS SENENSIS, quoted, Apocr. 549.
Skin for skin, its meaning, Job 301 sq.
Slander, laws concerning, Deut, 166 sq.
Slave traffic and slaveholding, Gen. 3i2, 427,
SMERDI^, brother of Cambyses, commits suicide, Apocr. B.
j. the Magian, commonly called Paeudo-Smerdis, sue-
84
TOPICAL INDEX.
ceeda Cambyseg, Apocr. 5 ; prohibits the building of
the temple, ibid. ; is elain by a company of leading
Persians, ibid. ; accession of Darius to, ibid.
Sflakes, feast of, Apocr, 316.
SODOM and GOMORRAH, destruction of, Gen. 438, 442;
note ; sin of, 44 ; night scene in, ibid. ; a type of God's
judgment, 442 eq.
— — , apples of, Apocr. 254.
Sodomites, Egyptians worse than, Apocr. 273.
Solar system, development of our. Gen. 185.
SOLOMON, king, born, Sam. 475 ; prophecy concerning, 431,
439, Chron. 136 ; proclaimed king, 1 Kings 24, 26 ; ex-
horted by David, 30 sq , Chron. 156 sq.; executes jus-
tice upon Adonijah, Joab, etc., 1 Kings, 35 sq, ; his mar-
riage, 40, 42, Ps. 294; his choice of wisdom, 1 Kings
41, 43, Chron. 164; his wise judgment, 1 Kings 42 sq. ;
his officers, household, etc., 46 sq., 61, Chron. 187; his
message to Hiram, I Kings 54, 66, Chron. 166; builds
the Temple, 1 Kings 56, 60, Chron. 170 sq. ; and his
own house, 1 Kings 82 sq., 88 sq. ; his prayer at the
dedication of the temple, 98, 105, Chron. 177 ; God's cove-
nant with him, 1 Kings 110 sq., 114, Chron. 179 ; his
great wisdom, 1 Kings 49, 51, Job xxii.; visited by the
queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 107 sq., Chron. 187 ; his wives,
1 Kings 126, Song of Sol. 110 ; his idolatry, 1 Kings
127, Song of Sol. 135; rebuked by God, 1 Kings 128,
130 ; his adversaries, 134, 137 ; Ahijah's prophecy
against, 136, 138; his death, 137, 139, Chron. 188; his
character, 1 Kings 140; his vineyard, meaning of. Song
of Sol. 131 sq. ; Ps. Ixxii. cxxvii , ascribed, to,
, age of, or the golden age of Hebrew literature
of wisdom, Prov. 8 ; poetry of wisdom and, 10.
, prophecy in the time of, Hos. [24].
Bong of the seven Spirits, Apocr. 118,
60NG OF SOLOMON, Book of. its name. Song of Sol. 1; ar-
tistic form. Job xxx. ; Song of Sol. 1 ; a lyric drama,
Job xxix. ; unity of, Song of Sol. 2 sq. ; date and au-
thor of, 11 sq , 14 ; contents and divisions of, 6 sq. ; ethi-
cal idea and typical import of. 16 ; fundamental thought
of, 17 ; its position in the Old Testament, 13 ; its rela-
tion to the literature of wisdom, Prov. 12 ; history and
literature of the interpretation of, Song of Sol. 19 sq. ;
bibliography of. 27 sq.
■ " character of. Job xxix. sq. ; Angus on,
xxx. ; names of plants mentioned in, Song of Songs 14 ;
divisions of. by :
Bossuet, Song of Songs 11.
Burrows, " " 12.
Fry, " " 10.
Good, " " 10.
Noyes, " " 10.
Percy. " " 11.
Stuart, M., " " 11.
Taylor, " *' 11.
Trupp, " " 11.
Weiss, " " 12.
Williams, " " 11.
noteworthy interpretations of:
Allegorical, Song of Songs 25 gq.
Divisive, *' *' 37.
Dramatic, " " 38.
Mystico — Doctrinal, " " 30,
" — Hieroglyphic, *' " 34.
" — Mariological, " " 34.
'• —Political, ■• " 32.
" — Prophetic, " "33.
" —Spiritual, " " 28.
Profane— Erotic, " " 35 sq.
a. Older, " " 36.
b. Modern, " " 37.
. - Typical— Messianic, " " 40.
noteworthy interpreters of:
Aponiua. _ Song of Songs 33.
" "29.
Bernard of Clairvaux,
Bossuet,
B6ttcher,
Brightman,
Burrowes,
Castellio, Seb.,
Clarke,
Cocceius.
Cornelius a Lapide,
Cyril of Jerusalem,
Davidson, A.,
Doeplce
Epiphanius,
Ezralbn,
Fried rich,
Gerlach,
Gill,
Goltz.
Gregorius Magnus,
Gregory of Nyssa,
42.
39.
43.
47.
36.
44.
33.
34.
30.
45.
38.
30.
27.
39.
31.
44.
34.
34.
28.
Grotius,
Song
of Songs 36.
Hahn,
"
"
32.
Hengstenherg,
"
"
31.
Herder,
"
"
37.
Honoriua of Antun,
u
<(
29.
Hug, L.,
*'
"
32.
Immanuel ben Solomon, "
**
28.
Jacobi,
4(
«
38,
Kaiser,
"
*'
32.
Keil,
"
«i
31.
Kimchi, J.,
"
((
27.
Lightfoot,
"
"
41.
liowth.
((
(1
42.
Luis de Leon,
«'
"
41.
Luther,
<(
«
32.
Macarius,
«
ft
28.
Maimonides,
«
"
27.
Michaelis,
«
"
37.
Origen,
"
"
28.
Perez de Talentia,
"
"
33.
Psellus, M.,
"
u
34.
Pufendorf,
K
"
34.
Eashl,
"
(«
37.
Boos,
*'
*'
31.
Bosenmfiller,
((
tl
33,
Schlottman,
"
'•
43.
Smith, P.,
"
*t
45.
Starke,
"
II
31.
Stuart, A. M..
"
"
45.
" M.,
«(
•I
46.
Targum,
"
"
27.
Teresa de Jesus,
"
"
29.
Theodore of Mopsuestia, "
l(
36.
Theodoret,
"
"
28.
Tibbon, M..
"
"
28.
Trupp,
"
'•
46.
Weissbach,
"
"
39.
Song of the three children, see
Azariae
' prayei
triumph, historical originality
of, Exod. 52.
victory, Jud. 107.
Son of Man, Dan. 156.
Sons of God, discussion and literature on. Gen. 119, 280 eq. ;
meaning of, Gen. 280 sq.; literature on, 281.
SOPHOCLES quoted, Gen. 587, 630, 638, Josh. 100, Jud. 106, 175,
141, 322, Job 131, 559, Eccl 157, 179.
Sorcery, is devil service, Isa. 517.
Soteriology biblical, Gen. 54.
Soul, pre-existence of the, Apocr. 250.
Souls departed, state of, Sam. 334 ; literature on, tbtd.
South, the king of, Daniel's vision concerning, Dan. 239,
SPARTANS, their relations to the Jews, Apocr. 535.
SPENSER, quoted, Zech. 28.
Spies, sent into Canaan by Moses, Numb. 72, Dent. 60; report
of the. Numb. 73, Deut. 73 ; two sent by Joshua, Josh.
47; preserved by Rahab 48; their covenant with her,
60; their report to Joshua, 50; theiroathperformed,72;
sent by the Danites, Jud 232 ; by Absalom, Sam. 503.
Spirit, unknown way of the, Eccl. 71, 147.
Spirit-world, disclosure of, Gen. 248.
Spirit and flesh, note on, Gen. 85.
Spirit of God, ^ud. 70 ; his work, Apocr. 234 ; promise of the
outpounng of, Joel. 28 sq.
Spirits having bodies and senses and falling in love, Apocr.
134, 624.
Spiritualism modern, Job 17.
Spitting in the face a mark of reproach. Numb. 70, Deut. 173,
Standards of the twelve tribes. Numb. 25.
STANLEY, Dean, quoted. Josh. 22, Job viii., xii., xiv., xxiil.,
Prov. 23.
Star of Jacob, Numb. 140; its meaning, 142.
STARKE, quoted, Prov. 2
State, condition of a weak, Isa. 69.
and Church, nature of, Deut. 129.
Stations, list of, according to Numbers and Exodus, Exod.
[23],
STEPHENS, H., quoted, Job xlii.
Stone of trial, Apocr. 301.
Sttungors (dwelling among laraeliteg) not to be oppreBsecl.
Exod. 93, 95, Lev. 162, Deut. 177, Mai. 20 ; not to eat of
the pasBOTer, etc., until circumcised, Exod. 42, Ezek.
418.
STRABO, quoted, Gen. 219, Jud. 40, Isa. 240, Jer. 154, 185.
Stripes, number of, limited, Deiit. 177.
STUART, M., division of Song of Solomon, Song of Songs 11.
Style, individuality of prophetic, Hos. [26] ; peculiar to the
prophets, ibid ; poetical [381 ; symbolical, [37],
SUCCOTH, Gen, 559, Exod. 4(5, Josh 121 ; why punished by
Gideon, Jud. 133, 135.
Succoth-Benoth, a goddess, 2 Kings 188.
SUETON, quoted, Judg 177, Dan 117.
Suffering human founded on a divine ordinance. .Tob .334.
for temptation and for trial, distinction between. Job
663.
TOPICAL INDEX.
85
Sun, worship of, forbidden, Deut. 72, Ezek. 109.
stands still at the command of Joshua, Josh. 95 aq., 99 sq.
-^, shadow of, returns by request of Hezekiah, 2 Kings
234, Iba. 397. .
horses of the, meaning of, Eccl. 38.
Sun of righteousaesB, Mai. 26.
Sunday, Psalm sung on, Pa. 185.
Supernatural, idea of, in Scriptures, Gen. 143.
Suretyship, evil of, Prov. 83.
SUSA Apocr. 207.
SUSANNA, History of, its genuineness, Apocr. 446 ; original
language of, 445 ; estimation in the Christian church,
448.
Swine, offering of, Apocr. 486.
Symbolical transactions in Hosea, ch. I., III., Hos. 13 sq.
Synagogue, the great, see Judaism.
Synagogue, see Judaism.
SYKIANS, subdued by David, Sam. 446, 459; besieging
Samaria, defeated, 1 Kings 234 sq. ; Ahab, slain by, 1
Kings 254.
TABERAH, Numb. 61.
Tabernacle, general view of the ideal plan of the, Exod
113 ; of the actual construction, 114 ; materials and
assessments for the, ibid. 148, 174; made after the pat-
tern shown to Moses, 115 sq., 174; shape of the, 116;
gifts for the, 150, Numb. 47 ; erection of the, Exod. 156
sq., 177; dedicatien of. 160; organic developmont of
the, 174 ; all animals to be slaughtered in the, Lev. 133 ;
set up in Shiloh, Josh. 152; its purpose, Sam. 98 ; atype
of all true temples, Exod. 166; literature on, Exod.
[35], 113.
Tabernacles, feast of, Lev. 177 sq., Apocr. 564; its observance,
Ezra 37, 41.
Tables of stone, Exod. 129; broken by Mosea, 134; renewed,
144, 175, Deut. 113, 115.
Table, the holy, Exod. 115.
Tabor (mount), Canaanites discomfited there, Jud. 86.'
TACITUS, quoted, Gen. 443, Josh. 29, 73, Jud. 42, 122, 128,
256, Sam. 454, 460, 1 Kings 76, Eccl. 40, Jer, 180, Ezek.
447, Apocr. 75.
TALMUD, quoted, Gen. 305, 329, Lev. 59, 60, 111, 114, 142,
Numb. 6, 37, 38, Josh. 8, Jud. 43, 65, 76, 124, 146,178,
184, 186, 229. 237, 238, Ruth 43, 48, 53, 2 Kings 87, 246.
301, Chron. 8, Ezra 15, d5, Ps. 667, Eccl. 15, 21, laa. 7,
94, 312, Dan. 1 12, Apocr. 10, '28, 31, 267, 294, 297, 299,
301, 304, 308, 313, 314, 318, 320, 322, 345, 347, 354, 458.
Tammuz, women seen weeping for, Ezek 108.
TANCHUM quoted, Gen. 215.
lARGUM quoted, Isa 574.
TARSHISH, Gen. 348, Chron. 33 ; Jonah's flight to, Jon. 18.
TATIUS quoted, Job 166.
TATNAI and SHETHAR-BOZNAI oppose the building of
the temple, Ezra 58; their letter to Darius, 59; com-
manded to assist the Jews, 63 sq.
TAYLOR'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 11.
TAYLOR, IS., quoted. Job xiv.
Tebeth, a Jewish month, Est. 44.
TEKOAH, a wise widow of, intercedes for Absalom, Sam. 493
sq., 49<j.
Teleology of Judaism, Gen. 78.
Temple, assessments for the, Exod. 126, see Home of God.
Temple-watch, how arranged. Ps. 634.
Temple, Ezekiel's description of the new, Ezek. 382 aq.,
395, 436 sq ; the enclosing wall, 384 ; the side building,
395; the off-place, 397 ; chambers of Holiness, 401; cir-
cumference of the whole, 403 ; entrance of the glory of
Jehovah, 406 ; altar of burnt offering and its consecra-
tion, 410; prince in the East gate, 416; priests, 417;
priestly duties and privileges, 420 ; literature on, 383.
Temptation by the serpent, how understood, Gen. 236, 245 ;
of Abraham, Gen. 464 sq. ; of Joseph, Gen. 696 sq. ; of
Israel, Deut. 104; of David, Sam. 602 sq., Chron. 131
sq. ; of Job, Job 294 sq. ; of Daniel, Dan. 140 aq.
Ten Commandments, the, Exod. 78.
Tent holy, Exod. 116; of revelation, its removal, Exod. 139.
TERAH, Gen. 370 sq., Josh. 183; later accounts concerning,
Gen. 37i.
Teraphim, images. Gen. 542, Sam. 251, 254.
TERENCE quoted, Ruth 18.
TERTULLIAN quoted, Gen. 615, 2 Kings 264-
Testaments, the Old and New, Gen. 65 ; of the twelve Patri-
archs. Apocr. 671.
Thankfulness is becoming, Ps. 164.
- Thehilla, Job xix.
Theism, pure, the ground of all religious ideas. Job 4 ; doc-
trine of a future life developed from, ibid. 9 ; difference
between ancient and Hebrew, 6 sq. ; danger in separat-
ing the idea of a future life from a, 17.
Theocratology biblical, or doctrine of the kingdom of God,
Gen. 55.
THEOCRITUS, quoted, Song of Sol. Ill, 129.
THEODOR MOPSUEST. quoted, Zeph. 52.
THEODORET quoted, Lev. 26, 74, Sam. 335, 2 Kings 15, 19,
55, 57, 143, Jer. 31, Lam. 174, Dan. 63. 133, 273, Jon. 18,
Zeph: 16;
THEODOTION quoted, Isa. 623:
THEOGNIS, quoted, Job 322, Eccl. 80.
Theology, or biblical doctrine of God, Gen. 63.
■■ Biblical, definition and structure of, Gen. 2; de-
velopment of, 51.
Theology, physical of God, Job 513.
Theophanies, commencement of, Gen. 248 ; their aspect as
visions, 390; of the Old Testament, Ps. 146; in Job as
compared with other. Job 21, 38.
Theophrast quoted, laa. 618.
Thephillah, Job xix.
THOLUCK, quoted, Lam. 143.
Three, the number in Job, Job 231.
THUGYDIDES quoted, Dan. 215L
Tibni'a unsuccessful conspiracy, 1 Kings 186.
TIGLATH-PILESER, distresses the Jews, 2 Kings 161 sq..
172.176.
TIMNATH-SERAH, Joshua's inheritance. Josh. 163.
Tirahatha (governor), Ezra 33, Neh. 32.
TIRZAH (Josh. 115), kings of Israel dwell there, 1 King!
168, 177, 184, 2 Kings 159.
TITHES, laws concerning, Lev. 205 ; granted to the Levites^
Numb. 97.
TOBIT, Book of, its author, place and time of composition,
Apocr. 120 sq. ; its history, 121 aq. ; name and texts,
110 sq.; history or romance, 113 ; historical difficulties
of, 114 sq. ; improbabilities of the narrative, 116; its
doctrinal teaching, 117 sq ; second translation, 147-156,
TOLA judges Israel, Jud. 166.
Tongue, sins of the, Prov. 148,
Tophet, defiled by Josiah, 1 Kings 262, Jer. 183, 185.
Total depravity, note on the doctrine of. Gen. 286.
Tower of Meah, Hananeel and Furnaces, Neh. 61.
Tradition patriarchal, concerning Genesis, Gen 104.
Traducianism, fundamental idea of. Job 385.
Transgressor, his ungodly course, the destruction erf the,
Prov, 49.
Translation of Enoch, Gen. 273, 274 ; of Ely ah, 2 Kings 13 sq.
18 sq.
Transubstantiation of manna, Apocr. 267.
Treachery of Simeon and Levi, Gen. 561; of Shechemites,
Jud. 144 aq. ; of Doeg. Sam. 273, 282, Ps. 331 sq. ; of
David, Sam. 467 ; of Ziba, Sam. 607 sq. ; of Joab, Sam
388, 552 ; of Je2ebel, 1 Kings 243 ; of Jehu, 2 Kings
113; of Haman, Est. 53 sq.
Treason, punishment for, Apocr. 596 ; of Absalom, Sam. 502
aq ; of Sheba, Sam. 649 sq. ; of Adonijah, etc., 1 Kings
22 sq.; of Zimri, 1 Kings 184; of Athaliah, 2 Kings
121 sq., Chron. 225; of Shallum, 2 Kings 159; of Big-
than and Teresh, Est. 45,
Treatment of children, Apocr. 358.
TREBELLIUS POLLIO quoted, Judg. 106.
Tree of life. Gen. 205.
of knowledge of good and evil, Gen. 206.
Trespags-ofi"ering3, Exod. [40, 41] ; regulations concering. Lev,
50 ; instructions for the priests in regard to, 59, 63.
Tribes of Isrsel, blessed, Gen. 651 sq , Deut. 226 sq ; captains
of the, Numb. 10, 21, Deut. 59 ; number of the fight-
ing men in the, Numb. 11, 151 ; order for the encamp-
ment and march of, 24 sq.
ten, their emigration to Assyria, 2 Kings 191.
Trichotomy, germ of, Gen. 212.
Trinity, germ of the doctrine of the, Gen. 433.
Trumpets, directions for their use, Numb, 55, Josh. 70.
feast, of, Lev. 176 sq.
TRUPP'S division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 11.
Truth, fundamental attribute of God, Sam. 380 ; praise of,
Apocr. 87.
TRYPHON, schemes to obtain Syria, 23 ; treacherously mur-
ders Jonathan, ibid.
Typical — Messianic view of Song of Songs, Song of Sor40sq.
Typology of the writings of Moses, Exod. [31].
TYRE, prophecy concerning, Ezek. 248, 250. 253, 255 sq., 259
sq., 265 sq.
TYRUS, ladder of, Apocr. 532.
UNBELIEF, the chronic sin of human nature, Zech. i
Ungodly, condition of the, Ps. 53.
Unity, original, of the human race, Gen. 191.
Universe, biblical view of the. Josh. 101.
Upright, Book of the. Josh. 95.
UR of the Chaldees, Gen. 370.
URIAH, the Hittite, David's treachery to, Sam 266.
URIJAH (priest), idolatry of, 2 Kings 172 sq., 177.
(prophet), slain by Jehoiakim, Jer. 241.
Urim and Thummim. Exod. 120, Deut. 229, Apocr. 92.
Usury amonrjst brethren forbidden, Exod, 94, Lev. 191, Deut.
175, 179.
36
TOPICAL lirmfiA.
TTsary repressed by Nehemiah, Neh. 24.
UZ, Gen. 350, Job 289.
TJZZIAH, see Azariah,
XJZZIEL, his sons bury the eons of Aaron, Lev. 83, Numb. 30.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS quoted, Apocr. 607;
VASHTI, queen, divorced for disobedience, Est.E36, 37.
Veil, the holy, Exod. 117.
Vessels of the temple, made by Solomon, 1 Kings 87 ; car-
ried into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 296,
Jer. 441 ; profaned by Belshazzar, Dan. 125 sq. ; re-
stored by Cyrus, Ezra 23, 27, Apocr. 80,
Vineyard, laws concerning, Deut. 175 ; parable of the, Isa. 84,
100.
Violence, laws concerning, Lev. 184.
VLBGIL, quoted, Gen. 271, Job 104, 123, 128, 133, 148, 150, 151,
161, 611, Eccl. 38, 161, lea. 97, 255, Lam. 192, 193, ilos.
[38 J, Jonah 20.
Virtues known to God, Apocr. 327.
Vows, their meaning and nature, Lev. 202.
■.■■ concerning persons, Lev. 2U3.
concerning animals and houses, Lev. 204.
■ concerning lands, etc.. Lev. 204.
— ■ ■, laws concerning female. Numb. 163, Deut. 175, 179.
■■ ethical ideas of the, Sam. 57.
WAGES of laborers not to be detained. Lev. 150.
Wall, the broad, Neh. 61.
War, laws concerning, Deut. 156 sq., 158, 172.
Wars of the Lord, book of the, Numb. 114.
Watch of the Temple, how arranged. Pa. 634.
Water of cursing, Numb. 37.
WATTS, quoted, Eccl. 152, Job 453.
Weeks, feast of, Deut. 140.
seventy, prophecy concerning, Dan. 193, 217 ; modes
of reckoning, 207 sq. ; identification of historical
periods within the, 213 sq,
Weighte, just commanded, Lev. 153, Deut. 179.
WEISS' division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol. 12.
Wheels, vision of the, Ezek. 48.
Whirlwind, the, excursus on, Job 213.
Whole-ofierings, significance of, Sam. 127.
Whoredom forbidden. Lev. 162, Deut. 175.
— , a symbol of apostasy, Gen. 289.
Wicked, their punishment, laa. 701 ; kept to the day of doom.
Job 182 sq.
Wickedness is folly. Josh. 80.
Widow, David counselled by one, Sam. 493 496; Elijah sus-
tained by one, 1 Kings 194, 197.
Wilderness of Sin, Exod. 61, Numb. 20.
Wilderness of the wanderings, review of the encampment in
the. Numb. 177.
Will, doctrine of, Apocr. 322.
WILLIAMS' division of Song of Songs, Song of Sol: IL
Wine spiced, used among the Hebrews, Isa. 94.
Wisdom, the thoroughly religious character of Prov. 48 ; all
classes claimed as hearers and pupils of, ihid. ; tendency
of, 49 ; blessings resulting from, 53 sq., 60 sq.. 70 sq. ;
is life and gives life, 65, Eccl. 107 ; nature of, Eccl. 110,
Apocr. 289 ; apparent in the works of God, Prov. 63 ;
personified, 47, Apocr. 428; twenty-one things ascribed
to, Apocr. 248 ; kept Adam from utter ruin, 254 ; at-
taijied by humility, 322.
WISDOM, Book of, its author, time and'place of composition,
Apocr. 224 ; its name and contents, 221 ; unity and in-
tegrity, 222; doctrinal teaching of, 228; language and
style, 223 ; external history, 230; text, 231.
^■■" ■■ Apocryphal literature of, Prov. 19.
golden age of the Hebrew literature of, ProV. 8.
■' literature of, after Solomon, or Ecclesiastes, Prov.
16.
— — — ■ Song of Solomon, in its relation to the literature
of, Prov. 12.
— ■ system of the literature of, Prov. 20.
— — Poetry of, or Solomon's, Prov. 10.
Job considered as a product of the poetry of, Prov.
14.
Psalms of, Prov. 18.
Wise man, oppression of the, note on, Eccl. 106.
Witch of Endor, visited by Saul, Sam. 330 sq.
Witchcraft forbidden, Lev. 151.
Woes pronounced against covotousness, Isa. 90 ; against drunk-
enness. Isa. 91; against impiety, lea. 93; against per-
version of the world, lea. 93; against e el f-duifii cation,
Isa. 93 ; against injustsce and oppression, Isa. 93.
Wonders, see miracles.
WORDSWORTH, quoted, Prov. 3.
World-times, flee Aeoniau words.
World, view of the ancients, the Bible and of modern Time^
on the. Gen. 182.
, development of the creation of the, in general. Gen,
185.
World, the, as cosmos, Gen. 190.
, as aeon. Gen. 191.
, description of the destruction of the, Isa. 271 eq.
the, in their heart, Eccl. 67, note on.
Worlds, seen and unseen, are near, Zech. 27.
Writing on the wall against Belshazzar, expounded, Dan,
131 sq.
XANTHICUS, a Macedonian month, Apocr. 599,
XENOPHON quoted, Gen. 587, Jud. 39 sq., 250, Ezra,
75, Job 161, Isa. 98, 240, 464, 609, Dan. 137.
XEEXES, succeeds Darius, Apocr. 6.
II, slain by Sogdianus, Apocr. 6.
T'EAE, beginning of the, Exod. 35.
Yokes, sent to various kings by God, Jer. 244.
ZACHAKIAH, King of Israel, bis civil reign, 2 Kings 164
ZADOK, priest, Sam. 452; faithful to David, 506;
anoints Solomon king, 1 Kings 24 ; appointed high
priest, 36,
ZARED, valley of Numb. 113.
ZAREPHATH, a widow's child raised there, 1 Kings 195.
ZEBAH and ZALMUNNA, slain by Gideon, Jud. 134, 136.
ZEBOIM, destroyed with Sodom, Hos. 86.
ZEBUL, ruler of Shechem, assists Abimilech, Jud. 150.
ZEBULON, son of Jacob, Gen. 531 ; blessed by Jacob, 657 ;
by Moses, Deut. 232 ; liis descendants numbered, Num.
152; their inheritance, Josh. 157; come to Hezekiah'a
paesover, Chron. 253.
ZECHARIAH, son of Jehoiada, reproving Joash, is slain,
Chron. 236.
the prophet, Ezra 57 ; name and personal rela-
tion of, Zech. 5 ; historical background of the prophecy
of, 6 ; messianic predictions of, 8 ; alleged influence of
the Persian theology on, 16 ; exhorts to repentance,
22 sq., 66 sq., 61 sq., 78 sq. ; foretells the coming of the
Messiah, 70 sq. ; his visions, 25-50.
ZECHARIAH, Book of, its contents, Zech. 10 sq. ; style and
foi-m, 7 ; genuiness of the second part of, 11 ; literature
on, 18-
ZEDEKIAH, a false prophet, 1 Kings 252 ; insults Micaiah,
253.
(jJIattaniah), king of Judah, his evil reign, 2
Kings 283, 289, Chron. 275 ; Jeremiah sent to, Jer. 319 ;
releases Jeremiah from the dungeon, 320, 323 ; carried
captive to Babylon, 2 Kings 2a4, 290, Chron. 275, Jet.
330, 439,
Zend religion, traits of, Apocr. 12.
ZEPHANIAH (priest), letter to, Jer. 250; sent to Jeremiah,
318.
■ , the prophet, character of his time, Zeph, 5 ;
foretells God's judgment upon Judah, 13 sq., 26 sq. ;
upon the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia and
Assyria, 23 sq., and the restoration of Jerusalem, 33.
— — ■ Book of, author and date, Zcph. 3 ; eummary of
the contents of, 6 ; historical relations of the prophecy
of, 7 ; literary character of, S ; position in the organisia
of Scripture of, 9; literature on, 10.
ZEPHATH, tixken by Judah and Simeon. Jud. 38
ZRRAH the Ethiopian overcome by Asa. Chron. 202.
ZERUBBABEL prince of Judah, Ezra 30 ; table of names
and numbers of those returning from Babylon with,
31 sq., 35, Neh. 31 sq., 33, Apocr. 108 ; restores the wor-
ship of God, Ezi'a 37 ; encouraged by the Lord, Hag. 14.
ZIDON, Gen. 350, Jud. 46.
ZIKLAG given to David, Sam. 323; burnt by the Amalekite^
ZIMRI king of Israel, conspires against Elah and kills him,
1 Kings 184. 186 sq. ; stairs going down from, Neh, 61,
Zin. wilderness of, Numb. 102.
ZINZENDORF, quoted, Jer. 277.
Zion Mount, taken by David and called bis city, Sam. 405,
410 sq., Chron. 98 ; the name used typically, Sam. 410.
ZOAN in Egypt, Numb. 73, Deut. 73, Ps. 439.
ZOAR preserved, Gen. 4;i9
ZOBAH, king of, subdued, Sam. 197, 445, 1 Kings 135.
ZOCKLER, Prof., his writings, Prov. 1.
ZOPHAR, reproves Job, Job 388 sq., 392 ; shows the state and
portion ot the wicked, 468 sq.. 474; Job'a reply to, 398
sq., 415 sq , 47."i sq ; rnproved, 630.
ZOBAH, city of Samson, Josh. 102, Jud. 182, 191.
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